World Cup in mind, Brazil obsesses over Neymar’s injury

In Brazil, the land where football is king, Neymar’s foot injury has unleashed sharp emotions and concern, rumors and speculation about the star player upon whom so many hopes rest for World Cup victory in Russia.

“We just might have lost the World Cup last Sunday,” one radio commentator, Milton Neves of Bandnews FM, said early on Wednesday.

Sunday was the day when Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Marseille 3-0 — but with Neymar suffering a hairline fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot as well as a twisted ankle.

That’s an injury that could cost dearly when talking about the world’s most expensive player, recruited by PSG for 222 million euros ($271 million) last August.

Brazilians care little about the impact on the Paris club. Their attention is entirely trained on the World Cup, where they have ambitions of walking away with a sixth championship.

Neymar’s father said Tuesday his son would be out for at least six weeks.

If that holds, Neymar could still return to form for the World Cup, which starts mid-June. But an operation could see him miss the end of the European season with PSG.

‘Haste to find a solution’ 

In his home country, images of the fateful duel between “Ney” and Marseille player Bouna Sarr were being shown incessantly on TV, often in slo-mo, before the 26-year-old was stretchered off. Newspapers featured close-up illustrations detailing Neymar’s foot and ankle.

In both Brazil and France, medical orthopedic and trauma specialists were getting considerable airplay as they weighed in on what should happen. Most recommended surgery.

“I don’t think we can really talk about fears of him not being at the World Cup. But there is a noticeable haste to find a solution so that Neymar will have recovered in time,” an ESPN Brasil sports commentator, Mauro Cezar Pereira, told AFP.

It was to that channel that Neymar Senior said on Tuesday: “PSG know that they will not be able to count on Neymar for the upcoming matches: his treatment will last six to eight weeks, whether there is an operation or not.”

The father said the decision on surgery was up to PSG, not Neymar. “I’m not a doctor, so we have to wait for the club’s decision,” he said.

According to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, Neymar’s contract has a clause saying he must follow the club’s line regarding injuries. The news website UOL reported that those close to Neymar were believed to want him to have an operation in Brazil.

Words of support

As the star’s fate is being worked out, messages of support were flooding social networks.

Brazilian football legend Pele — whose mantle Neymar is seen inheriting — tweeted: “Hey Neymar, all of Brazil hopes you will recover as quickly as last time! We have a World Cup to win, so get better fast!”

There was also a poignant little Instagram post from his TV actress girlfriend Bruna Marquezine: “I love you and miss you.”

Famous former striker Ronaldo put forth on Globo TV to draw on his experience as a player hit with injury before a World Cup.

“It’s a shame that happened now. No recovery is easy. But I’m sure he’ll do everything he can to come back in form,” Ronaldo said.

“It’s not a serious injury. There’s no danger of him not playing in the World Cup.”

For Carlos Eduardo Mansur, commentator in the newspaper O Globo, “Neymar’s injury is not a tragedy because he’ll have the time to recover and maybe even go to the World Cup fresher, but it’s bad news for (Brazil national team manager) Tite, for whom the friendly matches in March were fundamental.”

Due to the uncertainty thrown up by when Neymar and other players will be available, the Brazilian football federation has delayed naming its squad for friendlies against Russia and Germany in late March by 10 days.

The last time the Selecao confronted Germany, Neymar was also injured. That was in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals, when Brazil suffered its most humiliating defeat: a 7-1 loss on home ground.

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Hashim Amla to play for Hampshire

LONDRES: South Africa great Hashim Amla is to play for Hampshire in the first three months of the upcoming English season, the county announced Wednesday.

A former Proteas captain, the 34-year-old Amla has long been one of the world’s leading batsmen as evidenced by an average of 49.08 in 113 Tests and 50.23 in 164 one-day internationals.

Amla, who has had several previous county stints, most recently with Surrey, will be available to play in both the first-class County Championship and the 50-over One-Day Cup competitions as an overseas player.

He will join compatriots Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw, both of whom quit South Africa international duty just over a year ago for the financial security of contracts with Hampshire.

“I am really pleased to be joining a club like Hampshire,” Amla said. “Everyone I have spoken to, who have either played or are currently playing there, have only had good things to say about the team.

“I look forward to spending the first three months of the season with them, which works out well for me to be able to get some high-quality cricket in before the Proteas tour to Sri Lanka in July.”

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Disney releases trailer of ‘Wreck it Ralph’ sequel

Disney animation studios on Wednesday released the first teaser trailer of the sequel of one of their most famous movies “Wreck it Ralph”.

The sequel by the name of ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2′  has John C. Reilly’s lovable arcade game brute going digital with his best gal pal, Sarah Silverman’s Vanellope.

This time Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz must risk it all by traveling to the world wide web in search of a replacement part to save Vanellope’s video game, Sugar Rush.

In this cyber city, ads are apparently a major nuisance.

Rich Moore of Zootopia and Wreck-It Ralph co-writer Phil Johnston direct Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-it Ralph 2.

The film will break into theaters on Nov. 21, 2018.

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Two soldiers martyred as Indian troops open fire across LoC

RAWALPINDI: Two Pakistan Army soldiers embraced martyrdom on Wednesday after Indian troops opened unprovoked firing in Bhimber sector along the Line of Control.

According to Inter Services Public Relations, Pakistan Army troops responded to Indian unprovoked firing. There are reports of substantial damage to Indian posts.

The martyred include sepoy Muneer Chohan, aged 32 years and resident of village Kahuta, and sepoy Amir Hussain, aged 28 and a resident of district Bhimber.

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Petroleum prices increased for month of March

ISLAMABAD: In apparent backlash of rising crude oil prices in the international market, the government on Wednesday increased the prices of petroleum products for the month of March. 

The price of Motor Spirit  92 RON petrol has been increased by Rs3.56 per litre and will now be available for Rs88.07 per litre. It was previously available for Rs84.51 per litre.

The price of diesel (HSD) was increased by Rs2.62 per litre, and will now be available for Rs98.45 as compared to earlier price of Rs95.83 per litre. Meanwhile, Light Diesel Oil (LDO) had been increased by one rupees to Rs65.30 per litre.

Furthermore, Superior Kerosene Oil (SKO) has increased an exorbitant increase of Rs6.28 per litre and will now be available for Rs76.46 from its earlier price of Rs70.18 per litre.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority and Ministry of Energy had proposed increase in the prices of these products including a Rs6.94 per litre raise in the price of diesel but it was increased by Rs2.62 per litre only.

Both petrol and diesel are the most widely consumed petroleum products in the country, particularly in agriculture and transport sectors.

Keeping in view the possible repercussions of increase in fuel prices, analysts believe it would result in higher inflation since energy is the largest import and most consumed item of Pakistan.

 

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Australia skipper Smith eager for South Africa revenge

DURBAN: Australia captain Steve Smith is looking for revenge in the upcoming Tests against South Africa to continue the trend which has seen the tourists dominate in recent series between the sides.

“Certainly it’s a big series for us. We’ve had a lot of great contests over the years. South Africa got the better of us at home so we’d love to get them back for that one,” said Smith ahead of the start of the first Test at Kingsmead in Durban on Thursday.

South Africa won 2-1 in a three-Test series in Australia in November 2016, their third straight series win there.

However, Australia have a brilliant record away in South Africa, and it is an anomaly that Smith and his opposite number Faf Du Plessis put down to the similar conditions in both countries.

Australia are aiming to build on a “magnificent” home summer which included a 4-0 Ashes defeat of England.

“The conditions are similar but it’s still an away tour for us. I’ve got a goal as captain to play really well away from home and start winning series, so this is a really good opportunity for us,” said Smith.

The world’s leading Test batsman, Smith said a century in tough conditions at Centurion on Australia’s previous tour in 2013/14 had given him the confidence that he could score runs against any bowling attack.

Du Plessis is fully aware of Smith’s threat having played alongside him in the Indian Premier League, and he is hoping to use that experience to bring about his rival’s downfall.

“The last series we played against him he was their best batter but to some degree we did keep him quiet,” he said.

“He’s obviously a very good player but it’s similar to what I said about the Indian team. They have one or two star batsmen. If you can put pressure on them and keep them quiet it obviously reflects how the series will go.”

Du Plessis said no pressure had been put on groundsmen to prepare pitches to help the South Africans following the controversy that marred the recent series win over India.

“I think I learned my lesson from that,” he said.

“Australia and South Africa are very similar teams and they play in similar conditions. We’ll play on what we get. We’ve asked for nothing.”

It seems likely that South Africa will switch from the policy of four specialist fast bowlers that was used against India, with an extra batsman likely to be picked.

With Temba Bavuma not fully recovered from a finger injury, Theunis de Bruyn is a strong candidate, especially as he can bowl a few overs of seam to back up the main bowlers.

Injuries and lack of form have plagued the South Africans recently. Du Plessis will play, though, despite having broken his right index finger less than a month ago.

“I’ve played with finger injuries before,” he said. “The biggest battle you have to get over is the mental side of things. I have had three good nets, hitting a lot of balls, but the biggest thing is mentally to be ready for the battle and I’m ready for that.”

Australia will field an unchanged XI for the match from the one that crushed England by an innings at Sydney in the final Ashes clash.

Australia team:

Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wkt), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

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Lacoste’s crocodile logo leaves its iconic spot

PARIS: French fashion brand Lacoste on Wednesday swapped the crocodile logo on its shirts for the first time in its history for 10 of the most endangered species on the planet.

The green Lacoste crocodile — one of the world’s best-known logos — was replaced by the Sumatran tiger, the Javan rhino and the Cao Vit gibbon on the chest of its classic white polo shirts in a limited edition charity tie-in with the Save Our Species conservation group.

All but a handful were sold out within hours of going on sale for 150 euros ($183) immediately after the brand’s Paris fashion week show.

The number of polo shirts put on sale was directly linked to remaining numbers of each threatened species surviving in the wild — with only 30 for vaquita porpoises and 231 for Californian condors.

Designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista also included camouflaged images of each of the endangered animals in the last 10 looks in his autumn-winter collection.

“I think it is a great thing to do, and feels very gratifying if we can do something for these animals,” he told AFP.

“Lacoste is one of the 10 more recognisable logos in the world with Coca-Cola and Apple.”

The Portuguese designer said he had to be careful about using the crocodile logo — which dates from 1933 — “with respect. I don’t like to plaster it everywhere. Either you be very classic with it or very original, and in this case it’s quite original I think.”

Lacoste’s crocodile logo still features on the back of the 1,775 shirts.

Oliveira Baptista said he took his inspiration for the main collection from the 50,000 trees the Lacoste family planted around their golf course at Saint-Jean-de-Luz in southwest France during World War II.

It was also a way of sparing local men from being sent to German forced labour camps, as forestry workers were exempt from conscription, he said.

The designer had Princess Diana and the English upper classes at play in mind when he began creating the collection, with some models wearing wellingtons with hunting ponchos and boonie sun hats on top of hoodies.

“I got inspired particularly by looking back at pictures of Lady Di: how she wore clothes that were high and low at the same time,” he added.

“I was looking for something timeless, something that would last more than six months.”

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In Syria’s Ghouta, rescuers keep finding bodies

Toys’R’Us winds down business

The British arm of troubled retailer Toys’R’Us is winding down its activities, administrators said Wednesday, as the US firm faces pressure from rival stores and online giant Amazon.

It means up to 3,200 jobs are at risk and comes as British electricals retailer Maplin on Wednesday joined Toys’R’Us UK in falling into administration — the process whereby a troubled company seeks independent financial advice regarding its future.

Maplin operates out of 217 stores across Britain and Ireland, employing close to 2,500 staff.

Separately, restaurant chain Prezzo is set to announce the closure of around 100 of its Italian-style eateries, or one-third of its UK-wide total, and close its Tex-Mex chain Chimichanga, costing hundreds of jobs, according to people familiar with the matter.

The collapse of certain major retailers in the UK comes as Brexit uncertainty appears to be impacting the country’s economic growth according to recent official data.

“The challenging conditions in the UK retail sector are well documented,” said Zelf Hussain at PWC, which is acting as administrators for Maplin.

“Like many other retailers, Maplin has been hit hard by a slowdown in consumer spending and more expensive imports as the pound has weakened” following Britain’s vote in favour of exiting the European Union.

Hussain added that the administrators will “engage with parties who may be interested in acquiring all or part of the company”.

Regarding Toys’R’Us, administrators Moorfields said: “Following the failure to attract a buyer for the business… administrators are conducting an orderly wind-down of the company’s store portfolio.”

While the Toys’R’Us announcement “is likely to affect many… staff, whether some or all of the stores will close remains to be decided”, Moorfields administrator Simon Thomas said in a statement.

As of late last year, Toys’R’Us in the UK employed more than 3,000 staff across more than 100 mostly warehouse-style stores.

Its British operations narrowly avoided entering administration in December after a key creditor embraced its plan to begin shutting stores and plug its pensions deficit.

It was agreed ahead of the New Year that at least 26 of the 105 shops in Britain would close in early 2018.

‘All is not well’

“All is not well on UK (shopping) high streets,” said Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics.

Toys’R’US has been “burdened with too many stores and failed to deliver a retail ‘experience’ good enough to stand out from their competitors”.

Toys’R’Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a US court in September, which gives companies temporary protection from creditors while they try to renegotiate their debts and reorganise to continue operations.

The firm’s British branch has lost money for seven of the last eight years.

The cost of operating the group’s out-of-town stores, opened in the 1980s and 1990s, has become prohibitive in recent times.

“While the narrative about the sad demise of Toys’R’Us focuses on how it was killed by the Internet, data shows that the rise of multichannel player Smyths caused even more damage than Amazon,” said Patrick O’Brien, retail research director at consultancy GlobalData.

“Without a deal in sight, more closures are imminent. But it won’t be Amazon that benefits the most. According to GlobalData’s ‘How Britain Shops’ survey, frequent Toys’R’Us shoppers are more likely to shop at market leader Argos and Smyths,” he added.

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Four FC personnel martyred in suicide attack near Quetta

QUETTA: Four Frontier Constabulary personnel were martyred and eight others were martyred after suicide bomber struck in the outskirts of Quetta, ARY News reported. 

The incident occurred in the Khonitalab Nawhisar area on the outskirts of the provincial capital. Rescue services said that injured have been shifted to nearby hospital where they are being administered medical aid. Two of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

The blast reportedly occurred when security agencies were conducting a search operation, and a suicide bomber targeted a Levies and FC camp. The area was cordoned off after the blast and further evidence was collected from the site of the incident.

FC spokesman the martyred and injured personnel have been shifted to CMH and FC hospitals in Quetta.

Governor Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai and and Chief Minister Abdul Qudus Bezinjo have strongly condemned the attack and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families.

Interior Minister, Ahsan Iqbal has also condemned the attack and said that the entire nation is standing with the security forces.

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Quetta wins toss, decides to bowl first

SHARJAH: Skipper Quetta Gladiators, Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bowl first in the ninth match of the Pakistan super league (PSL) edition three here at Sharjah cricket stadium International stadium.

Misbah-ul-Haq took charge of Islamabad after missing first two matches of this season.

“The pitch looks dry and batting second will be an easy task,” sarfraz said after the toss.

“We were also looking to bowl first but there is no worry we will try to put good total on the board,” Misbah Said.

More to follow….

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Sensors help smartphones keep eye on solo seniors

Looking after an elderly relative who lives alone can be a huge source of worry. But what if your smartphone could automatically alert you if your mother has stayed in bed all morning or suffered a fall?

Small sensors that monitor home activity and can send alerts to smartphones are marking it easier to keep an eye on seniors from a distance, helping them to live independently for longer instead of going to a nursing home.

The products on display at the Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile phone fair in Barcelona, are part of the rapidly growing elderly care tech industry.

This is expected to be worth $20 billion (16 billion euros) in the United States alone by 2020, according to Laurie Orlov, an industry analyst.

“For the past couple of years the tech industry has become more interested in this area because they see an ageing population. Baby boomers represent a large market segment,” said Orlov, who began the Aging in Place Technology Watch blog in 2008.

Sensors have also come down in price, making their commercial use for home monitoring of seniors more viable, she added.

London-based startup Voltaware unveiled a system that uses a sensor installed in the home’s main fuse box, which transmits data on electricity consumption via wi-fi to a cloud-based server where it is analysed.

If a senior does not get up in the morning and turn on the coffee machine as usual, the system detects the lack of activity and the person’s carer is warned by text message.

‘Don’t notice it’

The service is being offered on a trial basis by two electrical companies in Britain and one in Italy.

“With cameras you would need several to see the whole picture, so it is expensive. Our stuff is very inexpensive because it’s just one per household,” said Voltaware chairman Sergey Ogorodnov.

Israeli 3D imaging company Vayyar presented a new sensor that uses radio waves to map where people are in a room.

It can also tell if they are sitting, standing, or laying down — and if they are breathing.

If somebody stops breathing or has fallen down, their caregiver is sent a text alert.

Only a single sensor placed in a central location is needed because it relies on radio waves, which can “see” through walls to detect what is happening in other rooms.

Concerns have been raised that home monitoring systems can violate privacy but the sensor makers argue that in most cases it is the elderly themselves who request the system — and they can turn it off when they want.

Also, sensors do not record images like camera based monitoring systems so they are better suited to personal spaces like bathrooms, said Vayyar director of marketing Malcolm Berman.

“Sensors enable you to do really sophisticated monitoring without any of those privacy concerns,” he said.

Demographic shift

The need for tech products that help seniors stay at home longer is expected to grow sharply, given the the world’s ageing population.

Globally, the number of people aged 60 or more is predicted to more than triple to 3.1 billion by 2100, according to United Nations estimates.

Swedish telecoms firm Doro, the market leader in easy-to-use mobile devices for seniors, unveiled a sensors-based home monitoring system for the elderly which can send a text warning that they have fallen or even left the fridge open.

Doro president Robert Puskaric said the launch of the “SmartCare” service was “an important strategic move” for the company, which aims to cater to the growing number of seniors who live alone.

Predict falls?

Sensors may soon be used to predict when a senior is about to suffer a fall.

Canadian start-up Aerial has patented a system that monitors human behaviour in a home by tracking disturbances to the wi-fi signal when a person moves.

The information is then made available on an easy to read app, allowing relatives to check if an elderly family member has gotten up for example.

The company is working on a more advanced version that warns when a senior is at risk of falling by detecting sudden changes in their walking speed or gait.

“There is a strong desire to have seniors live at home as long as they can. Any type of independence they can maintain is great,” said Aerial project manager Jon Druker.

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Syrian government ground forces attack Ghouta despite Russian truce plan

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IT Ministry signs MoU with Huawei at Mobile World Congress

ISLAMABAD: In a yet another significant development in the realm of ICT empowered socio-economic development, Ministry of IT and Telecom through the Universal Service Fund (USF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Huawei at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona.

USF was established by the IT Ministry to spread the benefits of the telecom revolution to all corners of Pakistan, and promote the development of telecommunication services.

Chief Technology Officer USF Syed Asif Kamal signed the MOU on Tuesday with the representative of Huawei, witnessed by Minister for IT & Telecom, Anusha Rahman Khan.

Through this MOU, Huawei will contribute towards digital development in Pakistan via USF programs through appropriate utilization of its expertise in program design, training and sharing successful experiences of its national ICT portfolio across infrastructure broadband services, vertical public services and intelligent digital platforms.

Speaking on the occasion, the IT Minister said that Huawei will provide the requisite expertise to MoIT through USF to develop National ICT services execution strategy, support Joint Innovation center (JIC) for empowering women benefiting from the USF ICT for Girls program and support and encouragement for the top three best performing graduates.

She added that this will ensure that the top performing girls from lower strata of the society will continue to pursue technology-based empowerment. She also said that partnership of Huawei will further enhance the effectiveness of projects and will go a long way in socio-economic development of the people of Pakistan.

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Has Donald Trump really been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize?

OSLO: Has Donald Trump really been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize? The Norwegian Nobel Institute said Wednesday it had filed a police report after receiving a seemingly fraudulent nomination for the US president.

“We have good reason to believe that a nomination we received concerning Trump has been falsified,” Nobel Institute director Olav Njolstad told AFP.

He refused to provide further details, saying police were now looking into the matter.

Each year, nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize must be submitted by January 31. Among those entitled to propose names are members of parliament and government, former laureates and some university professors.

While the list of candidates is kept secret for at least 50 years, those who nominate are however allowed to disclose their choice.

The Peace Research Institute of Oslo (Prio) said in early February that Trump’s name was on the list.

Like last year, Trump was nominated for his “ideology of peace through strength” by an American who did not want his identity revealed, according to Prio, a body independent of the Nobel organisation which closely monitors the nominations revealed publicly.

It is possible that this nomination was submitted by a person suspected of committing identity fraud to appear eligible to nominate.

The Nobel Institute said it had received 329 valid nominations for the 2018 Peace Prize. The five members of the Nobel committee that selects the winner are also allowed to submit names during their first meeting of the year, which was held on Monday.

Congolese surgeon Denis Mukwege and Yazidi activist Nadia Murad, who both campaign against sexual violence, topped Prio’s early shortlist.

“Although their experiences and practices differ greatly, there can be no doubt about the potency of their global advocacy work against sexual violence in conflict,” director Henrik Urdal said on the Prio website.

Among the nominations made public so far is the so-called Umbrella Movement which called for democratic reform in Hong Kong in 2014, nominated by a bipartisan group of US congressmen.

Others include former French president Jacques Chirac, as well as the UNHCR, Pope Francis, the European Court of Human Rights, former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, Syria’s “White Helmets” rescue volunteers, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the UN Committee Against Torture, Kurdish peshmarga fighters, and the pro-Palestinian BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Movement.

Last year’s Peace Prize went to nuclear disarmament group ICAN for its decade-long campaign to rid the world of the atomic bomb.

It was a key player in the adoption of a historic nuclear weapons ban treaty, signed by 122 countries in July. However, the accord was largely symbolic as none of the nine known world nuclear powers signed up to it.

The name of the 2018 winner will be announced in early October.

 

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to visit US on March 19

RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to visit the United States from March 19-22, for the first time as heir to the throne, a Saudi government source told AFP on Wednesday.

The much anticipated trip to Washington will follow a visit to Britain on March 7 for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May.

US President Donald Trump hosted Prince Mohammed in March 2017, just weeks after taking office, and he chose Saudi Arabia for his first official overseas visit as president.

Prince Mohammed, who was named heir in June 2017, is also expected to visit France in the coming weeks.

The government source did not comment on Prince Mohammed’s schedule in Washington.

Saudi Arabia has grown close to its longtime ally Washington under Trump, whose harder line on its arch-rival Iran and softer stance on arms sales are a welcome shift in policy for Riyadh.

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Faisal Iqbal talks about giving batting advice to Shahid Afridi

Karachi Kings’ batting coach Faisal Iqbal talked about giving batting advice to the veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi and his overall experience working the biggest franchise of the league.

“We [me and Shahid] know each other for the past 25 years,” he told while speaking to ARY News when asked that Afridi is not a player who takes much advice from coaches. “We have played a lot of cricket together, including cricket at junior and club level,” he added.

“We have very good understanding, we have been together for long time and have discussed cricket throughout, so there is nothing new. I and Shahid are close friends,” Faisal Iqbal added.

When asked about advice given to foreign players such as Joe Denly, he said that players from Australia and South Africa face low-bounce pitches in the sub-continent. However, this is not worrisome as they need minor advice to tweak the pitches to their favour.

“My efforts are according to the situation. These are world-class players and can adjust themselves. They only requires some minor tweaking, and I am thankful for their response,” he said.

Karachi Kings are currently on the top of the league table after three consecutive wins. When asked if they had pulled off too early, Faisal Iqbal said that coach Mickey Arthur is highly experienced and they have a great environment backstage and gelled together.

“I hope how it feels to be in a league like that, when you have really good with the players, management and the owners,” he said adding that Karachi Kings players and management have bonded well together.

When asked how emotional will it be for Karachi Kings to reach the final and play in Karachi, Faisal Iqbal said that he had thinking about it since it was announced that the final will be held there.

He recalled playing several matches in Karachi including his first Test hundred, and his last match there in 2009. Ever since then he has desired for a match to be held there. He said that people of Karachi were excited and are looking forward to the highly anticipated event.

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‘Not afraid of conspirators,’ says Nehal Hashmi upon release from Adiala Jail

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nehal Hashmi on Wednesday released from Adiala prison after completing a one-month sentence handed to him by the Supreme Court (SC) in a contempt of court case, ARY News reported.

Speaking to media outside the jail, the PML-N leader said that he is not afraid of “conspirators” as they can only send him to prison or kill him but cannot stop him from working under their leader Nawaz Sharif.

“I am not ashamed, why should I be ashamed, a thief should be ashamed of himself, he who uses his position for (personal or political) interests should be ashamed of himself… I am a proud Pakistani and will continue my struggle for making Pakistan a country Quaid-e-Azam, Allama Iqbal and my forefathers dreamed of,” said Hashmi who was welcomed by party men and supporters outside the prison.

Hashmi maintained that he was a victim of revenge for he filed an appeal against the apex court’s verdict the very next day it was announced but the appeal has not been heard even after his release.

The PML-N leader claimed that the prison is full on people who were victimised by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as the accountability watchdog  is the “most corrupt institution of Pakistan”.

“Half of country’s looted wealth can be recovered if you (law enforcers) raid house of NAB officials,” said Hashmi.

It is pertinent to note here that Hashmi was punished for he had threatened the Supreme Court’s appointed Joint Investigation Team (JIT) members for interrogating Nawaz Sharif and his family members pertaining to their foreign properties.

The video of threatening speech at an event in Karachi went viral on social media and eventually drew instant reaction from the Supreme Court on May 28, 2017 after Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice of the incident and summoned the former PML-N Karachi chapter leader to appear before the court.

In the video, Hashmi was seen warning opponents and officials of state institutions’ of dire consequences over conducting an investigation in line with the Supreme Court’s Panamagate verdict.

“…Currently you are on service, but tomorrow you will retire and we will make your life miserable,” Hashmi was heard in a video addressing workers at a party event.

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Islamabad, Quetta seek surge in Sharjah

SHARJAH: Former champions Islamabad United and twice runners-up Quetta Gladiators will seek a second win and change of fortunes as the Pakistan Super League 3 shifts to Sharjah on Wednesday.

Quetta lost to Karachi by 19 runs in their first match before pulling off a comfortable nine wicket win against Lahore Qalandars in Dubai and will now look for their second win, while Islamabad lost to Peshawar Zalmi by 34 runs before sneaking a five wicket win over Multan Sultans.

All six teams will complete their three matches today, with Karachi Kings leading the pack with six points in three undefeated matches. Multan Sultans are lurking behind after two wins and one defeat. Peshawar Zalmi has one win in two matches while Lahore Qalandars have lost all their matches in a disappointing campaign.

Islamabad’s fragile batting, restricted to 142-9 by Peshawar will be bolstered by the arrival of South African batsman JP Duminy who took part in team’s practice on Tuesday. Their inspirational captain Misbah-ul-Haq also seems to have recovered from a hamstring problem but will be assessed before the match.

Quetta will also hope their foreign stars Kevin Pietersen, Shane Watson and Rilee Rossouw fire. Watson smashed a quickfire fifty in their second match but Pietersen and Rossouw have yet to fire.

Sharjah will provide a better pitch than Dubai where the pitches were hard to score on. Despite being termed as a smaller ground, the Sharjah stadium will have the same 65 metres boundaries like Dubai, so the notion that it’s a smaller ground is baseless.

Quetta captain Sarfraz Ahmed had hoped the win will give his team more confidence.

“The start was poor but the way we came back was incredible,” said Sarfraz after beating Lahore. “It’s hard to bowl spin against the kind of batsmen they have, but I have a good understanding with KP.

“He helped as well, the way Nawaz came back here was superb, no praise is enough for him. The intent Watson showed was superb, as a team we got a lot of confidence out of this game.”

Islamabad United’s stand in captain Rumman Raees will also hope Misbah returns so that he can fully concentrate on his bowling.

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Indian mobile carrier Aircel files for bankruptcy

MUMBAI: Indian mobile carrier Aircel Ltd has filed for bankruptcy, it said on Wednesday, pressured by a high debt pile and mounting losses following a price war triggered by a telecom upstart.

Talks between Aircel, 74 percent owned by Malaysia’s Maxis Communications Bhd, and Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) to combine their wireless operations ended late 2017 due to regulatory and legal uncertainties, and interventions by various parties.

Aircel, whose debt amounts to 155 billion rupees ($2.38 billion), then tried unsuccessfully to restructure its debt.

“Post-detailed discussions with the financial lenders and shareholders, the company could not reach consensus with respect to restructuring of its debt and funding,” Aircel said in a statement.

Aircel said it had decided to pursue a resolution under the country’s Bankruptcy Code as the “appropriate recourse.”

The entry of Reliance Jio in 2016 with free voice and cut-price data plans forced smaller operators to exit the crowded and competitive telecoms market, while bigger players such as Idea Cellular and Vodafone Group Plc’s Indian unit are merging to stave off competition.

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This Swedish company makes exercise ‘compulsory’ for employees at work

STOCKHOLM: Workers spending their lunch break at the gym may be commonplace in most Western countries, but in Sweden some employers are pushing the idea even further, making on-the-job exercise compulsory.

Every Friday, employees of fashion and sportswear retailer Bjorn Borg leave their desks at the company’s Stockholm headquarters to get their weekly workout at a nearby gym.

There is no getting out of it: for more than two years the company founded by the Swedish tennis legend has made on-the-job exercise mandatory at the initiative of chief executive Henrik Bunge, a 44-year-old built like a wrestler.

“If you don’t want to exercise or be a part of the company culture, you have to go,” says Bunge, without batting an eye. So far no one has quit because of the requirement, he adds.

The main aims of the policy — shared by other firms such as city water company Kalmar Vatten and construction consultancy Rotpartner — are to boost productivity and profitability while fostering camaraderie in the work force.

In 2014, a University of Stockholm study showed that exercising during the workday was advantageous for both employees — who were healthier and more concentrated — and the employer.

The study found there was a 22 percent decline in work absences, not negligible in a country where the average person is on sick leave four percent of the time, twice the European average.

Rosy-cheeked and smiling, the 60 Bjorn Borg employees taking part in this week’s gruelling yoga session head to the changing rooms, their endorphins soaring.

“Most of us think it’s a really good part of the work week,” says employee Cecilia Nissborg.

– Healthy outdoor lifestyle –

Swedes have long been known for their healthy outdoorsy lifestyle. Long walks to pick mushrooms or berries, or just for pleasure, regardless of the weather, are part of their everyday lives.

“In Sweden there’s this idea that you’ll be healthy, strong and happy if you get a lot of exercise, if you spend a lot of time in nature,” says Carl Cederstrom, an economics researcher at Stockholm University and the author of “The Wellness Syndrome”, a critique of the pervasive ideology of wellness.

He notes that it is a common belief in Sweden “that if you exercise and take care of your body, you’re a better person”.

Swedes get more exercise than anyone else in Europe. A 2014 Eurobarometer poll found that 70 percent of Swedes exercised once a week, and 51 percent two to three times a week. At the bottom of the rankings, only 22 percent of Bulgarians exercised once a week.

Swedes also generally see being in shape as a duty to oneself and society, an expectation dating to the 1930s, when a cult of youth, vigour and “social hygiene” flourished, Cederstrom says.

But people also see it as a “responsibility you have to your employer”, he adds.

– ‘Everyone is equal’ at the gym –

Since the late 1980s, most Swedish companies subsidise their employees’ sporting activities — from golf to water aerobics — contributing up to 500 euros ($615) per year, which is tax deductible for the employer.

And some, like at Bjorn Borg, go so far as to organise exercise classes during work time.

Bunge is convinced the workplace he has created has made employees happier and more productive, noting that all the company’s key numbers have gone up since the new regime was introduced.

Mandatory workouts, usually in a group, also have other benefits.

They bring together all the departments of a company, allowing employees to put their work responsibilities aside and get to know each other on an equal footing.

“When we go into the gym, we’re all on the same level. Your place in the company has no importance, everyone is equal,” says Ida Lang, who works in Bjorn Borg’s accounting department.

For Cederstrom, while the search for wellbeing and performance through physical activity is not unique to the Scandinavian country, “Sweden is really extreme when it comes to companies that make exercise on the job mandatory”.

It is a development he finds worrying.

“When you start to think that you’re a better mother or a better father or a better friend if you exercise, you can get to a point where you think that people who don’t live healthily, who are overweight or who smoke, are less good people,” he says.

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Putin says safe World Cup crucial to country’s image

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said a safe World Cup this summer would be essential for the country’s image, as the violence from Russian fans at Euro 2016 shadows preparations.

In a speech to police, Putin said that Russia, which is to host the championship for the first time, “must hold it at the highest level and most importantly, ensure maximum security for players and fans.”

“Of course you play a crucial role in achieving this aim,” Putin told police.

“I don’t doubt that at the World Cup you will also act appropriately in any given situation, in strict accordance with the law.”

He stressed that “the way this event goes and our country’s image will directly depend on your smooth, skilful work.”

The world football governing body FIFA on Friday expressed “complete trust” in Russia’s ability to ensure a safe World Cup, despite violence involving fans of Spartak Moscow in Spain during which a policeman died.

Russia will host the tournament in 11 cities from June 14 to July 15.

The lead-up has been coloured by fears of a repeat of the June 2016 rampage by Russian hooligans that erupted in the French port city of Marseille during the Euro tournament.

However, Russia has cracked down on football gangs and worked to identify hooligans seeking to attend the matches, even enlisting help from British police.

Putin has courted football fans in the past, even visiting the graveside of a Spartak Moscow fan shot dead in a mass fight with men from the Russian Caucasus in December 2010.

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How the blind use clicks to ‘see’: study

PARIS: Just as bats bounce sound waves off objects to find their way in the dark, some blind humans spontaneously make clicking sounds with their mouths to navigate the world, scientists said Wednesday.

Not only that, but they adjust the speed and volume of the clicks when they need to zoom in on a hard-to-place object.

“Even though people have not been ‘designed’ to echolocate, they have adapted their brains extraordinarily well to detect faint echoes and to instinctively adjust emissions as the task changes,” said Lore Thaler of Durham University in the UK, co-author of a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The research team tracked down eight blind people with experience in echolocation for the study.

They placed the “expert echolocators” in a noise-insulated room, then conducted experiments by placing a wooden disk at different angles from the person — straight ahead, at 45, 90, or 135-degree angles to their left, or directly behind them — always at a distance of a metre (3.3 feet).

Standing in one place and without moving their heads, the subjects’ task was to make clicking sounds with their mouths to determine whether the disk was present in the room or not.

At zero, 45 and 90 degree angles, the participants were correct 100 percent of the time, the researchers found.

Their success rate dropped to about 80 percent when the disc was placed at an 135-degree angle, just over their left shoulder.

At 180 degrees, directly behind them, the participants were correct half the time.

– Like bats –

For the larger, more difficult angles, the echolocators “increased the number of clicks they made and the intensity of the clicks,” the team discovered.

“Our results clearly demonstrate that people, just like bats, adjust their emissions to situational demands.”

The team also measured the echoes, and found they were “very faint”.

“Indeed, based on previous research, people would have said that it should have been impossible for them to perceive these echoes,” Thaler told AFP.

The fact that blind people can teach themselves to echolocate had been documented before, he said, but never that they can adjust their sound emissions in sonar-like fashion.

The clicks are made by pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, then quickly pulling the tongue down, creating a vacuum that “pops”.

The sound travels, and bounces from surfaces and objects around the blind person, returning as echoes.

“What we have found is very useful when teaching people echolocation,” said Thaler.

“Now we can tell them, for example, that if they find a task or situation difficult or they find it hard to hear an echo they should consider making the click louder and make some more clicks and this will help them hear the echoes better.”

 

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Imran questions appointment of Sharif as ‘Quaid for life’

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday said there is no such notion of appointing someone as party president for life in a genuine democratic political party.

Talking to press here, the PTI chief said former president Zia-ul-Haq was acceptable to Nawaz Sharif but General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was no good for him.

He commended PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s role and said Nisar maintained his dignity after denying to work under Maryam Nawaz, ousted premier Nawaz Sharif’s daughter.

Khan said the Sharif brothers have been plundering the nation’s wealth through their corrupt practices. “Shehbaz Sharif has spent Rs 9 trillion in last nine year [in his tenure as Chief Minister Punjab],” he claimed.

He went on saying that Sharifs undertaken mega projects to receive heavy kickbacks.

Deploring the passage of anti-accountability bill in the Punjab assembly, Khan said the entire nation condemned the resolution passed against National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

“Are they [Sharif brothers and their ruling party] above the law,” he asked.

He said a new state-of-the-art hospital, Shaukat Khanum Hospital, in Peshawar was built at cost of Rs 4 billion. “Shehbaz must answer where he has invested Rs 9 trillion,” he underlined.

Khan alleged that the brothers have disappeared Faisal Subhan, an official who allegedly confessed that Shehbaz received huge kickbacks in Multan Metro Bus Project. “The truth he revealed [before Chinese regulatory authorities] was his sole crime,” the PTI chief asserted.

Taking a jibe at PML-N lawmakers, he said they should pass a law allowing the Sharifs to take away the money of tax payers abroad.

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Trump son-in-law Kushner loses top security clearance

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner has lost his top-level security clearance, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, a decision with potentially profound implications for the US administration.

Two sources, who could not speak on the record because the status of security clearances is classified, confirmed US media reports that the 37-year-old White House aide will no longer be able to access America’s most closely guarded secrets.

The White House — up to and including the president himself — refused to comment on the record, but officials insisted that the decision would not impact Kushner’s role.

Still, Kushner’s loss of access to “Top Secret/SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information)” data casts serious doubt on his status as a powerbroker inside the White House and his ability to negotiate Middle East peace.

Kushner had been an integral part of Trump’s election campaign and, among White House advisors, is seen as something like a first among equals.

The soft-spoken aide is married to the president’s daughter Ivanka and has been a leading figure in efforts to reach a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.

He has also been a strong proponent of Washington’s intensified support for the government of embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Politico and CNN first reported that his clearance may have been rescinded late last week. The decision comes just days before Netanyahu visits the White House.

Risk of ‘losing credibility’

Former US negotiator Aaron David Miller said Kushner now risks losing “credibility” with interlocutors in the Middle East.

“They know you can’t be reading about them,” he said, and “you can’t possibly know what you don’t know.”

Kushner’s lawyer had earlier admitted that he has not yet completed the formal clearance procedure, despite reportedly getting access to the most secret material contained in the president’s daily briefing — the crown jewels of US intelligence.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly ordered changes to the clearance system after a top aide — Rob Porter — worked for months without full clearance because of allegations he abused both his former wives.

“I will not comment on anybody’s specific security clearance,” Kelly said in a statement.

Kelly has told Kushner he had “full confidence in his ability to continue performing his duties in his foreign policy portfolio, including overseeing our Israeli-Palestinian peace effort and serving as an integral part of our relationship with Mexico.”

“Everyone in the White House is grateful for these valuable contributions to furthering the president’s agenda. There is no truth to any suggestion otherwise,” Kelly added.

Ivanka Trump’s level of security clearance has also been in question. She recently visited South Korea and briefed that country’s president Moon Jae-in on new North Korea sanctions.

For almost any staffer other than Kushner, his future in the White House would now be under serious doubt. He had already been forced to repeatedly revise statements to US intelligence and law enforcement about his contacts with foreign officials and his business interests.

He put himself firmly in the sights of special prosecutor Robert Mueller after secretly meeting Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Sergei Gorkov, a banker with ties to Vladimir Putin, as well as attending a notorious Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer.

Boy wonder

Even before the security clearance news broke, close Kushner advisor Josh Raffel announced he was leaving the White House and Kushner was accused of breaking the “Hatch Act,” which forbids, among other things, White House aides from using their official titles in campaign statements.

Later, The Washington Post reported that at least four foreign governments — China, Israel, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates — had considered how to leverage Kushner’s business and political vulnerabilities.

That sparked several calls from lawmakers for Kushner to step down. Congressman Ruben Gallego asked: “what DOES Jared have to do to get fired?” The answer to that question remains unclear.

Kushner’s clearance downgrade “gives new meaning to the term ‘overdue,'” Senator Richard Blumenthal said on Twitter.

The move “raises questions about his entanglements with countries like China and potential conflicts of interests while he holds significant foreign policy responsibilities at the White House,” Blumenthal said.

Since the first days of this administration, Trump has hinted there was no challenge too confounding, no conflict too intractable for his son-in-law to tackle.

Beyond resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Kushner was handed a to-do list that included solving America’s opioid epidemic, prison reform and injecting the nation’s bureaucracy with entrepreneurial spirit.

In person, Kushner is polite and self-deprecating, offering little of the hubris the president has shown about his abilities.

“Jared’s done an outstanding job. I think he’s been treated very unfairly,” Trump said on Friday.

But Trump also indicated the decision on Kushner’s security clearance would be up to Kelly, saying: “I have no doubt he’ll make the right decision.”

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Many mothers may lack knowledge about child burn risk, treatment

Mothers of young children may be largely unaware of the biggest burn risks to their little ones and even what age group is most likely to get burned, Australian researchers say.

The study team surveyed almost 500 mothers of young kids in Queensland, and just one third knew the top cause of burns to young children while only one in 10 knew how long the correct treatment should be applied.

“Hot beverage scalds are the leading cause of childhood burns in Australia and many other developed countries,” lead author Jacqueline Burgess told Reuters Health in an email.

“In Australia, hot beverage scalds account for 20 percent of all the burns we treat – a figure that has remained constant for the past 15 years,” said Burgess, a researcher at the Center for Children’s Burns and Trauma Research at the University of Queensland in South Brisbane.

About 75 percent of these burns occur in children under the age of 24 months, she added. “Our study was undertaken to address this problem.”

The researchers gathered baseline data in advance of testing an app they developed, called Cool Runnings, which is designed to teach burn safety and first aid. Participants were all adult women with at least one child between 5 and 12 months of age at the start of the study. Roughly half of the women were under age 29 and about 40 percent were first-time mothers.

Researchers scored the participants’ responses on a 19-item questionnaire that measured overall knowledge of burns, first aid for burns and burn risk factors.

Less than half of the women knew that children ages 6 to 24 months are the group most at risk of hot drink scalds, Burgess said.

“This is the age when motor skills are developing, and mobility, curiosity, and a desire to imitate adults are increasing; however, this age group lacks a sense of danger and awareness, and the ability to withdraw from heated objects and liquids,” she said.

Therefore, parents of this age group need to be particularly vigilant when they are preparing and consuming hot drinks that their hot drink is placed out of reach – at the back of the bench, in the middle of the table, not the edge, she noted.

“It is a good idea to keep young children out of the kitchen altogether with a safety gate so children can’t access all the potential hazards found in the kitchen,” Burgess said.

Applying 20-minutes of cool running water to a burn (any type of burn) is the best first aid treatment, resulting in less pain, reduced burn depth, shorter hospital stays and faster healing time, she added.

“This treatment is beneficial up to three hours after the burn occurs. Cool the burn but make sure the child doesn’t get too cold. This treatment is fairly readily available, is free, and is the best treatment you can apply.”

While 94 percent of mothers knew to cool a burn with water only, just 10 percent realized they should do it for a full 20 minutes, the researchers report in Injury Prevention.

The only two factors that seemed to predict whether mothers knew the correct first aid for a burn were training and smoking status – mothers who were smokers tended to score poorly in this category, and mothers who had undergone first aid training in the past 12 months tended to do better than the rest.

The Cool Runnings app was developed to test the efficacy of a smartphone to deliver an injury prevention campaign, Burgess said.

“Specifically, mothers who downloaded the app were able to learn about burn risks and burn first aid by viewing a variety of content – animations, videos and infographics.”

In the trial of the researchers’ app, participants were also rewarded for their engagement with the app. “Each time mothers viewed content, answered pop quizzes, etc., they were awarded points. These points could then be redeemed for tangible prizes such as movie vouchers and supermarket vouchers.”

Burgess and her colleagues plan to publish results of that trial in a separate study. But she noted that mothers who were active on the app showed a significant improvement in burn risk and first aid knowledge at the end of the intervention period. That suggests this method of delivering injury prevention messages is effective in changing participants’ knowledge, Burgess said.

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Futuristic superheroes picked as Tokyo 2020 Olympic mascots

TOKYO: Tokyo on Wednesday unveiled its long-awaited mascot for the 2020 Olympic Games: a futuristic blue-checked, doe-eyed character with pointy ears and “special powers” that was picked by schoolchildren across mascot-mad Japan.

The mascot, which has yet to be named, was selected by elementary school kids from a shortlist of three competitors instantly recognisable as “made in Japan”.

The students picked option “A”, which, according to the Tokyo 2020 organisers, has a “strong sense of justice and is very athletic”.

Helpfully, it also has a magical power that enables it “to move anywhere instantaneously”.

Its Paralympic counterpart sports pink checks derived from Japan’s famous cherry blossom and is “usually calm, however, it gets very powerful when needed”.

Its magic power: “It can talk with stones and the wind. It can also move things by just looking at them”.

The pair, which have “opposite personalities” but are “very good friends”, received over 100,000 votes — more than the other two design sets combined.

Mascots are massive in Japan, the land of Hello Kitty and Pokemon, and there are literally thousands representing everything from small communities to prisons.

Known locally as “yuru-kyara” or “laid-back characters”, mascots can also be major money-spinners.

The pot-bellied, red-cheeked bear known as Kumamon — created in 2010 to promote Japan’s southern Kumamoto region — raked in $8.8 million last year for local businesses selling branded products.

Big business

Twelve-year-old Miyu Kawa from the school where the winner was unveiled on Wednesday pronounced the mascots “unique” and “very cool”.

“I am excited to imagine these characters on display everywhere and moving around,” she said.

But social media reaction was mixed with some saying they wanted something “more round” and more “huggable”.

Several users said the futuristic-looking mascot chosen appealed more to children whereas adults preferred the softer and more traditional options.

Welcoming the “adorable” characters to the Tokyo 2020 team, the city’s governor Yuriko Koike said she hoped the selection would continue to build “momentum” and “excitement” with less than 900 days to go until the opening ceremony.

The Tokyo 2020 mascot will hope to replicate the success of Soohorang, the cuddly stuffed tiger from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang handed out to athletes on the podium.

More than 100,000 stuffed dolls (Soohorang and Paralympic mascot Banbdabi) were sold over the past year, Pyeongchang organisers said.

Soohorang sparked an inadvertent social media frenzy after a volunteer dressed up as the tiger got stuck in a doorway, needing a helper to push him through.

The 2016 Rio Olympics had a yellow feline animal representing Brazil’s rich fauna and wildlife named Vinicius after music great Vinicius de Moraes.

The Paralympic mascot, a predominantly blue and green figure whose head was covered with leaves to represent Brazil’s rich vegetation, was named Tom after musician Tom Jobim.

Brazil netted $300 million in profits from licensing intellectual property from the 2016 Games, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Hit and miss

But Wenlock and Mandeville, the widely mocked mascots of the 2012 London Games, proved far from Olympic gold.

The one-eyed characters were dubbed “bizarre” and “creepy” by some, reportedly sending shares in their manufacturer down by more than a third.

The Rugby World Cup, which takes place in Japan next year, has already unveiled a pair of pot-bellied lions as its mascots.

With luxurious manes, short horns and faces that appear to be shaped like rugby balls, mascots “Ren” and “G” are inspired by “shishi,” the mythical lion-like figure that features in Japan’s new year celebrations and kabuki theatre.

Organisers turned to children to select the 2020 mascot, hoping to avoid a repeat of the bungled roll-out of the official Olympic logo, which ended up having to be scrapped following accusations of plagiarism.

Designer Ryo Taniguchi seemed overwhelmed at the decision.

“Thank you. My mind is going absolutely blank. I don’t know what to say, ” he said when the decision was announced at the ceremony. “I want to tell this to my beloved wife.”

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Sharif blames judges for rising inflation, weak economy

KOT MOMIN: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday for the umpteen time turned his guns on the Supreme Court judges for first ousting him and then disqualifying him as PML-N head.

Addressing a gathering of workers here, Sharif said PML-N candidates for the Senate polls had been deprived of the party symbol of lion, and asked why they were being meted out injustice.

Blasting the judiciary, he said he was first dislodged from the office of the prime minister for not receiving salary from his son and then disqualified from the party presidency.

He said renowned lawyers as well as politicians acknowledged that the court decision was not correct. Even PTI chief Imran Khan himself conceded that the reason on which he was disqualified was weak one, he added.

Amid slogans against the Supreme Court verdicts against him, Sharif said his disqualification mutilated the sanctity of votes.

Those who will not respect votes, people will not respect them, he added.

He said he fulfilled his promises of eradicating load-shedding and terrorism from the country. The economy was suffering and inflation was increasing owing to his disqualification, he claimed.

The PML-N leader said plans were afoot to push Pakistan backwards, but people will not let such machination succeed.

The ruling party was being meted out unfair treatment and this was pre-polling rigging, he claimed and added people will foil all such schemes.

The schemes were being spun to debar him from doing politics, he said.

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Sridevi funeral: Thousands of fans, Bollywood celebrities pay last respects

MUMBAI: Thousands of heartbroken fans as well as top celebrities of the film industry arrived at the residence of later actor as India said farewell to Bollywood legend Sridevi Kapoor following her shock death from accidental drowning in a Dubai hotel bathtub aged just 54.

Some carried roses while others held photos of the late screen icon as they queued patiently to pay their final respects at a condolence service in the western Indian city.

Legends of Hindi cinema, including actresses Aishwarya Rai and Kajol, were among the mourners at the Celebration Sports Club in the Andheri West area of Mumbai — the home of the Bollywood film industry.

Heavy security lined the streets to control the crowds, which included people who had travelled hundreds of kilometres to be there.

Several fans chanted prayers as Sridevi’s body was brought the short distance from her home to the club at 9:00 am.

“It’s a shock to believe that she is no more. We want to pay her one last visit today and thank her for all her wonderful performances,” Nandini Rao, a 32-year-old teacher, told the media.

Sridevi will be cremated at a private Hindu ceremony later on Wednesday.

Sridevi was considered to be one of the most influential Bollywood actresses of all time and her sudden death at the weekend sparked an outpouring of grief in India.

Tributes poured in from fans and fellow actors as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The actress in spotlight

The star of hit films such as “Chandi” and “Mr India” drowned in her bathtub after losing consciousness late Saturday in a hotel in Dubai, where she was attending a wedding.

Police in the emirate said a post-mortem examination found that she had drowned after losing consciousness. On Tuesday they ruled out any foul play and released the body to Sridevi’s family.

It arrived back in Mumbai on a private jet on Tuesday evening, accompanied by her husband, the filmmaker Boney Kapoor, and her stepson, actor Arjun Kapoor.

Sridevi, born Shree Amma Yanger Ayappan in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, appeared in around 300 films and was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, for services to the movie industry.

She made her acting debut at the age of four and her career spanned more than four decades.

Sridevi worked in India’s regional Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam-language films before making her Bollywood debut in 1979.

She became a national icon with a string of blockbuster films including “Mawali” and “Tohfa”.

Sridevi took a 15-year break from the silver screen after marrying Kapoor but returned in the 2012 hit comedy-drama “English Vinglish”. Her most recent film was last year’s “Mom”.

The final sighting 

Sridevi was set to see Jhanvi, the eldest of her two daughters, make her Bollywood debut in a movie scheduled for release later this year.

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James Bond director Lewis Gilbert dies aged 97

LONDON: British filmmaker Lewis Gilbert has died at the age of 97, James Bond producers said of the director famed for his work on three 007 movies.

“It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of our dear friend Lewis Gilbert,” producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said Tuesday, describing the director as “a true gentleman”.

“He made an enormous contribution to the British film industry as well as the Bond films… His films are not only loved by us but are considered classics within the series,” the added.

Gilbert directed Sean Connery in the 1967 “You Only Live Twice”, returning to the British film series a decade later with “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977) and “Moonraker” (1979) starring Roger Moore.

While most well-known for his work on the spy series, Gilbert also directed a young Michael Caine in the 1966 movie “Alfie” which gained four Oscar nominations.

Born in east London in 1920, Gilbert’s first directing credit came in 1945 with “The 10 Year Plan”, a documentary about postwar housing.

After a lengthy career including production and writing roles, his last of 33 directing credits came in 2002 with “Before You Go”.

“The BFI salutes the most prolific of British filmmakers,” said Heather Stewart, creative director of the British Film Institute which had awarded Gilbert a fellowship for outstanding contribution to British film.

Stewart praised the late director for telling stories of British wartime bravery, to creating working class heroes and “funny and real character studies of women” rarely seen on screen.

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Pakistan, US to continue dialogue to improve ties, says FO

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Wednesday said Pakistan and the United States (US) desire to move forward and find common ground for continued cooperation.

At a weekly news briefing, FO spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said the latest visit of senior director at the US National Security Council Lisa Curtis was an indication of this desire.

He said during the visit, both sides expressed the desire to work together to pursue the common objective of stabilizing Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan has always maintained that the only solution of Afghan conflict lies in politically negotiated settlement, which should be Afghan led and Afghan-owned.

He pointed out that military approach of seventeen years has failed to render desired results and increased miseries of Afghan civilians.

To a question about belligerent statements by Indian Army Chief, the spokesman said these reflect the unfortunate jingoistic mindset in India.

He said as a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan exercised restraint but its armed forces are fully capable of responding to any threat.

About development of drone technology by India, he said its use should be consistent with the principles of UN Charter and international human rights law and established norms of a responsible state.

He, however, said development of drone technology by India is worrying in the context of its expanding military capabilities in conventional and non-conventional domains.

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