Pakistan plane crash: 127 feared dead

ISLAMABAD: A Bhoja Airline's Islamabad-bound maiden flight # B4-213 has crashed near Chaklala airbase.

According to sources, a Boeing 737 with 118 passengers and nine crew members on board, which flew from Karachi at 5:00 PM was supposed to land in Islamabad at 6:40 PM, but crashed just before touchdown.

According to sources in Civil Aviation Authority, the flight was given clearance to land but it lost contact with the control tower minutes before the crash reports.

Rescue teams including Pakistan army personnel have rushed to the crash site.

Saifur Rehman, an official from the police rescue team said the plane came down in Hussain Abad village, about three kilometres (two miles) from the main Islamabad highway.

"Fire erupted after the crash. The wreckage is on fire, the plane is completely destroyed. We have come with teams of firefighters and searchlights and more rescuers are coming," Rehman told Geo television.

Rescuers say the plane's wrecked fuselage was ablaze when they arrived at the site with dead bodies and body parts strewn all over the place.

Reportedly Bhoja Airlines had bought this very aircraft from Shaheen Airlines after it was scrpped by the latter for its compromised flight-worthiness.

Ministry of Defence and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have confirmed the reports of crash.

Inclement weather has been held responsible for the crash.

Bhoja Airline officials are yet unavailable for comments.

All hospitals in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been put on high alert after the crash.

In July 2010, an Airbus 321 passenger jet operated by the private airline Airblue crashed into hills overlooking Islamabad while coming in to land after a flight from Karachi, killing 152 people on board.

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Imran vows to bring peace in Balochistan

QUETTA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that rulers were not capable to improve the situation in Balochistan.

Addressing a massive public rally here Friday, Imran Khan said military operation was not the solution of any issue and that the resources of Balochistan should be utilized for the betterment of the province.

Imran questioned about Rs110 billion announced for Balochistan in NFC Award, asking where this money had gone? He said till corrupt rulers were present the money would continue to disappear.

PTI chairman vowed to unite all the segments of Balochistan besides bringing peace there.

Imran also held Nawaz Sharif responsible of prevailing crises, saying that PML-N chief had asked APDM to boycott elections that resulted in severe damage.

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Letter to Swiss officials not doable now

ISLAMABAD: PM’s contempt case Counsel Aitzaz Ahsan Friday said that the prime minister relied on the summary of the ministry of law, which had advised against writing letter to the Swiss officials.

Aitzaz continued his arguments this morning before the Supreme Court seven-member bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk hearing the PM Gilani contempt of court case.

During the hearing, Justice Sarmad Jalal queried whether the prime minister was bound to uphold the summary?

Aitzaz replied no, the prime minister thought that the letter to Swiss officials could not be written at present.

On this occasion, Justice Nasir-ul-Milk remarked that the matter relating to presidential immunity was not at all raised at the stage of review.

Justice Ejaz Afzal remarked that the prime minister has taken a resolute stand against the court order.

Aitzaz Ahsan said that writing letter to Swiss officials meant giving up on presidential immunity and added so long Asif Ali Zardari was the President the letter should not be written.

Justice Gulzar on this occasion queried, “What makes you scary about writing letter”?

Aitzaz replied that he was afraid of disgracing the President of Pakistan.

Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk remarked that if the letter was written, then nothing would happen due to immunity and enquired whether Swiss cases would open on writing letter?

To this Aitzaz replied that writing letter would demean the President.

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Nawaz blames govt, allies for crises

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that besides government, its coalition partners were equally responsible of prevailing crises and peoples’ problems.

This he said while addressing a press conference on the occasion of joining PML-N by former Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) chairman lieutenant General (retd) Abdul Qayyum here Friday.

Presenting defence budget in the parliament is the part of Charter of Democracy (CoD), Nawaz said and added that all the military generals are not like Pervez Musharraf, they follow law and constitution.

On the occasion, Lieutenant General (retd) Abdul Qayyum said PML-N leadership has the ability to steer the country out of crisis.

Opposition leader in the National Assembly Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan was also present.

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South Korean bullfighting for bulls only

CHEONGDO, South Korea: There is no blood, nor much gore. No matador, either, or even his colorful cloak. In South Korea, bull fights bull.

Weighing in at 600 kg to over 800 kg (1,322 to over 1,764 lb), dun-colored Korean Hanwoo bulls clash heads and horns in a sand bullring under the warm sunshine of Cheongdo, a rural town in the hills about two hours from the capital of Seoul.

Once a regular village entertainment in South Korea, bullfighting nearly died out as the nation rapidly industrialized, but festivals like the annual Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival help keep the cherished tradition alive.

"When I wake up, the first thing I do is train my bulls, letting them drag tires. Then, I feed them with nutritious porridge," said Lee Jin-gu, a 59-year old rancher who has trained fighting bulls for seven years.

"I once stayed in the pens, sleeping next to my bulls for a week," said Lee, who had four of his prize Korean bulls fighting their way through to the quarter-finals.

In all, 96 bulls are competing for the title of strongest bull during the festival, held April 18-22, for the top prize of 7 million won ($6,200).

In one bout, last year's champion, "Fighting", clashed with "Ggoltong", which means "Dullard," bellowing as he entered the ring and spectators cheered.

After about three minutes of shoving amid the clattering of horns, billowing dust and shouting fans, their duel was finished. "Fighting" made it through to the next round as his defeated opponent gave way and trotted from the ring.

The festival in its current form has been going on since 1999, although North Gyeongsang province has a history of the sport going back a thousand years.

Traditionally, a bull would have been the prized possession of a well-off Korean farmer.

"I was fearful if our bull lost the fight because my parents would scold me," says Son Mal-jook, 68, who used to take fodder to the creatures when she was a young girl.

Cheongdo says that its bullfights are more humane than those in Spain because the bull is not killed by a matador.

"Spain's bullfight is between man and bull and assumes that men will defeat bulls," said Lee Joong Geun, county executive of Cheongdo. "But Cheongdo's bullfighting is an energetic fight between two bulls."

A carnival atmosphere prevails at the festival with cheerleaders and drummers prancing by the ring and a traditional band playing in a frenzy of gongs, drums and strings. Beer and local beef are sold at snack stands.

One U.S. spectator admitted to being initially bemused by the concept of a clash of the bulls, but appeared to have been won over.

"In the (United) States, I have seen rodeo, bronco riding, bull riding and also roping. But I have never seen two bulls fighting each other before," said Maria Oliveira.

Lee Jin-gu, Fighting's owner, confessed to a deep affection for his animal.

"It is a stronger devotion than parents might have towards their sons and daughters," he said. (Reuters)

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Apple's new iPad goes on sale in S Korea

SEOUL: Hundreds of customers lined up Friday at Apple stores as the new iPad went on sale in tech-savvy South Korea, about one month after it made its international debut.

Four of Apple's stores in Seoul opened early to sell the tablet computer, and there were also queues outside branches in the city of network providers KT and SK Telecom, the two distributors of iPhones and iPads.

First in line at KT was university student Lim Jun-Hong, 21, who slept overnight on the pavement to be the first to get his hands on the tablet.

"Got my new iPad! Hooray!" wrote one Twitter user.

Apple is selling the gadget with WiFi at 620,000 won ($545) to 860,000 won ($755), depending on memory size. The cost is slightly higher for models with both WiFi and 4G.

South Korean users, at least for now, will use 3G instead of 4G. The faster connection speed is currently unavailable locally due to differences in frequencies.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics, Apple's biggest rival worldwide, introduced its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in February last year, only four months after launching the series.

Apple's latest iPad has a more powerful processor and a screen resolution called retina display, which it says is the sharpest ever on a mobile device.

The company said it sold three million over the course of its first weekend on the market last month.

The latest iPad is also going on sale in 10 other countries on Friday and Apple says it plans for the best-selling tablet to be available in more than 50 nations by the end of the month. (AFP)

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Chennai emerge victorious in tight game

CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings held their nerves to win by 13 runs against Pune Warriors to whom they had lost five days ago.

Chasing 165, Pune needed 21 off the last over but they could not manage due to some sharp catching and fierce bowling by Chennai and in the end they were restricted to 151 for seven in the allotted 20 overs.

Main contributors for Pune were Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews (27), West Indies’ Marlon Samuels (26), captain Sourav Ganguly (24) and Australia’s Steven Smith (23).

Sri Lankan Nuwan Kularasekara and West Indian Dwayne Bravo took two wickets each for 10 and 28, respectively.

Earlier, openers Faf du Plessis (58) of South Africa and Subramaniam Badrinath (57) provided a solid start of 116 runs in 15.3 overs to Chennai who batted first after being sent in by Pune. This was the first century opening stand of the tournament.

Captain Mahinder Singh Dhoni also blasted a 12-ball 28 with fours and a six.

For Pune, Marlon Samuels of the West Indies captured three wickets and India’s pacer Ashish Nehra claimed two.

The match was shown live by Geo Super, the first sports tv channel of Pakistan.

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Mr Guitar' Bert Weedon dies at 91

LONDON: British guitarist Bert Weedon, who inspired a generation -- including some of the world's best-known players -- to pick up the string instrument, died at the age of 91 on Friday, a close friend announced.

Nicknamed "Mr Guitar", Weedon, whose "Play In A Day" tutorial books sold millions, was an in-demand session player who backed stars such as Frank Sinatra.

The Beatles' George Harrison, John Lennon as well as Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Queen guitarist Brian May and Pete Townshend of The Who were all among those who started out with Weedon's books. The Shadows also dedicated a song to him.

His friend John Adrian said Weedon died at his home in Beaconsfield, west of London.

"He had been poorly for a while but, even so, this was sudden," he said, adding: "He was one of my dearest friends."

Weedon was born in east London and aged 12 he persuaded his father to buy a battered guitar from a street market.

He started out playing with big bands before embarking on a solo career which saw him notch up hits including "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" and "Nashville Boogie".

The arrival of rock 'n' roll provided him with a new role as a top session man who played with stars including Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Rosemary Clooney and Cliff Richard.

His first "Play In A Day" book was published in 1957.

Clapton once said he had "never met a player of any consequence" who had not learned from the books.

Weedon is survived by his wife and two sons. (AFP)

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Blast kills 10 security forces in Syria

DAMASCUS: A powerful blast killed 10 security force personnel in the southern Syrian region of Quneitra on Friday, state television reported, blaming the explosion on “terrorists”.

“An armed terrorist group exploded a 100-kilogramme (220-pound) bomb in Sahm al-Jolan in the region of Quneitra, killing 10 members of the security forces,” the television said.

Quneitra is located near the border with Israel, in the disputed Golan Heights.

Friday's blast took place as the international community seeks to pressure the Syrian regime to implement a ceasefire that went into effect on April 12. (AFP)

The truce has been severely tested since then, with violence and casualties reported across the strife-torn country every day. More than 120 people have died since April 12, according to a monitoring group.

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KSE ends flat after crossing key barrier

KARACHI: Karachi stocks ended almost flat on Friday, initially buoyed by mid-tier stock buys on hopes of healthy corporate profits but were later dragged down when the index crossed 14,000 points, a key psychological line, dealers said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index closed 0.05 percent, or 7.01 points, higher at 13,936.48.

Volume was 244.2 million shares, compared with 182.59 million shares traded on Thursday.

"The market once again failed to close above 14,000 ... as investors remained cautious," said a dealer.

The KSE-index hit an intra-day high of 14,061.05 points.

Amongst the most active companies, Engro Polymer ended 2.5 percent higher at 13.14 rupees, Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd closed 4.75 percent higher at 13.90 rupees and Jahangir Siddiqui fell 3.66 percent to close at 18.14 rupees. (Reuters)

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