The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the 14-member Pakistan squad for two T20 international matches against England to be played on 19th and 20th February in Dubai.

Shoaib Malik has been named as skipper of the team as Shahid Afridi will not play in the first T20 international match due to two matches ban on him by International Cricket Council. Afridi was banned for two T20 matches due to ball-tampering charges in fifth ODI against Australia.

India's Rohan Bopanna and his partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan has won their maiden ATP title as the Indo-Pak duo clinched the men's doubles title in the South African Open at Johannesburg.

Rohan-Qureshi has defeated Slovakian Karol Beck and Harold Levy of Israel 2-6 6-3 10-5 in the final at the Montecasino Outdoor Arena. The Indo-Pak pair lost the first set but came back strongly in the second set and clinched the match by winning last two sets.

Lahore, Feb. 7  : Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has urged the government to seriously pursue the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who was recently indicted by a US court on terrorism charges, and take concrete step to ensure her safe return to the country.

Speaking during a seminar here, Khan criticised the Gilani government for not doing enough to save Aafia.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief blamed Pakistan’s current leadership for being ‘slaves to the dollar government’.

Peshawar, Feb. 7 : Radio Pakistan has decided to discontinue the Voice of America’s (VOA) Pushto-language programmes following a threat from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The VOA launched its Pushto-language radio station, ‘Deeva Radio’, in 2009, targeting audience in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and other tribal areas.

“The Radio Pakistan central management ended its agreement with the VOA in light of the terror threats and political pressure, as many local listeners went to the (print) media to force the government to cancel the agreement,” The Daily Times quoted a senior producer at Radio Pakistan Peshawar, as saying.

Rawalpindi, Feb. 7 : A four member UN team probing former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination has arrived here to carry forward the inquiry.

The UN officials, who arrived late on Saturday, included officials Wright Voranic, Fujiwara, Mersky and Pradhan Summar. The commission members are expected to resume their work on Monday.

Strict security arrangements have been made for the UN inquiry commission, The Dawn reports.

Peshawar, Feb. 7 : Pakistan’s Islamist political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), has blamed both the controversial private US security firm, Blackwater, and Indian intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for the continuous violence in Karachi.

JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq said both the Blackwater and the RAW were responsible for the wave of target killing in the country’s financial capital.

Addressing a press conference here, Haq said : “Like Kashmir is the backbone of Pakistan; similarly, Karachi plays the role of backbone in the country’s economy.”

Islamabad, Feb. 7 : Denouncing the Taliban for Wednesday’s suicide attack in Lower Dir, in which three US soldiers were killed along with nine others, including four girl students, a senior North West Frontier Province
(NWFP) has said that doors for peace talks with the banned extremists group has been closed following the attack.

“The doors of negotiation have closed for the Taliban and there will be no talks with them as they are still killing innocent people,” Bashir Ahmad Bilour said.

Karachi, Feb. 7 : Pakistan has announced its 18-man squad for the Hockey World Cup, which is scheduled to begin in New Delhi on February 28.

The selectors have tried to blend in a perfect mix of youth and experience in the team for the coveted tournament in which Pakistan shares the group with countries like India and Australia.

Coach Shahid Ali Khan expressed confidence in the team, saying it would give other teams of the group a run for their money in the tournament, which would conclude on March 13.

Lahore, Feb. 7 : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt dropped another bombshell on board’s director general Javed Miandad saying that the former captain was paid 8.4 million rupees for a week’s work in an year.

“Miandad has cost the board 8.4 million rupees for just seven days of work,” Butt said during a function at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Butt also accused Miandad of violating the board’s code of conduct.

It may be noted that days ago Butt had said that Miandad was being paid 7.5 lacs, and if his other expenditures were to be included, he was costing the board almost 10,00,000 rupees.

Dubai's Pearl Continental Creek Hotel and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have joined hands for offering discounted travels and stay packages in the richest city of the World. PIA hopes rise in number of people using its services for visiting the Gulf region in the largest Dubai Shopping Festival.

A large number of people from across the globe turn up in the mega shopping festivals, started in 1996, for purchasing things at very lucrative prices. Around 3.35 million visitors visited the festival last year spending around Dh9.8 billion.

The death of Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban — or Pakistan’s Taliban — was confirmed on Sunday by state-run Pakistan Television (PTV).

But no official agency endorsed the news while the Taliban leadership denied it.

PTV said Mehsud had been injured in a suspected US drone attack, and that his death was confirmed. He has already been buried in his second wife’s natal village, it said.

Australian team has clean sweep Pakistan 5-0 after defeating Pakistan by 2 wickets in the last one day international match of the five ODI matches series at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground in Perth on Sunday.

Chasing the target of 213 runs, Australian team got a bad start as they lost their three wickets for just 73 runs on the board but Mike Hussey played a brilliant unbeaten inning of 40 runs to sail his team to victory in 49.2 overs.

Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has won the toss and elected to bat first in the last one day international match of the five ODI matches series against Australia at Western Australia Cricket Association Ground in Perth on Sunday.

Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yusuf has pulled out from this match due to knee injury and Afridi is leading Pakistan team for the first time in one day internationals. Kamran Akmal and Saeed Ajmal have been dropped from the Pakistan squad.

Pakistan, which once sponsored Taliban forces but turned against them under American pressure in 2001, now hopes to play a role as a broker in proposed negotiations among Taliban leaders and the Afghan government, with support from the US.

As leaders of 60 countries meet in London on Thursday to discuss how to help Afghanistan stop its downward spiral into instability, the possibilities for reconciliation and talks with both Taliban leaders and foot soldiers will top the agenda.

The backward Fatehjang tehsil in the Attock district of Pakistan is famous for three things — pathar (stones), jhakkar (high winds) and Gheba sardars (a caste of landlords). It could soon become known for being the home of Hammad Azam, a talented young cricketer who piloted Pakistan into the final of the Under-19 World Cup.

On a sunny summer's day, Pakistan got into a tangle chasing a comfortable 213 against the West Indies in the first semifinal.

The Congress condemned a statement made by the Pakistan Foreign Office that described as “immature” the remarks of External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna that any future terror attack on India could impact bilateral ties.

“Such statements by Pakistan’s Foreign office is an obstacle to good relations between the two countries. We condemn the statement,” spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said on Monday.

Lahore, Jan 23 : The Pakistani government Saturday barred the chief election commissioner (CEC) and the panel's secretary from visiting India to protest the snubbing of the country's cricketers at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

The CEC, Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza, and panel secretary Ishtiak Ahmad Khan were about to leave for New Delhi at 2.30 a. m. when they were stopped by the government at Lahore Airport, Online news agency reported, quoting official sources.

Australian team has taken 1-0 lead against Pakistan in five one day international matches series after winning the first ODI by five wickets at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba in Brisbane on Friday.

Pakistan skipper won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan team returned to pavilion with 274 runs on the board in 49.4 overs. Salman Butt was the top scorer for Pakistan while Shahid Afridi smashed 48 runs in just 26 balls including three towering sixes.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will decide its future course of action on the IPL snub after meeting Pakistan Sports Minister Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani in Lahore on Friday.

Jakhrani, who had termed the IPL-III auction as “humiliating” and “discriminatory”, will be briefed on the PCB’s business plans along with the steps the board is mulling over after the their cricketers went unsold in the Indian Premier League auction.

“Mr Jakhrani has already expressed his grievance to his Indian counterpart and will discuss all the pros and cons when he meets the PCB officials in Lahore on Friday,” said Faik Ali, Pakistan sports ministry spokesman.

Union External Affairs Minister SM Krishna spoke to Jayanth Jacob on relations with Pakistan and China.

What concrete step does India wants Pakistan to take so that a meaningful dialogue, stalled after 26/11, can begin?

All India wants and expects from Pakistan is this: Based on the six dossiers we handed over to them on the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan must go for a full-steam, serious and focused investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. That will suffice. The rest can be left for the judicial process.

There are some civil society initiatives between the two sides?