Unblocking YouTube only way to end proxy war: Nawaz Sharif

Islamabad – Staff Report: Pakistan Prime Minister Dr Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif believes that unblocking YouTube is the only way Pakistan can stop being a part of the ongoing proxy war. Nawaz was addressing a press conference where he was supposed to discuss the Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud’s visit to Pakistan and the changing foreign policy in Syria.

“His highness the crown prince told me that they are planning on continuing to use us for the proxy war, and I told him clearly that we are having none of it. We are sick of fighting over which proxy to use to unblock YouTube, and we want to put an end to this proxy war,” the prime minister said.

Further discussing Pakistan’s defiance against the Saudis, Nawaz said, “I mean sure we’ll send troops to Syria. We know it for a fact that our war in North Waziristan is America’s war, while Saudi’s war in Syria is ours. But that doesn’t mean I will compromise on YouTube.”

Nawaz then elaborated how despite the ban on YouTube Pakistan continues to be one of the top countries as far as YouTube visits are concerned but the ranking was continuously affected owing to the proxy war. “Clearly our youth’s quest of making Pakistan the number one country as far as visits to YouTube are concerned, is being affected by the proxy war. I know Pakistan has for long been the hub of proxy wars, but I’m planning to change that,” Nawaz said, adding, “I will work on it as soon as our troops are delivered to Syria and Saudis get their 100,000 acres near FATA.”

The prime minister was visibly upbeat about what he dubbed a “new sense of sovereignty in Pakistan” and believed that by setting its priorities right and putting itself ahead of the interests of global powers, Pakistan would finally find its feet in the international arena. “If anyone believes they can tell me when and how I can watch Lady Gaga’s latest videos on YouTube, they’re in for a rude awakening,” Nawaz concluded.

TTP wins best non-state actor award at Oscars

Los Angeles – Taliban & Hollywood Correspondents: Pakistani star Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) won the best non-state actor Oscar for their brilliant portrayal of Islamists who want to take over Pakistan in “The Wolf of Food Street”. The actor, who previously won an Oscar for playing the role of freedom fighters in “The American Duty” was the outright favourite to pocket the golden statuette this year by vanquishing all awards in the lead-up to the Academy Awards – SAG, the Critics Choice and of course the prestigious Golden Globes awards.

There were apprehensions that the pendulum that the ongoing talks between Pakistani government and the TTP are may hurt the actor at the Oscars but TTP successfully managed to overcome the odds. There also happened to be mystery shrouding TTP’s acceptance speech since many were speculating that it might steer clear of mentioning their godfathers in the acceptance speech, but Mullah Fazlullah, accepting the award on the behalf of the TTP was pretty clear about who needed to be thanked.

“We would like to thank the government of Pakistan for the opportunity to manifest our skills and for always believing in us. We are not sure if anyone else would have given us the chance… Definitely not the number of chances this government has given us,” Fazlullah said.

He also thanked Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan for their moral support and Imran Khan for bringing their exploits into the mainstream and helping them garner popularity. “Thank you, Immi! You’ve made Islamist fundamentalism sexy. We owe you one,” Fazlullah concluded.

Misbah deserves a plot in Bahria Town as well: Moin Khan

Dhaka – Sports Correspondent: Following Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz’s announcement that Shahid Afridi would be given a plot for his match winning performance against India, national team’s coach Moin Khan has stated that captain Misbahul Haq deserves one as well. Talking to Khabaristan Today on Wednesday as the team practised for the Asia Cup final, Moin said that two mistimed slogs shouldn’t be the criteria for awarding a plot.

“Shahid is definitely a match winner. He normally wins us the match he bothers to perform in, which happens biannually. And of course his performance at the death against India was the differential, but is that really the criterion for awarding plots in Bahria? A couple of mistimed slogs, really?” Moin asked.

He further questioned Riaz’s judgment by saying, “How about those that perform regularly, and have been crucial in the team’s rebuilding process? Why don’t they get any plots? Why does a man who shouldn’t have been in the team in the first place gets one, and the man who works day in, day out for the betterment of Pakistan cricket, gets nothing?”

“Misbah should have been awarded a plot in Bahria Town long ago. He deserves it,” Moin concluded.

Regular Twitter user continues to believe he’s expert on Ukraine

Twitteristan – Ukraine Correspondent: Pakistani Twitter user with thousands of followers continues to believe that he knows exactly what is happening in Ukraine and why it is happening, condescending sources told Khabaristan Today. The said man, with 5,671 Twitter followers at the time of writing, thinks that by retweeting a few tweets about Ukraine, and skimming through a couple of articles he can now form an opinion on the crisis and give suggestions on how to solve the problem.

Despite constant self-reminders that he might not be qualified enough to give verdicts, the man’s self-belief remains unwavering. “Well, you don’t really know what you’re talking about, but this tweet will get RTed, baby,” the man told himself during his tweetfest as he upped the ante on #Ukraine and #Twitter hashtags.

“Oh yes, it will,” the man replied to himse

Mystery Premier League club fail in big-money Sergio Ramos bid

The Spain international has two years left on his current contract and an unnamed English club recently tried to take advantage by approaching his agent with a mammoth offer

An unnamed Premier League club recently failed with a big-money move for Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, according to the player's agent.

Ramos has two years left on his current contract at the Santiago Bernabeu and, as yet, there have been no talks over a renewel.

And Rene Ramos, the centre-back's brother and representative, says that he rejected an approach from England in recent months.

"Out of respect to the club I will only say that they are English,"he told Marca. 

"The offers are very, very big in economical terms, but we are at the club we want to be at. The best in the world. 

"So, more than once, I had to say “Thanks very much for your interest, but no”. I reiterate, right now, leaving Real Madrid is a non-starter."

Rene Ramos is also calm about the prospect of a new deal for his brother, saying the Madrid president will make an offer when he sees fit: "I don’t decide that, it’s not my decision," he added.

"Florentino Perez would have to answer that. They are two years left, [Perez] will call when the time is right and when that happens I’ll be there, like before. But I’ve never asked for a renewal."

Sidhhart dating with Virat kholi ex-GF??

She was first 'spotted' with cricketer Virat Kohli, sparking rumours of a romance. 

Then, Brazilian model Izabelle Leite was linked to her upcoming film's co-star, Tanuj Virwani (Rati Agnihotri's son).

On Wednesday (March 5), HT Cafe's shutterbug spotted Izabelle again, with Sidharth Malhotra, leaving a Bandra restaurant.

Apparently, Izabelle tried hard to hide her face from the photographers gathered there. "It was a surprise to see so many photographers. I wasn't expecting it," says the model-turned-actor, who made her acting debut in Sixteen (2013).

Although there are rumours that Sidharth and Izabelle have been dating for three months now, she remains non-committal. "I have known Sidharth for some time, but we are just good friends," she says.

And what about rumours that she might join him in Mauritius, where he is shooting for his new film? "I am not going. I have my next film (Purani Jeans) to promote. So there's no question of that," she says. Sidharth, on the other hand, remained unavailable for comment.

Trade figures: China posts unexpected trade deficit

Exports fell 18.1% to $114.10 billion, while imports were up 10.1% to $137.08 billion. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

BEIJING: 

China recorded an unexpected trade deficit of $22.98 billion in February, official figures showed Saturday, with authorities blaming the country’s holiday season for the weak performance. The figure compared with a surplus of $14.8 billion in the same month last year, and a median forecast of an $11.9 billion surplus in a poll of 13 economists by Dow Jones Newswires.

Exports fell 18.1% to $114.10 billion, while imports were up 10.1% to $137.08 billion during the month, which included most of the Lunar New Year holiday, the General Administration of Customs said.

“The Spring Festival factor caused sharp fluctuations in the monthly growth rate as well as the monthly deficit,” Customs said in a statement accompanying the data. Chinese traders followed their “business habit” of bringing forward exports ahead of the holiday, and focusing on imports immediately afterwards, it added.

Analysts played down the deficit − China’s first in 11 months − saying improving foreign demand bodes well for the country’s trade this year. “Generally we are rather optimistic about this year’s trade outlook,” Zhou Hao, a Shanghai-based economist with ANZ said.

The surprise deficit was probably a result of government efforts to curb speculative capital inflows aiming to profit from the appreciation of China’s yuan currency, he said.

Early last year unusual swings in trade figures were seen as driven by over-invoicing by exporters and importers in a bid to disguise capital flows, a practice the government is believed to have cracked down on later

Getting better: US job creation picks up in February

The figure was still below the 200,000-plus level that would erase doubts about the economy’s strength. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID

WASHINGTON: 

US job creation picked up pace in February after harsh weather depressed the numbers for two months, somewhat alleviating worries that economic growth had sputtered out during the winter.

The economy generated 175,000 jobs last month, better than most analysts had expected given the persistence of severe storms, the labour department said Friday.

The figure, which came after a series of poor indicators that had led economists to cut their forecasts, was still below the 200,000-plus level that would erase doubts about the economy’s strength.

Coupled with an upward revision to the December and January figures that added another 25,000 jobs to the picture, the February achievement allowed many to believe that the main problem has been the extraordinarily cold and icy storms that have pummeled the eastern half of the US for months.

Trying to uncover: Identity of Bitcoin creator remains mystery

Newsweek had identified 64-year-old Japanese-American engineer Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto as the creator of Bitcoin. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

WASHINGTON: 

The world was a little closer to knowing for sure who invented Bitcoin on Friday, despite Newsweek’s claim to have unmasked the enigmatic ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ behind the computer-coded currency.

The magazine relaunched its print version with an ostensibly huge scoop, identifying the 64-year-old Japanese-American engineer Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto as the creator.

But the mystery remained after the apparently retired model train enthusiast from suburban Los Angeles asked a reporter to buy him lunch and then denied he was the Nakamoto of legend.

“I’m not involved in Bitcoin,” he told the AP reporter.

Hours later, raising more doubts about the Newsweek report, a web forum where ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ used to share his ideas for the virtual currency and the computing structure behind it unexpectedly received a curt message on the same Nakamoto account.

“I am not Dorian Nakamoto,” the message on the P2P Foundation members discussion board said.

But neither denial quite settled the matter. There is still some mystery about Dorian S Nakamoto himself.

And Joseph Davies-Coates, who established the P2P discussion board, said that while the source of the second denial could easily be the original Satoshi Nakamoto, there was no way to prove that.

Critics bashed Newsweek for making a compelling but not definitive link between Bitcoin and Dorian Nakamoto, and still publishing his picture and one of his home, while writing that he is worth at least $400 million in unspent Bitcoin.

PTCL assets: Two dozen properties cannot be transferred to Etisalat

The government has proposed that PTCL should withhold only 26% of the value of these two-dozen properties, as the country holds majority shares. CREATIVE COMMONS

ISLAMABAD: After years of struggle, Pakistan has finally decided to settle the dispute with Etisalat –the buyer of 26% shares in Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) – over $800 million outstanding payments by forgoing an amount equal to the value of those properties that it cannot transfer in the name of the company.

After holding a number of meetings over the last many months, Finance and Privatisation Minister Ishaq Dar and his team have reached the conclusion that out of the remaining 63 properties, two dozen of them can never be transferred in the name of PTCL, according to sources in the Ministry of Finance.

During a review meeting held in the finance ministry this week, the government agreed that there were two dozen properties that had changed many hands in the past decades and could not be transferred, the sources said.

These properties were in addition to those that were in litigation. The properties that are in litigation can be transferred once court cases are settled, according to officials of the finance ministry.

Pakistan has now proposed that Etisalat should give a minimum guaranteed amount in the next two months. The officials did not disclose the percentage of the amount but said it was much more than half the total of $800 million.

Etisalat’s board would meet by the middle of this month and consider Pakistan’s proposal to find a solution to the seven-year-old dispute, the sources said.

The government has proposed that PTCL should withhold only 26% of the value of these two-dozen properties, as the country holds majority shares.

Etisalat had placed a $2.6 billion bid for 26% shares in PTCL in 2006, which was about a billion dollar higher than the second highest bid, prompting the company to review its decision.

In order to keep the bid intact, the then government added a new clause to the agreement to transfer all PTCL properties in PTCL’s name. There were about 3,400 properties and all but 131 had been transferred.

In the last seven months, the PML-N government transferred another 68 properties while the handover of remaining properties was also in progress. It went to the extent of bearing the cost on account of property taxes and other fee.

The federal government has added $800 million to this fiscal year’s budgetary and foreign currency reserves’ projections and wanted to get any amount out of it before the close of the year.

While the government expects that it will soon reach an agreement with Etisalat, the dispute is not likely to be resolved in the foreseeable future. According to the PTCL sale agreement, in case of dispute over the value of the property, the highest valuation will be considered as the final price.

Both the parties will present their evaluations, according to Muhammad Zubair, Chairman of the Privatisation Commission with the status of Minister of State. For Zubair, agreeing to principles is more important than the numbers.

The government wanted to reach a conclusion in one to two months and was moving on a crash course basis with the help of provinces, said Zubair while talking to The Express Tribune. He said the commission was in contact with the provinces for early transfer of properties