PARIS: Frivolity and fur erupted on the sidelines of the Cannes film festival on Friday, as a fluffy white dog named Smurf was bestowed the prestigious “Palm Dog” award for a performance deemed “magnifique” by the event’s organizer.

Staff Report

DIR: A teacher tortured a fifth class student, breaking his hand in upper Dir area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.

The student was shifted to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital for treatment.

Parents of the 12 year old child told media that he was tortured over making a noise in the class.

The student said that he was tortured without any reason. SAMAA

卡拉奇: Pakistan’s central bank said it would buy government paper from commercial banks on Friday in seven-day reverse repo to inject funds into the money market.

The State Bank of Pakistan did not say how much money it would inject through the open market operation.

The result of the auction will be announced at 1030 a.m. (0530 GMT) and settlement will be later in the day.

Click on for the auction’s result. AGENCIES

NOTTINGHAM: England pacemen James Anderson and Stuart Broad both took two wickets before lunch to dampen West Indies’ hopes of cashing in on ideal batting conditions on the first day of the second test on Friday as the tourists reached 84 for four.

West Indies skipper Darren Sammy’s decision to bat after winning the toss seemed logical as blazing sunshine and warm temperatures greeted the players at Trent Bridge but his side failed to cash in.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul was once again left with the job of trying to hold together the West Indies innings, moving to 19 at lunch with Marlon Samuels unbeaten on 14.

Stuart Broad, who claimed 11 victims as England won the first test at Lord’s by five wickets, struck in his second over.

Opener Adrian Barath had yet to score when he was tempted into a prod outside off stump and the ball flew off the edge to Anderson for a one-handed catch at third slip.

Anderson then took centre stage, removing Kirk Edwards for seven with a delivery that jagged back off a length to rock back Edwards’s off stump.

Bowling a good line and length on a slowish pitch offering a little swing and seam movement, Anderson was a constant menace to the West Indies batsmen who never looked at ease.

Switching to round the wicket in the 15th over he angled in a delivery to Darren Bravo which produced a lazy, loose drive from the batsman and the ball flew to Graham Swann at second slip to leave West Indies on 46 for three.

That wicket brought Chanderpaul to the wicket much earlier than he would have liked and the world’s No.1 ranked batsman was almost out first ball when Anderson’s lifting delivery hit the batsman’s gloves and flew just over the slip cordon.

Opener Kieran Powell had looked reasonably assured as he reached 33 but he became Broad’s second victim of the morning in the 19th over, edging a good-length ball to his strike partner Anderson at third slip who held on despite a fumble.

First-change bowler Tim Bresnan thought he had got in on the act when Samuels was given out lbw but a review showed that the ball was passing over the stumps.

The tourists made two changes from the side that lost at Lord’s, off-spinner Shane Shillingford and seamer Ravi Rampaul coming in for the injured Shannon Gabriel and the dropped Fidel Edwards. 英格兰, looking to take a winning lead in the three-match series, named an unchanged team. AGENCIES

孟买: No other tale is as familiar to me as the Mahabharat. Whether it was stories heard in my childhood, animated books that were gifted, or watching B. R. Chopra’s television series over Sunday breakfast, this epic is ingrained in the psyche.

Which is why, when a movie about Arjun comes along, one looks forward to the opportunity to relive some of those stories. Directed by Arnab Chaudhuri, “Arjun – The Warrior Prince” tells the story of the Mahabharat from the point of view of Arjun, the third of the Pandava brothers.

The film is told largely in flashback, and begins with the “eye of the bird” story — where Arjun tells his tutor Dronacharya that he can only see the eye of the bird he is to shoot, while his brothers and cousins describe the trees around and the colour of the bird’s feathers.

The film establishes Arjun’s sense of purpose and his skills even before the titles, but then seems to run out of things to say. The plot meanders along, and skips several important events in Arjun’s life, including Draupadi’s disrobing scene, and his relationship with Lord Krishna.

As a result, “Arjun – The Warrior Prince” appears disjointed, and given that this is a familiar story, one may feel a bit cheated.

The animation in the film is good, but certainly not at par with Disney films internationally, which is made even more obvious by the promo of the new Pixar film “Brave” screened just before the film.

Some scenes, such as the one in which Arjun aims for the eye of a fish by looking at its reflection in the water are well done.

As audiences, we are inclined to think that animation means “cartoon films” and automatically assume they are films for children. That is not always so. The language in “Arjun” is archaic and uses long-winded Hindi words, which children will be at a loss to understand.

As it stands, “Arjun – The Warrior Prince” is a decent effort, one that could have been made tighter with better direction and a less disjointed script. AGENCIES

Staff Report

HYDERABAD: Awami Tehrik (AT) President Ayaz Latif Palijo has termed the bus firing incident at Qazi Ahmed as a deep conspiracy, SAMAA reported Friday.

Palijo also contacted with Awami National Party (ANP) and Punjabi Pakhtun Ittehad (PPI) to foil the conspiracy.

The elements creating conspiracy want only hatred and bloodshed, Palijo said.

Other nationalists also condemned the incident. Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi said that all communities living in Sindh are brothers to each other.

Sindh United Party chief Jalal Mehmood Shah said that the anti-Sindh elements want to create unrest in the province.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) key leader Ghous Ali Shah said that the people of Sindh do not hate anyone.

It should be mentioned here that the ill-fated As-Sanabor bus left from its terminal located near Sea Breeze Plaza, Karachi at 7am for Abbottabad. When it was passing through Qazi Ahmed, six gunmen opened indiscriminate fire at the bus, killing eight people including driver Haji Abdul Ghaffar and injuring three others, according to DIG Sanaullah Abbasi.

The injured and bodies were shifted to nearby Civil Hospital of Qazi Ahmed. The bereaved families are yet to leave for the hospital from Karachi.

According to eyewitnesses, two passengers ascended the bus from Sakrand who pointed gun at the driver as the bus was approaching Qazi Ahmed. They also allowed some people to get down the bus and soon afterwards, opened reckless fire at the panicked passengers.

Kamran Minhas, Spokesman of Air-Condition Coach Service Association said the police officials are trying to paint this terror incident as a dacoity.

Meantime, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah took notice of the incident and directed the police officials to submit report on the incident forthwith. SAMAA

MEXICO CITY: A mother in Mexico has been arrested on suspicion of gouging out the eyes of her 5-year-old son during a ceremony.

Police said on Thursday they had arrested seven people, including the boy’s parents, after his eyeballs were pulled out during the ritual in Nezahualcoyotl, a working-class neighborhood on the eastern flank of Mexico City.

“There was some kind of ceremony inside a house,” said Laura Uribe, a spokeswoman for state prosecutors in the State of Mexico, a populous region that borders much of the capital.

She did not give details of what the ritual involved.

The mother is believed to have removed the eyes with her bare hands because the boy refused to close them during the ceremony, police told a news conference.

Officers found the mutilated boy in the house on Thursday morning, before rushing him to a hospital in Mexico City for treatment. AGENCIES

华盛顿: 中美. senators scandalized by Pakistan’s jailing of a doctor for helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden voted on Thursday to cut aid to Islamabad by $33 百万 — one million for each year in the doctor’s sentence.

“It’s arbitrary, but the hope is that Pakistan will realize we are serious,” said Senator Richard Durbin after the unanimous 30-0 vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“It’s outrageous that they (the Pakistanis) would say a man who helped us find Osama bin Laden is a traitor,” said Durbin, the Senate’s number two Democrat.

Pakistan’s jailing of Dr Shakil Afridi for 33 years on treason charges was also criticized by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called it “unjust and unwarranted”.

“The United States does not believe there is any basis for holding Dr. (Shakil) Afridi,” Clinton said, vowing to continue to press the case with Islamabad.

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s action docking Pakistan’s aid came after a subcommittee earlier in the week slashed assistance to Islamabad — and warned it would withhold even more cash if Pakistan does not reopen supply routes for NATO soldiers in neighboring Afghanistan.

Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign, in which he collected DNA samples, that is believed to have helped the American intelligence agency track down bin Laden in a Pakistani town last year.

The al Qaeda leader was killed in the town of Abbottabad a year ago in a unilateral U.S. special forces raid that heavily damaged ties between Islamabad and Washington. Since then, there have been growing calls in the U.S. Congress to cut off some or all of U.S. aid.

Pakistan has been one of the leading recipients of U.S. foreign aid in recent years. Even after the cuts voted this week it still would receive about $1 billion in fiscal 2013, if the full Senate and House of Representatives approve. AGENCIES

新华社开罗: When he joined the race for Egypt’s presidency just five weeks ago, Mohamed Mursi was mocked as the Muslim Brotherhood’s uncharismatic “spare tyre” after its first-choice candidate was disqualified.

But the 60-year-old engineer came first in the opening round, according to a Brotherhood tally after most votes were counted, thanks to a campaign that showed off the unequalled political muscle of Egypt’s oldest Islamist movement.

The run-off on June 16 和 17 with second-placed Ahmed Shafiq, who served as deposed leader Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, gives Egyptians a stark choice between a military man linked to the past and an Islamist whose conservative message appeals to some and alarms others in this nation of 82 million.

A Brotherhood official said that with votes counted from about 12,800 of the roughly 13,100 polling stations, Mursi had 25 percent, Shafiq 23 percent, a rival Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh 20 percent and leftist Hamdeen Sabahy 19 percent.

Calling himself the only authentic Islamist in the race, Mursi has targeted devout voters whose support helped the Brotherhood and the ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamist movement to secure 70 percent of parliament seats earlier this year.

He has promised to implement Islamic sharia during rallies peppered with references to the Koran, God and the Prophet Mohammad and occasionally interrupted by pauses for mass prayer.

But he has seldom spelt out what that would mean for Egypt, where piety runs deep and the constitution already defines the principles of Islamic law as the main source of legislation.

Mursi has called for a review of Cairo’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel, saying Egypt’s neighbour has not respected the agreement, a line mirroring that of most of the other candidates in the race. The group has said it will not tear up the deal.

“We will take a serious step towards a better future, God willing,” Mursi said at his final campaign rally on Sunday, promising to combat any corrupt hangers-on from Mubarak’s era.

“If they take a step to take us backwards, to forge the will (of the people) and fiddle with security, we know who they are,” he said. “We will throw them in the rubbish bin of history.”

Mursi has cast himself as a reluctant latecomer to the election who is running for the sake of the nation and God.

EMPHASIS ON SHARIA

A stocky, bespectacled man with a grey-white beard, Mursi has traveled across Egypt promoting the Brotherhood’s “renaissance project” – an 80-page manifesto based on what it terms its “centrist understanding” of Islam.

His success has dismayed non-Islamists, not least Christians who make up about a tenth of the population, unconvinced by promises that freedoms will be safe in a Brotherhood-led Egypt.

“It was for the sake of the Islamic sharia that men were … thrown into prison. Their blood and existence rests on our shoulders now,” Mursi said during one campaign rally.

“We will work together to realise their dream of implementing sharia,” said the Brotherhood contender, who himself spent time in jail under Mubarak.

Mursi, who obtained his doctorate from the United States, is a long-serving, influential figure in the Brotherhood, a movement outlawed under Mubarak but which won close to half of the seats in parliamentary elections held after his overthrow.

Mursi ran only after the electoral commission barred Khairat al-Shater, the Brotherhood’s preferred candidate, in April.

Like other Islamist contenders, Mursi has courted the ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamist movement, which has emerged in the past year to challenge the Brotherhood’s dominance.

The Nour Party, a Salafi group that won more than a fifth of the seats in the parliamentary vote, endorsed Mursi’s main Islamist rival, Abol Fotouh, who parted ways with the Brotherhood last year and cast himself as a moderate.

In a gesture to Gama’a al-Islamiya, another Salafi group, Mursi has pledged to work for the release of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, a militant preacher imprisoned in the United States in the 1990s for plotting attacks in New York.

Abdel-Rahman is the spiritual leader of Gama’a al-Islamiya, which was involved in the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat but renounced violence in 1997. The group has entered mainstream politics since Mubarak was toppled.

Another cleric, the independent Safwat el-Hegazi, added a radical flavour to Mursi’s campaign, taking to the stage at his events to call for a Muslim super-state with Jerusalem as its capital and drawing enthusiastic chants from the crowds.

RURAL CHILDHOOD

Mursi’s own speech-making style is stiff and formal. Critics say he lacks the charisma of some of his rivals. Other Brotherhood leaders, Shater among them, have appeared alongside Mursi at campaign events, reinforcing the impression this is a presidential bid by a movement, not an individual.

The son of a peasant, Mursi has spoken of a simple childhood in a village in the Nile Delta province of Sharqia, recalling how his mother taught him prayer and the Koran.

He studied engineering at Cairo University and in 1978 went to California to complete his studies. He returned to Egypt in 1985. Two of his five children hold U.S. citizenship.

Helmi el-Gazzar, a Brotherhood MP who has known Mursi for years, describes him as a scientific character with an analytical mind. “He was an indefatigable man, tangibly eager to perform the tasks for which he was responsible,” Gazzar told Reuters, recalling his days working with Mursi in Cairo.

Mursi’s critics portray him as a Brotherhood apparatchik and part of a conservative clique within the group who has long been dismissive of other political forces in Egypt.

“He feels they do not have roots in the Egyptian street,” said Mohamed Habib, a former deputy Brotherhood leader, who left the group last year in protest at its post-Mubarak policies.

Head of the Freedom and Justice Party that the Brotherhood established last year, Mursi comes across as deeply committed to the 84-year-old movement. His daughter is married to the son of another Brotherhood leader and he has described his wife, who wears a long, cape-like headscarf, as a Brotherhood activist.

GOD AND NATION

Like other members, Mursi has sworn allegiance to the Brotherhood, raising questions over whether that would outweigh his loyalty to Egypt. Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie has said Mursi would be relieved of the oath if elected president.

Mursi has described his challenge for the presidency in terms of duty. “I am walking this path to satisfy God and out of concern for our nation and people,” he said.

Despite his campaign trail emphasis on Islamic law, when it comes to television interviews, he has typically tried to ease concerns about what Islamist rule would mean.

例如, he has said Egypt will not become a theocracy, adding that there is little difference between the phrase “the principles of the sharia” – the term found in the current Egyptian constitution – and the sharia itself.

Pushed by one TV interviewer to clarify what Islamist rule might mean for bikini-wearing on Egypt’s beaches – one element of a vital tourist industry – Mursi did not give a clear answer.

He described such issues as “very marginal, very superficial and affecting a very limited number of places”, adding that sector specialists must be consulted on all draft laws.

The Brotherhood’s “renaissance” programme sketches out the group’s vision on everything from fighting inflation to forging ties with the United States on a more equal footing. It envisions deeper ties with Turkey – a Muslim state that Brotherhood leaders often cite as a model of success.

Mursi has cited fear of judgment day as one reason for seeking the Egypt’s top office. “We are worried that God will ask us, on the day of reckoning: ‘What did you do when you saw that the nation was in need of sacrifice and effort?’” he sa他说：NCIES

NOTTINGHAM: West Indies captain Darren Sammy won the toss and elected to bat against England in the second Test at Trent Bridge here on Friday.

England, the world’s number one ranked side, were unchanged from the side that won the first Test at Lord’s by five wickets to take a 1-0 lead in this three-match series.

West Indies made two changes, one enforced after fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, who made his debut at Lord’s, was ruled out of the remainder of the tour with a back injury.

Gabriel was replaced by fellow fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, who missed the first Test with a neck injury.

And the tourists dropped Fidel Edwards and in the fast bowler’s place recalled off-spinner Shane Shillingford, who in his last Test against Australia at his home ground in Roseau last month took 10 wickets.

The West Indies have won just two of their last 31 Tests.

But in 22 matches against Nottinghamshire and England dating back to 1906, the West Indies have never lost a first-class fixture at Trent Bridge, a run including four wins and four draws in eight Tests.

英格兰: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonathan Bairstow, Matt Prior (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson

West Indies: Adrian Barath, Kieran Powell, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (wkt), Darren Sammy (capt), Shane Shllingford, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach. AGENCIES

孟买: The rupee strengthened for a second session on Friday, continuing its recovery from record lows hit this week, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stepped in to defend the currency and exporters and custodian banks were heavy sellers of dollars.

The unit still posted its eight consecutive weekly fall, having hit seven consecutive record lows since May 16. Its latest was on Thursday when it fell to as much as 56.40.

The intense risk aversion from the euro zone has severely pressured the currency, but falls have been magnified by concerns about India’s fiscal and economic outlooks.

A slight easing of that risk-off sentiment — with the euro inching up from two-year lows against the dollar on Friday — has also helped the rupee recover over the past two sessions.

“The central bank was heard to have been there to some extent in early trade, but most of the gains today were on the back of heavy selling by exporters,” said N.S.S. Mani, chief foreign exchange dealer with State Bank of Travancore.

The rupee closed at 55.37/38 per dollar after ending at 55.65/66 on Thursday.

The RBI is believed to be looking to hold the rupee above the psychologically key level of 56 美元, and has been seen intervening in the rupee forward markets, alongside its defence of the spot rupee.

Some of the dollar selling from exporters during the session was believed to come from companies that had missed the central bank’s deadline on Thursday to convert half of their foreign currency holdings into rupees.

The outlook for the rupee remains weak, 然而, given concerns about India’s outlook.

The rupee has fallen for eight weeks now, its longest losing streak since the 11 weeks of falls that ended in October 2008.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch cut their growth forecasts for India, citing reasons such as weak investment outlook, domestic policy uncertainties and the government’s expansionary policy.

Signs of fiscal consolidation from the government could help the rupee recover, analysts said.

India appeared to make a welcome gesture when it allowed state oil companies to raise petrol prices, but that unraveled after the government came under severe political pressure, raising doubts about whether it would be able to tackle the far more important hikes in fuels such as diesel.

“Any hike in diesel prices would be further positive for the rupee and could take it towards 54.60 levels while the topside should be capped at 56.50,” Mani added.

Traders said there was good receiving by exporters in forwards as well, with the six-month forward premium falling to 169.75 points from 173.75 points at the open.

The one-month non-deliverable forward rate was quoted at 55.88 while the three month was at 56.62.

In the currency futures market, the most-traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange all ended around 55.40 on a total volume of $7 亿元. AGENCIES

新华社伊斯兰堡: Osama bin Laden’s three wives were fiercely loyal to him and gave little away when they were interrogated after the al Qaeda chief was killed in a U.S. raid over a year ago, a Pakistani intelligence agent who questioned them said.

The three women were arrested by Pakistani security forces after the Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden’s safe house in the town of Abbottabad, about 35 千米 (60 英里) from the capital Islamabad.

Slowly puffing on a cigarette in a rundown Islamabad villa as he described months of questioning the women, the agent said he struggled to glean any worthwhile information.

Yemeni-born Amal Al-Sadeh, the youngest of the three, was headstrong and showed fury when asked questions, while the others, Saudi citizens, expressed displeasure by mostly keeping silent behind their veils, the agent said.

All appeared to strongly support bin Laden, despite the militant’s long and bloody record of orchestrating violence across the world.

“They were all nostalgic whenever they talked about him,” said the intelligence agent, a slim man in a dark suit.

“I could sense Amal was always angry whenever I spoke with her,” he added. “She objected to being questioned and rarely gave away anything.”

But at times Amal was somewhat flexible.

“Amal once told me that she and bin Laden liked Che Guevara. She seemed like a rebel so I questioned her about Latin American leftists. I found her very interesting,” said the agent.

It was not possible to independently confirm his account.

Ernesto “Che” Guevara was an Argentine Marxist who was a major figure in the Cuban revolution. He was executed in Bolivia in 1967.

Amal, who was wounded in the raid that killed bin Laden, traveled to Afghanistan to marry bin Laden when she was 18 years old and he was in his early 40s, her father told Reuters in an interview in Yemen in 2011.

“The other wives didn’t say much. They were boring,” said the agent.

Pakistan deported bin Laden’s three widows and 11 children to Saudi Arabia last month. A Pakistani court had sentenced them to prison for entering Pakistan illegally and ordered their deportation after the end of their prison term.

The agent did not say whether other Pakistani or U.S. officials questioned the women. He also did not give details on whether his questioning included anything about the night of the raid.

Based on his conversations, the agent said he concluded the al Qaeda leader lived in the country for about six or seven years, in two towns.

Pakistani officials describe bin Laden’s long presence in the garrison town of Abbottabad as a security lapse and reject suggestions that members of the military or intelligence services were complicit in hiding him there.

EMPTY-HANDED

Pakistan dismisses Western criticism of its performance against militancy, saying it has sacrificed more lives than any other country which joined the U.S. war on militancy after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Pakistan also stresses that it captured several high-profile al Qaeda figures on its soil such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The intelligence agent, who said he questioned the widows once a week, sometimes twice, recalls seeking information on whereabouts of other senior al Qaeda leaders, and coming up empty handed.

“I wanted to know if any others are in Pakistan,” he said. “I wanted to know about Zawahri,” he said, adding that he didn’t believe the former Egyptian doctor and current al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri was in the country.

Turning to information he said he had come across on al Qaeda over the years, the agent said he was convinced that Zawahri was running al Qaeda’s show in the region.

“Bin Laden was an inspirational figure for militants. It was Zawahri who was the main man. He was much more violent than bin Laden,” 他说：. “These are my conclusions”.

The intelligence agent said Pakistani authorities had retrieved some computers and cellphones from bin Laden’s Abbottabad home, but trying to make sense of coded Arabic language proved frustrating — with only a few clues on al Qaeda activities in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas.

The agent was non-committal about Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who was sentenced to 33 years imprisonment by a court this week for running a fake vaccination campaign that helped the CIA pinpoint bin Laden’s location in Abbottabad.

“Discovering that Afridi was helping the CIA and arresting him was not a problem,” he said without elaborating.

But the agent, who was once stationed in Abbottabad while bin Laden was said to live there, only shrugged when asked how it was possible that the al Qaeda chief evaded capture in Pakistan for so long despite a global manhunt. AGENCIES

Staff Report

新华社伊斯兰堡: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday suspended Farah Isfahani’s membership of National Assembly (NA) over her dual nationality.

In his remarks, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said foreigners cannot be allowed to decide the nation’s fate while sitting in our assemblies.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the dual-nationality case.

Rehman Malik’s lawyer said his client wants more time to submit a certificate of surrendering his British nationality

The applicant submitted documents suggesting Farahnaz Isfahani’s American nationality. In the court, a certificate of oath for getting US nationality was also submitted.

“If Farahnaz is a US national, her membership will be suspended so that she doesn’t participate in the budget session,” the chief justice said

Attorney General Irfan Qadir said judges have already made their mind before giving the decision.

Later, a written statement of Farahnaz was also submitted before the court.

The court was adjourned till May 30. SAMAA AGENCIES

Staff Report
新华社伊斯兰堡: Former Inspector General of Sind Police (IGP) Fayyaz Khan Leghari has been raised on Friday as Director General of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

According to a notification issued today by Establishment Division, Leghari has been appointed as the FIA’s new head.

Meantime, Inspector General Motorway Police Wajid Ali Khan Durrani retired today and Police Group Officer Zafar Abbas Malik has replaced him.

Also, Former DG of FIA Javed Iqbal has been picked up as Secretary Narcotics. SAMAA

Staff Report

拉合尔: All-rounder Shoaib Malik has said that upcoming series against Sri Lanka will be beneficial for players.

Speaking to newsmen at Qaddafi Stadium today (星期五), Malik said every player would benefit from the Lanka tour.

“I will try my best to put up a good show,” 他说：.

To a question about inclusion of Sialkot Stallions in Champions League, he said Indian fans love me due to my cricket, not due to my Indian wife. SAMAA

He also stressed on the importance of India and Pakistan playing against each others. SAMAA