“On behalf of the millions of people needing urgent help and the hundreds of organisations that have come together to devise these plans, I appeal for 7.4 billion dollars to help some of the most vulnerable people in the world survive the effects of disaster and conflict,” said UN chief Ban Ki-moon in the foreword of the aid appeal.
The biggest share of the appeal — 1.7 billion dollars — will go to Sudan, where millions have been displaced from troubled Darfur alone.
Much of the funds are budgeted for food and livelihoods, and the UN pointed out that aid efforts will continue “life-saving assistance,” but also help the country to strengthen its preparedness against future shocks.
The massive 2010 natural catastrophes in Pakistan and Haiti will also require close to two billion dollars in total.
In Pakistan, where homes for millions of people have been washed away by historic floods, funds are needed to build shelter, as well as provide access to clean drinking water, food, sanitation and healthcare.
“The overarching goal of this plan is to prevent excess morbidity and mortality and to enable flood-affected communities to return to their normal lives,” said the UN.
In earthquake-ravaged Haiti, where a cholera epidemic since mid-October has killed at least 1,721 people, the lion’s share of the funds would go towards water and sanitation.
“The pace at which the current cholera epidemic has spread underlines the fact that too many people are still vulnerable to water-borne infection, nearly a year after the earthquake,” the UN said.
Other countries or regions covered in the appeal include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, Somalia, Kenya, Chad, Zimbabwe, west Africa, Yemen, Niger, Central African Republic, Kyrgyzstan and Djibouti.
“Humanitarian action is no substitute for development that alleviates poverty; but it is unconscionable to fail to act to save lives and to help people regain decent living conditions in any cases, whether the root causes of a crisis come from extreme chronic vulnerabilities and accumulated stresses or a sudden extraordinary event,” stressed the UN.
Shahid Afridi will lead the Twenty20 team while Misbah-ul-Haq was retained as Test captain.
Akmal, who was ruled out of Pakistan’s recent series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates after surgery for appendicitis, has been at the centre of match-fixing allegations.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) reportedly issued notice to him regarding Pakistan’s controversial defeat against Australia in the Sydney Test in January.
But there were reports in the media suggesting Akmal, 28, had contacted the ICC regarding his selection and was told that he was cleared for selection.
Yousuf, 36, had to return home after the recurrence of a groin injury earlier this month and although he too was featuring in the domestic matches, selectors have left him out of the squad.
Also dropped was former captain Shoaib Malik, who had been omitted for the series against South Africa after performing poorly on the tour of England.
Also missing from the Test team was leg-spinner Danish Kaneria despite being cleared of spot-fixing charges in England.
Kaneria, 29, was initially included in the team for the two Tests against South Africa but was stopped from travelling to United Arab Emirates by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Chief selector Mohsin Khan said the team was announced only after the PCB’s clearance had been issued.
“After the clearance by PCB, the selection committee has selected the best available combination of seniors and youngsters,” said Khan, without naming anyone.
“The upcoming tour of New Zealand is extremely important for us as it will help in preparations for the World Cup,” Khan said.
“PCB did not clear the names of Kamran and Malik, while Yousuf was dropped on fitness ground,” Khan told AFP.
“New Zealand team will be very difficult to beat on their home ground, but our team has recently shown great qualities of fight back and we hope it will settle down in near future,” he said.
Pakistan plays three Twenty20 matches, two Tests and six one-day internationals. A separate squad for the one-day matches will be announced later.
Twenty20 squad:
Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shahzad, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Tanveer Ahmed, Sohail Tanveer, Wahab Riaz (subject to fitness).
Test squad:
Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umer, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Tanveer Ahmed, Sohail Tanveer, Wahab Riaz.
In an email sent to media outlets earlier, the hackers’ group claimed to have gained root access to the server hosting the websites.
Meanwhile, a report said the government’s experts claimed the cyber attack had been successfully thwarted.
The group managed to hack at least 36 out of the 40 websites which are reportedly being hosted on the hacked server.
The hackers had inserted a page on the websites declaring that they had successfully rooted the server. The websites had not been entirely defaced.
The hacking attempt appears to be associated with the Mumbai attacks.
Details pertaining to the group behind the attack are not clear. Dawn.com is investigating the matter.
A senior Pakistan diplomat confirmed to AFP that an official diplomatic message was delivered to the embassy in New Delhi urging Pakistan to “fulfil its obligation and commitment” to bring the plotters to justice.
Ten gunmen launched coordinated attacks on luxury hotels, a railway station, cafe and Jewish cultural centre on the evening of November 26, 2008, starting a 60-hour siege that left 166 people dead.
Nine of the gunmen were killed, and the sole survivor has been sentenced to death in an Indian court.
The letter accused Islamabad of stalling over the trial in Pakistan of seven suspects accused of plotting the attacks.
“New Delhi expresses regret for not receiving feedback on issues raised by it,” the letter said.
The suspects on trial include the alleged mastermind of the attacks, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and Lashkar-i-Taiba (LT) operative Zarar Shah.
New Delhi and Washington have both blamed the Mumbai attacks on the LT.
Fired-up Pakistan annexed the Asian Games men’s hockey gold medal after 20 years with the final win.
Specialist drag-flicker Sohail Abbas gave Pakistan the lead in the 28th minute when he converted from a penalty corner. Abbas slammed home the ball in the top right corner in Pakistan’s second attack of the first half.
Striker Rehan Butt then consolidated the lead three minutes into the second half when he hit a close-range goal from open play (in the 38th minute).
It was Pakistan’s eighth Asiad hockey gold, ending a drought that stretched back to Beijing in 1990, and handed them their first major title since winning the World Cup in Sydney in 1994.
Pakistan ended the year on a high after a disappointing eight-month period in which they finished a humiliating 12th out of 12 at the World Cup in March and took sixth place at the Commonwealth Games in October.
The Pakistanis kneeled in prayer after the final whistle, before lifting their Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel over their shoulders to loud applause from the stands.
Malaysia, often dubbed the sport’s perennial under-achievers, had to settle for silver in their maiden appearance in the title clash after winning the bronze medal six times.
The entire Malaysian team, barring Sikh player Baljit Singh, shaved their heads in a practice called ‘nazar’ to ward off evil spirits in the final, but failed to produce the spark that won them the semi-final against India.
Amin Rahim, whose two late goals sank India, faltered in all three penalty corners his team earned in the second half.
Malaysia had gone into the final as the only unbeaten team in the competition with four wins and a draw.
By winning the final, Pakistan has also confirmed it’s berth at the 2012 London Olympics.
The victory handed Pakistan their first gold of the Guangzhou Games and prevented Bangladesh from claiming their country’s first ever at an Asiad.
The win comes as welcome relief at a time of major problems for the men’s game in Pakistan, which has been embroiled in spot-fixing and disciplinary issues for much of the past year.
Bangladesh’s total of 92 all out never looked enough as Pakistan openers Nida Rashid and Javeria Wadood made a positive start to their run chase, playing a full range of shots and looking to score at every opportunity.
Bangladesh couldn’t force a breakthrough as Nida raced to a half-century off just 41 balls.
The Pakistan pair reached their target with more than four overs to spare.
Nida’s 51 not out included seven fours while there were three boundaries in Javeria’s unbeaten 39 off 51 balls.
A jubilant Pakistan team raced around the outfield after their emphatic win.
“We are excited and happy. Pakistan must be proud of us,” said skipper Sana Mir.
Javeria said the win would help the women’s game grow in Pakistan.
“It is the first gold medal for Pakistan in this Asian Games. I am very proud of that,” she said.
A disappointed Shohaly Akther of Bangladesh said: “Our performance was not good. Pakistan’s batting was really good. I am not proud of getting a silver medal.”
But coach Dipu Rai Choudhury said he was pleased with his team’s performance.
“If we had won today, we would have been heroes here. But we are still heroes.”
Bangladesh scored freely in the early part of their innings, but Pakistan’s bowlers tied them down, forcing them to take risks, which led to wickets tumbling.
Captain Salma Khatun top-scored with 24, with Nida taking 4-16 and skipper Sana 2-23.
Earlier, China’s hopes of claiming the bronze medal were shattered by Japan in a seven-wicket defeat.
China were restricted to 65-6 off their 20 overs before Japan reached their target with four balls to spare.
Japan captain Ema Kuribayashi, who plays club cricket in New Zealand, top-scored for her side with a steady, unbeaten 24.
“We fought with calmness and concentration. We just tried to avoid getting out. We were focusing on doing our jobs,” said Kuribayashi.
She said the win would be a major boost to the sport in Japan.
The key ingredient is thought to be lycopene, the antioxidant already credited with cutting the risk of prostate cancer in men and protecting against heart disease.
Researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada asked 60 post-menopausal women, aged 50 to 60, to cut out all tomato products from their diet for a month.
This led to a significant increase in blood levels of N-telopeptide, a chemical released into the bloodstream when bone is being broken down.
Then, for four months, the women were given a daily dose of standard tomato juice containing 15mg of lycopene, an enriched version with 35mg of lycopene, lycopene capsules or dummy capsules.
This led to a significant drop in levels of N-telopeptide in women drinking either type of juice or taking the capsules. But there was no benefit in women taking the dummy capsules.
Standard supermarket juice was just as good as the lycopene-enriched one, said researchers.
Two glasses a day of tomato juice containing 15mg of lycopene could be enough to strengthen brittle bones, the journal Osteoporosis International reported.
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