San Diego Tourist Boat Adventure Hornblower Collides With Harborside

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google Plus
• Embed

 Tourists Flee as Cruise Ship Crashes Into Sea Wall 0:51

Three people were hospitalized Thursday after a 150-foot tourist boat smashed into San Diego's downtown waterfront in a collision that was caught on video.

The Adventure Hornblower plowed into the walkway of the city's Embarcadero harborside at 12:55 p.m. (3:55 p.m. ET), the Port of San Diego said in a statement.

The ship could be heard repeatedly sounding its horn as it approached the dock. One woman with a walking stick had to be helped out of the way after another onlooker warned: "Get that lady outta there!"

The vessel, one of a fleet operated by San Diego's Hornblower Cruises & Events, is equipped with three decks, four bars and a dance floor, and is used for whale and dolphin watching.

Three of the 139 people aboard were injured and taken to hospital, according to the port, which added that "the incident is still under investigation." 

A meeting with the Girls in Green

Group photo of National Women Cricket Team after a discussion at Last Word Bookstore. PHOTO: INP

LAHORE: 

“My elder brother did not want me to play cricket but I wanted to play at the university level. I asked newsmen to not name me in their coverage of our matches because I was afraid that if he found out, I would not be allowed to continue playing,” all-rounder Nida Dar of Pakistan’s women cricket team said on Thursday.

People are showing their support for the girls in green, are you?

She was speaking at a meet-and-greet event organised for the team by The Last Word, Girls at Dhabas and Zeb Bangash of Zeb and Haniya.

The girls spoke about the dedication required to play the game amidst strict societal norms and opposition from family members.

Team captain Sana Mir said, “Support for the team during the recent T20 series was overwhelming. It was something the girls had never experienced before.”

Mir said it was important to inculcate confidence in girls. “Appreciation and attention can help a team deliver better performances.”

“It has taken a long time for the public and the Pakistan Cricket Board to take the team as seriously as our male counterparts,” she said.

“Many people don’t know that the women’s cricket team has been a high performing team from the very beginning,” Mir said.

“The idea that a woman can be professional and dedicated as a man seems incomprehensible to many people in our society,” she said.

Women’s World T20: In scintillating form, Pakistan beat India

Mir said she had toyed with the idea of giving up cricket many times. “A united team and a supportive family have kept me going.”

“Some people used to discourage us saying that there was no future or money in this profession. We never played for money. We play because we have passion and energy.”

Coach Mohtashim Rasheed said the enthusiasm of young players in the cricket team had helped the team perform well over the years.

“They have an eagerness to keep improving. This does not seem to be the case for newcomers in men’s cricket team.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2016.

This adorable photo of SRK's daughter and son at the beach has gone viral

Suhana posted a photo of her at the beach and people can't stop talking about how great she looks. PHOTO: SIMPLYAMINA

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has shed some of his fame onto his kids as they grow up in the spotlight.

His firstborn, Aryan, has a fan following on social media thanks to his stud-like photos, and his daughter, Suhana, isn’t far behind.

PHOTO: ITIMES

Aryan Khan’s Hoverboard stunt proves he’s cooler than his dad

Suhana posted a photo of herself and her younger brother AbRam doing the ‘peeka-a-boo’ pose and of course looking adorable at it.

Earlier this week, SRK’s daughter posted a photo to Instagram after a night out with her friends.

Mahira, Nawazuddin in ‘Raees’ will help me improve my performance: SRK

Aryan is studying in London at the Seven Oaks School,while  his youngest, AbRam often accompanies his dad to his film shoots.

Reports have circulated about Suhana making her Bollywood debut soon, but it may be a while before that happens. In an earlier interview, the Dilwale actor had said, “My daughter wants to learn acting, but I don’t know which institute in India I should send her to. We don’t have any good acting school. One of my dream projects is to be able to create an institute where youngsters can come and learn professional acting, techniques of acting, different styles of acting.”

On the work front, Shah Rukh Khan will next be seen in Raees with Pakistani actor Mahira Khan this Eid.

Modi's Saudi visit part of push to 'de-hyphenate' India from Pakistan

PHOTO: AFP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday is part of a broader diplomatic offensive to put pressure on arch rival Pakistan by forging ties with some of Islamabad’s closest allies, Indian ruling party and government officials said.

Modi is expected to sign trade agreements, including contracts to secure investment for infrastructure projects, and offer security and military cooperation, such as training and joint exercises, they said.

The visit comes just months after he travelled to another Pakistan ally, the United Arab Emirates, and signed a security cooperation agreement that includes regular meetings between top security advisers.

Modi to visit Saudi Arabia on King Salman’s invitation

“It’s simple. We have to do everything to deal with Pakistan – use economics, strategy and emotional ties to win the hearts of Islamabad’s friends,” said Ram Madhav, national general secretary of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. New Delhi has long accused Islamabad of sponsoring a separatist movement and militancy in the Himalayan region. Pakistan denies the charge and accuses India of occupying Kashmir and fomenting trouble in its restive provinces, like Balochistan.

Stronger relationships with Pakistan’s allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE can help India get a more sympathetic hearing on global and regional forums and put pressure on Islamabad to rein in militants.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia and the United States imposed joint sanctions targeting the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

US, Saudi Arabia sanction alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba supporters

New Delhi has been frustrated that often its ties with countries have been coloured by concerns about its relationship with Pakistan. One foreign ministry official said the Saudis tended to bring up Pakistan during discussions with India.

Government officials described Modi’s diplomatic push as an effort to “de-hyphenate” India from Pakistan, especially as New Delhi tries to play a bigger geopolitical role in Asia to counter China’s influence.

Right timing

Until now, India’s relationship with Saudi Arabia has been driven primarily by trade and the Indian diaspora in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is India’s top energy supplier and home to more than 3.5 million Indian expatriates.

Over the past few years, there has been some cooperation on security between the two countries, with Riyadh deporting four most wanted fugitives to India.

Modi will look to broaden those ties, with one foreign ministry official saying healthcare, education, religious tourism and labour reforms would also be key talking points.

Still, there are limits to what New Delhi can hope to achieve. The relationship between Pakistan and the Saudis goes back decades, based in their shared Sunni Muslim heritage.

Saudi Arabia has long been a source of financial aid for Islamabad. In 2014, the Saudis gave Pakistan $1.5 billion as a “gift” to shore up its foreign reserves.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spent time in political exile in Saudi Arabia in the 2000s, after he was ousted in a military coup.

But Indian officials said the timing was right for Modi’s visit, as relations between Riyadh and Islamabad enter a rough patch.

Pakistan declined to provide ships, aircraft and troops to the Saudi-led fight to halt Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen last year. It has also sought to avoid taking sides in the escalating dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

“Pakistan knows that relations with Saudi have come to a low. That doesn’t mean that India can fill that gap,” said Zahid Hussain, a former newspaper editor in Pakistan. “But certainly this is part of Modi’s diplomatic offensive in the region.”

Woman raped after dance performance in Peshawar

PHOTO: REUTERS / FILE

PESHAWAR: A woman was raped in Phase-II, Hayatabad Tuesday night. The woman in question, a dancer by profession and a resident of Tehkal in the city, said she was raped by an Afghan national who had invited her for a performance in the evening.

Salma* registered an FIR with the Hayatabad police stating she was a dancer and went to perform at the residence of an Afghan national identified as Sher Ali, a resident of Phase-II. She said, after the performance, the man overpowered her and raped her.

Five arrested for rape of teenage girl in Muzaffarabad

Talking to The Express Tribune Hayatabad ASP Hassan Afzal said the woman said she had been mishandled and then raped by Ali. He said a medical examination and DNA tests have been conducted and results are awaited.

“We raided his house but he managed to flee. We arrested his watchman and armed guard and also seized an automatic AK-74 rifle, along with his nationality documents and registration papers,” Afzal said.

Blaming the victim

Speaking to The Express Tribune, women rights activist Rakhshanda Naz said unfortunately the lack of sensitivity of the middle and lower police cadres in handling rape was greater than their lack of knowledge.

Heinous crime: Five remanded to police for poisoning girl after rape

“In the case of rape, they always blame women,” she said. “Irrelevant questions like ‘Why did she go out of her house in the first place? Why did she wear such clothes? Why did she have a boyfriend?’ are asked,” she added.

“Such questions are meant to shift the blame from the offenders to victims,” she said, adding the legal system of Pakistan was not fully equipped to deal with such cases and this is part of this problem.

*Name changed to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st,  2016.

This Pakistani hated his job so much, he automated it

PHOTO: TECH IN ASIA

Saad Ehsan was extremely excited at the prospect of entering the workforce and finding a stable job soon after graduating from college. When he was offered a position at Nishat, one of Pakistan’s largest textile conglomerates, he accepted it without a second thought.

But the mundane reality of the workplace soon set in. Saad, an idealistic and energetic graduate, thought he’d be given challenging, mentally-stimulating tasks. Much to his horror, most of his work consisted of scraping data from various sources and plugging it into an Excel sheet.

Dreams of thunder for Pakistani seeking Formula 1 glory

“I would be mindlessly staring into a computer screen till late at night,” says Saad. “I knew there had to be a better, more efficient way of doing these tasks.”

What Saad had in mind was to code a program that would do these tasks for him. He approached his brother, an engineer by training, for help. Then the duo got to work. What they came up with was AItomation, a startup that intelligently automates redundant and repetitive tasks.

Saad ended up quitting the textile company just four months into his role, but by that time he had already impressed his former employers. They offered him a new position with increased responsibilities. But the huge firm ended up becoming his startup’s first client.

Pakistani artist Samya Arif designs vinyl sleeve for Tame Impala

His brother was also encouraged by AItomation’s initial traction – he dropped out of college to work on it full-time.

Software is eating the world

Essentially what the startup does is scrape data from different web sources, including public information from the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, analyzes it, checks for duplication, and then inputs it according to specific parameters. Saad claims apps like Pakistan Movie & Cinema Guide as well as sites like 10 Best Quotes are completely run and moderated by his software.

“We can automate any process, no matter how complicated it is,” he boasts.

AItomation’s Saad Ehsan. PHOTO: TECH IN ASIA

The startup, which launched in September 2014, is self-sustaining and has so far snared eight enterprise clients – including companies from Israel, the US, and Australia. Others have worked with it on a per-project basis.

Daraz.pk commits to helping one Pakistani in need on every item sold on its Pakistan Day sale!

One vertical where it’s been fairly successful is real estate. Saad says they were approached by a potential client in the US who used eight virtual assistants to manually track real estate listings and input data. “We automated the entire workflow for him to the extent that he didn’t need even a single virtual assistant anymore,” he adds.

The automation tools can do fun stuff too. One task handed to Saad’s team was to curate a list of funny videos on YouTube that have more than 1 million views. Videos had to be sorted according to title name, length, and popularity. “There are hundreds, if not thousands of videos like this and it could have been a very daunting task for a human. But we managed it in one day,” says Saad.

The entrepreneur is mindful of competition – he says there are “at least seven” other companies, each worth around US$100 million or more, that provide task automation. But he maintains that the costs of using them are very high and that they’re primarily engineered for use by people with technical skills. He sees AItomation as significantly cheaper and usable by people with a non-technical background.

This article originally appeared on Tech in Asia.

US drone strike targets senior Shebab leader in Somalia

PHOTO: AFP/FILE

WASHINGTON: The United States has conducted another drone strike in Somalia, this time targeting a senior Shebab leader thought to have been plotting attacks against Americans in Mogadishu, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The announcement came shortly before President Barack Obama offered detailed remarks about America’s controversial drone program, saying some criticism of it had been “legitimate,” and acknowledging there was “no doubt” the unmanned aircraft have killed innocent people in the past.

Thursday’s strike was conducted in cooperation with Somali officials and targeted Hassan Ali Dhoore, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strike targeted a vehicle Dhoore was riding in with two other Al-Qaeda-aligned Shebab members. “We have been watching him off and on for a long time,” the official said.

The strike comes less than a month after US drones and warplanes hammered a Shebab training camp in Somalia, killing more than 150 fighters the Pentagon said were prepping for a “large-scale” attack.

Obama said the military avoids drone strikes in areas where women or children are present, and usually only carries out missions after long periods of monitoring. Still, he said some strikes have killed people other than the intended targets.

“There has been, in the past, legitimate criticism that the architecture — the legal architecture — around the use of drone strikes or other kinetic strength was not as precise as it should have been, and there is no doubt that civilians were killed that should not have been,” Obama said at the end of a nuclear security summit in Washington.

“What I can say with great confidence is that our operating procedures are as rigorous as they have ever been and that there is a constant evaluation of precisely what we do.”

The Pentagon said it was still assessing whether Dhoore had been killed. Dhoore allegedly was part of Shebab’s security and intelligence wing, and had been involved in planning attacks in Mogadishu, the Pentagon said.

“He had planned and overseen attacks resulting in the death of at least three US citizens,” Cook said, noting that Dhoore had played a role in the December 2014 attack on Mogadishu’s airport that resulted in the death of several African Union soldiers and a US citizen.

“Dhoore was also directly responsible for the March 27, 2015 attack on the Maka al-Mukarram Hotel in Mogadishu, resulting in the deaths of 15 people, including one Somali-American national. Hassan was believed to have been plotting attacks targeting US citizens in Mogadishu,” Cook added.

Shebab extremists have claimed responsibility for a string of recent attacks including a twin bombing at a busy restaurant in the Somali city of Baidoa in February.

The US military has over the past 15 years invested heavily in drones, used to surveil vast parts of the Middle East and Africa. The unmanned vehicles have become key to the US-led coalition’s efforts to fight the Islamic State group in Syria.

The military currently has about 7,000 drones, of which 200 are armed, according to the New America think tank.

Strong quake shakes Alaska, no tsunami warning

PHOTO: Reuters

ALASKA: A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook a lightly populated remote region of southeastern Alaska late Friday, the US Geological Survey that monitors quakes worldwide reported.

Alaska hit by 6.8-magnitude earthquake: USGS

The quake struck at 0550 GMT Saturday (9:50 pm Friday) some 654 kilometres (406 miles) southwest of Anchorage, and 100 kilometres (62 miles) northeast Chignik Lake, Alaska. The National Tsunami Warning Center said that no watch, warning or advisory would be issued for the quake.

Obama says some criticism of US drone strikes was 'legitimate'

PHOTO: REUTERS

US President Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged that some criticism of America’s vast drone program is “legitimate,” and said there is “no doubt” the unmanned aircraft have killed innocent people.

Pakistan’s atomic security better than India’s, says Aizaz

“There has been, in the past, legitimate criticism that the legal architecture around the use of drone strikes or other kinetic strength was not as precise as it should have been, and there is no doubt that civilians were killed that should not have been,” Obama told reporters after a nuclear security summit in Washington.

Obama says world must prevent terror madmen from getting nukes

President Barack Obama told a global nuclear security summit Friday that more cooperation was needed to prevent “madmen” from groups like the Islamic State from acquiring a nuke or “dirty bomb.”

Obama told world leaders gathered in Washington that Islamic State’s video surveillance of a Belgian nuclear scientist and use of chemical and biological weapons presented a clear statement of intent.

“Because of our coordinated efforts, no terrorist group has succeeded thus far in obtaining a nuclear weapon or a dirty bomb made of radioactive materials,” Obama said.

Nuclear terrorism fears loom over Obama’s final atomic summit

“There is no doubt that if these madmen ever got their hands on a nuclear bomb or nuclear material, they most certainly would use it to kill as many innocent people as possible,” he added.

The nuclear security summit comes in the wake of attacks in Paris and Brussels that have killed dozens and exposed Europe’s inability to thwart destabilizing attacks or track Islamic State operatives returning from Iraq and Syria.

The emergence of evidence that individuals linked to those two atrocities videotaped a senior scientist at a Belgian nuclear facility has given the threat added nuclear weight.

North Korea in focus as Washington nuclear summit kicks off

“There’s roughly 2,000 tons of nuclear materials,” around the world Obama said, “and not all of this is properly secured.”

He warned that a bomb containing fissile material the size of an apple could shake the world.

“The smallest amount of plutonium could kill and injure hundreds of thousands of people. It would be a humanitarian, political, economic, and environmental catastrophe with global ramifications for decades,” Obama said.

“It would change our world.”

Obama warns Erdogan's Turkey headed down troubling path

PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama admitted Friday he was “troubled” by the path President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking Turkey down, amid rows over press freedom and the war in Syria.

“It’s no secret that there are some trends within Turkey that I have been troubled with,” Obama said, when asked whether he considers the Turkish leader an authoritarian.

Erdogan says attacks like Ankara blast will not weaken Turkey’s resolve

“I think the approach they have been taking toward the press is one that could lead Turkey down a path that would be very troubling.”

Obama said he had expressed these sentiments to Erdogan “directly.”

The pair met at the White House on Thursday for talks away from the cameras.

Erdogan was on a rare trip to Washington to take part in a major nuclear security summit with other world leaders.

Ahead of the trip, the White House had suggested Obama would not formally meet him, prompting suggestions of a snub.

The possibility of no meeting had been glaring — the two countries are meant to be close NATO allies in the thick of a fight against the Islamic State group in Syria.

But tensions have been stirred by Ankara’s attacks on Kurdish militants, some of whom are seen by Washington as the best bet for tackling IS fighters in Iraq and northern Syria.

Turkey says the groups are linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought a long battle for Kurdish independence and is seen by Ankara and Washington as a terrorist group.

Turkish forays into northern Iraq have also strained ties.

Before the meeting with Obama, there were ugly scenes when Erdogan gave a speech at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

Turkish security forces kill more than 5,300 militants since July: Erdogan

Ahead of his arrival, Turkish security officials clashed with protesters — both sides exchanging insults and scuffling — before police were able to separate them.

The Turkish guards also took aim at the press. One aimed a chest-high kick at an American reporter attempting to film the harassment of a Turkish opposition reporter while another called a female foreign policy scholar a “whore.”

The US National Press Club accused Erdogan of trying to export oppression.

‘Offensive question in Hajj applications will be amended’

LAHORE: The Ministry of Religious Affairs on Friday gave an undertaking at Lahore High Court (LHC) that the government would amend a question, deemed offensive by the Shia community, in Hajj application forms from “Are you Shia?” to “Do you require Shia facilities?” A deputy attorney general submitted the undertaking on behalf of Hajj secretary during the hearing of a petition questioning the alleged discrimination with Shia community.

Why do I have to tell anyone if I am Shia or not?

Syed Ali Hadi had filed the petition submitting that the authorities concerned had not been providing facilities to Shia pilgrims in accordance with their faith. Barrister Syeda Masooma Bokhari argued that performing Hajj was an obligation for Muslims and that it was a duty of the government to facilitate all Muslim citizens to perform Hujj.

Hajj policy 2015: Pilgrimage charges revised downwards

She said the Shia Muslims desiring to perform Hajj were being discriminated against as they had to answer an offensive question of “Are you Shia?” in the application… on the pretext of facilitating them. She said there were no facilities provided to the Shia community once they had reached Jeddah.

Punjab CM, security czar and army chief discuss Punjab operation

Army chief General Raheel Sharif. PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: 

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan held a meeting with army chief General Raheel Sharif late Thursday in an effort to break the apparent deadlock on how to pursue the anti-terror operation in the province.

The meeting held in Rawalpindi, which took over three hours, attempted to narrow down differences between the government and the army over the requisition of Rangers for the offensive against militants in Punjab, a senior security official with knowledge of the unprecedented development disclosed to The Express Tribune on Friday.

Lahore bombing sparks bureaucratic reshuffle in Punjab

The army has long been pushing the federal government to grant special policing powers to the Rangers in a bid to eradicate militancy in Punjab, something the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is not willing to do so out of fear of political backlash.

However, the deadly terrorist attack in Lahore on March 27 that left over 70 people dead compelled the army chief to order an operation in Punjab against militants and their facilitators.

The federal and Punjab governments are believed to be upset over the army’s move without taking them into confidence, triggering speculations that the civil and military leadership are on a collision course. Against the backdrop of this situation, the Punjab chief minister and prime minister’s security czar met the army chief.

Army chief orders counter-terror operations in Punjab

The security official, familiar with the late-night meeting, said the meeting was part of efforts to evolve consensus for the ‘all important’ operation in Punjab.  Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he acknowledged differences between civil and military authorities but insisted that “things have not reached a point of no return.”

“Hopefully, the two sides will bridge the gap soon,” the official added.

The military establishment is also understood to have been unhappy over statements issued by certain government officials claiming there were no terrorist hideouts or no-go areas in Punjab.  “This is not true. We all know there are sleeper cells and terrorist hideouts in Punjab,” the official insisted saying the government in Punjab appeared to be in a state of denial mainly because of ‘political reasons.’

Army to launch crackdown in Punjab after bomb kills 70: sources

However, the official made it clear that the army had already begun ‘operation clean up’ in Punjab and will take this to its logical end.

Although there was no official word from either side on the secret meeting, sources said the federal government might agree to call up the Rangers but without giving them special policing powers.