Chapal Cup: New Talent to Prove a Point for Australia and Pakistan (Khaleej Times)

DUBAI - Pakistan and Australia are bringing some of the brightest new cricketing talent to the UAE later this month as the two sides meet in the Chapal Cup one-day international series and one-off Twenty20 match, a press release said.

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Warning that Pakistan is in danger of collapse within months (Sydney Morning Herald)

PAKISTAN could collapse within months, one of the more influential counter-insurgency voices in Washington says.

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India beat Malaysia to lift Azlan Shah Cup

IPOH: Indian beat hosts Malaysia 3-1 in the final to clinch the 18th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh on Sunday. Arjun Halappa, Prabhjot Singh, Shivender Singh scored a goal each for India.At half-time India were leading 2-1. They built the lead to 3-1 in the second half to win the title for putting an end to their 13-year title drought.Earlier on Saturday, India overcame arch rivals Pakistan 2-1 to meet Malaysia in their sixth final in the tournament.

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US budget deficit nears $1 trillion

WASHINGTON: The US budget deficit accelerated in March to hit a record nearly one trillion dollars just halfway through the current fiscal year, as the government moved to bail out troubled institutions, government data has shown. The deficit for the first six months of the fiscal year which began on October 1 was 956.80 billion dollars, according to the Treasury’’s monthly statement of receipts and outlays.Receipts during the six-month period to March 2009 were 989.83 billion dollars while outlays amounted to nearly 1.95 trillion dollars, the data showed.The March deficit of 192.27 billion dollars was higher than the 160 billion dollars expected by most analysts, coming on the back of money poured by President Barack Obama’’s administration to rescue financial institutions.All six months of the fiscal year so far recorded red ink. The last time the United States plunged into a consecutive six month deficit was during the October 2003-March 2004 period, officials said.The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecast last month the budget deficit could hit 1.845 trillion dollars for the whole year based on Obama’’s 3.5-trillion-dollar budget plan approved by Congress early this month.The CBO said its budget deficit estimate for fiscal 2009, which ends on September 30, would be four times the 2008 record shortfall and amount to 13.1 percent of the country’’s total economic output.The Obama budget forecasts a 1.750 trillion dollar deficit in fiscal 2009, but foresees that figure falling to 1.171 trillion dollars in 2010.The plan sees the deficit soaring to the largest percentage of gross domestic product since World War II, but the president touted a string of cost savings designed to lay new foundations for the US economy.It also includes an optimistic forecast that the struggling US economy will post robust growth next year, projecting a 1.2 percent contraction in calendar 2009 but an expansion of 3.2 percent in 2010.The president’’s plan includes investment in renewable energy, education, health care reform and is targeted to cut the deficit in half by the end of his current term in 2013.Republican lawmakers have labeled the plan “a road map to disaster,” but Obama said that “by making hard choices and challenging the old ways of doing business, we will cut in half the budget deficit we inherited within four years.”The Treasury data Friday showed the administration used 293 billion dollars under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to keep financial institutions afloat while another 60 billion dollars was injected into ailing mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Nearly 120 billion dollars was also spent by the Treasury to purchase home mortgage securities, the data showed.A US home mortgage meltdown triggered financial turmoil stemming from soured mortgage based securities that led to the collapse last year of financial institutions, including US investment banking icon Lehman Brothers, and slammed the brakes on growth.The economy plunged into recession in December 2007.

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India sceptical about sharing threat info with Pakistan (Calcutta News)

New Delhi/With Islamabad apparently not taking any action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks even after it was provided evidence, India is sceptical about sharing any information with Pakistan over cross-border threats during the elections.

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PAKISTAN: Outsiders flee violence-stricken Balochistan after nationalist murders (AlertNet)

Source: IRIN Ongoing widespread violence in Balochistan Province, southwestern Pakistan, is severely disrupting daily life and forcing many non-Balochis to flee in fear of their lives, residents say.

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Boxing team returns after participating in Kings Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan boxing team has returned home today after taking part in the Kings Cup Boxing Tournament held in Thailand. Mohammad Waseem, who won the bronze medal in the event, has expressed hope to win gold medal in the next competition.Secretary Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) Mohammad Akram received the players at the Jinnah International Airport Karachi. Four boxers from Pakistan participated in the Kings Cup Boxing Tournament in which Mohammad Waseem qualified for the semi-final where he was beaten by a Thai boxer and thus Waseem obtained the bronze medal.Talking with Geo News on arriving back, Mohammad Waseem said that he would his utmost to win a gold in the next event.The PBF secretary said that the performance of the Pakistani boxers in the tournament was satisfactory and he expressed hope that the players would demonstrate better game in the Ahmed Comat Championship to be held in Turkey.

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NEW ZEALAND EDGE PAKISTAN FOR THIRD PLACE (Bernama via Yahoo! Malaysia News)

IPOH, April 12 (Bernama) — New Zealand edged former winners Pakistan 2-1 to clinch third place in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup competition at the Azlan Shah Stadium here today.

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Pakistan militants attack NATO supply trailers (CNN)

More than 80 militants attacked a supply terminal in northwest Pakistan that serves U.S. and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, police said.

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NATO supply depot in Pakistan attacked (UPI)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 12 (UPI) — Three guards were wounded Sunday in Pakistan in an attack on a supply depot serving U.S. and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, police said.

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