WION

Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed plans to launch next phase of legal battle to retrieve the assets of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its subsidiary Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) after Pakistan's Supreme Court allowed the two outfits to continue their activities in the country, the JuD's spokesman said on Wednesday.

Compared to December 2017, the real effective depreciation of Indian rupee is between six and seven per cent, says an International Monetary Fund estimate.

After a weak start, the rupee Tuesday recovered 10 paise to 72.41 against the US dollar amid volatility in early trade on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

The rupee, after opening lower at 72.65 against the US dollar, quickly recovered to trade 10 paise higher at 72.41 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange.

Besides, dollar-selling by exporters and banks, fall in crude prices in the global market and weakness in the dollar against some currencies overseas amid US-China trade conflict, helped the domestic currency rebound, forex dealers said.

They said a higher opening in the equity market also supported the recovery in the rupee.

Test discard Peter Handscomb says he is hurting after being axed from Australia's squad to play Pakistan next month, but has heeded the message that he must score more runs.

The middle-order batsman was sacrificed after form deserted him, with selectors opting instead for uncapped pair Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne.

Since making his Test debut against South Africa in late 2016, Handscomb has averaged a creditable 43.63.

But the 27-year-old paid the price for being dismissed in single figures nine times from his last 11 innings across all formats.

"It's obviously tough, getting dropped at any stage hurts," he told cricket.Com.Au Tuesday.

Lower-than-expected sales in an auction of Pakistani government vehicles have dealt another early setback to new Prime Minister Imran Khan's populist vow to raise quick revenues through cost-cutting, a campaign that has drawn both praise and ridicule.

The auction on Monday raised about 200 million rupees ($1.6 million), government official Mohammad Asif told local Geo TV. That is just one-tenth of the amount he had predicted, and only 61 of just over 100 vehicles were sold.

The event had been billed as part of Khan's drive to give "the nation's wealth to its rightful owners". Critics say most of the measures so far are more symbolism than significant savings.

Former cricket star Khan, 65, took office last month after an election campaign in which he railed against what he denounced as corruption and waste by the two main political parties that ruled for than 50 years in between periods of military rule.

Khan promised to cut costs, including trimming motorcades of government officials and selling public land.

"It is a change of mindset," he said in a speech on Friday. "I will be counting every single rupee I have to spend on me."

Khan's campaign, however, has been somewhat undercut by his near-daily helicopter commute from his home in the hills surrounding Islamabad.

Critics say the cost-cutting so far has been mostly cosmetic. "There is nothing new in the current austerity drive," said political commentator Raza Rumi.

Auctions of ageing government vehicles, for example, have taken place for years, with less publicity.

Nearly three-quarters of the 101 vehicles on offer on Monday were more than 10 years old. Two were 32-year-old Toyota Corollas.

And the total sales indicated little interest for the event's showcase items - bullet-proof Mercedes estimated at about $1.5 million each.

Ideas

The auction revenue is dwarfed by the government's fiscal deficit, projected this year for 1.7 trillion rupees.

However, information minister, Fawad Chaudhry, said even symbolic steps were important for building national unity and small savings could add up.

"If you try to see its effect on the GDP, it is small, but in numbers, it is not small," Chaudhry told Reuters.

Pakistan is likely to soon face painful conditions for foreign financing - possibly an International Monetary Fund bailout - to address dwindling foreign currency reserves and a ballooning current account deficit.

Still, reaction to the new government's austerity drive has been mixed.

When Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced he would not fly first class, only business class, while abroad, many pointed out this was already the case under the previous government for most trips.

Other early ideas - to cut some 500 staff from Prime Minister House and establish a six-day work week for civil servants - were shelved as unworkable.

Helicopters optics

In particular, Khan has been mocked for taking a helicopter into Islamabad most days, after declaring he would eschew luxury perks.

Information Minister Chaudhry argued that the helicopter uses less fuel than a motorcade, saying at one point it cost only 50 rupees (40 cents) per kilometre.

That calculation provoked ridicule.

"Why don't you stop metro bus service and instead let people enjoy the cheap helicopter rides?" quipped a TV host.

In fact, Khan's helicopter costs about 200,000 rupees ($1,633) per hour factoring in fuel, crew, maintenance and inspections, Syed Naseem Ahmad, president of the Society of Air Safety Investigation Pakistan told Reuters.

Optics aside, analysts say Pakistan will have to take more painful policy cuts in government spending to truly reduce the deficit. The new government on Monday did raise gas prices by 10 to 20 percent.

A further indication of a wider austerity policy is likely to come on Tuesday, when Finance Minister Asad Umar announces revisions to the budget.

There were about 500 attendees at Monday's auction and some were happy to take the vehicles off the government's hands.

Nawab Gul bought a 2005 Toyota Altas for 1.25 million rupees ($10,000).

Rohit Sharma-led team India will start their 2018 Asia Cup campaign against Hong Kong on September 18, a day before facing their arch-rivals Pakistan.

The fans and spectators are waiting for the mouth-watering clash between India and Pakistan, while, India's skipper said that the team is focusing on the tournament, not on only Pakistan.

Rohit Sharma said, "We are not focusing on Pakistan because tomorrow (18th September) we are playing Hong Kong."

"Obviously we have to focus on that particular team but once we've finished that game we'll obviously look at Pakistan, what their strengths and weaknesses are."

India will be without regular captain and talisman Virat Kholi in this One-Day International event after selectors decided to give him a break.

In a press conference, Rohit talked about his captainship role and said it's a "responsibility".

He added, "I have done captaincy in the past, in one series and this is a big tournament for me."

"I'm very excited and also a bit nervous obviously...but I'm very excited. Because this is an important tournament. I've played a lot with all the rest of the boys and we know each other well. It is important to know each other. I'm looking forward to it."

India's first two matches will take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, in a city where temperatures can rise to 43 degrees Celsius.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that Neymar's over exaggerated theatrics during the matches is "completely normal".

Liverpool will start their 2018-19 UEFA Champions League campaign against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on September 18.

PSG will arrive at Anfield with Brazilian star Neymar who was rested in the side's 4-0 win over Saint-Etienne on Friday (14th September).

Neymar had received criticism for his 'dive and roll' in the FIFA World Cup in Russia, than for his goal-scoring abilities.

While Klopp weighed-in over whether Neymar dives following accusations of playacting and said that he just wanted to protect himself as most of the opponents target him.

Klopp said, "That is for me a completely normal reaction because the players are really going for him. That's the truth. He wants to protect himself and I understand that as well."

"So if an opponent gets a yellow card then is much closer to a red card so I see it from that perspective," he added.

"So it's smart that he saves himself in this. Everybody doesn't have to be worried we don't go for him against us."

"We play football, we want to win the ball and we don't try to act in these kinds of things."

"We try to avoid passes to him we try to avoid him winning challenges and all that stuff which is a big job to do."

Neymar has been on the receiving end of fresh criticism over his exaggerated reactions to being fouled.

Deadly storm Florence drenched North Carolina with more downpours on Sunday, cutting off the coastal city of Wilmington, damaging tens of thousands of homes and threatening worse flooding as rivers fill to the bursting point.

The death toll rose to at least 17.

Florence, a onetime hurricane that weakened to a tropical depression by Sunday, dumped up to 40 inches (100 cm) of rain on parts of North Carolina since Thursday, and continued to produce widespread heavy rain over much of North Carolina and eastern South Carolina, the National Weather Service said.

"The storm has never been more dangerous than it is right now," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told a news conference. Many rivers "are still rising, and are not expected to crest until later today or tomorrow." Some rivers were not expected to crest until Monday or Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

More than 900 people were rescued from rising floodwaters and 15,000 remained in shelters in the state, Cooper said.

Many of those rescues took place on swift boats in Wilmington, a historic coastal city of about 117,000 people on a peninsula between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean.

Rescue crews negotiated downed trees and power lines to reach stranded residents, Mayor Bill Saffo told WHQR radio.

"There are no roads ... that are leading into Wilmington that are passable because of the flooding that is taking place now inland," Saffo said.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the area until at least Monday morning and said up to 8 inches (20 cm) more rain could fall in some areas, creating an elevated risk for landslides in Western North Carolina.

Officials urged those who had evacuated to stay away.

"Our roads are flooded, there is no access into Wilmington," New Hanover County Commission Chairman Woody White told a news conference. "We want you home, but you can't come yet."

In Leland, a low-lying city north of Wilmington, homes and businesses were engulfed by water that rose up to 10 feet (3 metres) over Highway 17, submerging stop signs in what local people called unprecedented flooding.

The sheriff's department and volunteers, including locals and some who came from Texas, rescued stranded residents by boat, extracting families, infants, the elderly and pets.

Gas stations were abandoned and fallen trees made many roads impassable. The whir of generators could be heard throughout the city, a sound not expected to dim soon as crews work to restore power.

In New Bern, a riverfront city near North Carolina's coast, Bryan Moore and his nephew Logan did exactly what authorities warned against: they left their homes to go swimming in the floodwaters after having spent days at home without electricity or running water.

"We were stir-crazy from being inside so long," Moore said. "Feels great. The water's really cool. ... We're just having a good old time out here, enjoying the weather."

More than 641,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in North and South Carolina and surrounding states, down from a peak of nearly 1 million.

Florence set a record in the state for rain from a hurricane, surpassing the previous record of 24 inches (61 cm) set by Hurricane Floyd, which killed 56 people in 1999, said Bryce Link, a meteorologist with private forecasting service DTN Marine Weather.

The storm killed at least 11 people in North Carolina, including a mother and child killed by a falling tree, state officials said. Six people died in South Carolina, including four in car accidents and two from carbon monoxide from a portable generator.

South Carolina's governor urged anyone in a flood-prone area to evacuate.

"Those rivers in North Carolina that have received heavy rainfall are coming our way," Governor Henry McMaster said during a news conference. "They have not even begun (to crest). But they will. And the question is how high will the water be, and we do not know."

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra on Sunday dared lawmakers to dismiss his Cabinet in a dispute over his proposed anti-graft reforms, invoking a constitutional procedure that puts him on a collision course with the opposition party controlling the Congress.

The escalation in tensions between the executive and legislative branches is ushering in a new period of political uncertainty in Peru, the world's second-biggest copper producer and one of Latin America's most stable economies.

Vizcarra asked the Congress for a new vote of confidence in his Cabinet to gauge support for four bills to curb corruption that he sent to lawmakers in July, in response to a scandal involving judges, lawmakers and prosecutors that has triggered protests and diminished trust in public institutions.

By making passage of the bills a question of confidence in his government, Vizcarra is pushing Congress into a corner.

Under Peru's constitution, if Congress dismisses two Cabinets formed by a single administration, the president can close Congress and call legislative elections. The current Congress already dismissed the Cabinet formed under former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, whom Vizcarra replaced in March after serving as his vice president.

"We hope history does not repeat itself after a year, when this Congress refused to renew its confidence in the Cabinet..." Vizcarra warned in a televised message to the nation late on Sunday, telling Peruvians he would make good on promises to fight graft at any cost.

In March, Kuczynski resigned in a graft scandal on the eve of his near-certain impeachment by Congress, where lawmakers representing a conservative party led by opposition leader Keiko Fujimori have a majority of seats.

Kuczynski blamed his fall on Fujimori's party and warned a week ago that Congress was aiming to oust the president again. Opposition lawmakers have denied the charge and say Vizcarra's proposed reforms are less urgent than other matters.

"We've seen lawmakers trying to prolong and redefine the spirit of the legislation, with absurd modifications that if approved would become useless and harmful laws," Vizcarra said.

Vizcarra has proposed creating a new system for selecting judges and prosecutors, ending the immediate re-election of lawmakers, creating a second chamber in Congress, and criminalizing unreported campaign contributions.

The proposed reforms are supported by most Peruvians. In a recent Ipsos poll, 79 percent of Peruvians favor a petition including the changes in a referendum Vizcara wants during regional elections in December.

Incumbent Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay's People's Democratic Party (PDP) was knocked out in the first round of Bhutan's third parliamentary elections on Sunday.

PDP took the third spot with 1,880 votes, while Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) and Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) secured a spot in the second and final round scheduled for October 18 with 2,432 and 4,020 votes, respectively.

Taking to Twitter PM Tobgay congratulated the winning parties, writing, "I congratulate DNT and DPT and their candidates their outstanding performance in the primary round of Bhutan's third parliamentary election. Congratulations also to President of BKP and their candidates for taking part in this important election."

Securing the least number of votes among the four political parties contesting the National Assembly elections 2018, Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party (BKP) also bowed out of the race, reported Kuensel.