jackson killed by greed, medic's fault: brother

 LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson was driven to his death by a mix of greed, power and money, one of his brothers claimed Thursday, while saying the star's doctor "had no business" giving him the drug that killed him.

Speaking before the manslaughter trial of medic Conrad Murray kicks off this month, Jermaine Jackson said those surrounding his brother failed to look after him, as they pushed him to play a lucrative series of comeback gigs.

He described how his brother's health had clearly deteriorated in the months leading up to his death -- when he was rehearsing intensively for the This is It shows in London -- but those around him had not told the family.

"Why didn't somebody call me or Jackie or Tito or Marlon or his family, to say, 'Come down here, your brother is not acting normal?' Had we been called, he would be alive today. We would have taken him to the hospital," he said.

Asked why he thought they didn't, he told CNN interviewer Piers Morgan: "Because they wanted the show to go on... It's all about -- this is a story about greed and power and money. And not looking at the person in Michael."

Murray is due in court on September 27 for the long-awaited manslaughter trial over Jackson's death in June 2009 from an overdose of the powerful drug propofol, prescribed to help him sleep.

Jermaine Jackson said the doctor's lawyers would try to paint his brother as a drug addict, but dismissed a suggestion that Jackson -- who suffered from chronic insomnia -- could have forced Murray to give him more propofol.

The drug is so powerful that it is used as an anaesthetic during surgery, he noted, adding that as a cardiologist and not an anesthesiologist, Murray "had no business giving my brother propofol."

"Being a doctor, you take an oath to care for your patient not to kill
them," he added.

Jackson's death, on the eve of the planned series of comeback concerts at London's O2 Arena aimed at reviving his reputation and finances battered by child sex allegations, stunned fans around the world.

Murray's defense team is expected to argue that Jackson gave himself an excessive dose of the drug while the doctor was out of the room at the singer's mansion in the affluent Holmby Hills neighborhood west of Los Angeles. (AFP)

Amanat Ali Khan remembered on Saturday

ISLAMABAD: The popular classical singer Amanat Ali Khan is being remembered on Saturday with tributes paid to his memorable songs in the Pakistan music industry. He was born in 1932 in Sham Chaurasi, Hoshiarpur, Punjab. He was a Pakistani classical/ghazal singer from the Patiala gharana and soon after independence he moved to Pakistan. His concerts on Radio Lahore became quite popular and he toured South Asia becoming the representative of Patiala gharana in Pakistan. The late 1950s and early 1960s saw the rise of seraphic singer Ustad Amanat Ali Khan. The prestigious Patiala Gharana, the family that sworn to carry on the traditional and classical aura of Hindustani music, saw another immaculate and faultless singer adding more shine, prestige and prosperity to their name. His memorable songs include "Aa Mere Pyaar Ki Khushboo", "Yeh Arzoo Thi", "Mausam Badla", "Yeh Na Thi Hamari Qismat", "Insha Je Utho" and "Kab Aao Ge". Ustad Amanat Ali died at aged 42 years in Lahore in 17 September 1974. He was honored with the 'Pride of Performance' award by the government of Pakistan.

KSE calls it a green week

 KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) saw a bullish week with its benchmark 100-Index crossing 11,300 points mark, Geo News reported.

Analysts say, though, the topsy-turvy week ending September 16, 2011 did start on a negative note but attractive corporate results propped up the market in the coming weekdays.

KSE-100 Index gained 172 points to close at 11,353 points at the end of the week.

Moreover, during the week, KSE-30 Index gained 205 points to reach 10, 917 points before the closing bell on the rollover day.

Average trading volume swelled by 1.8 percent to 47 million shares.

Fauji Fetilizer Bin Qasim was the stock-under-spotlight for it changed most hands.

26 protesters killed in Yemen

Medics reported 26 dead and 500 wounded by live rounds, batons or after inhaling tear gas.

"Twenty six people were killed tonight," Tarek Nooman, a doctor in a field hospital in Sanaa's Change Square, epicentre of the anti-regime protests, told this news agency.

Mohammed al-Abani, a doctor running another field hospital, said 500 people were hurt.

Witnesses said security forces and armed civilians opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters who left Change Square, where they have camped since February demanding regime change, and marched towards the city centre. Water cannons and tear gas were also used, they added.

A medical official said that the injuries of 25 of those wounded by live rounds and shrapnel were critical. (AFP)

ANP welcomes Altaf’s retraction: Haji Adeel

welcomed the decision of MQM Chief Altaf Hussain to retract his statement against ANP Chief Asfandyar Wali Khan.

Hussain during his press conference had alleged that Asfandyar had received millions from the US to win the 2008 elections.

Speaking to Geo News Adeel said that if Hussain wanted to end differences he should hold dialogue with Pakhtuns and other ethnic groups that live in Karachi.

Adeel added that everyone’s hard work was involved in the prosperity of Karachi and not one but all ethnic groups were stakeholders in the city

Facebook lets users track posts from strangers

Updated at: 0948 PST,  Thursday, September 15, 2011  SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is letting members follow strangers Twitter-style in the latest of a barrage of data maelstrom-taming moves since rival social network Google+ launched in June. "Google+ was a major wake-up call for Facebook," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley. "They were awakened to the fact that they could be another MySpace; so they suddenly got very aggressive on moving the ball forward so they couldn't get caught," he added. MySpace was the dominant online social network until it was eclipsed by Facebook. Google+ combined aspects of Facebook and microblogging sensation Twitter, and promised users that sharing aspects of their lives at the social network would reflect levels of confidentiality granted in real life. A criticism of Facebook has been that updates are shared with all of one's friends unless a user has gone through a relatively complicated process to create separate Facebook Groups. In recent weeks, Facebook has focused intently on ways for members to better control what information gets shared with whom. "Until now, it hasn't been easy to choose exactly what you see in your News Feed," Facebook developer Zach Rait said Wednesday in a blog post introducing Subscribe buttons on profile pages. "You also couldn't hear directly from people you're interested in but don't know personally -- like journalists, artists and political figures," he said. "With the Subscribe button, we're making it easier to do both." Subscribe buttons let people tailor what they see in news feeds; hear from people who aren't friends at the network, and share insights with strangers. "If you'd like to share your public updates with more than just friends, you can get a Subscribe button on your profile," Rait said. Facebook also began letting members be more selective about what kinds of updates from friends make it into their personal news feeds at the website. People can select an "all updates" setting or opt to be shown "most updates" or "important updates only," such as marriages or job changes. "For example, you could see just photos from one friend, no stories about games from another, and nothing at all from someone else," Rait said. Facebook on Tuesday introduced "smart lists" that automatically sort friends into categories and prioritize news from those dearest to members of the world's largest online social network. "This is really something we have been working on for four years," Facebook director of product management Blake Ross said of smart lists. "We think this is the way people will make lists going forward," he continued. Facebook began in 2007 letting members individually sort friends into lists for targeted sharing of comments, photos and other digitized snippets of life. The smart lists feature spares Facebook users the tedium of creating lists by automatically putting friends into groups, with the first four categories being work, school, family and city. Smart lists are created and updated based on information people consent to share with friends on Facebook, according to Ross. "Smart lists take all the pain out of organizing friends on Facebook," Ross said. Facebook will also let each member create a list of high-priority people who are "closer to them than anyone else in the world" or "acquaintances" whose posts they don't want to see very often. "Facebook is used by more than 750 million people worldwide, and just like in the real world you are friends with a diverse group of people," Blake said. "We heard from users that it is hard to talk to all these people at one time, and maybe harder to hear from them at one time," he added. Google+ stressed the ability it gives users to separate online friends and family into different "Circles," or networks, and to share information only with members of a particular circle. Google has a billion users worldwide that could be drawn into the California-based Internet giant's social network. "I think you are going to see Facebook be much more aggressive," Enderle said. "They are focused on maintaining a competitive edge right now." (AFP)