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Reports on Kasab arrest aimed at damaging Nepal’s image
Amanda Jones dies at 110
‘Taliban, Al-Qaida are like Nazis’
US aid to help India deal with
post-Mumbai scenario
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Most Pakistanis want Sharif as
Prez: Survey
Severed cables disrupt communication links
Polls: B’desh deploys over 40,000 soldiers
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Reports on Kasab arrest aimed at damaging Nepal’s image
Kathmandu, December 20 The foreign ministry here said its “serious attention” was drawn to the report that appeared in Pakistan’s ‘The News’ daily, which quoted a Lahore-based lawyer as claiming that Kasab, along with several other Pakistanis, was arrested here by the Indian police with the help of Nepalese security personnel in 2006. The report in the Pakistani daily was “illusive, baseless and fictitious and it was published with a view to damage Nepal’s image,” the ministry said in a statement. “The ministry hereby refutes the news report in the strongest term and states that Ajmal Kasab was neither arrested in Nepal nor was he handed over to any other country,” it said. The Pakistani lawyer, C.M. Farooqi, also claimed that he had filed a case in Nepal’s Supreme Court seeking release of Kasab. His claim was rejected by the Nepalese court officials, who said Farooqi had filed a case for the release of two other Pakistani nationals, not Kasab, and later the court had dismissed the case as he had failed to follow its proceedings. — PTI
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Amanda Jones dies at 110
Houston, December 20 Jones, who became a celebrity of sorts after she mailed in her ballot in favour of Barack Obama in late October just ahead of the November 4 polls, had recently been hospitalised with pneumonia. She died in her sleep on Thursday in Austin, Texas, her family said. “She lived awful long,” Jones’ granddaughter Brenda Baker was quoted as saying by ‘Austin American-Statesman’. “It was a full life, and her faith in God helped her live a long life.” — PTI
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‘Taliban, Al-Qaida are like Nazis’
London, December 20 Terming the military campaign in Afghanistan as a “vital national security mission”, Hutton said it was like the war to defeat Hitler. “It is a struggle against fanatics that may not challenge our borders but challenge our way of life in the same way the Nazis did,” Hutton told The Times newspaper in an interview today. However, he added that forces in Afghanistan were standing in defence of British values like they did during the World War II, the British daily said. The troops are guarding mainly the southern province, which has witnessed some of the worst Taliban attacks. — PTI
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US aid to help India deal with
post-Mumbai scenario
Washington, December 20 “We are working through the initial parts of a package...we would offer to India to help them understand some of the lessons ... that we very painfully learnt in the wake of our 11 September attacks, in information sharing, collaboration and cooperation,” Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of the US Pacific Command, told reporters here yesterday. “And I expressed our willingness to provide that to India in my conversations with Indian leaders shortly,” he said. Praising India for its “measured response” in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, Keating said that various agencies of the US government were working closely to keep a tab of developments in the region. “I think the most important thing is the very ...horrific nature of the attacks, the very calm measured response demonstrated by India thus far and our hopes that all throughout our region in particular and all throughout the world, folks will understand that the struggle against violent extremes - violent extremists continues to this day.” — PTI
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Most Pakistanis want Sharif as
Prez: Survey
About 88 per cent Pakistanis feel their country is headed in the wrong direction, 59 per cent say the next year will be worse than the current year while 67 per cent believe democracy has made no difference to their well-being, according to the findings of an opinion survey by the US-based International Republican Institute (IRI). Nearly 60 per cent would rather prefer PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif as President than Asif Ali Zardari, the survey has said. The poll conducted from October 15 to 30 by the IRI, a Republican Party affiliate that carried out a similar poll earlier in June, indicates a high degree of pessimism and discontent. These sentiments are also taking a toll on the popularity of various political personalities. As compared to previous polls, respondents were much more likely to rate leaders unfavourably, across the board. Though slain PPP chairperson still retained the high popularity rating with 62 per cent, her spouse President Asif Zardari slumped in public estimation from 45 per cent in June to only 19 per cent. Nawaz Sharif again topped the list though with a slide in popularity to 59 per cent.
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Severed cables disrupt communication links
Paris, December 20 “The causes of the cut, which is located in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia, on sections linking Sicily to Egypt, remain unclear,” a statement said yesterday, while a spokesman said it was unlikely to have been an attack. The company said it was sending a ship to fix the lines but that it would not arrive until Monday and that it could take until December 31 before normal service was restored. Sixty-five per cent of traffic to India was down, while services to Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Taiwan and Pakistan were also severely affected, a spokesman said last evening. Egypt’s state news agency MENA reported that the cuts happened off the coast of Sicily at 0800 IST yesterday, with Indian-registered Reliance GlobalCom directing a submarine cable repair company to head to the region to fix the cables. Most business-to-business traffic between Europe and Asia was being rerouted through the US, the firm said, but regular communications between Europe and several Asian countries has been disrupted since early yesterday. — AFP
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Polls: B’desh deploys over 40,000 soldiers Dhaka, December 20 The troops will be stationed as “striking forces” alongside Bangladesh Rifles, coastguards, Rapid Action Battalion and armed police until December 31, the BD News online quoted Home Ministry officials as saying. RAB and armed police forces will be deployed on December 24. Every district will see one battalion, drawing on 650 to 750 members of the armed forces, it said. According to earlier reports, the intelligence agencies have expressed fears that some militant groups could resurface to create a law and order situation. — PTI
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