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Sri Lanka destroys LTTE ships
Mumbai Heat
Zardari regrets ‘threatening’ statements from India
‘Pak not afraid of India’s preparations for war’
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Sonia, SRK in Newsweek list of
Hollywood stars donate $50,000 for Obama’s swearing-in
Americans optimistic about Obama’s policies
Bangladesh steps up security for Hasina
Former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina reportedly faces threat to her life from militants
10 killed in Pak building collapse
Rioters clash anew with cops in Athens
Most Britons do not believe in nativity, says survey
UN divided over homosexuality rights
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Sri Lanka destroys LTTE ships
The Sri Lanka Navy had destroyed medium-sized LTTE ship carrying arms along with another four small LTTE vessels in the sea off the northern Mullaithivu coast on Saturday, the defence ministry said.
The ship was carrying explosives and other armaments for the Tigers, the ministry aid. The four smaller LTTE crafts had come to support the ship but were destroyed by the navy fire. Several Tamil Tiger cadres were believed to be killed in the confrontation, the defence ministry said. Military analysts say that the Tamil Tigers continue to get weapons via sea routes despite the military gaining control of many areas previously controlled by them, north of the country, including several coastal areas. “In recent times there seems to have been a marked improvement in procuring supplies. This in turn is reflected in the battlefield where Tigers are raining shells and firing off myriad rounds,” a defence writer in the Daily Mirror newspaper said on Saturday.
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Mumbai Heat National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani flew back to Islamabad after an unannounced three-day visit to the USA, during which he met secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Pentagon and the National Security Council officials. Informed sources here said that Durrani was given a tough message by top US officials that Pakistan must follow intent with action while tackling the terrorist groups and Individuals, which India blames are responsible for Mumbai attacks. Durrani was summoned to Washington, as the US government was getting increasingly frustrated with what it viewed as Islamabad’s shifting position on the Mumbai attacks and their aftermath. The Pakistan embassy kept the visit strictly under wraps, and did not allow Pakistani correspondents based there to meet Durrani. Contradictory statements on Mumbai and post-Mumbai events from higher quarters of the government in Islamabad have cast doubts on Pakistan’s willingness, and even its ability, to take the follow-up action it has committed itself to. Rice acknowledged that Pakistan had taken some “positive steps” in the wake of the Mumbai attacks for which India had blamed a Pakistan-based terrorist group but “they were not nearly enough”. Such statements dismayed US officials concerned as the one that said Maulana Masood Azhar had left the country after it had been officially announced earlier that he was under house arrest. The foreign minister’s statement that charitable institutions run by the Jamaatud Dawa would be allowed to continue their operations had cast further doubts on Pakistan’s sincerity in taking necessary actions. Meanwhile, noted American strategic analyst Stephen Cohen has said the attacks had brought Pakistan’s role in assisting terror outfits to the fore. He described the Mumbai terror attacks as the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s ‘brilliant stupidity’. The attack had succeeded in bringing out Pakistan’s support to terror outfits - what the Indian government was unable to convince other nations for a long time,”
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Zardari regrets ‘threatening’ statements from India
President Asif Ali Zardari has regretted “threatening” statements from India despite Pakistan’s serious efforts to defuse tensions following the last month’s terrorist attack in
Mumbai.
The President, however, was optimistic that the situation would normalise soon and India and Pakistan would resume their composite dialogue. Addressing a meeting of parliamentarians from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Punjab, at the Presidency, he said Pakistan had offered complete cooperation in the ongoing investigation into the Mumbai attacks. However, India did not share with Islamabad any evidence to support its claims that elements from Pakistan were involved in the attacks. Zardari told the legislators that the Pakistani government had adopted a responsible approach but would never compromise on national security and sovereignty. The meeting was part of the President’s ongoing consultations with lawmakers on the prevailing security and political situation, and focused particularly on the ties between the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Punjab. Responding to disaffection expressed by PPP lawmakers from Punjab over the viability of the coalition with the
PML-N, Zardari said he would not like to destabilise the Punjab government. He called for cooperation between the two parties to continue the coalition in the province, saying confrontation was not in Pakistan’s interest at a time of crises. He said he would take up the contentious issues with the PML-N leadership and sort them out amicably.
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‘Pak not afraid of India’s preparations for war’
Pakistan is not afraid of India’s preparations for war, a defence ministry official here said while responding to a US intelligence report saying India has prepared for a war with Pakistan in the wake of terrorist attack in Mumbai last month and that it blames on elements in Pakistan. The official said the Pakistani political and military leadership was fully aware of the situation on the Indian border, the deployment of Indian Army troops along the Line of Control in Kashmir and activities of the Indian paramilitary Border Security Force. He said the Pakistan Army was on high alert. National security institutions had been meeting on a daily basis to review the day-to-day security situation and send reports to the prime minister, the president and the defence minister, he added.
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Sonia, SRK in Newsweek list of most powerful
New York, December 21 Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who controls the country’s nuclear weapons, is placed 20th on the list of the global “power elite” at the beginning of 2009 in the magazine’s January issue. Obama, who scripted history by becoming the first black-American to be voted to the White House, is followed by Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Markel and powerful Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. A surprise inclusion in the list, which the magazine admits is subjective, is Osama bin Laden, whom the Newsweek describes as “global terrorist.” Placing Sonia Gandhi at 17th spot, the magazine says the Congress remains the strongest national force and rules unchallenged. The magazine describes Shahrukh Khan, who occupies 41st spot, as the ‘King of Bollywood’. — PTI
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Hollywood stars donate $50,000 for Obama’s swearing-in
London, December 21 Obama secured a long line of A-list supporters during his run for office, and is set to be sworn in during a history-making ceremony in Washington on January 20. The event could draw up to five million people and require a hefty sum of money and the star supporters have already coughed up mounds of cash, reports contactmusic.com The donation has secured the trio four tickets to the event. The parade and swearing-in ceremonies are paid for by the government; incoming presidents traditionally rely on private funds to supplement the budget and host parties. — IANS
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Americans optimistic about Obama’s policies
Washington, December 21 The survey released yesterday indicated that a majority of people think Obama would be able to make significant improvements to the health care system, enact new energy policies, end US involvement in Iraq and turn around America's image abroad. Around two-thirds of those polled said the new president and Congress should concentrate on the nation's troubled economy. A similar proportion i.e., 65 per cent supports a large stimulus package along the lines sketched out in recent days by the Obama transition team. Overall, 76 per cent approve of the way he is handling the transition period. Even 59 per cent of Republican respondents gave him a positive assessment, the survey indicated. A majority of people want Obama to pursue a wide range of issues besides the economy, as many expect him to implement policies to reduce global warming. Most Democrats want Obama to carry through on his campaign pledge to pull out most US combat forces from Iraq in his first 16 months, while most Republicans would prefer that he drop the idea. The poll was conducted from December 11 to 14 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults interviewed on residential telephones or on
cellphones. — PTI
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Bangladesh steps up security for Hasina
Dhaka, December 21 "Steps have been taken to further intensify her personal security," Inspector General of Police Noor Mohammad told here, a day after a private Indian channel reported that a six-member assailant team of Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) had been specially trained to kill Hasina, the Awami League chief. However, he said, "We are yet to get any official information from India." Additional Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Colonel Gulzaruddin Ahmed, said the elite anti-crime agency took the report on the assassination plan seriously and "we have already ordered an intensified vigil on the militants". CNN-IBN yesterday reported Hasina was warned by Indian intelligence agencies that a HuJI suicide squad, trained in a special camp at Kaliganj in the south-western frontier district of Satkhira for the last two months by a Pakistani ISI officer operating under the name of Ehetesham, planned to kill her. Bangladesh home ministry sources said chief adviser of the outgoing interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed has already been informed about the threat to Hasina while the elite Special Security Force (SSF), deployed last month for protection of the Awami League chief and her arch-rival Khaleda Zia of the BNP, tightened its security measures. Emergency-ruled Bangladesh had ordered extra security cautions for Hasina as she was feared to be exposed to "critical security risks" after she survived an abortive attempt on life in August 2004. — PTI
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10 killed in Pak building collapse
Islamabad, December 21 Six persons, most of them rescue workers, are still missing, the National Disaster Management Authority has said. Twelve seriously wounded personse are under treatment in different hospitals, while the rest were discharged after first aid, the NDMA said. The fire has been brought under control, Geo TV channel quoted Rawalpindi commissioner Haseeb Athar as saying.Athar said there were fears of some persons still buried under the debris and efforts were on to find out any one alive. More than 11 rescue workers and volunteers are feared trapped in the collapsed section of the building, the channel said, adding a massive rescue operation is now underway to retrieve those feared trapped in the debris. The six-storey Gakhar plaza was city's largest shopping centre housing over 350 stores selling garments, electronics, shoes and leather goods. Army contingents moved in yesterday to join the massive rescue efforts at the site. According to NDMA, about 25 percent of the Plaza debris has been removed, while the work for clearing of the remaining debris could continue for about a week. — PTI
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Rioters clash anew with cops in Athens
Athens, December 21 Yesterday's violence followed a memorial gathering 0030 hours IST where 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos died on December 6, in the Athens neighbourhood of Exarchia. The rioters, using the National Technical University of Athens as a base, launched attacks against the police, throwing rocks and petrol bombs and erecting roadblocks. Security forces are prevented by the law from entering the university grounds unless the school administration gives go-ahead, but so far no permission has been given. Grigoropoulos' fatal shooting touched a nerve among Greek youth, who took to the streets to protest what they see as random police violence. The protests have been fanned by perceptions of corruption among the politicians and poor job prospects as the economy takes a turn for the worse. The clashes dashed the hopes of the government and the police that some protest fatigue would set in as Christmas neared. Last evening, masked men broke into the building housing the offices of Tiresias SA, a company that keeps records of delinquent debtors and cardholders, and firebombed the company's offices. — AP
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Most Britons do not believe in nativity, says survey
London, December 21 The survey, in which 43 per cent of respondents called themselves Christian, clearly showed that two-third or 70 per cent of people were sceptical of the baby's birth in a manger to virgin mother Mary. In fact, according to the poll, young people were particularly doubtful about the nativity, with 78 per cent of them saying that they were not convinced of its historical reliability, the British media reported. The survey, commissioned by the St. Helen's Church in London, was based on a poll of around 1,000 people carried out by the British Marketing Research Bureau. According to Rev. Charlie Skrine, Curate of the church, the survey showed that "most of the people in the United Kingdom believe that the accounts of Jesus' birth aren't good history". "Combined with a general lack of understanding about the real meaning of Christmas, this leaves people without the hope that Jesus offers. This year we wanted to raise awareness about the true meaning of Christmas - that God became a human being to make himself known to us and eventually die on a cross to bring forgiveness of our sins," he said. According to Simon Gathercole, a new testament scholar at Cambridge University, people were sceptical as they're not aware that the origins of Christianity were actually anchored in real history. "Jesus was born while Augustus was emperor of Rome just before Herod died. We're talking about events that are anchored in real history, not in ancient Greek myths," he said. —PTI
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Michael Jackson ‘close to death’
London, December 21 Jackson needs to undergo an emergency transplant operation but he is too weak to be rushed into surgery and may even be fighting for his life, the Sunday Express quoted Ian Halperin, who is penning a biography on the singer, as saying. According to Halperin, 50-year-old Jackson has been diagnosed with Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic condition that can be fatal in severe cases, and the singer is now so ill he can barely speak and has lost as much as 95 per cent of the vision in his left eye. “He has had Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency for years, but it’s gotten worse. He needs a lung transplant but may be too weak to go through with it.” “He also has emphysema and chronic gastrointestinal bleeding which his doctors have had a lot of trouble stopping. It’s the bleeding that’s the most problematic part. It could kill him”, Halperin said. Author Halperin has also claimed that Jackson’s lung conditions - which affects only one in 5,000 Americans - has been difficult to treat due to its associated health problems. “For years, Michael has been working with his own doctors to try to make sure it doesn’t progress. He has been on many medications that have stabilised him,” he was quoted by the British newspaper as saying. Though Jackson’s official spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on Halperin’s claims but his elder brother Jermaine seemed to have confirmed that the singer has serious health issues. “He is not doing so well right now. This isn’t a good time,” he told America’s Fox TV News. — PTI
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UN divided over homosexuality rights
United Nations, December 21 Currently, homosexuality, which came up in the Assembly for the first time - is illegal in 77 countries with seven providing death penalty. A joint French-Netherlands drafted a declaration calling for decriminalising homosexuality gathered support from 66 members and an opposing one around 60. The declarations are still open to signatures but so far no resolution has been drafted which could determine the strength of the two sides. The French used unusual method to raise the issue, as apparently they did not have enough votes to get the resolution through the Assembly but the Muslim countries failed in their bid to alter a Swiss-sponsored draft resolution condemning summary executions. They would have liked to get the “sexual orientation” deleted but the Assembly did not agree. The French-Dutch declaration, read out by Argentina at the assembly plenary, evoked outrage especially among the Muslims countries though its supporters said the punishment in several countries for same sex relations was a legacy of British colonialism. — PTI
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Dhaka, December 21
