The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	China sets up air defence zone over disputed islands with Japan Beijing, November 23 China today established an air defence zone over disputed islands administered by Japan, a move that can exasperate tensions between the two countries. The defence ministry announced the establishment of East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone which comes into operation from today. Chinese combat jets conducted air patrols over disputed islands claimed by Japan, hours after Beijing's announcement. Shen Jinke, spokesperson of the People's Liberation Air Force (PLAF), said “two large scout aircraft carried out the patrol mission, with early warning aircraft and fighters providing support". The ministry warned that the aircraft flying over the area should seek permission failing which they are liable for action, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The zone includes the airspace within the area enclosed by China’s outer limit of the territorial sea, it said specifying boundaries in the East China Sea, where the uninhabited disputed islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkakus by Japan were located. If enforced strictly, the new Chinese law could spark off major military tensions with Japan, which has been administering the group of islets believed to be rich with minerals and hydro carbons. China stepped up its protests over Japanese control from September last year after Tokyo bought the islets from a private Japanese party, which Beijing said amounted to nationalisation of the islands and pressed its fleet of war ships to patrol aggressively with that of Japanese patrols. — PTI Controversial area The zone includes the airspace within the area enclosed by China’s outer limit of the territorial sea, where the islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkakus by Japan are located Under the new set of Chinese rules, aircraft flying in the zone must report the flight plans to the Chinese foreign ministry or the civil aviation administration of China Two large Chinese scout aircraft carries out the patrol mission, with early warning aircraft and fighters providing support
	Angry Japan to summon Chinese Ambassador Tokyo: Japan on Friday lodged a protest with China, saying it could “never accept the zone set up by China” as it includes the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands. Japan's vice foreign minister Akitaka Saiki plans to summon Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua on Monday. — AFP
	7 killed, 48 hurt in twin bomb blasts in Karachi Islamabad, November 23 Twin bomb blasts in a Shia- dominated area in Pakistan's port city of Karachi have killed at least seven people and injured 48 others. The blasts, within minutes of each other, took place yesterday in Ancholi, damaging shops and vehicles. DIG East Javed Odho said the bombs were planted in motorcycles that were parked in the crowded area. He said that about 3 to 4 kilogrammes of explosive material was used in the explosions. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the blasts. Tehrik-e-Taliban spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid said that these attacks were in retaliation for the November 25 violence in Rawalpindi which killed at least 11 people and the drone attack on November 21 in Hangu in which six persons were killed and at least eight others were injured. The TTP threatened to continue such attacks if those responsible for the violence in Rawalpindi are not brought to justice and the drone strikes do not stop. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the bomb blast. "The nation will never be intimidated by these acts of terror in Karachi. We will make sure that terrorists and criminals are speedily prosecuted and justice is dispensed without fear and favour," an official said. — PTI
	11 teachers kidnapped along Afghan border Kabul: Militants kidnapped 11 Pakistani teachers involved in a polio vaccination campaign for school children on Saturday, officials said, the latest in a string of attacks on health workers trying to eradicate the deadly disease. The teachers were taken from the private Hira Public School in the Bara area of the Khyber tribal agency, one of the semi-autonomous tribal areas along border with Afghanistan. — Reuters
	US court reduces Kashmiri separatist Fai's sentence Washington, November 23 A federal court has reduced the prison sentence of Kashmiri separatist and ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai by about four months in response to a petition from the US government. Fai, 63, was given a two-year sentence in March 2012 for illegally working for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence to influence American policy on Kashmir. He was scheduled to be released in March next year. In a petition filed on November 15, US Assistant Attorney Gordon Kromberg sought a reduction in Fai's prison term because he had cooperated in bringing to book other persons involved in transferring funds from the ISI to the US to serve the cause of Pakistan. "Upon consideration of the government's motion for reduction of sentence and the court, after reviewing the record and hearing the arguments of counsel and having found that the defendant has rendered substantial assistance to the government, it is accordingly ordered that the government's motion for reduction of sentence is granted," District Judge Liarn O'Gra said in an order issued yesterday. Fai was arrested on July 19, 2011 for concealing the transfer of $3.5 million from the ISI to fund his illegal lobbying efforts and to influence the US government on the Kashmir issue. Prosecutors said his actions violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act. In December 2011, Fai pleaded guilty to federal charges of acting on behalf of the ISI. — PTI Life of Fai Fai, 63, was given a two-year sentence in March 2012 for illegally working for Pakistan's ISI to influence American policy on Kashmir. His sentence has been reduced by about four months.
	UK slavery suspects from India, Tanzania London, November 23 Two persons arrested on suspicion of allegedly holding three women as slaves here are originally from India and Tanzania and arrived in Britain in the 1960s, authorities said today. "The suspects are of Indian and Tanzanian origin that came to the UK in the 1960s," Metropolitan Police Commander Steve Rodhouse said in a statement. The couple, both 67-year old, were arrested on Thursday on charges of slavery and immigration offences after three women - a 69-year-old Malaysian, a 57-year-old Irish and a 30-year-old Briton - were freed by the police from a house in south London. The women were allegedly being held by the couple against their will for decades. The suspects have now been freed on bail while investigations continue. It has emerged as part of the Metropolitan police inquiries that the women allegedly held in a house for 30 years were originally part of a "collective" based on a "shared political ideology". "We believe that two of the victims met the male suspect in London through a shared political ideology, and that they lived together at an address that you could effectively call 'collective'," Rodhouse said. "The people involved, the nature of that collective and how it operated is all subject to our investigation and we are slowly and painstakingly piecing together more information. I will not give any further information about it. Somehow that collective came to an end," he said. "How the women ended up continuing to live with the suspects, and how this resulted in the women living in this way for over 30 years, is what are seeking to establish. But we believe emotional and physical abuse has been a feature of all the victims' lives," he added. — PTI
	Ethnic Pakistanis, not Indians, corrupt: UK official London, November 23 A top British official today said corruption is rife among some ethnic groups in the country, especially Pakistanis, sparking angry reactions from community leaders. "Some minority communities come from backgrounds where corruption is endemic. We as politicians have to wake to up to it," Attorney General Dominic Grieve told The Daily Telegraph in an interview. Asked if he was referring to the Pakistani community in his remarks, he said: "Yes, it's mainly the Pakistani community, not the Indian community. "I wouldn't draw it down to one. I'd be wary of saying it's just a Pakistani problem." But a Pakistani Labour Party MP branded Grieve's comments as divisive. Khalid Mahmood, who came to the UK from Pakistan as a child, said the Attorney-General was marking out the Pakistani community as "more corrupt" than other minority groups and trying to "divide and conquer" within communities. Grieve, the Conservative Party MP, said the problem arose as some of Britain's minority communities "come from societies where they have been brought up to believe you can only get certain things through a favour culture". "One of the things you have to make absolutely clear is that that is not the case and it's not acceptable. As politicians these are issues we need to pay some attention to." He pointed to electoral corruption being a particular issue among these communities. — PTI
	Afghanistan sets conditions for signing US security deal Kabul, November 23 Afghan President Hamid Karzai has set conditions for signing a security deal with the United States, including an end to military operations on Afghan homes and cooperation on peace and election processes, a spokesman said today. Karzai will explain the conditions to a grand assembly that will advise on whether to accept the deal in a closing speech planned for tomorrow, official spokesman Aimal Faizy told AFP. After months of negotiations, Kabul and Washington this week agreed the terms of a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) which will define any American military presence in Afghanistan after US-led NATO combat troops exit at the end of 2014. Karzai will explain "why the end of military operations on Afghan homes, the cooperation of the US in the peace process and in elections are the conditions to sign the agreement. In his opening statement on Thursday, Karzai told the "loya jirga" gathering of around 2,500 chieftains, tribal elders and politicians that the painstakingly negotiated deal would not be signed until after the elections. Afghanistan goes to the polls on April 5 to elect a successor to Karzai, who must step down after his two terms. A credible election is seen as crucial to the country's future stability. — AFP Assembly’s call on deal The conditions include an end to military operations on Afghan homes and sincere cooperation of the US in the peace process and elections Karzai will explain the conditions to a grand assembly in a closing speech planned for Sunday. The assembly will advise on whether to accept the deal or not