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Zardari more worried about internal threat
Obama meets Putin
US President Barack Obama shakes hands with
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at Novo Ogaryovo in Moscow on Tuesday. —
AP/PTI photo |
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India figures in Obama’s speech
Ethnic Riots
Fans bid adieu to Michael Jackson
Galileo discovered planet Neptune?
Penn starts work at White House
Nigerian ultras take Indian hostage
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Zardari more worried about internal threat
In an apparent acknowledgment that the Pakistani military establishment shares his perception about India not being the primary threat, President Asif Ali Zardari declared the country’s army will turn its guns on extremist groups it formerly supported as proxy forces in its confrontation with India.
He said the “position of being able to take over another state is nullified” after both South Asian nations acquired nuclear arms. He added he would like to be remembered in Pakistan for “creating a country free of militancy”. In a statement that is sure to boost Washington’s hopes for a united front against Al-Qaida and related extremists, Zardari told The Daily Telegraph in an interview on Monday that military operations would in future target figures who were earlier considered “strategic assets”. In recent days Pakistan’s powerful military had given its backing to Zardari’s shift from seeing India as the foremost threat towards the domestic danger posed by groups that hold sway in large areas of the country. Army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said last Friday though the external threat to Pakistan continued to exist, it was the internal threat (from forces of extremism and terrorism) that merited the country’s and its people’s immediate attention. He said Pakistan stood committed to global and regional peace and wished to live in peace and harmony with all its neighbours. Referring to the army’s earlier stance towards the Taliban and militants, Zardari said: “I don’t think anybody in the establishment supports them any more, adding he thought “everybody had become wiser than this.” He ridiculed criticism of his gestures of goodwill towards India, saying, “It rankles the small mind but doesn’t rankle the army, because after India and Pakistan became nuclear powers the position of being able to take over another state has been nullified." Operations against the Taliban in the Swat valley have become the defining issue for Zardari. “Military operations have been launched against all insurgents whether in Karachi, Lahore or any other part of Pakistan,” he said. “My problem is terror, I have focused myself on terror. The PPP has focused itself against the extremist mindset. Terror is a regional problem, it cuts across borders. I would love to be remembered for creating a Pakistan where militancy - I know it can’t totally be diminished - is defeated,” he added. Another apparent taboo that Zardari has breached is to disregard the hankering within the Pakistani establishment for an ‘Islamic’ government in Afghanistan that would be hostile to India and the west. "Karzai and I are friends," he said. "Our military chiefs have met, our intelligence chiefs have met." Focusing on Pakistan’s internal struggles, Zardari disclaimed any great interest in America’s role in Afghanistan. "What the United States does in Afghanistan is its own business. It is a sovereign state," he remarked. However, no details were forthcoming on important parts of his official agenda, such as reform of madrasahs (Islamic religious schools) that are often breeding grounds for militancy. At one point he claimed the PPP - of which his son Bilawal is chairman and he is the co-chairman - had resisted the influence of "extremists from Aung San Suu Kyi to the Taliban", apparently referring to the jailed Burmese opposition leader by mistake.
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Obama meets Putin
Moscow, July 7 Obama, on his first visit to Russia since becoming President, met Putin this morning at the Prime Minister’s country residence, a day after inking a landmark strategic arms reduction treaty with President Dmitry Medvedev. After exchanging pleasantries, Putin told Obama that Russia is hoping for better relations with the US, following the disagreements that arose with the previous administration, Itar Tass reported. Putin told Obama that Russia hinges its hopes of mending the badly-damaged ties between the two countries on Obama, Itar Tass reported. “We link your name with our hopes for the development of Russian-US relations,” he said. Obama said the meeting provided an opportunity to “put US-Russian relations on a much stronger basis”. Ties between the two Cold-War rivals have been marked with several strains, including over arms control, NATO expansion, and US missile defense plans for Europe. The two leaders had traded barbs ahead of the US President’s visit, with Obama terming Putin a man who has ‘one foot in the past’ and the prime minister responding by saying that ‘Russians do not stand with feet apart’. — PTI
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India figures in Obama’s speech
Moscow, July 7 "In the short period since the end of the Cold War, we have already seen India, Pakistan and North Korea conduct nuclear tests," Obama said, addressing the convocation of New Economic School here. "Without a fundamental change, do any of us truly believe that the next two decades will not bring about the further spread of nuclear weapons?" he asked.
— PTI
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China appeals for calm
Urumqi, July 7 The police fired tear gas and used force to try to restore order as hundreds of Han Chinese armed with clubs marched through the regional capital of Urumqi, smashing shops and destroying food outlets run by Muslims. Massive rioting and ethnic clashes on Sunday night killed at least 156 people and injured 1,085 people, the local government said today as authorities were trying to calm flared tempers. The situation was described as extremely tense, with police breaking up a demonstrations by both Uygurs and Hans. Night curfew has been clamped in Urumqi to "avoid further chaos amid the ongoing unrest," said Wang Lequan, Secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), in a televised speech. The traffic curfew will be imposed from 9:00 p.m. local time Tuesday to 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, he said. "It may bring some inconvenience for you. But we expect your understanding," he said, appealing to the warring communities to end ethnic strife. Wang said that some Han people took to the streets in Urumqi today, disrupting social order. "It is completely unnecessary." "The family members of those who were involved in the violence are innocent. We should be cool-headed and do not be fooled by the enemies," he said. "Our targets should be the hostile forces, both at home and abroad, and criminals, rather than our own brothers and sisters of different ethnic backgrounds, he said, warning that "unreasonable behaviour" will only further worsen the situation. Wang said that an overwhelming majority of the suspects involved in the deadly violence are now under investigation. The government would comfort and compensate bereaved families, and try hard to help restore business for those who suffered losses in the violence, he said. Commenting on the wave of violence, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said anybody calling the incident a peaceful protest is "trying to turn black into white in an attempt to mislead the public." — PTI
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Fans bid adieu to Michael Jackson
Los Angeles, July 7 The family of Jackson had said their good byes in private at a ceremony which was attended by the pop icon's three young children among others. The family arrived at the cemetery in a caravan of limousines escorted by the California Highway Patrol officers. After the service the hearse containing Jackson's casket was taken to the Staples Centre amid tight security. The CHP (California Highway Patrol) temporarily shut down parts of the 405, 134 and 101 freeways to allow the hearse and it's security motorcade to pass. Fans wearing gold and silver wristbands had begun streaming into the Staples Centre in downtown Los Angeles early in the morning, even as the police cordoned off the area. The tickets and wristbands to the event were distributed on Monday through an online lottery system. Those wearing gold wristbands were told that they would watch the event live in Staples Center; those with silver bands will watch it live from the nearby Nokia Theatre. — PTI
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Galileo discovered planet Neptune?
Melbourne, July 7 Prof David Jamieson of Melbourne University has claimed in his theory that notebooks of Galileo from some 400 years ago contain concrete evidence that he had discovered a new planet in 1613, which is now known as Neptune. And, according to him, if correct, the discovery would probably be the first new planet, identified by humanity since deep antiquity. Galileo was observing the moons of Jupiter in 1612 and 1613 and recorded his observations in his notebooks. Over many nights, he had also recorded the position of a nearby star that does not appear in any modern star catalogue. “It has been known for several decades that this unknown star was actually planet Neptune. Computer simulations show the precision of his observations revealing that Neptune would have looked just like a faint star almost exactly where Galileo observed it. Galileo may indeed have formed the hypothesis that he had seen a new planet which had moved right across the field of view during his observations of Jupiter over the month of January 1613. If this is correct, Galileo observed Neptune 234 years before its official discovery,” Prof Jamieson said. Moreover, there is also a mysterious unlabelled black dot in his earlier observations of January 6, 1613, which is in the right position to be Neptune. “I believe this dot could reveal he went back in his notes to record where he saw Neptune earlier when it was even closer to Jupiter but had not previously attracted his attention because of its unremarkable star-like appearance,” Prof Jamieson said. But he said there could be an even more interesting possibility still buried in Galileo’s notes and letters. “Galileo was in a habit of sending a scrambled sentence, an anagram, to his colleagues to establish his priority for the sensational discoveries he made with his new telescope,” the Prof said. “He did this when he discovered the phases of Venus and the rings of Saturn. So perhaps somewhere he wrote an as-yet undecoded anagram that reveals he knew he discovered a new planet,” Prof Jamieson speculates. The theory has been published in the latest edition of the ‘Australian Physics’ journal.
— PTI
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Penn starts work at White House
Washington, July 7 The 32-year-old actor took charge of his role as the associate director of the White House Office of public engagement yesterday. “This is an incredibly historic time, I am deeply honoured to be here and I hope to serve my country to the best of my ability,” Penn told mediapersons at the White House. Penn’s first day in the capacity of associate director in the White House’s Office of public engagement, mostly involved paper work, introductory meetings and setting up of emails. Penn, whose real name is Kalpen Modi, had actively campaigned for Barack Obama during his presidential campaign. The actor, who has worked in a number of Hollywood projects, including Meera Nair’s critically acclaimed film “The Namesake”, TV shows “Harold and Kumar” and Fox medical drama “House”, intends to actively engage the youths and the Asian American communities in his new role. When asked about his new job, Penn said, “It is very different, as you can imagine. I’m wearing a suit ... and a tie.” The actor took a bus to reach the White House for work on his first day. Penn said he was renting a place for his stay in Washington for his new assignment. Penn described his office as “front door to the
White House.” He told mediapersons that he expect to be treated just like any other staff member at the
White House. — PTI
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Nigerian ultras take Indian hostage
Abuja, July 7 The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has taken hostage Cadet Banjit Singh Dhindsa from India alongside some other crew members of chemical tanker - “Siehem Peace”, about 20 nautical miles from Escravos, the MEND said in a statement on Sunday. The other crew members are from different countries. “For disregarding our warning for oil, gas and chemical tankers to keep away from the Niger Delta waters, six crew members from the chemical tanker, Siehem Peace were seized and will be held until further notice,” the MEND warned. “Their arrest is meant to serve as a warning to others that there are root issues that have to be resolved,” the statement added.
— PTI
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US President Barack Obama held his first meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin here today and hoped that talks between them would put bilateral relations “on a much stronger basis”.
MJ’s body reaches Staples Center after private ceremony
