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Hakimullah's hometown captured People world over want stronger climate policy: Survey Pak appoints new judge for 26/11 trial Obama considers India, Manmohan ‘part of family’ |
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US bid to soothe a ruffled Pak Three Britons face jail for racist attack on Indian UK college turns away
burqa-clad woman
Saudi scribe gets 60 lashes
US declares swine flu national emergency
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Hakimullah's hometown captured The army on Saturday captured the hometown of Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud after crushing fierce resistance during the three days of siege, army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said in a briefing here. “The army entered the town late Friday night and cleared it by morning,” Gen Abbas said. The militant positions were pounded heavily for three days with aerial bombing before the troops advanced to seize the town. “It is a significant breakthrough in the week-long offensive in South Waziristan,” Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said while describing the town as stronghold of two leading Taliban militants, Hakimullah and Qari Hussain, an expert in making suicide jackets. The army spokesman said the network of terrorists had been completely dismantled in Kotkai. “The security forces are attaining successes in the ongoing operation in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) and heading for more targets,” he said. Earlier, the military said another six militants had been killed in clashes with the security forces at Kotkai. While no current casualty figures were immediately available from Kotkai, the fighting there was over. However, there has been no word on the whereabouts of Mehsud since the operation began. The army launched the drive last Saturday, pitting around 30,000 troops against an estimated 10,000-12,000 Taliban fighters where Al-Qaida-linked militants were believed to have plotted attacks against the west as well as in Pakistan. The army had promised to make the Taliban leadership a target of their offensive and sealed off the main road to Kotkai last weekend. Pakistan’s semi-autonomous northwest tribal belt has become a stronghold for hundreds of extremists who fled Afghanistan after the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime in 2001.
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People world over want stronger climate policy: Survey
Washington, October 24 According to a global survey, about 90 per cent of the respondents worldwide overwhelmingly want the international community to take faster action to tackle the effects of climate change. The survey by the World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) also found that majority of people want fairer and more proportionate burden sharing, including 2020 emissions reduction targets for fast-growing economies like India, China and Brazil, and low-income developing countries. While 89 per cent called for a 25 to 40 per cent emission cut by 2020, more than 70 per cent suggested sever penalties for the nations that fail to meet their obligations under a new agreement, found the survey conducted in 38 countries, including the US, in six continents. About 69 per cent said prices of fossil fuel should be increased to discourage the use of fuel that in turn affects the climate. WWViews was initiated by the Danish Board of Technology (DBT - the Danish Parliament’s Office of Technology Assessment) and its findings are based on random sampling of views of over 4,000 respondents. The main objective of global opinion poll was to give a broad sample of citizens from across the world the opportunity to influence global climate policy expected to be taken during the Copenhagen summit scheduled from December 7 to 18. The global results showed participants wanted more aggressive action than their delegates to Copenhagen envision, including strict targets for keeping global warming within 2 degrees Celsius. By contrast, in current policy negotiations these goals are either much less ambitious or absent altogether. “We are hearing from climate policymakers that it will take more time to do things right, that we have to meet people where they are instead of imposing radical reforms from above,” said Richard Sclove, the US advisor to WWViews.
— PTI
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Pak appoints new judge for 26/11 trial
Islamabad, October 24 Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan of the Anti-Terrorism Court replaced Rana on the orders of Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Khwaja Mohammad Sharif. Rana was conducting in camera the trial of the seven suspects, who included senior Lashker-e-Toiba operatives Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. The Chief Justice issued the order following a request from Rana to be taken off the case due to “security issues”, the sources said. There were reports that Rana received threats from the LeT because the suspects were indicted in the absence of their lawyers during a hearing on October 10. Rana was unhappy due to pressure from the government regarding the case, the sources said. Though a hearing of the Mumbai attacks case was scheduled for today, there were no proceedings due to the changing of the judge. The new judge will begin hearing the case from October 31, the sources said. At the same time, the four lawyers representing the suspects had accused Rana of being biased against their clients.
— PTI
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Obama considers India, Manmohan ‘part of family’
Washington, October 24 As White House gears up to host Singh on November 24, Obama told eminent Indian-American leader Sant Chatwal that this was the reason why I decided to invite Singh on the first state visit of my presidency on the Thanksgiving Day," Obama was quoted as saying by Chatwal, who met the President along with Senator Christopher Dodd and Democratic Co-Chairman of Senate India Caucus. “He told me that he considers India and Singh as part of his family. This is something which we are proud to hear from him,” Chatwal said. “He (Obama) told me that he is looking forward to build a great relationship with India. He said this was not just the first state dinner, it was a family dinner,” he said. In American culture, only family members are invited for the thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November usually as a gathering of family members and friends. The official state dinner on November 24 was a day before the Thanksgiving Day, Chatwal said. Chatwal said Obama told him that the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to India early this year was successful. Meanwhile, a top Obama administration official yesterday termed the US relationship with India as strategic and important. “Our relationship with India is strategic," asserted State Department spokesman Ian Kelly at a news conference. “We are conducting our assistance with Pakistan in an open and transparent way in general, with the public, with the media and with important strategic partners like India,” Kelly said when asked about NewDelhi’s concerns about US aid to Pakistan.
— PTI
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US bid to soothe a ruffled Pak A top Obama administration official on Friday dismissed suggestions that an amendment to the Defence Authorisation Bill places conditions on how Pakistan uses US military aid, and one of the sponsors of the amendment agreed reports to this effect were inaccurate. In an effort to avoid a repeat of the recent protests in Pakistan that followed the passage of a massive US aid bill, Richard Holbrooke, the special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters at the State Department that an amendment attached by Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Bob Corker of Tennessee to the Defence Authorisation Bill of 2010 places "no conditions on Pakistan." He added that the amendment placed "reporting requirements" on the US. The US has sent approximately $7.6 billion in Coalition Support Funds to Pakistan since 2001. The funds are a reimbursement to Pakistan for expenses incurred while fighting Al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Corker-Menendez amendment would require that, before any more such money is spent, the secretary of defence, after consultation with the secretary of state, must certify that doing so is in the US national interest and "will not adversely affect the region's balance of power," a thinly veiled way of saying the money should not be spent on weapons aimed at India. Corker, a Republican, told The Tribune his amendment was a symbol of American recognition of recent sacrifices by the Pakistanis in the fight against terrorists. “Recent news reports have inaccurately portrayed the intent of provisions that are contained in our annual national defence authorisation act," he said. He maintained that a provision he helped insert into the act required the US government to be more responsive to the American taxpayers about how they spend Coalition Support Funds. "I believe that this transparency and accountability is important and should not be misinterpreted as requiring the Pakistani government to meet new conditions for military assistance,” he said. But Menendez, a Democrat, had noted a day earlier: "We have to ensure that our support... is not being squandered or diverted.” The Obama administration was made acutely aware of Pakistani sensitivities after the uproar over the Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation, which many in Pakistan felt included conditions that trampled on the sovereignty of their country. Holbrooke said the Corker-Menendez amendment was not in any way similar to the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, except that "it is part of the Congress’s statement that they share the Executive Branch’s view that Pakistan is a treasured friend and ally which is in a situation where American assistance is called for." The envoy insisted the amendment was pro-Pakistan and told reporters: "I pray that your colleagues in Islamabad report it accurately so that we don’t have another misunderstanding." He blamed domestic Pakistani politics and "wilful distortion of this [bill] among some people in Pakistan" for the opposition to Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill. The bill had been signed by President Barack Obama. A Pakistani official in Washington said his government was still "reviewing the provisions" in the Corker-Menendez amendment. Pakistani officials are likely to air their concerns in meetings with the US.
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Three Britons face jail for racist attack on Indian
Bristol (UK), October 24 The attacks were caught on CCTV camera as shopkeeper Ashok Selvam and his staff were subjected to a series of blows and punches within one hour. The three found guilty of the attacks at the Bristol magistrates court yesterday are twins Justin and Luke Lovedale, 17, and Nicholas Gardener, 17, who screamed racist abuse as they punched and kicked the victims. The CCTV footage was shown to the court and all three were found guilty of racially aggravated assault in both shops. In the first attack, the two twins - who were 16 at the time - punched and kicked a member of staff after they were refused vodka and cigarettes. They pulled Selvam’s T-shirt over his head and then rained blows on him. District Judge David Parsons, who will pronounce their sentences on November 11, said: “Race hatred should be dealt with seriously by the court, and your victims deserve the protection of the court.” One of the twins held Selvam in a headlock as the other punched him in his face as they screamed racist abuse at him. All three pleaded guilty, but denied it was racially aggravated. Gardener was remanded in custody, and the twins were released on conditional bail.
— PTI
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UK college turns away
burqa-clad woman
London, October 24 The staff had asked her to remove her burqa - which covered everything but her eyes - for identity fraud purposes, but she told them she could not because of her religious beliefs. She was forced to abandon plans to sign up for the access course to Higher Education Diploma. "It is my choice to wear the veil. I live around the corner from the college in an area where there are so many practising Muslims. I tried to compromise, but they wouldn't. The college sent me a letter to say I could continue with my course if I stopped wearing the veil,” the tabloid quoted Shawana, as saying. "We are in the 21st century and we get people from all walks of life. I'm in the police cadets as well and yet it's not a problem wearing the veil there,"
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Riyadh, October 24 Rosana, 22, who did not want her full name disclosed, said a court in Jeddah convicted her today on grounds that the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) she worked for did not have proper authorisation to operate in the Islamic kingdom. The ruling follows the sentencing by the same court of Mazen Abdul-Awad to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes earlier in October after he appeared on an LBC show and talked about his sexual exploits. The show has sparked a public outcry in the US ally, one of the world's most conservative countries where clerics have wide-ranging influence and control. “I had nothing to do with Mazen Abdul-Jawad’s show. The verdict was just because I cooperated with LBC,” the lady journalist told Reuters. LBC is a popular channel in Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most conservative societies, and many Saudis tune into its Western-style entertainment programmes and talk shows. “I was not aware (that LBC was unlicenced) but in the end this is the verdict and I accept it. I don’t want to appeal,” Rosana said. The court could not be reached, while a spokesman for the information ministry in Riyadh declined to comment. “This is the first case in which a journalist was tried at a court of summary jurisdiction for an offence relating to the nature of his or her profession,” said Sulaiman al-Jumaie, a lawyer who defended Abdul-Jawad. The Saudi authorities closed the LBC offices after the show was aired. — Reuters
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US declares swine flu national emergency Washington, October 24 The proclamation, which Obama signed last night, will make it easier for US medical facilities to handle a surge in flu patients by allowing the waiver of some requirements of medi-care, medic-aid and other federal health insurance programs as needed, the White House said in a statement. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday said H1N1 swine flu has become widespread in 46 of the 50 US states, a level comparable to the peak of ordinary flu seasons but far earlier and with more waves of infection expected. The White House statement said the declaration was intended to prepare the country in case of “a rapid increase in illness that may overburden health care resources” and was similar to disaster declarations issued before hurricanes hit coastal areas. — Reuters
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