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Nepal averts political crisis
NATO strikes kill 52 in Afghanistan
AQ Khan: Pak’s N-programme running without any break
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Lockheed Martin thwarts cyber attack
‘Qaida’ gunmen seize Yemen city
Imran Khan’s Facebook fan base swells
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Nepal averts political crisis
Kathmandu, May 29
The breakthrough came after overnight consultations between main political parties - Nepali Congress, the Maoists and CPN-UML - to forge a five-point agreement on the peace process and extending the term of CA which expired last night. Out of 508 parliament members, 504 lawmakers voted in the favour of the bill for 9th amendment of the Constitution seeking to extend the term of the CA for three months. Khanal, who assumed the office about four months ago, offered to resign to pave way for formation of a national unity government and to start regrouping the Maoist combatants for the purpose of integration under the deal. “The bill was endorsed by more than required two third majority vote,” announced chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subhash Nemwang. However, the 71 lawmakers of Democratic Madhesi Front boycotted the voting process saying that the major parties failed to address their three-point demands. The agreement was reached in the wee hours after a marathon meeting between ruling CPN-UML leader and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Maoist chief Prachanda and Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala. There was fear that the country would plunge into a political crisis if there was no agreement on extension of the Constituent Assembly. Last year also, Nepal had extended the term of the CA by one year. The decision to extend the term of CA came after overnight negotiations between the major political parties. Meanwhile, Khanal said he will resign after an alternative is prepared for the formation of a national government. “I will resign at a time when alternative is prepared for the national government and its formation is materialised,” Prime Minister Khanal said. He said the peace process would go ahead to the logical conclusion within the stipulated time-frame of three months. Maoist chairman Prachanda said they had worked hard expecting that the draft of the new constitution will come within three months. The top leaders of the three parties have reached an understanding to lead the government turn by turn and after three months period, a national consensus government may be formed under the leadership of Maoist chief Prachanda. The five-point deal includes an agreement on extension the term of the Constituent Assembly by three months, to conclude the peace process that include handing over of Maoists arms and integration of the Maoist combatants and completing the first draft of the constitution within the extended period. — PTI
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NATO strikes kill 52 in Afghanistan
Kandahar, May 29
In the southern province of Helmand, local authorities said at least 14 civilians, including women and children, were killed and six injured in an air raid yesterday. US Marines in Helmand’s Nawzad district called in air support after their base came under attack from small arms fire, the provincial government said in a statement. “During the air strike, two civilian houses were targeted which killed 14 civilians and six others were wounded,” it said. The statement said the dead included five girls, seven boys and two women. “ISAF are aware of the reports that civilians were allegedly killed in an ISAF air strike,” Major Tim James, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, told AFP. “(The) Regional Command South West has sent a joint assessment team to the area to look into the allegation and they will issue their findings to the press.” Aslam, a local elder of Nawzad district, said he “lost 12 relatives while 10 others including children were injured” in the air strike. He said some shots were fired at ISAF helicopters which flew into the area, adding that the choppers returned after 10 to 20 minutes and fired rockets, killing the “innocent civilians”. — AFP
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AQ Khan: Pak’s N-programme running without any break
Islamabad, May 29 “Although I have not been associated with the programme for the past 10 years, I know that it has been running without any break and the process of uranium enrichment is in progress,” Khan said in an interview with the Dawn newspaper. Though the concerned departments are not giving “final shape to new nuclear weapons”, the materials are being prepared and could be assembled at any time if required, he said. Asked if the nuclear programme was running satisfactorily, Khan said it was “running well”. — PTI
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Lockheed Martin thwarts cyber attack
Washington, May 29 “Lockheed Martin detected a significant and tenacious attack on its information systems network,” the top US defence contractor said in statement. Lockheed learned of the attack on May 21 and the company’s information security team quickly detected the attack and that no customer, programme or employee personal data has been compromised, CNN reported. It did not elaborate on the nature of the attack. “Throughout the ongoing investigation, Lockheed Martin has continued to keep the appropriate US government agencies informed of our actions,” the statement said. “The team continues to work around the clock to restore employee access to the network, while maintaining the highest level of security.” The Pentagon said it was working to establish the extent of the breach. Lt Col April Cunningham, speaking for the US defence department, said the impact on the Pentagon was “minimal and we don’t expect any adverse effect”. — PTI
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‘Qaida’ gunmen seize Yemen city
Aden: More than 200 suspected Al-Qaida gunmen have taken control of the south Yemen city of Zinjibar after two days of heavy fighting with security forces that left 16 dead, an official said on Sunday. The Yemeni opposition accused embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh of having allowed Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, to fall to the gunmen to raise fears concerning Al-Qaida and boost his flagging international support. — AFP
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Imran Khan’s Facebook fan base swells
Islamabad, May 29 On a fan group created on social networking website Facebook ‘We want Imran Khan to be the next PM of Pakistan’, his fan base is about to touch 300,000. The page is full of “We love you Imran” and “Inshallah you be will be the next PM of Pakistan” messages. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who too has used Facebook to interact with fans, is just over a lakh fans ahead of Khan. Khan’s fans are swearing by his name on micro-blogging website Twitter too. “I do have an icon in my life. And that person is Imran Khan. He is just the lighthouse in my life. My godfather,” tweeted Faisal. Another fan called him the “last hope for Pakistan”. However, with Khan’s ambivalence on crucial issues plaguing the country, there is no dearth of people making fun of him either. “Can anybody tell me what Imran Khan is blabbering about here in Karachi today,” tweeted Akif Bhamani. — PTI
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Averting a major Constitutional crisis, Nepal’s key parties today struck a last-minute deal to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) by three months under which Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal will step down for the formation of a national unity government.
Pakistan’s disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan has disclosed that the country’s atomic programme has been “running without any break” for the past 10 years and the process of uranium enrichment is underway.
