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Iran tests missiles near Hormuz Strait
Taliban not to target Pak forces
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Nigerian Christians on Boko Haram notice
Panel asks Haqqani to appear on Jan 9
Anuj Bidve killing: ‘Psycho’ Briton remanded in custody
An officer stands guard as a car carrying Kiaran Stapleton, charged with the murder of Anuj Bidve (inset), arrives at a Manchester court on Monday. — AFP Imran hints at tie-up with Musharraf A quarter of Britain’s population ‘obese’
World will not end in 2012: Mayan expert Honour for Streep
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Iran tests missiles near Hormuz Strait
Tehran, January 2 The launch of two missiles took place on the final day of war games in waters east of the strait at the entrance to the Gulf, a navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, was quoted as saying by official media. Another missile was also to be tested, he said. Analysts say Iran’s increasingly strident rhetoric, which has pushed oil prices higher, is aimed at sending a message to the West that it should think twice about the economic cost of putting further pressure on Tehran. “We have successfully test-fired long-range shore-to-sea and surface-to-surface missiles, called Qader (Capable) and Nour (Light) today,” Deputy Navy Commander Mahmoud Mousavi told state television. Despite his use of the term ‘long-range’, the semi-official Fars news agency said the Qader’s range was only 200 km, and no figure was given for the Nour. Iran is about 225 km at its nearest point from Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet is based, and about 1,000 km from Israel. However, its longest-range missile, the Sajjil-2, has a range of up to 2,400 km. The show of military muscle was designed to show Iran’s ability to close the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil flows. Iran said on Monday it had no intention to close the Strait of Hormuz, but has carried out “mock” exercises on shutting it. “No order has been given for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But we are prepared for various scenarios,” state television quoted navy chief Habibollah Sayyari as saying. The US Fifth Fleet said it would not allow shipping to be disrupted in the strategic waterway. Tehran denies Western accusations that it is trying to build atomic bombs, saying it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity. The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve the Islamic state’s nuclear row with the West. The United States, which keeps its Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf, has warned it will not tolerate a closure of the strategic channel. Halfway through the 10 days of Iranian navy manoeuvres it sent an aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis, through the strait on what the Pentagon said was a “routine” passage. But Iranian political and military officials insist they could take that drastic step if the West imposes more sanctions, on top of others that have already taken their toll on Iran’s oil-dependent economy. — Agencies
Sanctions imposed
US President Barack Obama signed into law on Saturday new sanctions against financial institutions dealing with Iran's central bank, which if fully implemented could hamper Tehran's ability to sell oil on international markets. The Bill gives the White House some discretion to issue waivers to protect energy markets, and US officials say Obama will discuss with international partners how to impose the measures without causing major oil market disruption. ‘I will bomb N-sites’ Washington: Hours after Iran announced the production of the country's first nuclear fuel rod, a leading Republican contender Rick Santorum has warned that if elected President he would bomb Teheran's nuclear facilities unless they were opened up for international arms inspectors. "Iran will not get a nuclear weapon under my watch," Santorum said on Sunday on NBC television's "Meet the Press"
programme.
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Taliban not to target Pak forces
Islamabad, January 2 At the instruction of the one-eyed Omar, the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban formed a joint five-member ‘shura’ or council with other Pakistani militant groups yesterday to oversee an end to attacks on Pakistani forces, The News daily quoted its sources in the Taliban as saying. Mullah Omar has not surfaced since the flight of the Taliban from Kabul in 2001 and according to reports is sheltering in and around Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province. The new ‘shura’ includes the Haqqani network and powerful commanders of the groups led by Maulvi Nazeer and Hafiz Gul Bahadur who have already signed a peace deal with the Pakistan army. The new entrants into the ‘shura’ are the factions of Pakistani Taliban led by Hakimullah Mehsud and Maulana Waliur Rahman from South Waziristan. The moves to unite factions of Afghan and Pakistani Taliban comes in the wake of pressure by the US government on Islamabad to take military action against these groups believed to be a massed in North Waziristan. The five-member ‘shura’ with other Pakistani militant groups made a pledge to “stop their fight against their own armed forces and instead focus their attention against the US-led forces in Afghanistan”, The News said. —
PTI
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Nigerian Christians on Boko Haram notice Maiduguri, January 2 Abul Qaqa, who has spoken on behalf of the group blamed for scores of attacks in Africa’s most populous nation numerous times in the past, said he was giving southerners living in the north a three-day ultimatum to leave. “We find it pertinent to state that soldiers will only kill innocent Muslims in the local government areas where the state of emergency was declared,” he told journalists in a phone conference late yesterday. “We would confront them squarely to protect our brothers.” Speaking in the Hausa language common throughout the north, Qaqa said “we also wish to call on our fellow Muslims to come back to the north because we have evidence that they would be attacked. “We are also giving a three-day ultimatum to the southerners living in the northern part of Nigeria to move away.” Boko Haram is believed to include different factions with varying aims, its structure remains unclear and other people have claimed to speak on its behalf. Nigeria’s 160 million population is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south. President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on Saturday in parts of four states hard hit by violence blamed on Boko Haram. —
AFP
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Panel asks Haqqani to appear on Jan 9 Islamabad, January 2 The Supreme Court-appointed commission, which held its first meeting today, directed the government to provide Haqqani “requisite security” for his appearance before the panel and an opportunity to engage a lawyer for the proceedings. Haqqani had to quit over the alleged memo seeking American help to stave off a military coup in Pakistan after the covert raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden in May. The commission further directed government officials to obtain records of all BlackBerry communications between Haqqani and Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who created a storm in Pakistan’s diplomatic and political circles by making the memo public. The panel asked Attorney General Anwar-ul-Haq to contact Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM) and BlackBerry representatives in Pakistan to obtain records of the communications, including BBMs, emails and other data. The commission again issued notices to chief of Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence, Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Ijaz, former US National Security Advisor James Jones and other respondents to appear before it. Ijaz has claimed he drafted and delivered the memo on the instructions of Haqqani. He further claimed Haqqani was acting at the behest of President Asif Ali Zardari. Ijaz’s claims have been denied by the government. — PTI
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Anuj Bidve killing: ‘Psycho’ Briton remanded in custody London, January 2 Stapleton was remanded in custody for 24 hours at the City of Manchester Magistrates Court. There was no application for bail and the case has now been sent to the Manchester Crown Court. Wearing a grey T-shirt and trousers, Stapleton was brought in handcuffs into a court room packed with reporters. Asked to confirm his name and address as per normal procedure in court, the suspect said his name was “Psycho Psycho Stapleton”. Bidve, a 23-year-old student of Lancaster University, was shot dead on Boxing Day. Meanwhile, Bidve’s friends, local leaders and residents prepared to attend a candle-light vigil in his memory at the spot in Salford where he was killed. In Salford, hundreds of people are expected to attend the event initially organised by friends of Bidve on Facebook. Senior Labour MP Keith Vaz is also expected to attend, besides local leaders and residents appalled at the incident. Officers from the Greater Manchester Police last night left for India to meet Bidve’s family. The Greater Manchester Police said the reward of £50,000 for information related to the case was still on offer. Two senior officers from have arrived in Pune to meet Bidve’s family, the police said. — PTI
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Imran hints at tie-up with Musharraf Islamabad, January 2 The party’s new vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said a decision on forming an alliance with Musharraf’s All-Pakistan Muslim League will be taken in due course of time after considering circumstances. His comments come in the wake of political ripples triggered by the ‘memogate’ scandal, which has put the country’s powerful army and the executives at loggerheads, leading to speculation of possibility of early polls and new political alignments. Musharraf, who has been living outside Pakistan in self-exile since early 2009, recently announced he would return to the country later this month. Musharraf is expected to set the date for his homecoming while addressing a rally in Karachi by phone on January 8. During an interaction with the media in Multan yesterday, Qureshi said: “People from every political party are joining the Tehrik-e-Insaf.” The party is not “just a trend” as it represents “an ideology against the status quo”, he said. Qureshi further said that if all lawmakers of the main opposition PML-N decided to resign from parliament, the Pakistan People’s Party-led government would be left with no option but to call an early election. The Tehrik-e-Insaf, however, is in no hurry to gain power, said Qureshi, a former Foreign Minister who recently broke away from the PPP. — PTI
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A quarter of Britain’s population ‘obese’ London, January 2 Three quarters of people with an obese BMI underestimate their weight category, according to the National Slimming Survey of 2,065 persons. The BMI is a measurement which compares weight and height, defines people as overweight (pre-obese) if their BMI is between 25 and 30 kg/m2, and obese when it is greater than 30 kg/m2. More than one in three respondents who are regarded as overweight said they felt weight was "the most important issue in life". Half of those classified as obese said their weight made them feel embarrassed, while others felt awkward or trapped. Dr Jacquie Lavin, of Slimming World, said, "This data reveals the psychological issues associated with being overweight. Many deny how severely it could be affecting their health by increasing their risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke." — PTI
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World will not end in 2012: Mayan expert London, January 2 But Mayan expert Leonzo Barreno, of Saskatchewan, Canada, has asserted that the ‘apocalypse’ concept is a false interpretation of the Long Count calendar. The University of Regina journalism professor said Mayan elders told him that December 21 this year simply marks the beginning of a new calendar. Barreno, who immigrated to Canada from Guatemala 23 years ago, was trained by Mayan elders to read the calendars. “There are two sides to the story,” he told CBC News. “The one that we know is this apocalyptic meaning that has been given to the Long Count. The other side of the story is the Mayan side, which you rarely see in media articles because they never interview my own people.” He revealed that Mayan people were featured for just five seconds in the film “2012”, starring John Cusack, which is somewhat based on their ‘predictions’. “When I grew up during my training I never hear the word - end of the world -from the elders or spiritual leaders,” Barreno added. “For them, it is a joyous event, not an apocalyptic event. What is coming is the end of a calendar and the beginning of a new one.” Barreno added that it was cyclical. “This has happened before. According to the elders, it is the fifth time it has happened,” he added. — ANI
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Iran today tested missiles near the Strait of Hormuz, underlining its threats to close the vital oil-transit waterway as the West prepares to impose more economic sanctions.
A purported spokesman for Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has issued an ultimatum to Christians in the country’s north and threatened to confront troops after the President declared a state of emergency in hard-hit areas.
A 20-year-old British youth, charged with the cold-blooded murder of Indian student Anuj
Bidve, shocked everyone today by calling himself a “psycho” in court before being remanded to custody.
Islamabad, January 2 
