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Security forces swamp Damascus
’84 riots: US court to hear plea against Cong on Mar 15
Oxford graduates pull pints in dire jobs market
Iran halts oil sales to France, Britain
Tension mounts in Korean peninsula |
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A woman organises pictures of Whitney Houston for sale during her funeral service in Newark. — Reuters
US: No support to independence for Balochistan
Cars circle Kremlin in anti-Putin protest
20 die in police academy blast
in Baghdad
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Security forces swamp Damascus
Amman/Beirut, February 19 China's official Xinhua news agency reflected Beijing's view a day after a Chinese envoy met Assad in Damascus while thousands of Syrians demonstrated in the heart of the capital in one of the biggest anti-government rallies there since a nationwide uprising started nearly a year ago. On Sunday, the body of Samer al-Khatib, a young protester who was killed when security forces opened fire on the protest, was buried in Mezze early in the morning. Security forces maintained a heavy presence to prevent the funeral from turning into an anti-Assad demonstration, opposition activists contacted by Reuters from Amman said. Fifteen pick-up trucks carrying security police and armed pro-Assad militiamen, known as 'shabbiha', surrounded the funeral as Khatib was buried quietly, they said. Police cars and militia jeeps patrolled Mezze while secret police agents spread out on foot, stopping men at random and checking their identification cards, they said. "Walking in Mezze now carries the risk of arrest. The area is quiet and even the popular food shops in Sheikh Saad are empty," activist Moaz al-Shami said, referring to a main street. The Damascus protest indicated the movement against Assad, who has ruled Syria for 11 years after succeeding his father Hafez on his death, has not been cowed by repression and embraces a wide section of Syrian society. Assad, who belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, in a majority Sunni country, says he is fighting foreign-backed terrorists. Saturday's shooting by security forces took place as a Chinese envoy, Foreign Minister Zhai Jun met Assad and appealed to all sides to end the violence. Zhai also expressed Beijing's support for Assad's plan to hold a referendum and multi-party elections within four months - a move the West and some in Syria's fragmented opposition movement have dismissed as a sham. China has emerged as a leading player in the multiple international efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria and is one of Assad's main defenders. It also criticised the West's stance, highlighting differences between foreign powers over how to deal with the conflict.
— Reuters
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’84 riots: US court to hear plea against Cong on Mar 15
New York, February 19 The plea filed by a New York-based Sikh body is also urging Judge Robert W Sweet of the US Federal Court of the Southern District of New York to issue "Letters Rogatory" for appearance of Justice GT Nanavati. In a statement, Attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the legal adviser to the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), said the plaintiffs will ask the court to issue Letters Rogatory for appearance of Justice Nanavati, who had gone into the anti-Sikh riots in the wake of assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. "Letters Rogatory" is a procedure provided in international law used by the US courts to ask the courts of another country to assist them in the administration of justice.
— PTI
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Oxford graduates pull pints in dire jobs market
London, February 19 Of the 3,500 passouts who supplied information, nearly 200 have been working in non-graduate occupations such as office clerk, sales assistant or bar employee, according to the figures released by the prestigious university. The statistics have revealed a snapshot of the desperate employment market in Britain and shows that while many secure jobs as doctors, bankers or management consultants, others are struggling to get their foot on the career ladder, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported. Among the most popular positions for undergraduates six months after leaving Oxford were doctors and finance analysts, registrars and consultants, researchers, teachers, management consultants and advertising and marketing executives. But, a fifth of graduates, who studied classical archaeology and ancient history, said they were unemployed six months after leaving university. Classics and modern languages and Oriental Studies had rates of about 15 per cent. Colleges with highest unemployment rates included Mansfield, at over 10 per cent and Pembroke at nine per cent. Jonathan Black, director of the university career service, said: “We are insulated from the worst effects of the recession because employers see Oxford as a quick filter but that does not mean that all our students walk in to jobs. “But an Oxford education is for life and what an individual might be doing six months after graduating is unlikely to be what they are doing in 10 years time. “We have more and more employers coming here. There is a flight to talent. But we still have a lot of worried students that it is our job to help.” — PTI
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Iran halts oil sales to France, Britain Tehran, February 19 "We have taken steps to deliver our oil to other countries in the place of British and French companies," he said. The decision was not expected to have a big impact. France last year bought only 3 per cent of its oil —58,000 barrels a day — from the Islamic republic, and Britain was believed to be no longer importing Iranian oil. But it was seen as a warning shot to other EU nations that are bigger consumers of Iranian oil, including Italy, Spain and Greece. Although those countries were not affected by Iran's announcement today, they are included in an EU decision to stop buying Iranian oil that was announced last month and which will take full effect from July. According to the International Energy Agency, Italy sourced 13 per cent of its oil,, from Iran, while Spain imported 12 per cent and Greece bought 30 per cent of its needs. Iran, OPEC's second-biggest exporter after Saudi Arabia, pumps 3.5 million bpd of which it exports 2.5 million barrels. Seventy per cent of the exports go to Asian countries, China and India especially. More than 20 per cent, or around 600,000 barrels per day, go to the EU. Iran has been threatening for weeks to cut all oil exports to Europe because of the EU ban, but has thus far held off. Ceasing all exports to the EU would harm its own economy unless it had Asian buyers ready to pick up the contracts.
— AFP US: Using military option premature Washington: As Israel raises its anti-Iran pitch, America's top military official has cautioned that it would not be "prudent" to attack Tehran's nuclear facilities and press the military button immediately. Gen Martin E Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told 'CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS' in an interview that it was still "premature" to decide on the extreme step.
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Tension mounts in Korean peninsula
Pyongyang, February 19 North Korea doesn’t want a war but its people are always ready to “dedicate their blood to defend their inviolable territory,” officer Sin Chol Ung at the North’s Korean People’s Security Forces told The Associated Press. “We are monitoring every movement by the South Korean warmongers. If they provoke us, there will be only merciless retaliatory strikes,” Sin said. South Korea will stage regular one-day artillery drills on Monday from front-line islands off the western coast, including one shelled by North Korea in 2010, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. It said South Korea informed North Korea of its training plan on Sunday. Soon after, the North’s military issued a statement warning of the strikes and urging all civilians living or working on the islands to evacuate before the drills start. “Such move of the warlike forces is a premeditated military provocation ... to drive the overall situation on the Korean peninsula into the phase of war,” a North Korean western military command said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. The North frequently issues similar rhetoric against South Korea, but the latest warning comes as ties between the Koreas remain tense following the death of Kim Jong Il in December. South Korea has barred all of its citizens, except for two private delegations, from visiting to pay respects to Kim, and North Korea has vowed to retaliate. South Korea regularly conducts artillery drills from front-line islands. A November 2010 drill at one of the five islands, Yeonpyeong, triggered a North Korean artillery bombardment that killed four South Koreans. Pyongyang has accused Seoul of provoking the attack by conducting drills in its territorial waters. — AP
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Tearful adieu to Whitney at hometown funeral Newark, February 19 Gospel hymns and eulogies in remembrance of Houston, who died a week ago aged 48, filled the air during the four-hour service at the packed New Hope Baptist Church in Newark in New Jersey, where she once sang in the choir. Houston's signature single 'I Will Always Love You' echoed through the church as a star-studded crowd bid a final farewell to the doomed diva. Houston was buried next to her father at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, south of Newark. Mourners including singer Jennifer Hudson and Houston's mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston swayed and clapped along as gospel singers BeBe Winans and the Rev Kim Burrell joined with pop stars like Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder in paying tribute to Houston. Her 18-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina sat in the front row of the church, near the silver casket blanketed in white roses and purple lilies in front of the main podium. The invitation-only crowd of 1,500 filled the church. Several fans gathered outside the church to bid her farewell, while thousands watched the funeral service that was streamed live online. Other star attendees included Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Beyonce Knowles, Angela Bassett and Houston's 'The Bodyguard' co-star Kevin Costner. Clive Davis, who became Houston's mentor, recounted his first meeting with Houston in 1983 and how he was floored by the singer's voice. "You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that for a lifetime. And when one person embodies it all, well, it takes your breath away," he said. Singer Alicia Keys called Houston her angel as she told stories of her not only serving as an inspiration growing up, but a constant cheerleader for many young singers looking for support.
— PTI
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US: No support to independence for Balochistan
Islamabad, February 19 “The US respects the territorial integrity of Pakistan. Members of the Congress introduce legislation on numerous foreign affairs topics and these bills do not in any way imply the US government endorsement of any particular policy,” US embassy spokesman Robert Raines said in a statement. The statement came a day after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the resolution moved in the US House of Representatives by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher as an attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty. “The Department of State does not typically comment on pending legislation, but it is not the policy of the Administration to support independence for Balochistan,” the US embassy spokesman said. Balochistan has witnessed a spike in violence by nationalist groups that are seeking greater autonomy recently.
— PTI
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Cars circle Kremlin in anti-Putin protest
Moscow, February 19 The second such auto rally in three weeks was due to be picked up in other cities as the opposition sought to keep up momentum after launching the biggest wave of anti-Putin rallies in his 12-year rule in December. “The closer we manage to get to the Kremlin, the more effective this event will be,” the protest movement’s League of Voters said in a statement. Nearly 3,500 people had signed up for the event on its Facebook page by the time the afternoon event started in Moscow under a bright winter sky. “We all have to come out by 5 pm,” Russian celebrity and popular TV personality Xenia Sobchak told private Dozhd television. “Don’t be afraid if they start throwing snowballs at you.” An AFP reporter saw dozens of cheering pedestrians flashing victory signs to cars circling along the 16-kilometre Garden Ring Road with everything from white flags to plastic bags tied to their handles and antennas. “Volodya, It’s Time to Go,” said a sign on one Moscow car with a young couple in the front seat, using the diminutive of Vladimir.
— AFP
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20 die in police academy blast
in Baghdad
Baghdad, February 19 The police said the suicide bomber was waiting in the street outside the fortified academy near the Interior Ministry headquarters in an eastern neighbourhood in the Iraqi capital. As the crowd of recruits exited the compound's security barriers around 1 p.m. and walked into the road, police said the bomber drove toward them and blew up his car. "We heard a big explosion and the windows of the room shattered," said Haider Mohammed, 44, an employee in the nearby Police Sports Club, about 100 yards from the academy's gate. He described a horrific scene of burning cars, scattered pieces of burned flesh and wounded people flattened on the ground.
— AP
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Police and militia patrols fanned out in the Syrian capital's Mezze district today to prevent a repeat of protests against President Bashar al-Assad that have threatened his grip on Damascus, opposition activists said.
