The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Assange berates US from Ecuador embassy balcony Asks Obama to end its 'witch-hunt' against his whistle-blower website London, August 19 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange today asked US President Barck Obama to end the "witch-hunt" against his whistle-blower website as he emerged in public for the first time in two months since he took refuge in the Ecuador embassy here to escape extradition to Sweden on alleged sex offences. "I ask President Obama to do the right thing, the United States must renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks," Assange said. "The US war on whistle-blowers must end. There must be no more foolish talk about prosecuting any media organisation, be it Wikileaks or the New York Times," the 41-year-old hacker- turned activist said. Citing examples of alleged action in various countries against freedom of expression, Assange drew loud applause from over 200 supporters as he said: "There is unity in the oppression. There must be absolute unity and determination in the response". Clad in a crisp blue shirt and red tie, Assange appeared in the balcony of the embassy's ground floor flat with nearly 100 police officers and a police helicopter above closely watching every movement. Technically, he remained within Ecuador territory, which prevented police officers from arresting him. Assange, an Australian national, began by thanking the people and government of Ecuador, and those in the government in the US and UK who "are still fighting for justice". He has been granted diplomatic asylum by Ecuador while Britain insists it is committed to extradite him to Sweden to face allegations of sex offences, and will not give him safe passage. Assange stood beside Ecuador's flag as several of his supporters and journalists from across the globe assembled outside the embassy, including the left-wing writer Tariq Ali. Assange was greeted by supporters at almost every sentence. He told his supporters, many of whom had been camping overnight for days outside the embassy: "I am here today because I cannot be there with you today. But thank you for your resolve, for your generosity of spirit. "On Wednesday night after a threat was made on this embassy and police descended on this embassy, you came out to watch over it." "The US must dissolve its FBI investigation. The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters," he said. White House spokesman Josh Earnest yesterday said the Obama administration considers Assange a matter for the governments of Britain, Sweden and Ecuador to resolve. Assange also asked the US to release Bradley Manning, charged with leaking classified information to WikiLeaks. "If Bradley Manning really did as he is accused, he is a hero, an example to us all, and one of the world's foremost political prisoners," he said. Assange angered the US in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website began publishing a huge trove of American diplomatic and military secrets, including 250,000 US embassy documents that highlight the sensitive, candid and often embarrassing backroom dealings of American diplomats. Assange said that he could hear police "storming" up through the internal fire escapes of the embassy. — PTI Ecuador Prez warns Britain Ecuador President Rafael Correa has warned Britain that any attempt to storm its embassy in London - over asylum to Julian Assange - would destroy relations between the two nations. He said if the British police "violated Ecuador's diplomatic mission" in London, it would destroy ties between the two countries. "I don't know who they think I am or what they think our government is. But how could they expect us to yield to their threats," he said. — IANS
	Minister among 32 die in Sudan plane crash Khartoum, August 19 A cabinet minister was among 32 politicians, generals and others today killed when a plane crashed on its way to Sudan's war-torn South Kordofan state for the start of Muslim holidays, state media and an aviation official said. "All people on board were killed," Abdelhafiz Abdelrahim, spokesman for the Sudan Aviation Authority, told AFP. Among the dead was Khartoum's Guidance and Endowments Minister Ghazi Al-Saddiq, the official SUNA news agency said, reporting that 26 passengers and six crew were on board. Speaking on the official Radio Omdurman, Culture and Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said the plane "crashed into a hill" because of bad weather, killing the entire delegation. Abdelrahim said the Russian-made Antonov plane was landing in Talodi town at about 8:00 am when "an explosion was heard and the plane was destroyed." Although there have been no reports of major fighting around Talodi in recent weeks, the town has been a key battleground in the war which began in June last year between the government and ethnic rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). Rebel spokesman Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told AFP that his forces had nothing to do with the crash, which happened outside rebel territory. "It is a government area," he said. The town, about 50 km from the disputed border with South Sudan, sits on a partly-forested plain beneath craggy hills. Heavy rains have been reported in South Kordofan recently. The dead minister, Saddiq, took on the guidance and endowments portfolio, among whose duties is religious issues, during a July cabinet reshuffle which trimmed the number of ministries. Prior to the reshuffle he had been minister of tourism and antiquities since December. The rebels in South Kordofan fought alongside former insurgents now ruling in South Sudan, which became independent in July last year. Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting the SPLM-N, a charge which analysts believe despite denials by Juba, which in turn accuses Khartoum of backing rebels. — AFP
	Philippine minister feared dead in crash Manila, August 19 Helicopters and divers were searching today for one of the most powerful Philippine politicians, feared dead after a light aircraft he was travelling in crashed into the sea. President Benigno Aquino took the lead in the search for Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, a day after his plane went down about a kilometre from the central island of Masbate. Aquino flew to Masbate where military divers and helicopters were scouring the area for the minister, a close presidential aide, who is missing along with two pilots. Transport Secretary Mar Roxas, who accompanied Aquino, said special sonar equipment had been flown to Masbate to help in the search operation after some debris, including one wing of the missing plane, was recovered. The twin-engine Piper Seneca, carrying Robredo, his aide, and two pilots, went down after developing engine trouble. Robredo's aide, Jun Abrazado, was the only rescued survivor and Aquino said he was conscious and had sustained only a few injuries. — AFP
	Assad makes rare appearance Shown in public for first time since July bombing Beirut, August 19 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad performed Eid prayers in a Damascus mosque on Sunday, state television showed, his first appearance in public since a stunning July bombing in the capital that killed four of his top security officials. Assad, battling a 17-month-old uprising against 42 years of rule by his family, was accompanied by his Prime Minister and Foreign Minister but not his vice-president, Farouq al-Shara, whose reported defection was denied the previous day. His administration shaken by the July 18 attack and defections including that of his last Prime Minister, Assad's recent appearances had been restricted to state television footage of him during official business. Most recently, he was shown swearing in the new prime minister a week ago. Syria's civil war has intensified since the audacious attack that killed members of Assad's long inaccessible inner circle, including his defence minister and brother-in-law. With diplomatic efforts to end the war hampered by divisions between world powers and inter-Arab rivalries, Syria faces an unabating conflict that threatens to destabilise the Middle East with its sectarian reverberations, pitting a mainly Sunni Muslim opposition against the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs. In the footage broadcast on Sunday, Assad sat cross-legged during a sermon in which Syria was described as the victim of terrorism and a conspiracy hatched by the United States, Israel, the West and Arab states but which would not "defeat our Islam, our ideology and our determination in Syria". Assad, dressed in a suit and tie, smiled as he greeted officials, including senior members of his Baath Party. In attendance were Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem and Prime Minister Wael al-Halki. He is the replacement for Riyad Hijab, a Sunni who has joined the opposition to Assad since his defection was announced on August 6. — Reuters
	Lady Naipaul decries Pak ‘horror’ in UK London, August 19 Disturbed by cases of honour killing in Britain, Nadira Naipaul, wife of celebrated Indian origin writer VS Naipaul, says that she sees here the same "horror" that made her flee Pakistan. Writing in the Daily Mail on Sunday, Nadira, says: "I can still see the horror that made me flee Pakistan - in the haunted eyes of girls raised here...When I married VS Naipaul and moved to England in 1996, I thought I had left the horror behind". She adds: "Pakistan had drained my resolve, and I was tired of fighting a losing battle. To me, England, for all its ills, was the promised land. Instead, I have found the horror I fled has followed me here. It is all around, eroding the very core of everything Britain believes in". "I see it everywhere. In the haunted eyes of young Pakistani girls, brought up in Britain, who know nothing but a Westernised life: young women who work happily behind beauty counters in our department stores, yet must return home to parents who refuse to emerge from their cultural ghettos". Cases of honour killings and forced marriages are reported from communities with origins in the Indian sub-continent. British authorities have taken several to prevent forced marriages, including the setting up of a Forced Marriages Unit in the Foreign Office. Mentoning examples, Nadira writes: "These are extreme examples, but stark reminders of the hold these beliefs have on entrenched communities - communities that have, for five decades, been relocating to Britain". She adds: "So why, then, have successive Governments refused to acknowledge the incestuous cultures that have evolved in these ghettos? Why does no one challenge the existence of the so-called 'Islamic Parliaments', with their retrogressive laws, that exist in cities such as Bradford and Leicester?" Asking liberal Muslims "to speak out", Nadira writes that her message to those who promote these entrenched ghetto ideas is: "(Go) home if you want to practise your form of Islam. There is no place for it here". — PTI
	Drone strikes kill 10 militants in Pakistan Afzal Khan in Islamabad Ten militants were killed in two US drone strikes in the lawless North Waziristan tribal region on Sunday, taking the total number of such attacks in the area since Saturday to three. In the first attack, two CIA-operated drones fired four missiles at two vehicles carrying militants in Shawal area of North Waziristan Agency early on Sunday. Seven militants were killed instantly, officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels. The second drone strike targeted a compound in Mana area of North Waziristan. A drone fired two missiles, killing at least three militants. All those killed on Sunday were believed to be members of a Taliban faction led by commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, local residents said. Six members of Bahadur's group were killed yesterday in a drone strike on a compound and a vehicle in Shuwedar village of Shawal area. The Shawal area is dominated by Bahadur, whose fighters often target US and other foreign troops in Afghanistan.
	New stem cell treatment to cure cancer London, August 19 In a breakthrough, scientists claim to have developed a revolutionary treatment using placenta stem cells to cure patients with immune system failure, including those with blood cancer. The finding could save thousands of victims of cancers such as leukaemia, myeloma, lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease every year, the scientists said. The technique uses specially harvested cells to produce infection-fighting bone marrow, the 'Daily Express' reported. Scientists hope this will be lifesaving treatment for patients having undergone chemotherapy or radiotherapy which destroys bone marrow and for people with conditions that cause immune system disorders. "We had no alternative. It was to try these cells or the patients would not survive," Professor Reuven Or, head of bone marrow transplantation at Israel's Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem said. "Within a few weeks both the lady and the seven-year-old girl were well enough to go home and remain well," said Or, who has successfully used the technique on two patients facing death after all else failed. The work will be presented at the American Society for Haematology in Atlanta in December. Patients with blood cancers have most of their bone marrow destroyed when given radiation or chemotherapy to destroy their disease. Bone marrow transplants rebuild the body's immune system but a good match has to be found before a transplant can go ahead and up to 30 per cent fail because the body rejects the new cells. — PTI
	Kill Osama bin Laden again for just $325! Washington, August 19 Want to kill Osama bin Laden all over again? A former Navy Seal is offering people a chance to do so for just $325 in Minnesota in a re-enactment of the Seal raid that killed the Al-Qaida chief in Pakistan. As many as 137 people have signed up, over the past four months, to hold paintball guns and pretend to be highly trained Navy SEALs sneaking into a compound in Abottabad, to kill a bearded man in a white robe. The former Navy Seal, Larry Yatch told the Minnesota Public Radio that the game is not just for entertainment, but also taught them self-defence, the 'New York Daily News' reported. "It's the people that might be a little intimidated around a gun or don't necessarily feel comfortable having to fight with someone, those are the people who we can make the biggest difference in their lives," Yatch said. According to the report, the fake Al-Qaida compound is set up in the basement of the Sealed Mindset studio, which also takes self-defence classes and firearms training. In one July re-enactment, the group of "SEALs" included a plastic surgeon and a married couple, who said they bought tickets at a school fundraiser. In each imaginary raid, Yatch greets his SEALs with startling news: "We're going to be flying from our base in Afghanistan ... Obviously, this is a complete black op, or clandestine operation". — PTI
	US Gurdwara Shooting Michelle to meet victims, families on August 23 Washington, August 19 In an effort to reach out to the Sikh Community, US First Lady Michelle Obama will travel to Wisconsin on August 23 to meet the victims and family members of the gurdwara shooting that left six worshippers dead. The scheduled visit of the First Lady to Wisconsin is on August 23, the White House yesterday said, adding that it was part of Obama Administration’s reach out to the Sikh Community who were shattered by the Oak Creek gurdwara shooting. Michelle would be meeting the victims and family members of those who were killed in the tragic incident, it said. The Indian-American and Sikh communities have welcomed the White House announcement as a great gesture. “It is great to hear that First lady will be comforting the families devastated by the violence in the Sikh gurdwara motivated by hate and it is unquestionably a kind gesture. “It is important that these families hear firsthand how she and the President feel about this terrible tragedy,” said Dr Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council. “It is indeed critical that the top leadership acts in such a dignified manner to heal the raw wounds of the families and the entire Sikh community. Sikhs have come together as a family and these bullets had hit our hearts,” he said. — PTI