W O R L D

Mali rebels take control of Diabaly town
Paris, January 14
Islamist rebels have taken control of the town of Diabaly in central Mali, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday, marking a new southwestern front four days into France's military intervention.

MUJAO’s Islamist fighters man a position near Gao airport in Mali. — AFP file photo

China to pay ‘great importance’ to relations with India: Xi
Beijing, January 14
In his first direct comments on relations with India, China's new leader Xi Jinping has assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that his country would pay "great importance" to developing bilateral ties as their cooperation has brought "substantial benefits" to both sides.

45 killed in Syrian military attacks near Damascus
Beirut, January 14
Attacks by government forces on Damascus' rebellious suburbs killed at least 45 persons, including eight children, activists said today. Yesterday's death toll was part of an intensifying regime offensive to dislodge rebels from strategic areas around the capital.

Cleric’s ‘long march’ inches towards Pak capital
Islamabad, January 14
Tens of thousands of protesters led by fiery cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri today inched towards Islamabad demanding sweeping electoral reforms, as authorities put up barricades and deployed riot police turning the Pakistani capital into a virtual fortress.

Golden Globes: ‘Argo’ wins best picture
Los Angeles, January 14
Hostage-crisis drama 'Argo' beat civil war movie 'Lincoln' to win the best picture and best director awards at the Golden Globes today while 'Les Miserables' was named best musical or comedy with its actors Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway taking home a trophy each.

Actor-director Ben Affleck (L) and producers Grant Heslov (C) and George Clooney with the award for best motion picture drama for “Argo” at the Golden Globes awards ceremony in Beverly Hills on Sunday. — AFP

quetta blasts
Guv’s rule enforced in Balochistan
Yielding to the nationwide pressure mounted in the wake of Thursday’s massacre in Quetta, the federal government imposed Governor’s rule in the troubled Balochistan province after declaring emergency and dismissing the provincial government.

Mali rebels take control of Diabaly town

Paris, January 14
Islamist rebels have taken control of the town of Diabaly in central Mali, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday, marking a new southwestern front four days into France's military intervention.

Le Drian said the fighting was continuing as French and Malian forces sought to drive the rebels out of the area.

"They took Diabaly ... after fierce fighting and resistance from the Malian army that was not able to hold them off at that moment," Le Drian told BFM television.

"We knew that the key spots would be towards the west and it's in the west where we were bombing last night, and it's in the west today where the most important fighting is going on," Le Drian said.

The minister earlier told reporters that French and Malian forces were battling heavily armed groups in the west, saying the area remained "a difficult spot."

France intervened in its former colony on Friday after the president of the West African nation appealed for help to halt a rebel advance south. Le Drian said France's mission could last some time and that the capital Bamako would already be in rebel hands had France not stepped in. — Reuters

Editorial Page: Mali quagmire

Security Council to hold Mali talks
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council enters talks on the Mali conflict on Monday, with the major powers broadly supporting France's military intervention in the crisis. France has said the council's first meeting since its troops went into battle against Islamist guerrillas will serve to inform the panel's 14 other members of latest events and "exchange views" on the situation. — AFP 

China to pay ‘great importance’ to relations with India: Xi

Beijing, January 14
In his first direct comments on relations with India, China's new leader Xi Jinping has assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that his country would pay "great importance" to developing bilateral ties as their cooperation has brought "substantial benefits" to both sides.

"China will, as it has been doing, pay great importance to developing relations with India and expects to carry out close cooperation with India to create a brighter future of their bilateral relations," Xi wrote in a letter to Singh which was delivered to him by top Chinese diplomat Dai Bingguo in New Delhi on January 11.

"China-India relations have maintained stable development in the past few years, which has brought about substantial benefits to the two countries," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying. — PTI

military exchanges
NEW DELHI: India and China on Monday agreed upon a plan of bilateral military exchanges for 2013, including conducting the next joint military exercises. The decision was taken at the third annual defence dialogue between the two countries in Beijing at which they also agreed to expand and enhance bilateral military exchanges and advance mutual strategic trust. — TNS

45 killed in Syrian military attacks near Damascus

Beirut, January 14
Attacks by government forces on Damascus' rebellious suburbs killed at least 45 persons, including eight children, activists said today. Yesterday's death toll was part of an intensifying regime offensive to dislodge rebels from strategic areas around the capital.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 24 of the dead, including all eight children, were killed by government air and artillery strikes in the eastern Ghouta district yesterday.

The rest of the casualties were in towns and villages outside the capital, the Observatory said, and included 13 rebels killed in clashes.

Activists said the bombardments were some of the heaviest in the Damascus region since the government launched a series of offensives there in November.

Today, Syrian fighter jets carried out fresh airstrikes on the strategic suburb of Daraya, from which opposition fighters have tried to storm Damascus, the seat of Assad's power.

Daraya is close to a number of strategic facilities.

The suburb is flanked by the key districts of Mazzeh, home to a military air base, and Kfar Sousseh, where the government headquarters, the General Security intelligence agency head office and the Interior Ministry are located.

Last week, the government said it has regained control over more than half of the suburb.

The regime's current push in Damascus comes a week after Assad dismissed international calls to relinquish power and vowed to continue fighting rebels, whom he characterised as Islamic extremists out to destroy Syria.

The speech was condemned by the US and its Western and Gulf Arab allies, while Assad's backers in Russia and Iran said his proposal should be considered.

Syria's opposition rejected the proposal.

Those fighting to topple the regime, including rebels on the ground, have repeatedly said they will accept nothing less than the President's departure, dismissing any kind of settlement that leaves him in the picture. — AP 

Cleric’s ‘long march’ inches towards Pak capital

Supporters of Tahir-ul Qadri in Domeli on Monday. — AFP

Islamabad, January 14
Tens of thousands of protesters led by fiery cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri today inched towards Islamabad demanding sweeping electoral reforms, as authorities put up barricades and deployed riot police turning the Pakistani capital into a virtual fortress.

Qadri, who began his "long march" in Lahore yesterday, was moving towards Islamabad with around 30,000 to 50,000 supporters, witnesses in Punjab province said. The figure was far short of Qadri's claim that millions would join his protest.

The cleric, who heads the Tehrik Minhaj-ul-Quran, returned to Pakistan last month after living in Canada for the past seven years.

Political parties have accused Qadri of acting as a front for the military and security establishment to delay this year's general election so that the term of an interim administration can be prolonged.

The cleric has shaken up political circles by demanding key electoral reforms. —PTI

Golden Globes: ‘Argo’ wins best picture 

Los Angeles, January 14
Hostage-crisis drama 'Argo' beat civil war movie 'Lincoln' to win the best picture and best director awards at the Golden Globes today while 'Les Miserables' was named best musical or comedy with its actors Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway taking home a trophy each.

Ben Affleck-directed 'Argo' is inspired by the 1979 hostage crisis of US diplomats in Iran. Other nominees in the best drama category were 'Django Unchained', 'Life of Pi' and 'Zero Dark Thirty'.

Steven Spielberg-directed 'Lincoln', leading with seven nominations, had a disappointing run as it took home only the best actor trophy won by Daniel Day-Lewis for his turn as the 16th US president Abraham Lincoln trying to abolish slavery in a civil war-torn country.

The film may have better prospects at the Oscars next month where it is again leading with 12 nominations.

Globes also did not favour India-centric drama 'Life of Pi'. The film won a single trophy - best original score by Mychael Danna - but lost out in the best drama and best director categories. — PTI

quetta blasts
Guv’s rule enforced in Balochistan
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

He said the provincial government led by Nawab Aslam Raisani has been dissolved and Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi would be the chief executive of the province.

BRIEFLY

Indian-origin politician becomes Singapore’s 1st woman Speaker
Singapore: Indian-origin Muslim politician Halimah Yacob — from the ruling People’s Action Party — scripted history on Monday by becoming the first woman Speaker of Singapore’s Parliament, replacing Michael Palmer who was forced to quit over his extra-marital affair. — PTI

N Korea ‘may conduct another N-test’
London: North Korea has promised to strengthen its defences amid concerns the country may conduct a nuclear test as a follow-up to last month's long-range rocket launch. Citing US hostility, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a memorandum that North Korea will continue to strengthen its deterrence against all forms of war. — ANI

Elders to decide on US troops’ immunity
Kabul: Afghan elders will decide on the key issue of whether American soldiers remaining in the country after 2014 will be granted immunity from prosecution, President Hamid Karzai said. US President Barack Obama warned last week that no American troops would remain behind in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO forces in 2014 unless they were granted immunity from prosecution in local courts. — AFP

Berlusconi trial: Witness ‘Ruby’ in court
milan: Karima el-Mahroug, better known by her stage name "Ruby the Heartstealer", the Moroccan woman at the centre of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex-for-hire trial has arrived in court to testify as a witness for the first time today while defence lawyers sought to shut down the trial because of Italy's election campaign. — AP