UNSC orders warring sides in Syria to allow aid
United Nations, February 22
The UN Security Council today unanimously adopted a non-binding draft resolution to allow unhindered humanitarian aid access across war-torn Syria.

Washington/Beijing, Feb 22
President Barack Obama held low-key talks with the Dalai Lama on Friday, prompting the Chinese government to ask why the White House ignored Beijing's warnings that the meeting with the exileTibetan spiritual leader would damage ties.

China's vice foreign minister, Zhang Yesui, summoned Daniel Kritenbrink, charge d'affaires of the US embassy in China, on Friday night to condemn the meeting as interference in China's internal affairs, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Obama's private meeting with the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, lasted for about an hour. Obama reaffirmed his support for Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic traditions and human rights for Tibetans, the White House said.

Obama said he did not support Tibetan independence from China and the Dalai Lama said he was not seeking it, the White House said in a statement. The White House sidestepped questions about whether it was worried about the reaction from China. "We are committed to a constructive relationship with China in which we work together to solve regional and global problems," White House spokesman Jay Carney told a regular news briefing, noting that Obama and other US presidents had previously met the Tibetan leader. China's foreign ministry, in a statement on its website, cited vice foreign minister Zhang as saying the meeting was "a wrong move.” — Reuters

A day after the Pakistan government gave security forces the go-ahead to target insurgents, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said it was still willing to talk peace if the government declared a ceasefire.

Even as TTP renewed its offer to call truce with the government, nine terrorists were killed on Saturday when army's helicopter gunships pounded their hideouts in Hangu district in northwest Pakistan.

Security sources said they had confirmed inputs about presence of terrorists in a compound near Thall, a city in Hangu district, who were planning attacks. "Helicopter gunships hit the hideouts early this morning, killing some terrorists," an official source said. Security sources put the toll at nine.

The fresh strikes came a day after Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif said the armed forces are "battle hardened" and fully capable of countering any internal or external threat. "We are fully prepared to confront any challenge in future as well," a statement released by the military's media wing said.

"Our doors are open for talks … [but] the government needs to stop killing our comrades," the TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said in a joint news conference, alongside TTP South Waziristan chapter leader Azam Tariq Mehsud.

"Since the government started the war against us, it should declare ceasefire before asking us to do so."

In a news briefing on Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar announced that the prime minister had decided to call off peace talks following a surge in unrest across the country.

"Dialogue and violence cannot take place side by side. The military has been asked to retaliate in self-defence, which is their right," Nisar had said, adding that proceeding with dialogue amid attacks across the country would be 'injustice to terror victims'.

(With inputs from PTI)

United Nations, February 22
The UN Security Council today unanimously adopted a non-binding draft resolution to allow unhindered humanitarian aid access across war-torn Syria.

The resolution demands that all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, "promptly allow rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for UN humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, including across conflict lines and across borders, in order to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches people in need through the direct routes".

The 15-nation UNSC met to vote on the resolution, co-authored by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg amid uncertainty that Russia and China could veto the draft.

Russia and China support the Syrian government and have vetoed three previous resolutions backed by Western nations that would have pressed Syrian President Bashar Assad to end the three-year conflict.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed the adoption of the resolution, which if implemented could ease "some of the "prolonged suffering" of the Syrian people. — PTI

Rome, February 22
Italy's youngest-ever prime minister Matteo Renzi and his fresh-faced cabinet were sworn in today, amid widespread scepticism that the new government has the political maturity to tackle the country's formidable challenges. The former mayor of Florence was accompanied by his wife and three children - dressed in the colours of the Italian flag - to the formal ceremony in Italy's presidential palace, and smiled widely as he watched his new team sworn in by President Giorgio Napolitano.

The centre-left leader takes over the reins of the eurozone's third largest economy in a period of increasing frustration among ordinary Italians hard hit by a deep recession and weary of broken political promises.

In his 16-strong cabinet, half of the new ministers are women and - with an average age of 47.8 years - it is the youngest government in Italy's history.

Renzi is "gambling on freshness, newness and energy", said political watcher Mario Calabresi in La Stampa daily. — AFP