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Sunday, May 31, 2009
Scientologists banned from editing Wikipedia
Chelsea beat Everton 2-1 to win FA Cup
Iran Hangs 3 for Involvement in Deadly Mosque Bombing
Pakistani Troops Retake Largest Town in Swat Valley
Number of displaced persons exceeds three million
The number of internally displaced persons (IDP) has crossed the three million mark, according to the NWFP government.Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said at a press conference at the Officers’ Mess here on Friday that the number of IDPs now stood at 3.4 million — 2.8 million of them from Malakand division alone.He said the provincial government was determined to provide all possible facilities to the displaced people and a substantial number of lady doctors had been deputed to look after them.The minister said 11 doctors were attending to displaced people in Nowshera, 15 in Mardan, 13 in Swabi, two in Malakand, three in Haripur and six in Charsadda. In addition, 73 doctors had been appointed at basic health units set up in the camps.Mr Hussain claimed that security forces had dismantled the network of terrorists and they were on the run, but they would be pursued till their defeat and surrender.He said security personnel had arrested some militants from the IDP camps and they were being interrogated.He said earlier the militants had put leaders on their hit list, but now the government had announced head money on them. ‘We are thankful to the federal government for increasing head money on Malakand Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah from Rs5 million to Rs50 million.’The names of those who blew the whistle on militant leaders and warlords would be kept secret, the minister added.Referring to reports about thrashing of medical representatives of pharmaceutical companies in Dabgari area, he said militants wanted to scare people in different ways.He requested journalists not to give coverage to such events.When his attention was drawn to a threatening letter sent to an Urdu daily, he said only cowards could send threatening letters to shopkeepers and newspapers.
US warns N Korea of quick response
Armed groups 'threaten all Somalia'
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Obama as you’ve never seen him before
He was tall and stunningly good looking, a guy who could appear pensive and serious one moment and then, with smoke from an unfiltered cigarette swirling around his face, morph into the hippest looking dude this side of James Dean.Which is why budding photographer Lisa Jack knew the moment she saw Barack Obama walk into the campus snack shop at Los Angeles’ Occidental College in 1980 that she had to get the freshman in front of a camera.‘I was doing portraits of fellow students, the cool people on campus,’ Jack, a slender, 49-year-old bundle of energy, recalled this week as she stood in a West Hollywood photo gallery surrounded by framed black-and-white photos of the president as a young man.‘A friend of a friend said there’s this really cool guy, really good looking, you have to get his picture.’ And as he said it, he walked in. He said, ‘Hey Barry, come here.’Soon after, they had made arrangements for a photo shoot at Jack’s small off-campus apartment, a nondescript hovel furnished with little more than a worn couch that had been salvaged from the side of the road and an overturned shopping cart that doubled as an end table.To Jack’s surprise, the future president, dressed in jeans and a shirt with sleeves rolled up, arrived with his own props, including a leather bomber jacket, a wide-brimmed Panama hat and a package of cigarettes.‘He had so much charisma, even back then, it was amazing,’ the photographer said, looking at a portrait of Obama, a broad grin on his face, one palm outstretched as though he’s about to welcome a visitor. In another his head is tilted back, eyes closed, a grin again fixed on his face.‘Some of these are goofy. He could be a goofball,’ Jack said, chuckling as she surveyed them.Then she moved on to view photos of the future president looking pensive and sometimes lost in thought, still others of him in his classic cool pose, cigarette smoke swirling around his face, others in the bomber jacket, hat off, showing a medium-length Afro.She shot just one 36-exposure roll of film, going on to earn an A in her photo class. Then Jack buried the images away and moved on to other things.She had once dreamed of becoming a professional photographer but ended up teaching instead. After earning a doctorate from the
Microsoft unleashes Bing to counter Google
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza gets engaged
Leading Indian player Sania Mirza has become engaged to a business scholar from her hometown of Hyderabad but has no plans to retire from competitive tennis, domestic media reported on Friday.The 22-year-old Mirza is a youth icon in a nation starved for sporting success after she became the first Indian to win a WTA tour title and break into the world’s top 50 in 2005 but has struggled to live up to early expectations.The pair are unlikely to tie the knot in the near future, as her 23-year-old fiancĂ© Sohrab Mirza plans to pursue higher studies, reports quoted family members as saying.Mirza has been plagued by injuries over the last two seasons but has continued playing despite being frustrated by a series of court petitions attributed mostly to people trying to grab media attention. She also had to fend off the ire of Muslim clerics opposed to her playing in normal tennis attire.
Indian growth unexpectedly strong
Iran Blames U.S. For Deadly Mosque Bombing
Pakistan ups Taliban chief reward
'Taliban killed' in Afghan province
Sri Lanka fighting 'killed 20,000'
North Korea 'tests another missile'
Obama unveils 'cyber czar' role
Friday, May 29, 2009
The lesser evil? By Ayesha Siddiqa *****
FACEBOOK is a great invention. It allows you to interact with people, without having to meet them, and have discussions. I accidentally got into a discussion with some on my friends’ list regarding my comment on Gen Musharraf’s current status.There were quite a few who responded to my question about who was paying for the former military dictator’s stay at the expensive Dorchester hotel.There were immediate suggestions regarding the source of money. Some believed that he might have earned his money courtesy his lecture circuit. For instance, the Indian Express paid him millions of rupees for his lecture in Delhi. But then Dorchester is no child’s play. It is truly expensive and we are talking a lot of money.The interesting point about the discussion was not whether my friends and I managed to solve what had begun to look like something out of the Da Vinci Code, but that the debate highlighted our attitudes towards democracy versus dictatorship or civilian versus military rule. Very quickly the entire debate began to focus on the issue of the lesser evil as opposed to the bigger one and on whether or not Musharraf was a greater problem than the current regime.Of course, there were some views that were easier to understand such as those of a serving air force officer who tried to reprimand the rest of us for showing lack of respect towards the leadership. One wondered why he bothered to contribute since the discussion was among civilians, generally considered less nationalist and second-class citizens by the men on horseback. One really wondered if the air force officer himself understood that leadership was not about heading an organisation but about motivating people with a set of clear achievements.However, the rest was more interesting as it reflected the confusion that has gripped the entire nation today regarding the lack of choice as far as the leadership is concerned. The problem has intensified due to the inability of the present regime not managing to capture the imagination of the people, especially the middle class and the educated and affluent upper middle and upper classes. It is indeed sad that Asif Zardari seems to have broken all records where losing the people’s confidence is concerned. Consequently, Pakistanis with a US Ivy League background and those in a better position at home are immediately reminded of the days when Musharraf was in power.It is also rather comical that today when Zardari announces that he has brought home money no one is willing to believe that the funds are meant for IDPs. A popular perception is that corrupt practices will take care of a lot of these resources. There are also more fingers being pointed at the behaviour of the ministers. We are probably once more in the same cycle that is the fate of praetorian societies. Short-term planning driven by greed, rather than a long-term vision is the hallmark of such societies. Such behaviour is not specific to Pakistan and can be found in a number of Latin American countries where there is a general inclination towards the military whenever things go wrong, but not to the point of wanting the military to continue permanently.At this point, there are two issues one would like to raise. First, how real is the corruption of politicians in Pakistan? Surely, we would all like to believe that the present set-up is just as corrupt as that headed by its predecessors. It is a fact that the government suffers from genuine inefficiencies and an inept top leadership. However, do we really have a lot of evidence to produce in a court of law regarding alleged corruption? Why is it that successive civilian and military governments were unable to catch ‘thieves’ despite keeping these leaders in prison, throwing others out of the country and having access to all official records?This is not to argue that politicians are clean, but then are they any worse than the generals who take over with the excuse of cleaning up the political and economic system and who manage to do nothing except create greater chaos? Why is it that military regimes never manage to catch the corrupt or is it that there is far more propaganda than what is actually stolen from the coffers? For instance, while the grapevine is rife with stories about illegal money being made by this government, there is very little on how some of the most influential members of the previous government earned their billions.Second, why should a bad and inefficient civilian leadership make former military dictators or future ones any better? Sadly, the middle and upper classes in Pakistan, as in other parts of South Asia, are constantly tempted by Singapore’s political model. Things have to be modern and tidy even if it means no democracy which is not a lame concept dictated by Washington but a system that is marked by good governance and the rule of law.Moreover, why should we imagine that the inept civilian leadership is not a product of its military predecessors? Like many Latin American states, the ineptitude of the civilian leadership distracts people from understanding that corrupt and incapable leadership elements in the military and civilian are interlinked. The greedy senior military generals, businessmen, industrialists, large land owners and influential mullahs are interconnected. These days there are deep familial connections as well. Hence, it is not surprising that the military does not manage to catch any of the corrupt politicians despite its claims of possessing the ‘capability to meet any challenge’.So, while there is no forgiveness for what this government is unable to achieve, it is unfair to get into the lesser evil-versus-bigger evil debate (this reminds one of the classification made by the US of the good Taliban versus the bad Taliban). Evil multiplies and this is what we have seen happening throughout the six decades of our history.
forces advancing to upper areas from Behrain
Deaths in Brazil dam break
New Indian ministers sworn in
Malaysia ban on 'Allah' upheld
U.S., S. Korea Troops on High Alert Amid Threats
Earthquake hits Caribbean coast
Several killed in Iran mosque blast
Deadly blasts hit Pakistani city
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Govt offers cash reward for info on TTP leaders
Barca crowned champions of Europe
Recent Attacks In or Linked to Pakistan
Microsoft to launch new Zune later this year
Microsoft Corp plans to launch a new version of its Zune portable media player later this year in the United States, incorporating high-definition video, touch screen technology and Wi-Fi connection.Microsoft said on Tuesday the new Zune, its answer to Apple Inc’s popular iPod digital music player, will also come with an Internet browser and a built-in HD radio receiver that offers higher-quality sound than traditional radio.It did not give a price or a specific date except to say it was due in the fall.The company added new features to Zune’s music service last year, enabling users to download music wirelessly and buy songs they hear on the device's built-in FM radio.
Mingora to be cleared of Taliban within three days
Pakistan vowed Wednesday to wipe out the Taliban from Swat’s main town of Mingora within three days, as fierce fighting raged during a month-long offensive to crush the insurgents. Around 2.4 million people have fled fighting as soldiers struggle to wrest back the northwest Swat and two nearby districts from the Taliban, who advanced last month to within 100 kilometres of Islamabad.The military said 12 suspected militants and one soldier were killed in the last 24 hours in the Swat valley, where a two-year Taliban uprising had crushed the tourism industry and effectively imposed sharia law.In Mingora, the military said troops carried out house-to-house searches, while clashes in the area left eight insurgents dead.‘Mingora city will be cleared of militants in next 2-3 days,’ it announced in a daily briefing update on the offensive.Security officials said earlier that two soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle near Mingora.Clashes also rocked Kabal and Kanju towns, within 25 kilometres of Mingora, a security official told AFP.‘Severe fighting is continuing in Kabal town. Militants are resisting in various parts of town,’ he said.‘It was a little bit calm in Mingora. There are reports of firing but militants are retreating from different parts of the city. Troops are busy clearing roads and streets of mines and bombs.’The military says around 1,200 militants and 76 soldiers have died in the onslaught, launched in the districts of Lower Dir on April 26, Buner on April 28 and Swat on May 8, but those tolls cannot be confirmed independently.