Egypt turmoil: 5,000 inmates flee prison amid riots

About 5,000 Egyptian prisoners broke out of a prison in the Fayyoum Govenorate amid the nationwide riots on Saturday night, reports said. Earlier on Saturday night, a building of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party in downtown Cairo was set on fire for the second time. Protesters marched towards the Tahrir square in downtown Cairo carrying dead bodies on Saturday night after the curfew was clamped at 4 pm. Leaders from the US, UK, France and Germany have urged Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak to avoid violence and enact reforms as protests continue. Vigilante groups in Cairo have set up checkpoints amid reports of widespread looting. Streets are on the brink of anarchy. Mr Mubarak has appointed a vice-president as he struggles to regain control after five days of protests. It is now believed at least 100 people have died since Tuesday. US President Barack Obama met national security officials on Saturday to discuss the situation in Egypt. 

Protests against Hosni Mubarak continues for 7th consecutive day

Protests against Egypt President Hosni Mubarak have been continued for 7th consecutive day and death toll has reached 150. The country was in the grip of increasing lawlessness as gangs of armed men helped free thousands of prisoners and looters rampaged malls, banks and jewellery stores, even as many army men doffed uniforms to join the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule that has claimed at least 150 lives in six days. An embattled Mubarak, 82, visited the military headquarters and held hectic parleys with top commanders, a day after he showed first signs of handing over power by naming intelligence chief and his close confidant Omar Suleiman as Vice President. Taking advantage of the fluid situation, armed gangs fired at guards in four prisons, including in Alexandria and Aswan, and helped thousands of inmates to flee. An estimated 5,000 inmates broke free from a jail in El Fayoum, south of Cairo, killing a senior police officer, media reports said. A special Air India aircraft is flying over 300 Indians to Mumbai, Indian Ambassador R Swaminathan said. They will reach Mumbai tomorrow morning, he said. The Indian mission is making arrangements for those wishing to return home.

No special privileges for Raymond Davis in Pakistan

The US on Sunday mounted a defence for an American facing a double murder charge for shooting two Pakistani men in Lahore, saying he was a member of the US mission's staff and entitled to diplomatic immunity. A statement issued by the US embassy on Sunday evening said: "The US diplomat detained in Lahore is a member of the US embassy's technical and administrative staff, and therefore entitled to full criminal immunity and cannot be lawfully arrested or detained in accordance with the Vienna Convention".  The embassy noted that the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides diplomatic immunity to all diplomats around the world. Deputy Prosecutor General of Punjab, Rana Bakhtiar said on Sunday that Raymond Davis had fired the bullets from the back thus it was not a case of ‘self defense’ as he had stated earlier. Rana also said that Davis, charged with murder of two motorcyclists in Lahore, did not hold any special privileges as a diplomat. Referring to Article 49-2 of the Vienna Convention, he said that diplomatic officials only hold privilege when they are on duty, but Davis was in Pakistan on a business visa. Davis is being described by the American media as a security contractor from a Florida-based firm, Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC. That Foreign Office and the US embassy were not on the same page on the issue of status of the accused was obvious from an FO press release that mentioned Davis as a US ‘functionary’, and not a diplomat.

Egypt chaos

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to bow to demands that he resign after ordering troops and tanks into cities in an attempt to quell protests against his 30-year rule. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is due to appoint a new government after firing his previous administration amid a wave of protests against his rule. Demonstrators were still out in the streets in the early hours of the morning, as were looters. Parts of Cairo resembled a war zone, filled with smoke, rubble and the smell of tear gas. Mubarak dismissed his government and called for national dialogue to avert chaos after a day of battles between police and protestors. Medical sources said at least 24 people had been killed and over a thousand injured in clashes in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria. 'It is not by setting fire and by attacking private and public property that we achieve the aspirations of Egypt and its sons, but they will be achieved through dialogue, awareness and effort,' he said in a televised address, his first public appearance since the protests began four days ago. US President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Mubarak and urged 'concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people'. The army, deployed for the first time in the crisis, cleared Cairo's Tahrir square towards midnight. Shortly after Mubarak's speech, protestors returned in their hundreds, defying a curfew. They said sacking the cabinet was far from enough. 'It was never about the government, by God. It is you (Mubarak) who has to go! What you have done to the people is enough!' said one protestor. Shots were heard in the evening near parliament and the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party was in flames, the blaze lighting up the night sky. Cars were set alight and police posts torched. More than half of the dead in yesterday's clashes were reported in Suez, the eastern city which has been ground zero for the most violent protests over the past four days. Mubarak, 82, has been a close ally of Washington and beneficiary of US aid for decades. The protests were triggered by the overthrow two weeks ago of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Al Ben Ali. Street protests in Tunis focused on similar issues of poverty and political repression. Demonstrations have also flared in Yemen, Algeria, Sudan and Jordan in recent weeks.

Egypt unrest

Egyptian security forces are on high alert, with thousands of people expected to join anti-government rallies after Friday prayers. The government says it is open to dialogue but also warned of "decisive measures" as the fourth day of violent protests loomed. Widespread disruption has been reported to the internet and mobile phone messaging services. There are also reports of arrests of opposition figures overnight. The reported crackdown on the largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, came after it said it would back the Friday protests. On Thursday, Egyptian opposition figure and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei returned to Cairo, promising to join the demonstrators. Overnight clashes between protesters and security forces have been reported in Suez. Timeline: Egypt unrest Following is the chronicle of the demonstrations against the country's leadership. January 2011: Activists in Egypt call for an uprising in their own country, to protest against poverty, unemployment, government corruption and the rule of president Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for three decades. January 25: On a national holiday to commemorate the police forces, Egyptians take to the streets in large numbers, calling it a "day of rage". January 26: A protester and a police officer are killed in central Cairo as anti-government demonstrators pelt security forces with rocks and firebombs for a second day, according to witnesses. January 27: Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog turned democracy advocate, arrives in Egypt to join the protests. ElBaradei says he is ready to "lead the transition" in Egypt if asked.  Meanwhile, protests continue across several cities. Hundreds have been arrested, but the protesters say they will not give up until their demand is met. Protesters clash with police in Cairo neighbourhoods. Violence also erupts in the city of Suez again, while in the northern Sinai area of Sheikh Zuweid, several hundred bedouins and police exchange live gunfire, killing a 17-year-old man. In Ismailia, hundreds of protesters clash with police. Lawyers stage protests in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta town of Toukh, north of Cairo. Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger services are disrupted. January 28: Internet and mobile phone text message users in Egypt report major disruption to services as the country prepares for a new wave of protests after Friday prayers.  Meanwhile, a lawyer for the opposition Muslim Brotherhood says that 20 members of the officially banned group have been detained overnight. Egypt remains on edge, as police and protesters prepare for a showdown. 

Raymond Davis US Consular Worker May Face Murder Charges

A US consular worker has been remanded in police custody for six days after shooting dead two armed assailants in Pakistan. Raymond Davis may face murder charges after the pair approached him on a motorcycle shortly after withdrawing money from an A.T.M. in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday. Police say Davis believed the men intended to rob him in his car in a crowded street. He apparently produced a Bareta and opened fire. One gunman was killed at the scene by four separate shots. The second died later in hospital from three rounds. A third Pakistani was killed by a U.S. consulate S.U.V. as it rushed to Davis’s aid after he apparently called the mission for help. The consulate says it will surrender the vehicle and the driver to police for the official investigation. Appearing Friday in a Lahore military court, Davis apologized to the two men’s families. In a two-sentence statement Friday, the U.S. embassy confirmed that a consulate staffer "was involved in an incident yesterday that regrettably resulted in the loss of life."The U.S. was working with Pakistanis to "determine the facts and work toward a resolution," it said. But a Pakistani police officer described Davis, said to be from Virginia, as a “security official” at the Lahore consulate while others said he called himself a “technical adviser” to the authorities. As foreign mission worker he enjoys diplomatic immunity but Davis’s case is complicated by a ban on foreigners from carrying weapons in Pakistan and by local self-defense laws. Under Pakistani law one can only act in self-defense if attacked first. Merely being approached by someone wielding a gun is insufficient cause under law for the victim to pull the trigger. Also, when firing in self-defense it is only admissible to aim at non-life threatening parts of the assailant's body, such as arms or legs. The killings complicate further an already fraught relationship the United States has with Pakistan, its most important ally in fighting terrorism and Islamic militancy. Pakistani deaths at American hands are an immensely emotive issue here, where relentless CIA drone strikes aimed at insurgents have claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians in the past two years. In recent weeks there have been rallies countrywide involving thousands of protesters, angry at the attacks that they view as an invasion of national sovereignty and resentful of the US-led occupation of Afghanistan which is often sold by radicals as an American war on Islam.

worldwide populations major religions, Muslim birth rate falls

Falling birth rates will slow the world's Muslim population growth over the next two decades, reducing it on average from 2.2 percent a year in 1990-2010 to 1.5 percent a year from now until 2030, a new study says. Muslims will number 2.2 billion by 2030 compared to 1.6 billion in 2010, making up 26.4 percent of the world population compared to 23.4 percent now, according to estimates by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The report did not publish figures for worldwide populations of other major religions, but said the United States-based Pew Forum planned similar reports on growth prospects for worldwide Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Judaism. "The declining growth rate is due primarily to falling fertility rates in many Muslim-majority countries," it said, noting the birth rate is falling as more Muslim women are educated, living standards rise and rural people move to cities. "Globally, the Muslim population is forecast to grow at about twice the rate of the non-Muslim population over the next two decades -- an average annual growth rate of 1.5 percent for Muslims, compared with 0.7 percent for non-Muslims," it said. The report, entitled The Future of the Global Muslim Population, was part of a Pew Forum program analyzing religious change and its impact on societies around the world. Alan Cooperman, Pew Forum associate director for research, said the results refuted claims made by some critics of Muslim immigration that high birth rates would make Muslims the majority in Europe within a few decades. Muslim minorities will grow to around 10 percent of the population in several European countries, he said, adding: "Those are substantial increases but they are very far from 'Eurabia' scenario of runaway growth."The report said about 60 percent of the world's Muslims will live in the Asia-Pacific region in 2030, 20 percent in the Middle East, 17.6 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 2.7 percent in Europe and 0.5 percent in the Americas. Pakistan will overtake Indonesia as the world's most numerous Muslim nation by 2030, it said, while the Muslim minority in mostly Hindu India will retain its global rank as the third largest Muslim population. Continued migration will swell the ranks of Europe's Muslim minorities by one-third by 2030, to 8 percent of the region's inhabitants from 6 percent, it said. Muslims in France will rise to 6.9 million, or 10.3 percent of the population, from 4.7 million (7.5 percent), in Britain to 5.6 million (8.2 percent) from 2.9 million and in Germany to 5.5 million (7.1 percent) from 4.1 million (5 percent). The Muslim share of the U.S. population will grow from 0.8 percent in 2010 to 1.7 percent in 2030, "making Muslims roughly as numerous as Jews or Episcopalians are in the United States today," the study said. By 2030, Muslims will number 2.1 million or 23.2 percent of the population in Israel -- including Jerusalem but not the West Bank and Gaza -- after 1.3 million (17.7 percent) in 2010. "The slowdown in Muslim population growth is most pronounced in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East-North Africa and Europe, and less sharp in sub-Saharan Africa," it said, while migration will accelerate it in the Americas through 2020. While Muslim populations worldwide are still younger on average than others, "the so-called "youth bulge" -- the high percentage of Muslims in their teens and 20s -- peaked around the year 2000 and is now declining," the study said. Sunni Muslims will continue to make up the overwhelming majority in Islam -- about 87-90 percent, the report estimated -- while Shi'ite numbers may decline because of relatively low birth rates in Iran, where one-third of all Shi'ites live. The study saw a close link between education and birth rates in Muslim-majority countries. Women in countries with the least education for girls had about five children while those where girls had the longest schooling averaged 2.3 children. The study said it counted "all groups and individuals who self-identify as Muslims," including secular or non-observant people, without measuring levels of religiosity. It said measuring the impact of Islam on birth rates was difficult because "cultural, social, economic, political, historical and other factors may play equal or greater roles."

Baghdad car bombing

At least 48 people were killed and 121 injured in a car bomb blast in northwestern Baghdad Thursday, an interior ministry official said. The attack took place in the afternoon when a booby-trapped car parked in Shula area was detonated, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Following the deadly blast, dozens of angry residents protested against the security forces, accusing them of failure in protecting innocent people. Iraqi security forces opened fire in the air to disperse the protesters, but there were some armed men in the crowd who responded to the fire, the official said. It was not clear whether there was any casualty in the shooting, he said. Authorities imposed curfew in the area and blocked the entrances. The area has been brought under control, he added.

Protests in Rome against Pakistan’s blasphemy law

Italian lawmakers and religious associations protested in Rome Wednesday against Pakistan's blasphemy law, calling for the release of a Christian woman sentenced to death under the legislation. Catholic and Jewish associations joined human rights group Amnesty International and representatives of the Pakistani community in Italy in a 100-strong demonstration in front of the Italian parliament. "We want this law to be abolished," Pakistani-born Joseph Philip told AFP, explaining that his uncle, a Catholic Bishop, had been killed for his religious beliefs. He said he had come to the protest along with 15 compatriots. Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old, Christian mother-of-five, was sentenced to death in November after Muslim women labourers who worked with her in the fields complained she made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Umberto Bossi, head of Italy's anti-immigrant and populist Northern League Party and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's partner in the centre-right coalition, attended Wednesday's protest here. "We want to express our solidarity," he told journalists. A delegation from the protest also met Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. Last Thursday the European parliament urged Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to pardon and release Bibi following calls from several countries, international organisations and an appeal by Pope Benedict XVI. European parliamentarians also called on the Pakistani government to revise their blasphemy laws and their application. Their request followed the January 4 assassination of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who was shot dead by a police commando after calling for reform of the blasphemy law used to sentence Bibi to death. Taseer's killing met with mixed reactions in Pakistan, with many from the country's conservative religious quarter praising the gunman for acting to silence the outspoken moderate politician.

Protests in Egypt

Egyptian security forces have deployed en masse across the capital, Cairo, Wednesday amid calls by protest leaders to continue demonstrating despite a ban. In central Cairo, Egyptian activists clashed with security forces stationed nearby as thousands of Interior Ministry troops stood watch along key roads and bridges to keep passersby from congregating. The Egyptian Interior Ministry warned on its website that public demonstrations would not be tolerated. Protest organizers reported scattered mobile phone outages and a blockage of the social websites Twitter and Facebook to prevent them from mobilizing supporters. Top opposition activist Abdul Jalil Mustapha called on President Hosni Mubarak not to seek re-election. He said the opposition is asking President Mubarak to announce that he will not run for re-election and that his son, Gamal, will not run in his place. Mustapha also insisted that both houses of parliament be dissolved and transparent elections be held.  Mass protests in Egypt, one of the darlings of African and Middle Eastern investors, sharply increase the risks that international investors will withdraw funds from some other economies in the region. Fund managers were relatively sanguine about the upheaval in Tunisia which drove President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee earlier this month, as Tunisia is a frontier market which doesn't feature on many portfolio managers' radar screens. But they did then point to the potential for contagion across parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with Gulf markets seen as relatively insulated, but Egypt an especially big risk. That contagion appears to have started. Egypt's currency hit a near-six year low, stocks fell 6 percent and debt insurance costs soared to their highest in 18 months on Wednesday, a day after massive "Day of Wrath" demonstrations called for an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Protesters who tried to gather on Wednesday were quickly dispersed and the government said it was banning demonstrations. But significant damage has been done to investor confidence. At least $150 million left Egyptian local bond markets on Wednesday, according to data from investment bank Citi.

World's highest restaurants

Dubai's boom may have fizzled, but you can still live the high life perched atop the world's tallest building as the glitzy Gulf emirate unveils one of the world's highest restaurants. Atmosphere, on the 122nd floor, is one private elevator ride up the glass and chrome Burj Khalifa. Its designers say that At.mosphere, touted as the world's highest restaurant, shows that Dubai may have lost its lustre as a business hub after the financial crisis, but for those seeking the lifestyle of the rich and famous, it can still dish it out. "Up here, you feel elegant and luxurious, you feel sexy," said the restaurant's designer, Adam Tihany, pointing to the mahogany-panelled rooms and cosy leather booths. "You are floating ... it's a journey. This is your luxury yacht in the sky," he said. At.mosphere is a 57-second elevator ride up 442 metres (1,350 feet) that makes ears pop. Dwayne Cheer, the executive chef, tries to limit the number of times he goes up each day. "I came up yesterday five times and after five times, you feel a bit dizzy. You only want to come up twice." Cheer recommends the house specialties of foie gras or the beef tartare--but prices here may burn the pocket books of all but Dubai's most well-heeled denizens. Entrees at the contemporary grille, serving up what Emaar Hospitality's chief executive calls "eclectic, European cuisine", cost an average of 340 dirhams. Appetizers will set you back another $50 each. At.mosphere's views at noon show ritzy Dubai's past and present: its ambitious artificial island project, The World, lies unfinished amid the blue waves on one side, and the sandy expanses of stalled construction sites are on the other. Dubai's six-year boom, which fuelled construction of the world's tallest building and artificial island archipelagos, slammed to a halt in 2008 after the global financial crisis. Millions of dollars of construction projects were slashed or put on hold and the emirate is struggling to dig out from under a massive debt burden, estimated at more than $100 billion.

Pakistan .... terrorists had struck

At least a dozen people were killed and nearly 70 injured in blasts in Lahore and Karachi on Tuesday evening along the route of the Tazia and Alam processions on the occasion of the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain. Both blasts took place on the outer limits of the multi-layered security cordon put in place in the two cities in view of past attacks on the minority Shia community during similar processions. The blast in Lahore — the first and more severe of the two — took place near Urdu Bazaar where the first security check post had been placed for worshippers heading to the Data Darbar, the shrine of the Persian Sufi saint Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, for the 967th Urz Shareef. Later in the evening, the Shia procession was also slated to pass through the area on way to Karbala Gamay Shah. Three police personnel were among the nine killed in the Urdu Bazaar blast as a teenaged suicide bomber detonated himself on being stopped at the security check post. According to the police, the suicide bomber was no more than 15 years old. He had bombs strapped to his body and was apparently also carrying a bag full of explosives. Soon after the blast, in which 52 people including five policemen were injured, Lahore authorities sought to convince the management of Data Darbar and the Shia leadership of the city to cut short the Urs and Tazia procession respectively in view of security situation. Within an hour of the blast in Lahore, a bomb ripped through a police vehicle in the Malir Halt area of Karachi just after a Tazia procession had passed by. Two policemen were killed and 10 people sustained injuries. Police claimed the fatalities would have been higher had the procession got delayed. Again, the blast occurred when the police stopped a motor-cyclist.

Blasts in Iraq

Car bombs and explosions killed eight people, including a policeman and two teenage boys, in and around Baghdad on Sunday, the latest in a spate of attacks indicating an apparent spike in unrest. One car bomb on Sunday targeted a police patrol in Al-Alam neighbourhood of southwest Baghdad killing two people, one of them a policemen, and wounding eight people, among them four police, the official said. Another vehicle packed with explosives was detonated on Abu Nawas street, on the banks of the Tigris river which snakes through the capital, leaving one person dead and six people wounded. And in the mostly Shiite north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah, a car bomb struck a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims, according to the interior ministry official. One of the pilgrims was killed and eight were wounded in the 10:00 am (0700 GMT) blast. The pilgrims were in Iraq for Arbaeen commemoration ceremonies, which mark 40 days since the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a cleric who is revered by Shiite Muslims. In a separate car bomb attack, four people were wounded, including a policeman, in the commercial Karrada district in the centre of Baghdad. And on a main road in the town of Taji, 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the capital, a bomb-filled vehicle was blown up, killing two people and wounding four. Also north of Baghdad, two teenage boys were killed when a roadside bomb targeting an anti-Qaeda Sunni militiaman exploded in the town of Tarmiyah, police First Lieutenant Nashat Sarhan said. The boys, aged 13 and 14, were on their way to school when the bomb exploded. The militiaman, a member of the Sahwa (Awakening) forces that turned against Al-Qaeda and sided with the US military from late 2006, was unharmed. Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007 but attacks remain common. Blasts in the past week, which included suicide bombs, killed 116 people and wounded scores more. They targeted security force members and Shiite pilgrims ahead of major commemoration ceremonies and struck in the cities of Tikrit, Baquba, Baghdad and Karbala. By comparison, a total of 151 people were killed throughout December. The apparent spike in violence comes just a month after Maliki named his new cabinet, ending a protracted political stalemate which followed elections in March. He has yet to appoint ministers charged with the interior, defence or national security portfolios, however, and currently holds interim responsibility for the entire Iraqi security apparatus.

Veena Malik immoral?

Pakistani actress Veena Malik has mounted a fiery defence of her appearance in the controversial Indian reality show Bigg Boss, taking on mullahs who had criticised her. Malik took Mufti Abdul Kawi to task for calling her "baigharat" (immoral) on a talk show on television and said if she were in the wrong, so was he because Islam doesn't permit a man to cast a second look at a woman who isn't his relative. "One can be punished for looking at a woman a second time, you should be punished," Malik, clad in a black sleeveless dress, told the Mufti on Express News' Frontline show. Malik's outspoken defence of herself received widespread support from Pakistani liberals and civil society activists on social networking websites like Twitter, which were flooded with messages praising her and quotes of her witty repartee with the Mufti. Malik, who was ousted from Bigg Boss after spending 84 days on the show, described her appearance in the programme as a "beautiful, terrible, exciting, emotional, sad" experience. She said the most beautiful thing for her was the love Indians showered on her by voting for her. Malik refused to apologise for her behaviour on the show, saying the show was not aimed at promoting the culture of any country. "It isn't a religious show either. The format of the show is to get people from various walks of life under one roof... I was contacted for my bravery," she said. "I wasn't even representing office-going women of Pakistan. I was a Pakistani from the entertainment industry," she added. Malik snubbed critics who claimed she was dressed scantily, saying, "I wore only clothes that I have worn in Pakistan before. I was representing myself... and I am like this only." The talk show also featured Ashmit Patel, who said that Malik regularly prayed on the sets of the show even though that was never shown on television and also made him offer the 'namaz' once. Malik said the Pakistani media had been unfair to her by not highlighting the positives -- such as when she was complimented by Salman Khan -- and not coming to her rescue when she was abused on Bigg Boss. "I belong to the entertainment industry and I went with my agenda. I wanted to show the world that there are other types of Pakistanis too, not just those who are in the news for terror acts."

Sudan split

Almost 99 percent of south Sudanese who voted in an independence referendum chose to split away from the north, the first official but incomplete figures published by the vote's organizing commission showed Friday. The results were the latest indication of a landslide vote for southern independence in last week's referendum, promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war. The final official figures are expected in February. The website for the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission showed a 98.6 percent vote for secession, with more than 80 percent of the votes from the south counted, and 100 percent counted in other areas. The commission earlier confirmed the turnout had passed the 60 percent mark needed to make the result binding. Officials from the oil-producing south have so far given a measured response to the early results and warned voters not to stage early celebrations to avoid antagonizing the north. The calm, controlled mood in the southern capital Juba has been in sharp contrast to the jubilant scenes that greeted the start of voting, when campaign posters described independence as a liberation from war and northern oppression. "This is the outcome we expected ... the results won't change much," the commission's deputy chairman Chan Reek Madut, a southerner, told Reuters. The only area to show a majority for unity was a small pocket of voters in the northern Sudanese state of South Darfur. According to the figures, 63.2 percent of voters wanted to keep the country together and only 36.8 percent went for secession. "It is not surprising because of the way they conducted their registration. Some people passed as southerners who were actually northerners from Darfur," said Madut. "They took advantage of the lack of security in the area. It won't impact seriously on the result." Darfur is the scene of a seven-year conflict pitting rebels against the government. A senior official from north Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) said he would wait until the final announcement before giving an official reaction. "But the expectation is that the result will be for secession," said Rabie Abdelati. "The party is working for the post referendum period now -- the demarcation of the borders and the resolution of the Abyei problem. We are doing our best to prepare for the consequences of secession on the north." Northern and southern officials still have to agree how they would divide oil revenues after a split and sort out the ownership of the contested border region of Abyei.

Ben Ali's family arrested in Tunisia

Dozens of members of ousted Tunisian President Zin el Abidin Ben Ali's family have been arrested while they were trying to leave the country. Tunisia's state television said 33 of Ben Ali's family members were captured by the country's security forces on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, it was reported that Tunisian prosecutors launched a probe into the domestic and foreign assets of the former president and his family members. The investigation will look into possible illegal financial transactions, foreign bank accounts and properties held by them. The French newspaper Le Monde reported earlier that Ben Ali's wife, Laila Trabelsi, left Tunisia with 1,500 kilograms of gold from the country's central bank. However, a source at the bank denied the news. In another development, Tunisia's new government is on the verge of collapse after the Tunisian opposition Democratic Forum for Labor and Liberty (FDLT) quit the government. Four ministers from FDLT refused to sit in a cabinet that contained eight high-ranking members of the ousted president's government, which many Tunisians see as corrupt. Earlier, four other ministers resigned from the transitional government of unity in protest against the presence of politicians from the former administration in the new governing team. Tunisian interim President Fouad Mebazaa and Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi quit Ben Ali's ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally party (RCD) on Tuesday as protests intensified over the inclusion of RCD members in the new government. "I guarantee that this transition government will ensure a total break with the past," Mebazaa noted. On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters took to the streets and called for the resignation of the Tunisian interim government. Over 100 people have been confirmed dead in the weeks of unrest which had engulfed the north African country.

Attacks on Shi'ite pilgrims in Iraq

Bombers killed at least 50 Shi'ite pilgrims in Iraq on Wednesday and also struck police for a third day in a row, in a wave of violence posing a challenge to Iraqi security forces as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw. More than 100 people have died and hundreds have been wounded since Tuesday in bomb attacks that bear the hallmarks of Sunni Arab insurgents, showing they remain a potent threat even as Washington prepares to remove its final troops this year. Most of Thursday's dead were pilgrims pouring into the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala ahead of the culmination of an annual rite which is often attacked by Sunni Islamist al Qaeda. Two car bombs killed 50 people and wounded around 150 near Kerbala, 80 km south of Baghdad, on different roads into the city, said Mohammed al-Moussawi, head of the Kerbala provincial council. The explosions struck simultaneously on the outskirts of the city outside a security cordon of checkpoints set up to protect pilgrims, he said. An official from the Health Ministry in Baghdad put the death toll at 50, and said 203 were wounded, while police and Interior Ministry sources in the capital said they had heard suicide bombers wearing explosive vests were involved.

Visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao

China has agreed to $45 billion in export deals with U.S. companies, with nearly half of the contracts a commitment to buy 200 Boeing aircraft costing $19 billion. In advance of an official announcement, a senior White House official said on Wednesday the trade agreements would cover a broad range of manufacturing, chemical, agriculture and technology investments. The official said the deals would benefit 70 companies in 12 U.S. states and support 235,000 jobs. As part of the agreement, China also said it would add another $3 billion in investments to Chinese firms in the U.S. News of the trade deals came as U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao opened a summit at the White House.  While the two leaders face disagreements on human rights and currency valuation issues, the U.S. has also pushed to sharply narrow its significant trade gap with the world's most populous nation.  China-U.S. trade totals more than $400 billion annually, but China's trading surplus might have reached $270 billion last year. Mr. Obama has invited some of the top U.S. business leaders to meet with him and Mr. Hu in an effort to help promote American exports to China. Chief executives from such well-known U.S. companies as Microsoft, the Goldman Sachs Group, General Electric, Boeing and Coca-Cola are among 14 that Mr. Obama invited.  Mr. Hu brought along four key business executives representing Chinese computer technology, home appliance, automotive parts and investment companies. While the leaders mentioned ongoing policy differences between them during the official opening ceremony on the White House lawn, the U.S. has also cited the "important economic relationship" between the countries. Creation of more U.S. jobs is particularly important to Mr. Obama, as the U.S. has struggled to reduce unemployment.  Nine percent or more of the American workforce has been jobless for 20 straight months. Numerous U.S. companies are seeking to increase their foothold in China, one of the key ones being General Electric.  The international conglomerate is signing a number of deals with China this week involving energy, rail and aviation manufacturing, deals that GE thinks will boost its profits and save U.S. jobs. Some U.S. firms say that their initial investments in China have proved difficult, complaining that Chinese government regulations favor China's firms and that protection of intellectual property laws is weak.  As part of the new trade agreements, China says it will deal with foreign companies in a more even-handed manner and allow use of more imported technology.

Chinese President US visit

Chinese President Hu Jintao has arrived at the White House for talks with Barack Obama as the leaders of the two powers look for common ground on economic and security issues without alienating their domestic audiences. With many Americans blaming China in part for the high US unemployment rate, both presidents will be looking to build trust in a relationship grounded in mutual interest but troubled by disputes. Mr Hu's visit follows a two-year period in which China initially snubbed the US on climate change, did little to influence its unpredictable ally North Korea and responded limply to US pleas to mitigate trade imbalances. For its part, the US riled China with arms sales to Taiwan and by inviting Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to the White House. The Chinese leader was welcomed on arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, by Vice President Joe Biden and then attended the first of two dinners President Obama is hosting for him during his four-day visit. Mr Obama was joined at Tuesday night's private dinner, in the Old Family Dining Room in the White House, by national security adviser Tom Donilon and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Mr Hu brought two top Chinese officials. The private dinner preceded a pomp-filled welcoming ceremony planned for Wednesday morning. After initial talks on Wednesday, the two leaders will hold a joint news conference at the White House, with just four questions allowed, two from US journalists and two from Chinese reporters. A full state dinner at the White House in the evening will be the ceremonial highlight. Mr Obama plans to host a meeting for Mr Hu and US and Chinese business leaders to promote increased US exports to China and greater Chinese investment in the US. Among those scheduled to attend are Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Jeff Immelt of General Electric, Greg Brown of Motorola, Jim McNerney of Boeing and nine other US executives.

7.4 quake hits Pakistan

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck southwestern Pakistan, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on Tuesday. It said the quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.3, was very shallow at a depth of 6.3 miles. It struck 34 miles west of Dalbandin at 1:23 a.m. local time on Wednesday (2023 GMT on Tuesday). The Pacific Tsunami Center said the onshore quake had not triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean. A major quake of this magnitude is capable of causing widespread and heavy damage. An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 has hit south-western Pakistan, in a desert area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, the US Geological Survey says. The quake struck at a depth of just 10km (6.2 miles) at 2023 GMT on Tuesday, some 55 km (34 miles) west of Dalbandian in Pakistan. It was located several hundred kilometres from the Pakistani city of Quetta and the city of Zahedan, Iran. The Kashmir earthquake of October 2005 killed 73,000 people.

Zaviews first inside story about flood victims in Pakistan

Some where in Karachi, an office of Provincial government of Pakistan (Pakistan financial capital) where I saw huge numbers of carton bearing life saving medicines I was shocked that it was denotation for flood victims still not distributed among them! Oh man January 2011 is comes to an end & devastating flood disaster come in around August 2010, 5 months has been past ….can you believe it?  Flood victims people now back to normal life by grace of God & these relief things hide for themselves Corruption has transformed each and every sector of Pakistan, how could flood aid be spared? Out of question...

Brazil Floods aftermath

Efforts to fly rescue helicopters to hundreds of people stranded by massive mudslides from flooding in a region north of Rio de Janeiro have been hampered by further rain.  As the death toll rose to 633 in a disaster that has left thousands more homeless, officials in Brazil focused their attention on the survivors they could reach more immediately, mapping out a plan to get people into safe affordable housing in the coming months. The mayor of Teresopolis, a city where more than 3,000 people have been left homeless, said that more than 2,000 tents were being brought in, each capable of sheltering up to 10 people. Jorge Mario Sedlacek said: "They will give families shelter for up to six months while more permanent solutions can be developed. These tents will at least re-establish the family units, which will bring some comfort to people living in communal shelters." A local business has offered land on which to set up the tents, and crews have begun working to level the ground. The city is also studying the option of erecting modular homes, which can be set up within a few days. Even before the disaster struck, the city had requested federal funds to build affordable, safe housing, in a region notably lacking in both. More than $72 million (£45 million) has since been approved for Teresopolis and will be used to build homes and shore up areas at risk for more slides, Mr Sedlacek said. Two other towns hit by the disaster - Petropolis and Nova Friburgo - have also won federal funding, and the federal government also offered to pay the rent of 2,500 families for an indeterminate period. Authorities will also map out and evacuate high-risk areas where residents are holding on to their homes, and Alexandre Aragon, head of the Brazilian National Security Force, said: "The priority is the rescue of people who are still isolated. We have to take advantage of this break in the weather to help people in these remote, collapsed areas."

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari "received kickbacks"

A Paris magistrate, probing a suspected scam surrounding the sale of three Agosta-class French submarines to Pakistan's navy, has seized as evidence official Pakistani documents detailing how President Asif Ali Zardari "received kickbacks" worth several millions of euros in the deal says a media report. The documents, revealed for the first time by Mediapart, a French online publication, show that the payments to Zardari and others took place on the fringes of the sale of three submarines by the French defence contractor DCN to Pakistan in the 1990s. The French sale succeeded against rival offers by Swedish and German contractors. The sale, and the payment of bribes associated with it ­- officially termed as commissions - are at the core of what has come to known as the 'Karachi affair', currently the subject of two French judicial investigations. The issue has rocked the French political establishment with its potential far-reaching ramifications within France, Pakistan's 'The Nation' daily said quoting the Mediapart report. A key allegation in the developing affair is that the cancellation of commissions paid out in the submarine deal was the motive behind a suicide bomb attack in Karachi on May 8, 2002 that left 11 French engineers dead. They were in Pakistan to help build one of the Agosta submarines. Increasing evidence suggests that cancellation of the commissions, ordered by former French president Jacques Chirac, was decided after it was discovered they were in part re-routed back to France to fund political activities of Chirac's principal political rival, Edouard Balladur. The documents now in possession of Paris-based judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke were found during a French police search in June 2010 of the home of Amir Lodhi, one of the intermediaries involved in securing the Agosta contract. Lodhi held a copy of a report by a Pakistani anti-corruption service, the Ehtesab Cell, the report said. Lodhi, 61, the brother of a former Pakistani ambassador to the UN, is a close friend of Zardari, who became President in 2008 one year after the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto. The raid on Lodhi's home in the French capital was carried out by detectives from the French police national financial investigation division, the DNIF. The Ehtesab Cell documents were the object of a formal report by the DNIF, established on June 17th, 2010, and reveal that Zardari received a kickback worth 6,934,296 euros between October and December 1994, the report said. That report is now among the evidence collected by Van Ruymbeke in his investigation into the financial aspect of the Agosta submarine sale, and in particular whether commissions paid abroad were re-routed to fund political activities within France.

Tunisia anger over corruptio

The Tunisian army moved tanks and hundreds of troops on to the streets on Saturday, in an attempt to restore law and order after president Zeinal-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia late on Friday leaving a security vacuum in what has been one of North Africa’s most stable states. As joy that 23-years of repressive rule had ended gave way to fears that the country might descend into chaos, the army took control of security from the police, who are seen as supporting the president. The military has stood aloof during a month of popular uprising. “I am happy he is gone,” said Kamal Rachedi, a shop worker. “But I did not want it to be this way. I wanted him to organise elections and then leave, so he would go, but without this chaos. As evening fell thick columns of smoke rose from buildings in the capital, where looters appear to have set fire to shops. An army helicopter circled overhead. Parts of the capital were terrorised on Saturday by squads of men in civilian clothes who drove through the city at high speed shooting randomly at buildings and people in what many suspect was an attempt by forces loyal to the ousted president to sow chaos and destabilise a tense transition. The interim president – Fouad Mebazaa, the former president of the lower house of parliament – ordered the creation of a unity government that could include the opposition, which had been ignored under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23 years of autocratic rule. Mr. Ben Ali fled the country Friday for Saudi Arabia following a popular uprising and deadly riots. Anger over corruption and a lack of jobs and civil liberties ignited a month of protests, but Mr. Ben Ali's departure – a key demand of demonstrators – did not quell the unrest. While the protests were mostly peaceful, after Mr. Ben Ali's departure rioters burned the main train station in Tunis and looted shops.

Pakistan president in US

US President Barack Obama would meet his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari at the White House on Friday, where the two leaders would hold talks on issues of bilateral importance including combating terrorism. “President Obama will meet with President Zardari of Pakistan here at the White House on Friday,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at his daily news conference on Thursday. “The two leaders will discuss aspects of the U.S.-Pakistan strategic partnership, including our mutual commitment to economic reform, support for democracy and good governance, and joint efforts to combat terrorism,” he said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would join that meeting, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters later. Mr. Crowley said that this was a vitally important relationship for the United States. “This is a vitally important partnership that we’re building with Pakistan. The Vice President (Joe Biden) was just there and had the opportunity to talk to President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani,” he said. The president will have a chance to talk with President Zardari about the state of the relationship, what’s happening on the ground, and the US looks forward to the meeting, he added. Mr. Zardari is on an unofficial visit to Washington to attend the memorial service of top American diplomat late Richard Holbrooke, Mr. Obama’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan who died last month at age 69. “He’s in town for Holbrooke’s service, and we thought it was a good opportunity to add a meeting with President Zardari,” Mr. Gibbs said, adding that the meeting would be closed for the press.

Brazil mudslide

Grieving mudslide survivors carried the bodies of loved ones for hours down washed-out mountainsides on Friday as the death toll hit 514. They told of entire neighborhoods in a resort city destroyed and pleaded for food and water to reach those still isolated by Brazil's deadliest natural disaster in four decades. Officials said the death toll in four towns north of Rio de Janeiro was still rising and could jump further once rescuers can reach areas cut off by Wednesday's slides. They refused to even guess how many remain missing. Local reports put it in the hundreds. After morning rains caused delays Friday, rescuers resumed efforts, but manpower or resources had yet to reach many in Teresopolis, a mountain city of 163,000 alongside a national park that hosts a major training site for Brazil's national football team. It is the worst natural disaster to hit Latin America's biggest nation since flooding and slides in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states killed 785 people in 1967, according to the Brussels-based International Disaster Database, which has records of deadly natural events in Brazil since 1900. Flooding and mudslides are common in Brazil when the summer rains come, but this week's slides were among the worst in recent memory. The disasters punish the poor, who often live in rickety shacks perched perilously on steep hillsides with little or no foundations. But even the rich did not escape the damage in Teresopolis, where large homes were washed away.

Suicide blast in Pakistan

Eighteen people were killed and 15 wounded when a suicide bomber ploughed his explosives-laden car into a police station in northwest Pakistan Wednesday, officials said. The bomber's car struck Miryan police station on the outskirts of the town of Bannu and badly damaged a nearby mosque. "We have received 18 dead bodies and 15 injured," said Mohammad Rahim, a doctor in Bannu's main hospital. District police chief Mohammad Iftikhar told that most of those wounded were police officers and paramilitary personnel. "The target was the police station and the mosque is nearby. Police and paramilitary personnel were praying inside the mosque," when the bombing took place, he said. "There are some civilians also but most of the victims are security personnel," he added. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani "strongly condemned" the attack, calling it "a cowardly act of terrorism," a statement from his office said. The attack was immediately claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who said it was to avenge US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt, which borders Afghanistan.