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| October 16, 2008 | Thursday | Shawwal 16, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
25 civilians killed in south Afghanistan air strike Thursday, 16 Oct, KANDAHAR: An air strike by foreign forces Thursday killed civilians including women and children in troubled southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official said. ‘In today's air strike by foreign forces some civilians including women and children were killed, provincial police chief Assadullah Shirzad told AFP. He did not give an exact number of casualties but locals claimed that at least 25 civilians were killed. ‘I have seen some of the bodies the locals brought to the provincial capital,’ Shirzad said. Locals said that 25 civilians were killed and they took 16 bodies including those of women and children to the governor's office to register their protest over the killings. ‘We brought here 16 bodies to show to the governor and to prove they are civilians, but the figures (of dead) are higher,’ local Abdul Rahim told AFP over the phone. (Posted @ 23:42 PST)
Oil price tumbles to new lows at under 67 dollars Thursday, 16 Oct, LONDON: Oil prices slumped further on Thursday, with Brent crude sliding under 67 dollars a barrel -- the lowest level for more than 15 months -- as slowing energy demand took its toll, traders said. Crude oil futures were down more than 50 percent from record highs of above 147 dollars reached in July, when prices had rocketed on fears of supply disruptions. Traders were digesting news that US crude stockpiles rose sharply last week, an indication that demand for energy was slowing in the United States, the world's biggest oil-consuming nation. OPEC, worried about slumping oil prices, said it was bringing forward an extraordinary meeting on the impact of the current finance crisis on oil rates to October 24 from November. (Posted @ 23:10 PST)
Police arrest 18 militants in Darra Adamkel Thursday, 16 Oct, PESHAWAR: Pakistani police on Thursday arrested 18 suspected foreign militants in a tribal area near the northwestern city of Peshawar, an official said. They were moving out of the Darra Adamkhel area in two vehicles when they were arrested by police at a checkpost. ‘We arrested these foreign nationals who are of Uzbek origin and look like militants from their appearance,’ local police official Lal Farid Khan told AFP. Khan said police did not find any weapons on the bearded men, who could only speak Persian. ‘The police is interrogating these people to know why they had gone to Darra Adam Khel and what was their next destination,’ he added. (Posted @ 22:20 PST)
Fazlur Rehman offers to mediate between Taliban and govt Thursday, 16 Oct, ISLAMABAD: JUI (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman on Thursday demanded immediate stoppage of military operation, warned against continued use of force in tribal and settled areas of NWFP and offered to play intermediary if the government shows sincerity in talks with the Taliban militants to bring peace to the region. His statement coincides with the fresh offer of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Omar to lay down arms and entering into unconditional talks with the government, provided a ceasefire is announced by the Pakistan army in tribal areas. The in-camera joint sitting witnessed another lackluster day with the absence of majority of the lawmakers from the proceedings with the majority of remaining lawmakers also leaving one by one to ultimately leave only 30 to 35 members sitting till the end which forced the speaker to announce adjournment till Friday morning before completion of the speeches of all parliamentary leaders. (Posted @ 21:42 PST)
PCB welcomes Champions Trophy reschedule Thursday, 16 Oct, KARACHI: Pakistan's new cricket chief on Thursday expressed his delight over the rescheduling of the Champions Trophy, saying it would open doors for more world-class cricket in the nation. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday rescheduled the biennial eight-nation tournament, which was postponed this year amid security concerns in Pakistan, to next September. The ICC said the tournament would go ahead between September 24 and October 5, 2009, with the matches being played in just one city, rather than the two mooted for this year. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt said it was welcome news. (Posted @ 20:54 PST)
Somali pirates release crew of South Korean ship Thursday, 16 Oct, SEOUL: Somali pirates Thursday released 21 crew members they kidnapped last month from a South Korean ship, the foreign ministry in Seoul said. The eight South Koreans and 13 Myanmar nationals were captured on September 10 when their 15,000-tonne cargo ship was seized off the coast of Somalia. ‘The 21 were set free at 7:30 p.m. and are in the process of heading to a US Navy ship in the Gulf of Aden,’ said foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-Young. No further details were immediately available. Ransoms were paid in previous cases. (Posted @ 20:02 PST)
Injury cloud over second India-Australia Test Thursday, 16 Oct, MOHALI: Anil Kumble's fitness remained a worry for India as Australia grappled with injury problems of their own heading into the second Test here on Friday. Kumble, the inspirational Indian skipper who turns 38 on Friday, said he was hopeful of playing but would take a final call only on the morning of the match. 'It (injury) is definitely a lot better than what it was yesterday,' the leg-spinner said at a media conference at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium on Thursday. 'I bowled some overs in the nets today. There are still 24 hours to go for the match and we will take a final call on my availability tomorrow morning. (Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Al Qaeda awash in funds despite meltdown Thursday, 16 Oct, CAIRO: The meltdown in the global financial system may spare al Qaeda. Buoyed by years of record oil revenues in the Gulf and Afghanistan's booming drug trade, al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are thought to have access to strong potential funding sources — and thus might dodge fallout from the global crunch devastating others. Yet all is not lost in the effort to rein in money for terror groups. One principal reason the groups may avoid fallout now is because they've been forced to pull away from banks, relying instead on less-efficient ways to move money. Those methods — including hand-carrying money and using informal money-transfer networks called hawalas — likely will shield extremists from the current banking system turmoil. (Posted @ 19:48 PST)
Walking fish' reveals fresh evolutionary insights Thursday, 16 Oct, WASHINGTON: An extraordinary fish that existed 375 million years ago had unique features in its head that helped pave the way for vertebrate animals to live on land, scientists said on Wednesday. Scientists for the first time described features in the underside of the skull of Tiktaalik roseae, the so-called ‘walking fish’ discovered in the Canadian Arctic in 2004. It is considered an important transitional animal in the evolution of fish into amphibians, the first land-dwelling vertebrates. The findings showed that the migration from water to land was more complicated than merely having a fish's fins transform into legs, the scientists wrote in the journal Nature. (Posted @ 19:44 PST)
Afghan policeman kills US soldier Thursday, 16 Oct, KABUL: The American military says an Afghan policeman has killed a US service member in eastern Afghanistan. The military says in a statement that the officer opened fire and threw a hand grenade at a US patrol in Bermel District of the eastern Paktika province. The troops returned fire, killing the policemen. The American troops were returning to a base from a foot patrol at the time of the attack. The incident is the second in a month in which Afghan policemen have fired on US troops and raises suspicions of possible infiltration of the police force by the militants. The US military says it is investigating the attack. (Posted @ 19:34 PST)
Kurram Agency tribes sign peace agreement Thursday, 16 Oct, MURREE: The warring Bangash and Turi tribes of Kurram Agency signed a written declaration for permanent peace in Murree on Thursday. The rival tribes agreed they would vacate occupied bunkers and return to their respective areas. In the case of a violation of the agreement, the offending tribe would have to pay a fine of sixty million rupees. According to media reports, the jirga of warring tribes was first held in Islamabad and then in Murree. Fifteen members each from the Shia and Sunni groups also participated in the jirga, which included 23 members from a reconciliatory delegation. According to the declaration, roads closed for the last one and a half year would be re-opened, Shia and Sunni groups would return to their areas, all bunkers would be controlled by the Frontier Constabulary and the dead bodies would be exchanged between the tribes. (Posted @ 19:28 PST)
US army arrests al Qaeda members in Mosul Thursday, 16 Oct, BAGHDAD: The US military said on Thursday it had arrested four Al-Qaeda members in Mosul, the group's last urban stronghold in Iraq. The news comes the day after the military announced the death of Abu Qaswarah, Al-Qaeda's number two in Iraq. ‘Coalition forces continued to drive Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of the country Wednesday and Thursday, targeting terrorists during operations in Mosul,’ US military command said. During two related operations in Mosul ending on Wednesday, one wanted man and one additional suspect were detained by coalition forces, the statement said. ‘The wanted man is believed to have associated with a terrorist killed October 5,’ it said. (Posted @ 19:02 PST)
India, US plan Arabian Sea war games Thursday, 16 Oct, NEW DELHI: The US navy's nuclear-powered super-carrier USS Ronald Reagan will sail into the Arabian Sea on Saturday for war games with India as part of warming ties between the two sides, officials said Thursday. A nuclear submarine and five other warships from the US Navy's Seventh Fleet will join the annual drills codenamed Malabar 08 off the western Indian resort of Goa, Indian navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said. 'Naval cooperation between India and the United States epitomises the relationship between two large and responsible maritime powers,' he said, without saying how long the games would last. (Posted @ 18:52 PST)
Japan passes economic stimulus plan Thursday, 16 Oct, TOKYO: Japan's parliament on Thursday enacted an 18-billion-dollar emergency spending plan to stimulate Asia's largest economy as Prime Minister Taro Aso said troubled markets also want stronger US action. The 1.81-trillion-yen plan includes measures to help consumers, companies and farmers cope with high fuel costs and a credit crunch. It was approved by the opposition-led upper house soon after Tokyo's Nikkei stock index suffered its biggest loss in two decades, plunging more than 11 per cent on Thursday. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)
Doctors warn of rash from mobile phone use Thursday, 16 Oct, LONDON: Doctors baffled by an unexplained rash on people's ears or cheeks should be on alert for a skin allergy caused by too much mobile phone use, the British Association of Dermatologists said on Thursday. Citing published studies, the group said a red or itchy rash, known as ‘mobile phone dermatitis’, affects people who develop an allergic reaction to the nickel surface on mobile phones after spending long periods of time on the devices. ‘It is worth doctors bearing this condition in mind if they see a patient with a rash on the cheek or ear that cannot otherwise be explained,’ it said. (Posted @ 18:34 PST)
Effort launched to save fading Berlin Wall murals Thursday, 16 Oct, BERLIN: Murals on the largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall, the world's longest open-air art gallery, are to undergo emergency restoration to save them from decay, an organiser said on Thursday. Most of the 160 km (100 mile)-long wall was torn down after crowds scaled or smashed through it in November 1989 and the East German communist state collapsed. But 118 artists from 22 countries flocked to Berlin in 1990 to paint murals on a surviving 1,300-metre (4,300ft) stretch of the once-forbidding concrete barrier. Since then, paint has faded, the concrete has been eroded by the elements and some panels have been defaced by graffiti. (Posted @ 18:30 PST)
Alonso vows to help Massa win title Thursday, 16 Oct, SHANGHAI: Two-times world champion Fernando Alonso on Thursday reiterated his pledge to help Felipe Massa beat Lewis Hamilton in this year's battle for the title. The 27-year-old Renault driver, who is seeking to complete a hat-trick of successive wins in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, said he would do what he could to aid the Brazilian, but would rather see Robert Kubica as champion. 'Firstly, we need to have a competitive car here in Shanghai and in Brazil to be fighting with McLaren and Ferrari,' said the Spaniard, who won the title in 2005 and 2006. 'And if we do that and Felipe wins the race and I am second or third, I will be very happy for Felipe to take as many points as possible. (Posted @ 18:20 PST)
5 rebels, 4 Turkish soldiers killed in fighting Thursday, 16 Oct, ANKARA: The Turkish military clashed with Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border in battles it said killed four soldiers and five rebels, while rebels claimed Thursday to have shot down a Turkish helicopter. Another soldier was killed and 15 security personnel were slightly injured in the helicopter crash, the military said Thursday in a Web site statement. The four soldiers were killed late Wednesday when rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party opened fire on the soldiers in Hakkari province following an explosion, the statement reported. Hakkari is where the borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran meet. (Posted @ 18:04 PST)
4 killed in Chicago suburb helicopter crash Thursday, 16 Oct, AURORA, Illinois: A medical helicopter crashed in a Chicago suburb, killing three crew members and a 13-month-old patient, authorities said early Thursday. The helicopter was headed to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago from a hospital just outside the city when it went down minutes before midnight, said an Aurora police spokesman. Children's Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Julie Pesch initially said the child, a girl, was being transported to the hospital because of epileptic seizures. She later said the child's symptoms were not clear. The helicopter may have clipped a wire before it crashed and burned, according to authorities. The guide-wire came from a 750-foot tall radio tower, said assistant Fire Chief John Lehman. (Posted @ 17:58 PST)
Swiss government props up UBS Thursday, 16 Oct, ZURICH: Switzerland announced emergency measures to prop up its vital banking sector on Thursday, pouring almost 60 billion dollars into the biggest bank UBS, one of the heaviest losers from the US subprime crisis. The crisis help for UBS will result in the Swiss federal state obtaining a temporary stake of 9.3 per cent in UBS, and highlights the shock of the financial crisis on renowned Swiss banking. The country's second-biggest bank Credit Suisse, said it did not need state help. But it revealed that it had turned to a group of investors, with the largest participant being a Qatari sovereign wealth funds, for 10 billion francs (8.79 billion dollars, 6.54 billion euros) in new capital. Banking is a driving force of the Swiss economy and UBS, which has announced staggering figures for the damage done by its exposure to the US home-loan market, is one of the main pistons in the Swiss financial system. (Posted @ 17:40 PST)
Zardari finalises cooperation framework with China Thursday, 16 Oct, BEIJING: Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari met with China's premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday, a day after clinching agreements aimed at boosting Chinese involvement in his country's ailing economy, AP reports. Asif Ali Zardari and his delegation met with Wen Jiabao at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound for private discussions, details of which were not immediately announced. Zardari, elected just last month, also held talks with top legislator Wu Bangguo and other senior Chinese leaders, along with major figures in finance, infrastructure, energy and telecommunications, state media reported. (Posted @ 17:36 PST)
Brazil, Argentina fail to fire, Paraguay leads Thursday, 16 Oct, RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: South American powers Brazil and Argentina failed to fire in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday, while Paraguay cemented its place at the top of the standings. Brazil played out a scoreless draw with struggling Colombia, failing to win at home for the third straight match. Fans booed the players off the field and loudly jeered Brazil coach Dunga, who was in danger of losing his job after another disappointing home result. The five-time world champions also endured scoreless draws against then-last-place Bolivia last month and Argentina in June. (Posted @ 17:58 PST)
Ex-minister: Taliban may give up al Qaeda Thursday, 16 Oct, KABUL: The Afghan Taliban could cut its ties with the militant al Qaeda group it once harboured as part of a peace agreement in Afghanistan, a former foreign minister for the Taliban movement said on Wednesday. But severing links with the radicals behind the Sept 11, 2001, suicide attacks on the United States should not be a pre-condition for talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said. ‘Al Qaeda were in Afghanistan before as guests of the Taliban. Now they are allies in the fight,’ Muttawakil told Reuters. ‘Al Qaeda will not be allowed to create an obstacle ...it is the right of Afghans to negotiate for peace.’ Muttawakil was part of a group of Afghans that met in Saudi Arabia last month for discussions on how to end the worsening conflict between the Taliban and the Western-backed Afghan government, now in its eighth year. (Posted @ 16:34 PST)
Blame history, not each other Thursday, 16 Oct, TRAIN TO PAKISTAN; India 1947. Trains packed with refugees - Hindus and Sikhs headed for India, and Muslims headed for Pakistan - were convenient targets for gangs of killers on both sides of the border. AN important outcome of the path-breaking talks between the national security advisers of India and Pakistan on Tuesday was their acknowledgement that a daunting problem they both face was rooted in their respective social fault lines and not necessarily in the perverse streak, common among intelligence agencies the world over, to harm each other. In a parallel lane, South Asia’s two veteran journalists — Pakistan’s Asif Noorani and India’s Kuldip Nayar — imply in their new book that many of these social fault lines have been with us since 1947 though I would put the date back to 1526. In other words, the NSAs — India’s M.K. Narayanan and Pakistan’s Mahmud Ali Durrani, who are evidently close and trusting friends — may need to accept history as an arch-villain in their equation which stands in the way of better ties between the two countries. (Posted @ 16:12 PST)
Fight against polio Thursday, 16 Oct, THE battle against polio has entered its 14th year but it is still beset by difficulties. Pakistan is one of the few countries where polio, eradicated from most of the developed world, still exists and is in fact showing a resurgence. The health authorities have been conducting regular anti-polio drives in several parts of the country but tremendous challenges remain. For instance, about 40,000 children were not administered anti-polio drops in the last vaccination campaign conducted in August in the NWFP and Fata because their parents would not allow it. Their reluctance stems from baseless rumours spread by clerics and militants that the drops cause impotency and infertility, as well as similarly misinformed decrees that vaccination is ‘un-Islamic’. Not only is it difficult for vaccinators to reach remote areas in the north, they face a volatile security situation that often puts their lives at risk. In going to far-flung areas, vaccinators also have to be extremely careful in maintaining the right storage temperature so that the efficacy of the drops is not affected. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Dangers in the north Thursday, 16 Oct, A SERIES of developments in the tribal areas and in Afghanistan over the past couple of weeks has greatly heightened ordinary Pakistani citizens’ anxieties about their future. And their expectations of reassurances from the government of safety and security have remained unrealised. The sequence started with the revival of the Frontier governor’s interest in enforcing a religious code in Malakand division for the third time in 14 years. (The Nizam-i-Adl Ordinances of 1994 and 1999, purporting to enforce religious laws in that territory, are still in force.) The implication that in the gubernatorial view the fight against terrorists was not going well was reinforced when he advised the US-led coalition in Afghanistan to start negotiating for peace with Mullah Omar, an indirect way of saying that Afghanistan was as vulnerable as the Frontier. (Posted @ 13:04 PST)
IMF negligent in financial crisis: Shaukat Aziz Thursday, 16 Oct, MANILA: Former Pakistani prime minister Shaukat Aziz accused the International Monetary Fund Thursday of failing to show leadership during what he described as a 'historic' global financial crisis. As world leaders met to shore up distressed financial institutions, Aziz charged that 'this global institution which is supposed to look at everything going on was not even in the room where meetings are going on.' Speaking at an international business conference in Manila, the former finance minister and Citigroup banker said interest rate cuts, recapitalisation of banks and liquidity injections, while helpful, would not solve the problem. 'The very fabric of the global financial system is under threat,' Aziz said. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Restorative justice system launched Thursday, 16 Oct, PESHAWAR: Police have launched restorative justice system in Peshawar and Abbottabad districts to seek out-of-court settlement of the disputes and save people from the lengthy litigation processes. ‘In January 2003, Pakistan had backlog of four million court cases, the number would be far more now. In such a situation, the restorative justice system is need of the hour where the offenders, victims and the community resolve the disputes without going to police stations or courts,’ said Provincial Police Officer Malik Naveed Khan. Speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the restorative justice system at Police Club on Wednesday, he said that the reconciliatory committee established under the Local Government Ordinance 2001, had successfully resolved 3,997 cases out-of-court in one year. (Posted @ 14:48 PST)
India, Brazil, SAfrica blame rich world Thursday, 16 Oct, MUMBAI: Blasting rich countries for turning the world into ‘a gigantic casino,’ Brazil's president joined with leaders from India and South Africa in urging that emerging economies' voices be heard as the world grapples with the unfolding financial crisis. Across the developing world, there is a growing resentment that a crisis hatched by the rich is coming home, to be borne by the poor. The leaders of emerging economies, meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, slammed wealthy countries and vowed to boost regional trade in an effort to shore up their domestic economies. (Posted @ 14:26 PST)
Five countries to be elected to security council Thursday, 16 Oct, UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly votes Friday to choose five new non-permanent members of the powerful Security Council, with all eyes on the contest between Iran and Japan for the lone Asian seat, AFP reports. Iran, which is under UN Security Council sanctions for its refusal to halt nuclear research and development, is widely expected to lose to economic powerhouse Japan, a major contributor to the UN budget which enjoys broad support, particularly from Western countries. A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it would be 'an embarrassment' for Japan if it did not prevail in the first round of balloting to succeed Indonesia in the seat. (Posted @ 14:22 PST)
Newer polio vaccine better for hot spots Thursday, 16 Oct, BOSTON:A newer vaccine that targets the most common form of the polio virus works up to four times better than the conventional vaccine that tries to protect against all three types of the crippling disease, researchers said on Wednesday. The so-called monovalent vaccine may help speed the fight to eradicate polio, US Food and Drug Administration officials Ellie Ehrenfeld and Konstantin Chumakov wrote in a commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine, where two studies on the three-year-old vaccine appear. 'One can get much more immunity from the monovalent vaccine than one could with the trivalent doses,' Dr Roland Sutter of the World Health Organisation in Geneva, who worked on one of the studies done in Egypt, said in an telephone interview. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
NWFP yet to get Rs100m relief fund Thursday, 16 Oct, PESHAWAR: Federal government has yet to fulfil its commitment about releasing funds for relief activities in the province as the NWFP Relief Commission is finding it hard to cope with the internally displaced people, officials say. An official told Dawn that the federal government had pledged in August last to release Rs100 million for the IDPs but the commission did not receive a single penny so far. He said that federal government had repeatedly been reminded to fulfil its promise but in vain. ‘We never put a demand before the federal government but it announced to provide Rs100 million for relief activities,’ the source said, adding that centre had donated only 50 trucks loaded with relief items before announcing Rs100 million. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Nikkei dives 11.4 per cent, worst loss in two decades Thursday, 16 Oct, TOKYO: Tokyo's Nikkei stock index plunged more than 11 per cent on Thursday, the biggest loss in two decades, as growing fears of a global recession hammered world markets. The benchmark index lost 1,089.02 points, or 11.41 per cent, to end at 8,458.45, wiping out most of its gains earlier in the week. It was the Nikkei's second-largest percentage loss ever and the steepest fall since the ‘Black Monday’ crash in October 1987. The rout came after Wall Street suffered its worst percentage drop in two decades and its second-largest points loss in history overnight. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Federer returns to win in Madrid, Davydenko out Thursday, 16 Oct, MADRID: Roger Federer advanced to the third round of the Madrid Masters on Wednesday with a 6-3 7-6 win over Czech Radek Stepanek on his return from a three-week break. Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic survived a searching test to beat Romanian Victor Hanescu, while Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko, seeded five, was sent packing by American qualifier Robby Ginepri. Initially Federer had no such concerns, romping to a 3-0 lead as Stepanek’s serve fell apart. But the world number 30 stepped up in the second set – winning all but one of the points on his first serve – and seized the advantage in the set decider with a sensational drop shot, before pumping his first wildly in celebration. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Troubling rise in bomb scares Thursday, 16 Oct, KARACHI: As the country tries to come to grips with the wave of terror and militancy affecting the entire nation, the menace of bomb scares is increasingly becoming an issue of concern. Considering the nearly daily occurrence of terrorist attacks – suicide or otherwise – in Pakistan, no chances can be taken and every bomb threat must be treated as genuine until it is proven otherwise. Karachi, the country’s economic hub and largest city, is not immune to the nuisance of phoney bomb threats and after talking to several personnel in law enforcement, it has emerged that over the past few weeks, the city has seen an alarming rise in the number of calls made to the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), stretching the already thin resources of the squad. Considering the current condition of the BDS, the authorities must reassess their priorities and provide it the equipment and manpower required to handle genuine cases, while those making hoax calls should be dealt with accordingly as per the law to serve as a lesson to potential hoaxers. (Posted @ 13:10 PST)
‘Dhammal is poetry of mind, body and soul’ Thursday, 16 Oct, KARACHI: The dhammal – an ecstatic dance performed at Sufi shrines in Sindh and Punjab – is an act of submission on the part of the devotee towards the saint through which different national and religious identities tend to dissolve as the seeker experiences an out-of-body feeling. This was said by Sohail Amir Ali of the University of Karachi during his presentation entitled ‘Ethnological reflections on the performance of dhammal at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.’ He was speaking at the launch of the book Sindh Through History and Representations: French Contributions to Sindhi Studies at the Alliance Francaise here on Wednesday. Preceding the talk on dhammal, Dr Michel Boivin, who has edited the book, and Dr Remy Delage spoke on different aspects of the French contribution towards Sindhi studies. (Posted @ 12:58 PST)
US strike inside S. Waziristan kills five Thursday, 16 Oct, ISLAMABAD: A suspected US missile strike killed a purported foreign militant on Thursday in a Pakistani tribal area considered a haven for the Taliban and al-Qaida, officials said. The missile strike hit a house in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan. Two Pakistani intelligence officials told The Associated Press that reports from informants and field agents suggested that one foreign militant died in the attack and that another foreigner was injured. 'Two missiles were fired, completely destroying the house. Reports confirm five dead,' a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. (Posted @ 12:54 PST)
Ulema’s equivocation Thursday, 16 Oct, Tuesday's fatwa by an ulema conference condemning suicide bombing as un-Islamic is not the first of its kind in Pakistan or abroad. However, it stands out for its equivocation. Representing a cross-section of clerics, the Lahore moot of the Muttahida Ulema Council also declared that individuals did not have the right to declare a jihad and that it was only the government which could do this. Coming at a time when a suicide bomber strikes every other day, this aspect of the MUC decree deserves to be welcomed. There is no doubt the concept of a Muslim doing his duty to ‘do good and suppress evil’ has been misinterpreted and misused to itself become a source of evil. Now every misguided militant thinks he can blow up a girls’ school or a relief agency office to do his ‘duty’ as a Muslim. This perversion of an otherwise noble concept has led to the formation of militant organisations which think they can spread terror and kill innocent men, women and children ‘to do good’. (Posted @ 12:10 PST)
Industrial shutdown leads to layoffs Thursday, 16 Oct, GUJRANWALA: Industries, traders, private hospitals and residents in Punjab districts are irked over the spate of unannounced loadshedding in the past few days. Loadshedding, which is unscheduled and spans for 10-16 hours a day, has forced the owners of 40 cutlery units in Wazirabad to close down their units. The closure would hit hard hundreds of workers who are at the brink of joining jobless lot and owners face huge losses for their likely failure to meet export targets. They demanded that the federal government revamp the energy system on a priority basis. Also, Gujranwala Electric Power Company Chief Executive Officer Rana Muhammad Ashraf Zahid assured the Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry that the company would provide power supply to them regardless of grim situation on the energy front. (Posted @ 11:56 PST)
Pakistan, China sign 12 agreements, protocols Thursday, 16 Oct, BEIJING: Pakistan and China signed here on Wednesday 12 agreements, memoranda of understanding and protocols to enhance cooperation on a sound footing in various sectors, including infrastructure, information technology, energy, telecommunication, agriculture, industry, minerals, trade, disaster relief and space technology. The signing ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People was witnessed by President Asif Ali Zardari and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao after an hour-long one-to-one interaction between the two leaders and two hours of talks between delegations. A joint statement will be issued on Thursday. (Posted @ 11:46 PST)
The ‘Joe the plumber’ debate Thursday, 16 Oct, COLUMBUS: Who is Joe the Plumber? He is Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man looking to buy a plumbing business who came to symbolise the notion of ‘spreading the wealth’ in Wednesday night’s third and final presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Earlier this week, when Wurzelbacher got a chance to speak with Obama when he visited Toledo, he told Obama that his tax plan would keep him from buying the business that currently employs him. Sensing an opening in the debate, McCain cited that exchange when the candidates were asked to explain why their economic plans are better than their opponent’s. (Posted @ 10:28 PST)
Jahangir confident of squash’s Olympic inclusion Thursday, 16 Oct, MANCHESTER: Legendary Pakistani squash player Jahangir Khan says his sport has its best ever chance of gaining entry into the Olympics next year. Squash is vying for one of two available openings for the 2016 Games when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) assembly meets in Copenhagen on Oct 2, 2009. Now president of the World Squash Federation (WSF), Jahangir was chairing the governing body’s latest promotion of its bid to gain entry at the 2016 Games, when he said: ‘Things have changed in our favour.’ That was a reference to the fact that since squash finished first of the five new sports which unsuccessfully sought entry to the London Olympics, the vote has altered from a required two-thirds majority to a simple majority. (Posted @ 10:04 PST)
Saudi hosts Taliban talks to stabilise Pakistan Thursday, 16 Oct, RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is mediating between Taliban and Afghan officials to prevent its ally Pakistan from sliding into militant violence and to wean the Taliban away from al-Qaeda, diplomats said on Wednesday. They said Saudi Arabia is worried that extremist forces including the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies are succeeding in destabilising neighbouring Pakistan, a crucial US and Saudi ally where the militant groups are also present. Taliban and Afghan officials attended an iftar, or breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan, in the holy city of Makkah last month in the presence of King Abdullah. (Posted @ 09:44 PST)
Suicide bombing kills four in Mingora Thursday, 16 Oct, PESHAWAR: Four security officials were killed and twenty-six wounded in a rocket cum suicide attack on a police station in the troubled northern Swat region on Thursday, a senior police official said. The official told Dawn that the City Police Station in Mingora, district headquarters of the restive Swat region, came under a barrage of rocket propelled attack at around 1.30 am. The rocket attack was followed by a suicide bombing. ‘The bomber banged an explosives-laden vehicle into the wall of the police station. But the casualties were mostly caused by the rocket attack,’ Safwat Ghayyur, Additional Inspector General of Police, Investigation, told Dawn in Peshawar. (Posted @ 09:36 PST)
Spain, Eng, Dutch keep perfect W. Cup record Thursday, 16 Oct, LONDON: Spain, England and the Netherlands maintained their perfect starts in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday to open up big leads in the race for places at the 2010 tournament in South Africa. Portugal’s faltering challenge continued with a 0-0 draw at home to 10-man Albania. (Posted @ 09:04 PST)
Fears of world recession mount Thursday, 16 Oct, WASHINGTON: Growing fears that the financial crisis will morph into a worldwide recession prompted a new bloodbath on stock markets Wednesday as EU leaders pushed for swift moves to overhaul global finance. 'The world economy is still headed into a recession despite the global financial market rescue effort,' said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. 'The decline will be deep and protracted. It has already started. Nowhere is the economic house in greater disorder than Euroland, although some may argue that Japan is a bigger mess.' (Posted @ 08:34 PST)
McCain and Obama battle in contentious debate Thursday, 16 Oct, HEMPSTEAD, New York: Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama battled fiercely in their most contentious debate on Wednesday, with an aggressive McCain attacking Obama's campaign tactics and tax plans in a showdown that made a star of 'Joe the plumber.' The presidential rivals complained bitterly about the negativity of the campaign during a series of testy exchanges that included repeated appeals to average Americans through references to Joe — the owner of a small plumbing business Obama met in Ohio. McCain was on the offensive throughout the 90-minute encounter. He rebuked Obama for his frequent claims that he is too close to the policies of President George W. Bush. (Posted @ 08:00 PST)
Pakistan, Afghans, US aim to end 'misunderstandings' Thursday, 16 Oct, ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistani, Afghan and NATO military commanders met on Wednesday for their first three-way talks since US forces infuriated Pakistan last month with an attack on a Pakistani border village. Cooperation between the military in Pakistan and Afghan and western forces in Afghanistan is seen as vital as militant violence intensifies on both sides of the Afghan border. But US impatience has grown over what it sees as Pakistan's failure to eliminate the militant threat in remote sanctuaries on its side of the frontier. Cross-border strikes by US forces, in particular a September 3 raid by US commandos on a Pakistani village, have led to calls from opposition politicians for Pakistan to end its help for the US-led campaign against militancy. (Posted @ 07:58 PST)
US consular officials meet American held in Pakistan Thursday, 16 Oct, WASHINGTON: US consular officials have met with an American who is being held by the Pakistani authorities in a remote tribal region near the Afghan border, the State Department said on Wednesday. Police in the Mohmand district on Monday arrested a young, bearded American who was dressed as a local and was travelling without any travel documents, police said. State Department officials confirmed that a US citizen was arrested Monday in the Mohmand District and he continued to be held there on Wednesday. (Posted @ 07:48 PST)
Prediction markets now betting big on Obama Thursday, 16 Oct, WASHINGTON: Traders betting on future events in the political prediction markets are overwhelmingly predicting a Barack Obama victory in the US presidential election, giving the Illinois Democrat a better than 80 per cent chance of winning. The traders were betting on Wednesday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain had less than a 20 per cent chance of victory, a big change from a month ago, when the Arizona senator was seen as having a 47 per cent chance of capturing the White House. The drop in McCain's fortunes in the predictions markets coincides with the global financial crisis and the US presidential debates. Obama is seen by many as the stronger candidate on economic issues, and polls showed many believed he won the first two debates. Opinion polling in the US presidential race has shown a shift toward Obama during the same period. (Posted @ 07:30 PST)
Extremist threat requires new US approaches: Gates Thursday, 16 Oct, WASHINGTON: The United States and its allies must find new approaches and create new institutions to deal with the long-term threats posed by violent extremism, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday. In a speech at the US Institute of Peace, Gates said the security of the American people will depend increasingly on an ability to head off the next insurgency or stop the collapse of another failing state. He focused specifically on Afghanistan, but nuclear-armed Pakistan also is at or near the top of the Bush administration's list of countries in danger of falling victim to internal chaos. Gates stressed that this effort is about much more than flexing US military muscle. 'Our own national security toolbox must be well-equipped with more than just hammers,' he said. (Posted @ 07:08 PST)
Qazi Hussain Ahmed lashes out at government Thursday, 16 Oct, HYDERABAD: Ameer Jamat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed has said that rich coal deposits of Sindh were being handed over to US because our country had become a colony of America and added that parliamentarians were scared of US as was evident from the in-camera briefing session. He was speaking a gathering of a couple of thousand people at Hyderabad railway station on his arrival from Peshawar during last leg of his tour here Wednesday. ‘We have rich coal deposits that could cater to energy needs for 100 years. But the coal deposits are being handed over to USA as our country has become its colony’, he charged. He expressed dissatisfaction over in-camera briefing being given to MNAs and senators on the ground that parliamentarians are scared of US. ‘We need to assert ourselves and follow the spirit of jihad then no power on earth or any kind of weaponry can defeat us’, he said. (Posted @ 06:28 PST)
Rangers restore order in District Jail Malir Thursday, 16 Oct, KARACHI: In the aftermath of confrontation between two groups of prisoners at the District Jail Malir and subsequent rioting, the personnel of Pakistan Rangers reached the venue and controlled the law and order situation there. This was announced in a statement of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, here on Wednesday. It said that as soon as Rangers received the information about the incident, a strong posse of its personnel reached the District Jail Malir and surrounded the premises. (Posted @ 06:18 PST)
Ballesteros in stable condition after brain surgery Thursday, 16 Oct, MADRID: Seve Ballesteros was in stable condition Wednesday after undergoing surgery on a brain tumor a day earlier. La Paz hospital said were no complications from the surgery. Spanish state news agency Efe reported the operation lasted 12 hours. The hospital said a sizable part of the 51-year-old Spaniard's tumor was removed. It was not immediately known if it was malignant and it would be several days before the results were announced. 'At the moment he is conscious and stable, although he will not be able to receive any visitors in the coming days until he has recovered from the surgical process,' the hospital said in a statement. (Posted @ 04:04 PST)
Governor praises role of tribal lashkars Thursday, 16 Oct, ISLAMABAD: NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani on Wednesday lauded the positive role of tribal lashkars and said they were part of a long-standing tribal tradition for establishing peace and protecting life and property of the people. In an informal talk with senior journalists at a local hotel, he rejected the contention that tribal lashkars could lead to any civil conflict. Dealing the miscreants and criminals through local lashkars has always been a part parcel of the tribal traditions, he said. The Governor said the situation in FATA was complex but quite manageable and expressed the optimism that with better understanding and handling of the real issues on the basis of broad national consensus the desired results would be achieved. (Posted @ 03:55 PST)
Pakistan Taliban say they 'want to talk' Thursday, 16 Oct, LONDON: Taliban militants fighting the Pakistan army in the country's tribal areas say they are 'willing to hold unconditional talks with the government.' Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for the militants, said they were also willing to lay down their arms if the military ceased operations against them. The army is conducting operations against militants in the tribal region of Bajaur and Swat valley. The operations are said to be a serious effort to eradicate the Taliban. ‘We are willing to negotiate with the government without any conditions,’ Maulvi Omar told the BBC Urdu service on Wednesday. ‘We are also willing to lay down our arms, once the military ceases operations against us.’ (Posted @ 03:48 PST)
Was Karl Marx right? Thursday, 16 Oct, WASHINGTON: Capitalism as we used to know it is on its deathbed. And those who predicted that the old brand, the unfettered, American-promoted system, was a danger to the world, are being vindicated. They include Karl Marx, whose thinking on banks seems oddly contemporary these days. The credit crisis that began in August last year and turned into near-catastrophe this month is not over, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars that governments are spending to save banks in the United States and Europe from collapse and thereby prevent a global depression. But there is an emerging consensus that capitalism needs a 21st century overhaul, not just emergency rescues, to save it from itself. When that will happen is not clear. 'What we are seeing right now looks like a very slow train wreck,' says James Boughton, the historian of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. (Posted @ 02:50 PST)
Mixed reaction to joint in-camera session Thursday, 16 Oct, ISLAMABAD: The in-camera joint sitting of the two houses of parliament entered into fourth day on Wednesday with no signs of emergence of a consensus on change or a status quo on the national strategy of combating terrorism, extremism and threat of Talibanisation. Minister for Information Sherry Rehman who had put across a detailed briefing about the situation emerging from Pakistan’s joining global war on terrorism in Tuesday’s proceedings, replied to the queries raised by the opposition and coalition parties lawmakers in four-hour proceedings. (Posted @ 02:38 PST)
Stakes high as Obama, McCain head for final debate Thursday, 16 Oct, HEMPSTEAD: Trailing in the polls, Republican John McCain hopes to shake up the presidential race Wednesday in his third and final debate with Democrat Barack Obama, who wants to close the deal with Americans unhappy with the country's direction. Obama has built leads nationally and in key battleground states as economic turmoil has tightened voters' focus on the policies of the unpopular President George W. Bush. (Posted @ 02:24 PST)
Suicide bomber strikes at Mingora police station in Swat, at least three people killed. Thursday, 16 Oct, Suicide bomber strikes at Mingora police station in Swat, at least three people killed. (Posted @ 02:08 PST)
Nancy Reagan hospitalized with broken pelvis Thursday, 16 Oct, LOS ANGELES: Former U.S. first lady Nancy Reagan has been hospitalized for treatment of fractures to her pelvis and lower spine suffered in a fall at her home last week, her spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The 87-year-old widow of President Ronald Reagan will remain at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center for a few more days, until doctors are satisfied with her progress, then return home, said spokeswoman Joanne Drake. She admitted herself to the hospital, recently renamed the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, after experiencing persistent pain following her fall. Tests revealed she had suffered a fractured pelvis and sacrum. 'Her anticipated recovery is six to eight weeks, including physical therapy and a modified schedule,' Drake said in a statement, adding that Reagan was in good spirits. (Posted @ 00:30 PST)
Member accuses PPP of partisan politics Thursday, 16 Oct, HYDERABAD: Sindh council member PPP, Mohammad Usman Kennedy has lashed out at the local organisation of the party for alienating the Urdu speaking people of Hyderabad and Latifabad due to which only Urdu speaking were elected as members of the provincial and national assemblies from Latifabad and Hyderabad talukas and Sindhi speaking candidates from Qasimabad and Tandojam during the last 30 years. Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Wednesday, he said, this spoke volumes about the inefficiency and cowardice of the local leadership of the party which had made no inroads in Latifabad and Hyderabad talukas. Since the local leadership of the party has its own vested interests, therefore, it has never even tried to gain the confidence of the Urdu speaking people, he said and added that PPP even did not exist in Latifabad and Hyderabad. (Posted @ 00:26 PST)
There are things only the state can do By Hamish McRae
IT is awesome, isn’t it, to see how powerful the world’s financial authorities are when they act together? For some weeks the markets have been bitching that the governments and central banks did not grasp the gravity of the financial situation; that their response was piecemeal and tardy.
It was a reaction born of fear, a fear that showed through most obviously in the collapse of the value of shares worldwide but more insidiously in the squeeze on bank lending. Home buyers in Britain are in much the same position as the restaurant owner in Manhattan that a friend told me about just yesterday. Our flow of new mortgages has virtually dried up while his local Italian restaurant was being refused credit.
The confidence is fragile still. But the markets have learnt what they should have known all along. It is not within the power of national governments, even acting together, to prevent a world economic downturn. But what they can do is prevent an international banking collapse, a catastrophe that would have both deepened the downturn and made the recovery from it virtually impossible. This is not the 1930s.
But it was governments that had to do it. We live in a world where the failures of government are pretty obvious. We read all the time about their inefficiencies and, in Britain. We have had a huge increase in government spending alongside falling productivity in the public sector. Governments are seen as slow-moving bureaucracies, having to build support before they push a policy into action — a contrast to the nimble, effective private sector.
Well, it hasn’t been like that in the past few days. Governments have shown themselves to be swift and effective and they really deserve credit for that. Sure, the near-collapse of the world banking system was in part a failure of regulation and of monetary policy. But the primary failure was in the private sector and it is government that has saved it.
That is going to change things. It is going to redefine the relationship between government and finance in the years ahead, certainly for a decade, maybe a generation. It is far too early to see any detail but we can catch a feeling for what might change.
If you look at what monetary authorities have done so far there are really two main elements. One has been for central banks to flood the world with liquidity, to lend to the banking system without limit. The other has been to offer partial nationalisation to banks if they need it. In the first the central banks have been carrying out their traditional role, dating back to the 19th century, of being lender at last resort to the banking system. In the second the governments have taken on a newer, but not unprecedented role of being investor at last resort in individual banks.
The first is textbook stuff. Because banks borrow short-term but make long-term loans, there has to be some mechanism to enable them to repay depositors in extreme situations. It is just that, this time, the lender-at-last-resort role had to be on a global scale.
The second has happened before when governments have felt that national interest requires them to invest in commercial enterprises and when other investors did not want to do so. This happened in a dogmatic way with nationalisation and that model clearly does not work. It worked particularly badly when the company being taken over was in some structural trouble, such as British Leyland. But there are much more encouraging examples going back 150 years and more: the government investment in the Suez Canal, or in BP.
So one should see the partial nationalisation of British banks as part of a continuum; it is radical but it is not absolutely unprecedented. Government intervention quite rightly comes at a price. The price for having a central bank as lender at last resort is banking regulation.
That is all straightforward enough, or at least it should be. What is harder to see is how governments will assert their authority on a global scale. So there will be a rethinking of the relationship between the state and the world of finance. It has to be done internationally because, if there is one thing we have learnt over the past few months, it is that a problem that occurs in one country will end up in another. This is an interdependent world.
There are two broad paths. One would be to see if there is a case for some kind of new monetary commission that would oversee changes in bank accounting, supervision of derivative development, co-ordination of countries’ monetary policy and so on. The other (which seems to me more sensible) would be to look in detail at what has gone wrong and make a large number of tweaks to the system.
— © The Independent
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
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