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Year 1
Issue 30
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Thursday, 09.02.12 www.satribune.co.uk Price: 90p
Central line Tube train on Monday 23 January. Woodhouse has been remanded in custody and will next appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday 8 February 2012. The seven minute video was uploaded onto YouTube on 24 January, after another passenger lmed the outburst on a mobile phone the day before.
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Police have charged Jacqueline Woodhouse, 42, of Romford with racially aggravated common assault and a racially aggravated public order offence . This is in relation to an incident on board a
With some in football seemingly wanting to brush the issue of racism under the carpet, it is good to see Sir Alex Ferguson not only address the issue, but wanting to take rm stance against it. The Manchester United manager spoke ahead of his teams Premier League clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford on Saturday.
This will be the rst league meeting between the two sides since Liverpools Luis Suarez served an eight-match ban for racially abusing Uniteds Patrice Evra back in October. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told CNN that football must eradicate all forms of racism, following recent high-
prole incidents in England which have brought the matter back into sharp focus. One of Fergusons own players, France left-back Patrice Evra, was at the center of an incident last October which saw Liverpools Uruguay striker Luis Suarez banned eight matches for using Continued on page 2 >>
Forecasters are warning that the UK could face snow and freezing temperatures until the beginning of March. London can expect more snow on Thursday night and severe night time frosts throughout the end of the week. Forecasters predict up to 6cm of Continued on page 2 >>
NEWS Sir Alex Ferguson calls for a tough line against racism
Continued from page 1 >> racist language. Chelseas John Terry has also been removed as England captain ahead of his July trial for alleged racial abuse of Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League match in October -- a charge he denies. said he did not understand why racism in football had once again reared its head. Ive had some fantastic black players, absolutely magnicent black players,
and every one Ive enjoyed my working relationship with them. So I dont understand where its coming from to be honest with you. I dont understand it at all, he said in a CNN interview at the Laureus Sports Awards. Sir Alex Ferguson said This is a moment where we have to take stock. I think they should do something about it if its surfacing again and really be hard and rm on any shape or form of racism.
continue to think it is right to stick to those aid commitments. We continue to provide aid to India, but we focus it on the three poorest states. He added, The reason we are doing that is because a huge number of the poorest people in the world live in these states. The Government has always been very clear about sticking to its aid commitments and the fact that it would not balance the books on the backs of the poorest people in the world. It
is going to stick to that. International Development secretary Andrew Mitchell on Monday defended the aid, and said, We will not be in India for ever but now is not the time to quit. Our completely revamped programme is in Indias and Britains national interest and is a small part of a much wider relationship between our two countries. He, however, added, We are changing our approach to India. We will target aid at three of Indias
poorest states, rather than central Government. We will invest more in the private sector, with our aid programme having some of the characteristics of a sovereign wealth fund. International aid is among few areas that have not been subjected to deep funding cuts by the economically-strapped David Cameron government, which has faced much ridicule and more for continuing to send aid to an increasingly prosperous India.
British member of parliament Keith Vaz is to meet the family members of Anuj Bidve, the engineering student from Pune who was killed in Manchester city last December. The meeting will take place on February 11. An e-mail communication from Vaz,
who is chairman of the home affairs committee, said that he would be visiting India to repair relations following Anujs murder. The mail also stated that Vaz was keen to encourage Indian students to study in the UK and strengthen the relations between the two countries. Anuj was doing an MS in Microelectronics course at Lancaster University, when he was killed.
international airport. We have already been informed about the visit. Vaz had helped us during our visit to the UK. The UK government, especially the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had faced criticism when Anujs family learnt of the attack on him and his death through Facebook posts. Two ofcials from the GMP had later visited the Bidve family in Pune.
NEWS
a message of thanks to her subjects in which the 85-year-old monarch declared: I dedicate myself anew to your service. On February 6, 1952, King George VI died in his sleep at Sandringham aged 56. Princess Elizabeth was informed of her fathers death while on holiday at the Royal hunting
so many kind messages about the Diamond Jubilee. In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see
will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear head and warm heart as we join together in our celebrations. I send my sincere good wishes to you all. Around 100 people watched the gun salute at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour from across the water at
her diamond jubilee. A full-length portrait features the Queen accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, who wears his military uniform, medals and honours, while a second photograph has the Queen on her own. Both were taken in December in Buckingham Palaces famous centre room, used by the Royal Family to
Britain set for more snow at the weekend amid fears for the great half-term getaway
Up to half an inch of snow could fall at Heathrow airport this weekend raising risk of fresh disruption Temperatures set to plummet to -13C. Drivers are being urged to watch out for icy conditions and freezing fog on the roads with temperatures forecast to drop to as low as -10C in parts of England later. Reported daily mail. weekend, recording 16cm (6in). The thick blanket of snow that fell over parts of the UK caused major travel disruption, with Heathrow Airport axing half of all ights on Sunday night. The RAC has reported the busiest February weekend in its history, with 41% more calls than usual. The worst-affected area was Devon and Cornwall which had twice the usual number of call-outs. The South of England had 80% more The cold conditions look set to stay until the weekend with sub-zero temperatures making travelling hazardous for drivers and adding to air and rail travel delays. The Met Ofce has issued six severe weather alerts warning people to be aware of ice on untreated roads and pavements across much of northern, central and eastern England. The Highways Agency have conrmed that gritters were sent out to treat and clear roads in eastern areas on Monday night and during the early hours of Tuesday. The icy spell has seen daytime temperatures dipping four or ve degrees lower than average for February, which is traditionally the coldest month of the year. Church Fenton in North Yorkshire saw the biggest snowfall over the breakdowns than usual and the West Midlands and Wales had 65% more. A 25-mile (40km) long section of the A1 northbound was closed for a number of hours on Monday morning after a series of crashes between Allerton Park, near York, and the Catterick area. Britains big freeze shows little sign of relenting with sub-zero temperatures set to bring more misery to commuters up and down the country in the coming days.
NEWS
EDITORIAL
BAN NEGATIVE REPORTING OF ISLAM
Why is Islam being demonized more these days?
Muslims are being demonized all over the world. The so-called Islamic Jihadists are the main factor. People like from Osama Bin Laden, to Abu Qatada , Omer Bakri, Abu Hamza, Aswat or Al-Muhajiroun, Hizb Tahrir or Banned Muslims Against Crusades are who are a minority and double agents but they give all of mainstream British Muslims a bad name.. Too many critics of Islam, including atheists, fail to appreciate just how diverse and varied Islam can be. There are things you can say that apply to all or most Muslims, as is the case with Christianity, but there are many more things which only apply to some or a few Muslims. This is especially true when it comes to Muslim extremism because Wahhabi Islam, the primary religious movement behind extremist Islam, includes beliefs and doctrines not found elsewhere. It would be a mistake and unethical to criticize all of Islam on the basis of doctrines particular to Wahhabi Muslims. That Demonization hides a far more sinister strategy of a never ending resource war on the people of the world including the citizens of the US and the UK. The specious Global War on Terror (GWOT) hides the rapid erosion of basic rights guaranteed to people by their respective constitutions, international charters, treaties and conventions. What is being done to innocent Muslims everywhere an extension of the same phony GWOT. The civil society demands immediate stop to this Demonization. The 1997 Runnymede Trust report entitled Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All stated that fundamental to Islamophobia is the attempt to depict Islam as being violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism, and engaged in a clash of civilizations. jihad, a word that translates into struggle and striving as being a religious war against the West(vi). This blatantly incorrect denition and explanation of jihad serves only to portray Islam as an agent for violence. There is a willful misunderstanding and misrepresentation of Islam that plays heavily on the post September 11 political climate. The violent actions of a minority of Muslims, to present a monolithic and demonic Islam that stands opposed to the West. Via constructed misrepresentations and knowledgeable ignorance, their writings distort the Islamic faith and present it as being a right wing political ideology akin to Nazism, Fascism and totalitarianism. Appearing before the Leveson Inquiry on January 24, Inayat Bunglawala said the amount of negative stories about Muslims in Britain is demonizing Islam and fuelling a false narrative. He called on the government to do all it can to ensure a fairer portrayal, a more balanced portrayal of the faith of Islam in the British media.
foes alike that the United States was working in lockstep with Israel to solve the crisis, hopefully diplomatically. Iran strike will shock global economy Whoever attacks Irans nuclear infrastructure is really making the decision to go to war with Iran, former chief US negotiator at strategic arms reduction talks Richard Burt told reporters on Sunday on the sidelines of the 48th Munich Security Conference
Institution, also told Reuters that as a result of such attack, Iran will expel International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors and quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), ending any possibility of a negotiated solution to the nuclear issue. There is not a country on Earth that is going to blame them for doing that; they are all going to blame Israel. Once Iran is out of the NPT, the sanctions are
Israel is expected to strike Irans nuclear sites. It was a simple and logical operational account, Hollywood-style. It was so convincing in its simplicity that all thats left was to ask when the show will get on the road. Israeli attack will prompt Pakistani response !!! European diplomat based in Islamabad says Israeli strike would force Pakistan to support Iranian retaliation, while EU ofcial says political and economic consequences of attack would be catastrophic for Europe Israeli newspaper reported Monday. The diplomats statement raised the specter of putting a nuclear-armed Pakistan at odds with Israel, which is widely believed to have its own signicant nuclear arsenal. Obama: Israel has not made decision on Iran attack, but it is rightly concerned U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that Israel has not yet decided how to respond to concerns about Irans nuclear program and said there was no evidence that Iran has the intentions or capabilities to wage attacks on U.S. soil. Asked in an NBC interview whether Israel was set to attack Iran, Obama said: I dont think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do. I think they, like us, believe that Iran has to stand down on its nuclear weapons program, adding Israel is rightly concerned and the United States would work in lockstep on Iran. Obama says Israel and the US hope to solve to Iran nuke issue diplomatically. The president sought to assure allies and
(MSC) in Germany, a forum and a venue for the worlds thinkers and decisionmakers on security policy. The expert said a strike on Iran and Irans response, including attempts to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital for oil shipments, would lead to a sharp rise in oil prices that could seriously harm international economy. He said that an attack on Irans nuclear facilities would entail a range of great, negative uncertainties adding, This
gone, he added. Meanwhile, Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at Washingtons Center for International and Strategic Studies, noted that an attack on Irans nuclear facilities will only delay, not destroy, Irans nuclear program. Washington and Tel Aviv have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the option of a military strike, based on their allegation that Irans nuclear
is one reason why consistently the joint chiefs of staff of the uniformed military in the US do not like the idea of attacking Iran. The expert stated that Israel must think long and hard before embarking on an attack because many suspect that it would spark a broader conict and have wide-ranging and destabilizing consequences. For example, he noted, some regional powers aspiring nuclear weapons might respond to a strike on Iran by redoubling efforts to get the bomb as a deterrent. Ken Pollack, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings
program may include a covert military aspect. Iran vows to hit any country that stages attack A day after U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panettas latest NATO missile shield remarks, a senior Iranian military commander said Iran will attack any country whose territory is used by enemies of the Islamic state to launch a military strike against its soil. Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard, Irans most powerful military force, didnt elaborate. His comments appeared to be a warning to Irans neighbors not to let their territory or airspace be used as
a base for an attack. Any place where enemy offensive operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran originate will be the target of a reciprocal attack by the Guards ghting units, the semiofcial Fars news agency quoted Salami as saying today. The NATO missile shield program, the radars of which were installed at the Krecik air base in Malatya in southeastern Turkey, will be commanded from the Alliances Ramstein Air Base, according to Panetta. Panetta reminded journalists at the conference that in addition to the radar station in Turkey, which has greatly disturbed neighboring Iran, missiles will be stationed in Romania and Poland. Four United States ships capable of shooting down missiles will be stationed at Rota, Spain, he said. The whole system will be managed from NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen in Germany. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who yesterday announced plans to visit the U.S. in March, said turmoil in neighboring Arab states and threats from Iran show that Israel must build up its military. Israeli leaders have been warning publicly that time is running out for a military strike that could stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. U.S. President Barack Obama said on NBC News yesterday that our preferred solution is diplomatic but were not going to take any actions off the table. I dont think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do, Obama told NBC. Obama said the two countries have closer military and intelligence consultation than ever before and we are going to work in lockstep to try to solve this, hopefully diplomatically. Netanyahu will visit Washington in early March and speak at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to an announcement. French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a political journal that Iran may face military action by Israel if it doesnt stop its threats and nuclear program. We know that some in Israel are seriously considering military intervention, Sarkozy said in an interview with the quarterly Politique Internationale published Sunday. If Iran continues its senseless race to get the bomb and continues to threaten its neighbors, we are facing the risk of a military intervention, he said.
5 NEWS The Prince Saud now faces an international arrest warrant for ignoring the custody sentence.
her daughter was taken from her during a visit to Saudi Arabia in 2008 and that she was held in the princes palace where she had only eeting meetings with her daughter. She said she managed to leave when a maid left her door open and she sought refuge in the French embassy.
she discovered Facebook photos of her in a niqab and playing with her fathers rearms. Despairing at the lack of diplomatic progress, she published Give My Daughter Back, a book recounting her ordeal, in October. Since the court ruling, the prince faces an international arrest warrant for ignoring the custody
lawyers to France to challenge the court decision but not his daughter. France hasnt got the right to take her back. She is a Saudi citizen and a princess. They cannot oblige a princess to leave this country, he said. Digital Journal adds: International Family Law states that
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Saudi law always favors a Muslim parent over a non-Muslim parent, and the family members of the father have more rights than a childs mother. So there is at least one Jewish princess in Saudi Arabia - who can never leave.
CIA to remain in Iraq, Afghanistan after Special ops could expand in Afghanistan troops withdrawal to protect US interests
responsibility over to a senior special operations ofcer as part of that evolution. McRaven said special operations would combine targeting and training operations this summer to prepare for a smaller overall U.S. presence, but he stressed that no nal decisions had been made. I have no doubt that special operations will be the last to leave Afghanistan, McRaven told a Washington audience, though he said he did not expect their numbers to rise. As far as anything beyond that, were exploring a lot of options, he said. The White House is considering handing the entire Afghan campaign back to special operations forces an evolution expected to stretch well past the drawdown of most conventional NATO troops in 2014, according to multiple ofcials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the still-evolving plans.
Adm. Bill McRaven said Tuesday that special operations forces in Afghanistan are preparing for a possible expanded role as overall U.S. forces begin to draw down after a decade of war. McRaven, the special operations commander who led last years Navy SEAL raid against Osama bin Laden, conrmed that special operations forces would be the last to leave under the Obama administrations current plan, and that the Pentagon is considering handing more of the Afghan war
The Central Intelligence Agency is expected to maintain a large clandestine presence in Iraq and Afghanistan after the withdrawal of conventional U.S. troops as part of the Obama administration plan to rely on a combination of spies and Special Operations forces to protect U.S. interests in the two war zones, U.S. ofcials have said. CIA stations in Kabul and Baghdad are likely to remain the agencys largest overseas outposts for years, The Washington Post reports. U.S. Navy Admiral William McRaven, the Special Operations commander who directed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year, said: I
have no doubt that Special Operations will be the last to leave Afghanistan. The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq in December has led the CIA to adopt three methods of traditional espionage monitoring developments in the increasingly antagonistic government, seeking to suppress al-Qaedas afliate in the country and countering Irans inuence. The CIA is expected to have a more aggressively operational role in Afghanistan. U.S. ofcials said CIAs paramilitary capabilities are seen as vital for keeping the Taliban off balance, protecting the government in Kabul and preserving access to Afghan
airstrips that enable armed CIA drones to hunt al-Qaeda remnants in Pakistan. The CIA has also largely bankrolled and built the Afghan intelligence service and it maintains a constellation of bases along the border with Pakistan. The CIA stations in Kabul and Baghdad were the largest and secondlargest in agency history, surpassing the size of the CIAs station in Saigon at the height of the Vietnam War and it had atleast 700 employees in the country. But the departure of U.S. forces in December has forced the agency to shut many facilities and reduce its presence by half, according to former CIA ofcials.
NEWS
Syrias internal affairs, state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday. We leave that to the conscience of their authors, the statement pointed out.
The report comes as Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon has threatened Iran with a military strike against its atomic facilities in an attempt to force the Islamic Republic to abandon its nuclear activities.
UK families 7,900 in debt experts warn as UK remains among most indebted nations in the world
UK households owe an average of 7,900 on personal loans, overdrafts and credit cards. UK families are typically 7,900 in debt from personal loans, overdrafts and credit cards, despite three years of paying them down, a report has found. PwCs Precious Plastic report predicted UK consumers will continue their determination to pay down their debts, owing around 7,500 by 2013. But it highlighted worrying signs in spending habits, particularly among the 25 to 34 age group, where
Meanwhile, credit card use could fall into permanent decline, with the rise of digital technology and payday lenders changing how people access credit, the Precious Plastic report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said. Each household paid off an average of around 355 of their unsecured debt in 2011, but UK households remain among the most indebted in the world despite three successive years of net repayments, the report said. The report predicted UK consumers will continue their determination to pay down their debts, owing around 7,500 by 2013. But it highlighted worrying signs in spending habits, particularly among the 25 to 34 age group, where a quarter have used credit to fund essential purchases in the last year.
a quarter have used credit to fund essential purchases in the last year. Average incomes have fallen by nearly 3.5 per cent in real terms over the past year, squeezing budgets even further as consumers have faced soaring bills. The report said that historically, the United States has been a strong indicator of what happens in the UK, but consumer credit in the US saw the largest increase in a decade in 2011. It put the contrast in behaviour down to UK austerity policies, which have had a strong inuence on consumer condence and attitudes towards debt in the UK. Bank of England gures showed last week that consumers cut their debts at the fastest rate in two decades during December, amid signs they dipped into savings to pay for Christmas.
The gains are fragile and will be reversed without continued support, said the UNs Humanitarian CoOrdinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden. He said in southern Somalia alone,
The UN declared famine in two parts of southern Somalia last July and, in September, extended the famine warning to six out of eight regions in the country.
some 1.7 million remained in crisis. Millions of people still need food, clean water, shelter and other assistance to survive and the situation is expected to deteriorate
Cross. The (ICRC) was one of the few international aid agencies delivering food aid to areas under rebel control.
COMMENT
Saudi Arabia in charge of US Policy: Israel cheerleads, Saudis nance & Cold War lives
By John Stanton
The Hanbali school, known for following the most Orthodox form of Islam, is embraced in Saudi Arabia and by the Taliban.. Council of Foreign Relations--Islam: Governing Under Sharia, 24 October 2011. In August a judge in Tabuk considered sentencing a man to be surgically paralyzed after convicting him of paralyzing another man in a ght two years earlier. Human Rights Watch ,2011. In September a Qatif court sentenced two high school pupils to six months in prison and 120 lashes for stealing exam questions. Human Rights Watch, 2011. Watching, listening, and reading the media coverage, government commentary and think tank analyses on Irans nuclear capability and the desire by some to destroy it is like taking in Abbott and Costellos Whos on First and Math skits. The logic behind the entire push for massive military action against Iran makes about as much sense as Costellos math calculations. Abbotts acceptance of it all (you are hired) is an appropriate analogy for the USAs role in the madness as it is being suckered into another war in mid-east Asia at the insistence of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Israel and similar Abbott and Costello governed countries. If the USA has so much power, why are second and third rate countries in charge of its policies in mid-east Asia? All statements coming out of the mouths of US government ofcials signal confusion within the grand brains of the political, economic and military leadership. The US may or may not support a Saudi-Israeli operation against Iran said Secretary of Defense Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman general Martin Dempsey (USA) recently. That is utterly unbelievable. These are ammable times already and yet government ofcials, commentators-(and US presidential candidates--the world over are making foolish and unsupported statements about Iran and, hence, are ratcheting up the tension. President Obama says I cant control Israel (the USA controls/monitors all air trafc routes into and out of Iran). Israeli leadership says only 500 casualties from an air strike (using the logic of General Buck Turgeson in the movie Dr. Strangelove). The House of Saud says cut the head off the snake (Colin Powell, former US Army general, once said this in reference to Saddam Hussein). In 1993 Israel said Iran would have nuclear weapons by 1999. Then they said that Iran would have them by 2001. The pro-Iranian war movement, and the Iranian leadership itself, would do well to get a copy of The Fog of War, 11 lessons from Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense, and watch it repeatedly. One of the points McNamara makes in the lm is I lived the Cold war every day, 24/7. The Cold War has not ended as popularly reported. It has just shifted focus. They are all Schemers: Big Plot and Deadly Subplots In the overall US strategic scheme the Iranian matter as a subplot. The central focus of the story is an attempt by the USAs political, economic and military leadership to answer two questions: How can strategy, policy, operations and tactics (SPOT) be developed now to inhibit the development of China and Russias instruments of national and international power? What SPOTs are necessary to maintain Americas dollar disproportionate sway over American politics, I cant see past Saudi Arabia and its royal house...Given my dissident politics, I should be up in arms about the Israel lobby. Not only have I supported the civil rights of the Palestinians over the years, but two of my principal intellectual mentors were George W. Ball and Edward Said, both severe critics of Israel and its extra-special relationship with the United States. Foreign Agents for Beheadings According to the Foreign Agents Registration a listing of 30 June 2011, the following US organizations and citizens represented Saudi interests: Hogan Lovela in Washington, DC (foreign policy interpretation of US reforms to date have involved largely symbolic steps to improve the visibility of women and marginally expand freedom of expression. Authorities continue to systematically suppress or fail to protect the rights of nine million Saudi women and girls, eight million foreign workers, and some two million Shia citizens. Each year thousands of people receive unfair trials or are subject to arbitrary detention. Curbs on freedom of association, expression, and movement, as well as a pervasive lack of ofcial accountability, remain serious concerns. Iraqi Government Fears Saudi Arabia Simon Tisdall writing for the Guardian, UK (2010) reported that the Iraqi close ties to Russia. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is a reactionary monarchy and embodies itself as a caretaker of Islam, while having an extensive bond with the US and Western Europe. True, the rhetoric of the two countries may not correspond with their practice, but the ideological narratives they supercially embrace are in conict, and much of their foreign policy aims have been at odds. The US government approach to Syria, as it is with Iran, was largely crafted by Saudi Arabia. This is a country who speaks of the humanitarian crisis in Syria as though it is the USA. It is more intolerant of dissent than the USSR ever was. Of all ironies, the fact that the USA
and military dominance even as China and Russia--and to a lesser degree India and Brazil--are developing methods (currency swaps or basket of currencies minus the US dollar) to bypass the foundation of American global dominance-the dollar (and T-Bill)? Another subplot is its about the oil. But the data doesnt quite support the argument. According to the Energy Information Agency there are only two mid-east Asian countries in the top ten that the US imports energy from. Saudi Arabia is in the number two spot with Mexico close behind. Iraq comes in at number seven. Rounding out the top ten are Canada (number one), Venezuela, Nigeria, Ecuador, Angola, Colombia, and Russia (Brazil is number eleven). The USA imports 49 percent of its energy needs. It is not a stretch to say that with the right combination of US political and economic policies, and some sacrice by the American people, it could wean itself of off Saudi and Iraqi oil. So, how and why is it that Saudi Arabia is able to shape US foreign policy towards the mid-east Asian region as it does in the face of the Nazi-like rule of its own people? Why do Americans and Israelis so easily sell their souls to the Sauds? Why isnt Saudi Arabia featured at Regime Change Central? John Macarthur writing in Harpers Magazine (2007) observed that ...I cant shake the idea that the Israel lobby, no matter how powerful, isnt all it is cracked up to be, particularly where it concerns the Bush administrations past and present. Indeed, when I think of pernicious foreign lobbies with
Congressional legislative actions, lobbying); Ketchum in New York (media relations); International Merchandising Association in Ohio (brand management); Patton Boggs (monitoring US government statements on Saudi Arabia, legislative analysis, lobbying); Qurvis LLC (monitoring US media, spreading positive stories about Saudi Arabia, lobbying, developing Internet-WWW presence). The US Department of State, Human Rights Bureau, reported that in 2010 Saudi Arabia was an awful place to live unless you are a guy ...no right to change the government peacefully; torture and physical abuse; poor prison and detention center conditions; arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention; denial of fair and public trials and lack of due process in the judicial system; political prisoners; restrictions on civil liberties such as freedoms of speech (including the Internet), assembly, association, movement, and severe restrictions on religious freedom; and corruption and lack of government transparency. Violence against women and a lack of equal rights for women, violations of the rights of children, trafcking in persons, and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, sect, and ethnicity were common. The lack of workers rights, including the employment sponsorship system, remained a severe problem. Then there is the country analysis done on Saudi Arabia by Human Rights Watch (2011). Human rights conditions remain poor in Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah has not fullled several specic reform promises;
government viewed Saudi Arabia as a threat to its internal security. Iraqi government ofcials see Saudi Arabia, not Iran, as the biggest threat to the integrity and cohesion of their edgling democratic state, leaked US state department cables reveal. The Iraqi concerns, analyzed in a dispatch sent from the US embassy in Baghdad by then ambassador Christopher Hill in September 2009, represent a fundamental divergence from the American and British view of Iran as arch-predator in Iraq. Iraq views relations with Saudi Arabia as among its most challenging given Riyadhs money, deeply ingrained anti-Shia attitudes and [Saudi] suspicions that a Shia-led Iraq will inevitably further Iranian regional inuence, Hill writes. Iraqi contacts assess that the Saudi goal (and that of most other Sunni Arab states, to varying degrees) is to enhance Sunni inuence, dilute Shia dominance and promote the formation of a weak and fractured Iraqi government. Hills unexpected assessment ies in the face of the conventional wisdom that Iranian activities, overt and covert, are the biggest obstacle to Iraqs development. Saudi Arabia, Syria: History of Dislike A Muslim News report (2011) reminds that Saudi Arabia and Syria have been at odds with each other for most of their history. As such, the current turmoil in Syria, in which Saudi Arabia and the US are involved on the ground--should be viewed through a historical microscope. Americans are largely decient on the study of history other than their own. Syria prides itself as a secular republic and a bastion of Arab nationalism with
negotiated with the USSR for decades and will not with Iran has to be in the top ten ironies of human history. What it says is that on crucial matters of mideast Asian matters involving war and oppression, the US political process is inuenced and designed by repressive governments represented by American citizens. Young people die and will continue to die as a result of this. Human Rights Watch notes that US pressure for human rights improvements was imperceptible. In September the Pentagon proposed for Congressional approval a US$60 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, the biggest-ever US arms sale. It is unknown whether the UK made efforts through the Two Kingdoms Dialogue to promote human rights, but if so they had no tangible effect... Before he died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, the former FBI counterterrorism chief John ONeill complained to French investigator JeanCharles Brisard that Saudi pressure on the State Department had prevented him from fully investigating possible al-Qaida involvement in the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 U.S. servicemen, and of the destroyer Cole in 2000. As with Pakistans President Pervez Musharraf, theres always talk of the Saudis playing a double game with al-Qaida publicly denouncing it and privately paying it off but you dont have to be a conspiracy theorist to understand that the Saudis dont have Americas best interests at heart. John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security. Reach him at cioran123@yahoo.com
NEWS
to West Asian and North African countries for discussions. It is not clear if that would include a mission to Syria itself. The United States announced Monday it was closing its embassy in Syria due to the worsening security situation, further isolating Damascus over its bloody crackdown on anti-government protests.
sought to get beyond the veto by Russia and China a day earlier of a Security Council resolution backing an Arab League plan for a political settlement in Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the veto a travesty. Mrs. Clinton, in remarks on Sunday in Soa, Bulgaria, placed the blame for the deteriorating situation squarely on
and the West already battling to rein in Tehrans nuclear ambitions as the drumbeat of a possible Israeli military strike in Iran grows louder must calculate how interference in Syria could change the game on Iran. Mean while The State Department said in a statement that the embassy had suspended operations and that U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, and
An ofcial Syrian newspaper on Sunday hailed the Russian and Chinese double veto of a draft UN Security Council resolution on the regimes crackdown, calling it a catalyst for the speeding up of reform. The daily government mouthpiece Tishrin was the only Syrian paper to comment on the veto, which drew swift condemnation from world powers.
ambassadors, more EU countries will follow suit. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has now arrived in Syria for talks with President Bashar Assad. According to the Russian foreign ministry he is accompanied by Mikhail Fradkov, head of the foreign intelligence service. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday by saying We believe in the necessity of continuing the efforts aiming at nding a solution and settlement to the Syrian crisis; and the Russian side intends to pursue work with the Syrian leadership, Minister Lavrov underscored. Syria is need for peace and an agreement should be reached to away from whatever foreign intervention, added Minister Lavrov. We reiterated our preparedness to assist in the emerging out from the crisis; and this was mentioned in the initiative of the Arab League on the 2nd of last November, said Lavrov. Those who refuse dialogue should join us, declared Minister Lavrov. China which joined Russia in vetoing the UN resolution on Syria at the weekend says it is seeking a political solution to the violence, Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said China is considering sending envoys
Doing so without the force of a United Nations Security Council resolution, though, could mean having to look the other way as other countries arm the Syrian opposition, providing a recipe for all-out civil war, some Syria experts said. The UK has followed the suit
Russia and China. Those countries that refuse to support the Arab League plan bear full responsibility for protecting the brutal regime in Damascus, Mrs. Clinton said. And it is tragic that after all the work that the Security Council did, they had a 13-2 vote. At the heart of the worry about Syria is
all embassy personnel had departed the country. The announcement did not signal a formal break in American diplomatic relations with Syria but was considered a strong signal that Obama administration ofcials believe there is nothing left to talk about with Mr.
summoning their ambassador from Damascus. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says the British ambassador has been recalled from Syria for consultations in a move to express abhorrence. Hague has accused China and Russia of betraying the Syrian people, saying their vetoing a UN resolution condemning violence was a grave error. He pledged to increase pressure on the Syrian government through the UN and other bodies. On Sunday, the Obama administration
Iran. While the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen all fell, the eruptions that led to those outcomes were largely internal, with their most signicant ramications limited to the examples they set in the Arab world. A collapse in Syria, by contrast, could lead to an external explosion that would affect Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and even Iraq, foreign policy experts say, particularly if it dissolves into an Iraqstyle civil war. But just as important, with Iran and Hezbollah backing the Syrian government, the United States
Assad. Turkish leaders slammed the Syrian regime for a violent crackdown that claimed the lives of hundreds in the restive city of Homs in the countrys northeast over the weekend with President Abdullah Gl saying on Wednesday that Syria is on a path of no return. Turkey also warned Syrian regime against misreading the will of international community after the UN Security Council failed to adopt a strong resolution following a veto by Russia and China.
Meanwhile China says it was forced to veto a United Nations vote on Syria because it was called before differences over the text had been bridged. Both state-run media and countrys foreign ministry spokesman defended the decision. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a regular news conference that the vote on the UN resolution was forced through before all parties had agreed on the draft document. He also rejected criticism that China was favoring the government of President Bashar Assad, whose regime has vowed to press on with its military crackdown. Moscow sources charged that the motion had been intended to pave the way for war in Iran and a bid to overthrow the Tehran regime. debkales military sources report that the Russians backed their hard line against the West by putting Rapid Reaction Force (aka Spetsnaz) units in Black Sea bases on the ready to set out for Syria and defend Damascus. In another report An undercover operation to topple Bashar Assad has been set in motion by a large group of nations, the US, Britain, France, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar the most elaborate seen in the Arab Spring cycle. The latest DEBKA-
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Thursday, 09.02.12
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Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, the former vice-president, who had earlier claimed that the transfer of power had been peaceful and constitutional. Do I look like someone who of national unity. In an exclusive coversation with Business Standard on the phone from Male, the capital of the Maldives, Nasheed pointed out that The old regime, led by They could have done more. I have been talking about this (possibility) for three years, Nasheed said, when asked why he hadnt publicly articulated these concerns before.. tumult. Mean while The President of Maldives, Dr. Mohammed Waheed, had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today after taking ofce during which he reafrmed the special and close ties that Maldives has with India and said that he was committed to upholding the Constitution of that country and the rule of law. The Prime Minister on his part conveyed his best wishes to President Waheed and said that India has always stood ready to provide any support or assistance that the people of the Maldives might require. The Maldives President said that he looked forward to meeting the Prime Minister at the earliest opportunity.
international
will bring about a coup detat? Waheed told reporters. There was no plan. I was not prepared at all. He called for a government
former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, is back in the Maldives. The international community should have seen this coming.
The streets of the capital island, Male, were calm as people went to work and children attended school despite the political
American drones have killed as many as 10 people in the rst such missile strike since Barack Obama ofcially acknowledged the covert CIA programme. A missile attack by an unmanned US drone aircraft in
north-west Pakistan has killed 10 suspected militants, Pakistani security ofcials say. The missiles struck a camp about 10km (six miles) Continued on page 10 >>
Presidents of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran will meet here from Feb 16 to 17 at the third trilateral summit, committed to promoting regional cooperation and strengthening peace and stability. Continued on page 26 >>
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India may have to settle for 7 PM contempt case: Supreme per cent growth this year, FM Court forms new bench for
country and put forward new reform measures. Mr. Mukherjee said that a high growth rate of above 9 per cent would be achievable only with the help of the industry in the country. FICCI President R. V. Kanoria has remembered widening direct tax net, privatizing coal-mines, boosting government assets and bringing back black money from foreign locations for containing the scal decit of the government. Earlier, Mukherjee had said that the central government is not likely to achieve its 4.6% scal decit target for the nancial year. He said that it would be very difcult for the government to achieve the target in the nancial year. Experts say that the government is likely to miss its target of reducing the budget decit to 4.6 percent of gross domestic product one or two points in the current scal year.
Thursday hearing
The Supreme Court has formed an eight-member bench to hear Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilanis appeal against contempt charges. The bench will be headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and will hear the plea on Thursday . Justice Shakirullah Jan is also part of the bench. Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister led an appeal through his lawyer in the Supreme Court against the contempt charges. Aitzaz had earlier, after the last hearing of the case, told the media that he would advise the prime minister to le an appeal. An appeal has been led. It has been received in the court, a senior ofcial at the Supreme Court told It also said that the court cannot question the prime ministers responsibilities according to the Article 248 of the Constitution. Barrister Ahsan said he based the appeal on precedents set by top courts in Australia, Britain, France, India and the United States. I have led an appeal today. I have quoted more than 50 national and international cases and given specic reasons against the Supreme Court order, Ahsan told reporters. He further said that there was no need for the premier to appear before the court as, according to the contempt of court law, a new bench needs to be formed after an appeal is led.
Indias Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that that country might have to settle for GDP growth of 7 per cent this year. He said while speaking toa television channel that the countrys GDP growth ahs been 7.3 per cent and the two quarters are unlikely to have substantial improvement and thus the GDP growth for the year is expected to be around 7 per cent. Mr. Mukherjee has appealed to the corporate leaders in the country to help revive the growth in the country. The industry has urged the nance minister to take steps to boost investment in the
AFP on condition of anonymity. The 200-page appeal pointed out 53 legal and constitutional points which emphasise that the prime minister did not go against the Constitution by not writing a letter.
India. The diameter of the gas pipeline will remain the same, the ofcial said adding that once the gas sale deal
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the report was quoted as saying. Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), conrmed the documents existence but said it was not a strategic assessment of operations. The classied document in question is
a compilation of Taliban detainee opinions. Its not an analysis, nor is it meant to be considered an analysis, he said. Pakistan aware of Taliban activities The government of Pakistan remains intimately involved with the Taliban, the report said. ISI is thoroughly
foreign invaders from Afghanistan, the report said. However, there was little evidence from the detainees that Islamabad was providing funding or weaponry. The Times quoted the report as saying the Talibans strength, motivation, funding and tactical prociency remains intact, despite setbacks in 2011. Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban, the report said. Once
and expect all other states to strictly adhere to this principle, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told Agence France-Presse. Later in the day, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said the report could be disregarded. We can disregard this as a potentially strategic leak [...] This is old wine in an even older bottle, she told reporters during an ofcial visit to the Afghan capital Kabul.
Afghan copper mine Peace talks outside Afghanistan income to increase will be ineffective: Hekmatyar
Leader of the Hezb-e-Islami, Islamic Party of Afghanistan Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said, secret peace talks between Washington and the Taliban group outside of Afghanistan will not have a positive impact. British Broadcasting Corporation following its latest report stated Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has answered to a number of questions of BBC, which was presented to him by the spokesman of Hezb-e-Islami Haroon Zarghoon who is currently residing in Islamabad. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has said he was proposed to a open a liaison ofce in a foreign country but he denied the offer. Mr. Hekmatyar emphasized that they not want Hezb-e-Islami to be in exile by accepting an offer to open ofce outsie of Afghanistan. In a response to a question of BBC in regards to efforts by Hezb-e-Islami for coordinating the Taliban group and other militant groups ghting the Afghan government and coalition security forces, he said, Hezb-eIslami continously struggled to unite the mujahideens to have a united plan both for war and peace talks and for the future of Afghanistan, but unfortunately Hezb-e-Islami failed to do so due to domestic and foreign intereferences.
According to ofcials in the Ministry of Mines of Afghanistan, budgeted income as a result of the Ainak copper mine is expected to reach $163m by end of the Afghan year once Chinese Comapny MCC pays an additional payment of $107 m to govt. The ofcials further added, the Chine Comapny MCC is required to pay $560 million to Afghan government until 2014 and before copper extraction based on the agreement which was signed between the Afghan government and MCC. The ofcials also said, MCC has paid $133 million out of the $808 advance payment to the Afghan government. Afghan mines minister Wahidullah Shahrani said, MCC paid $80 milllion to Afghan government when they signed agreement in 2008 and the company paid $53 million at the
beginning of Afghan calendar year 1390, and the company is required to pay $107 million before the end of 1390. According to ofcials in the ministry of mines of Afghanistan, the preliminary work on Ainak copper mine has been started and is in progress. MCC is required to pay $808 million as advance payment to Afghan government before launching copper extraction. Ainak copper mine located in eastern Logar province is considered to be one of the biggest natural resources of Afghanistan which has gained a major foreign investment. According to Afghan mines ministry ofcials, the samples of Ainak copper mine has been sent to China for decomposition purposes to China which was taken earlier by MCC and Russian ofcials.
In parts of his speech pointing towards indepdendent peace negotiations of militants groups with the United States of America he said, I urge to prevent independent peace talks by each militants groups with the coalition security forces in abid to prevent previous mistakes. We should prevent secret conspiracies and should not depend on foreigners and strangers. Such conditions and situation should be created which should pave the way for unconditional withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. A government should be formed with the support of the Afghans after achieving freedom. Leader of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar also believe that a government with the support of the
United States of America will not last longer once US troops leave Afghanistan. He said, Washington will not be able to guarantee the future of the government formed by them in Afghanistan as the Soviet Union failed to form a communist government. In response to feedback of United States regarding the visit of Hezbe-Islamis delegation visit to Kabul he said, the delegation met with the Gen. David Petraeus Director, Central Intelligence Agency and Afghan president Hamid Karzai, but Mr. Hekmatyar emphasized that neither Washington nor the Afghan government have specic plans for peace talks and ending war in Afghanistan.
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last year, the government formed a probe body headed by Krishi Bank Chairman Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled. The committee submitted its
Outgoing Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday urged the staff of the Election Commission Secretariat to maintain neutrality at any cost and serve people with diligence in order to uphold popular condence in the EC. He also reiterated that a free and fair parliamentary election could be
held under a political government. It is very much possible to hold a free and fair parliamentary election under a political government if the Election Commission is given some authority, Huda said while speaking to the EC Secretariat staff. Nothing is impossible in this world. But it may not be possible
favour of the war criminals. It is very disgraceful for the nation, Hasina said as she responded to queries from lawmakers. Doesnt she understand that her [Khaleda Zia] efforts to save the war criminals are hurting the souls of thirty lakh martyrs and two lakh mothers and sisters who lost their honour in 1971? The premier said her government had moved ahead to try those who had been creating hindrances to the holding of the trial under the
countrys existing laws. In this regard, she noted that sudden violence had erupted on December 18 last year in different parts of the capital and elsewhere in the country. At daybreak on that day a series of crude homemade bombs went off in Dhaka as hundreds of activists of the BNP and its key ally Jamaat-e-Islami clashed with police, smashed more than a dozen vehicles and set some of those on re. At least one person was killed and several others were injured during the violence.
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Thimphu and in other parts of the country have been frustrated by the slow Internet connectivity that can sometimes take half an hour to upload a photograph. The speed and the progress decreases with increase in subscribers but well x this inconvenience by the end of the year, Bhutan telecoms marketing division general manager, Deo Kumar Biswa, said. He said that the September 18 earthquake last year sent a strong message on the lack of preparedness on the part of Bhutan telecom. We are fully aware of the quality of services during such calamities. We are commissioning an in-depth study into these problems such as call congestions, call drops and data problems which will be solved within the year, he said. Nearly a billion ngultrums has being kept for capital investments of which Nu 540 million is to be allocated to optimise and expand Bmobiles network according
to the general manager. We are planning to upgrade the towers and improve quality by providing radio
buses during such disasters. Apart from the 3G services, Bhutan telecom will provide Next Generation Network (NGN), Fiber to the Cabinet (FTTC) services for fast and reliable communications and broadband connections
around the country. We are sure that this project along with the ber network that is being laid around the country by the government, will make communication more reliable and faster, CEO Nidup Dorji said.
in a same locality. Majority of indigenous cases in Bhutan were attributed to Plasmodium vivax that constituted 59.9 percent of the total infection recorded over the years. In 2010 alone, there were 436 microscopy conrmed indigenous cases of which 261 were caused by Plasmodium vivax, 140 by Plasmodium falciparum, and 35 cases were of mixed infections. Dr Thinley Yangzom said adult males
Eastern Regional Veterinary Health Director, said. Dr Shreeram Prasad Shah, the chief of the District Public Health Ofce, Sunsari, said the date of Tamiu stored in the area has already expired. The medicines sent by the centre, however, arrived late on Sunday evening. The district veterinary ofce has directed authorities concerned to increase surveillance in all poultry farms in the area. In Ilam and Panchthar, authorities have declared an area of 3 km around the two sites as infected zone.
A team led by doctors has been deployed at the site in Ilam. Around 200 households live in the outbreak area. We have deployed security personnel to stop the import and export of chickens and poultry products, said DSP Bishnu KC said. In Kathmandu, Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Population Dr Praveen Mishra said, People need not panic. We are prepared to handle the situation. General symptoms of the u are fever above 100.4 F, cough, sore throat, muscle ache and difculty in breathing. Bird Flu, also known
as Avian inuenza, is an infection caused by the avian (bird) inuenza (u) A viruses. The inuenza A viruses occur naturally among birds. Most cases of avian inuenza infection in humans have resulted from contact with infected poultry or surfaces contaminated with secretion/excretions from infected birds. The faeces of the Aves are considered the most dangerous medium of transfer. Eggs still being sold? SUNSARI: Though the government conrmed bird u outbreak in Sunsari district on Sunday, PK Poultry Farm and Suppliers in
Itahari-6, where hundreds of fowls died, has been reportedly selling eggs using cartons of another farm. Chineshwor Mehata of the District Veterinary Ofce said they found some egg cartons inside the PK poultry that were labelled as Purbanchal Poultry Farm, which is based at Bisanpur in Saptari. If the report is true, the virus spread could get serious, said Dr Bolraj Acharya, director of the Eastern Regional Veterinary Ofce. Sadananda Dev, the operator of the Purbanchal Poultry Farm, said PK Poultry Farm has long been using his companys logo.
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Ahead of the assembly polls, Team Anna will begin its campaign in Uttar Pradesh from Thursday Lokpal Bill, pressing various political parties to make clear their stand on the issue. In a statement released today, the activists said they will hold meetings in Mahadev Talab Maidan in Fathepur of Barabanki and in Ramlila Maidan in Gonda tomorrow. Team Anna has claimed that they will not target any single party during the campaign but put forward the need for a strong lokpal. Anna Hazare and his team had shot off a series of letters to leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and BJP president Nitin Gadkari, last week trying to put them on the mat on the Lokpal issue ahead of assembly polls in ve states.
UP chief minister Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav were the other receipients of their letters. While in the letter to Singh, the Prime Minister is asked to show some courage to withdraw the weak Lokpal Bill and bring a stronger one, the one to Gandhi asked the Congress leader whether his party will dare to bring a law on the lines of strong lokayukta law in Uttarakhand. Gadkari was questioned on why his party did not insist on Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, in which it is a coalition partner, to bring a strong Lokayukta law like the one passed by BJP government in Uttarakhand. He was also asked why BJP changed tracks on bringing Lokayuktas through Lokpal Bill.
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cent were caused by the Taliban and other insurgent groups, an increase from 2010 despite repeated pledges by the Taliban to try to avoid killing civilians. By contrast, the number of civilians killed by pro-government forces, including NATO troops, the Afghan Army and governmentbacked militias, fell to 410, or 14 per cent of the total killed. In nine per cent of cases, the party responsible was not clear. The number killed rose by 8% last year the fth consecutive rise
Georgette Gagnon, director for human rights for the UN mission in Afghanistan. The single deadliest suicide attack since 2008 occurred on 6 December, when a bomber detonated his explosives-lled vest at the entrance of a mosque in Kabul, killing 56 worshippers during the Shia Muslim rituals of Ashoura. Roadside bombs remain the biggest killer of civilians. The homemade explosives which can be triggered by a footstep or a vehicle and are
instead on areas along the countrys border with Pakistan. They were also relying more on roadside bombs and suicide attacks in places like bazaars, school grounds, footpaths and bus stations. The tactics have changed, said Jan Kubis, the UN secretary generals special representative to Afghanistan. The anti-government forces being squeezed in certain areas ... move to some other areas and again use these inhuman, undiscriminating weapons like human-activated explosive
drives over rigged pressure plates. These are basically land mines, Kubis said of the roadside bombs. So why is this inhuman and unIslamic weapon being increasingly used? The number of roadside bombs planted last year overwhelmed security forces improved ability to detect and defuse them. An average of 23 roadside bombs a day were either detonated or discovered and defused last year, twice the daily average in 2010,
series of disturbing signs that suggest that the country could become even more dangerous. The report notes that more than 185,000 Afghans, a 45 per cent increase over 2010 and more than in any previous year, were displaced in 2011, many as they ed conict. The report also points out that while casualties caused by NATO are dropping, those that were the fault of Afghan government forces rose almost 200 per cent just for the sixmonth period of June to December.
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Zee Cine Awards 2012 turned out to be one starry night in the city of Macau, what with the hottest faces of the Indian lm glitterati walking the red carpet at ZEEs prestigious awards ceremony and some awe-inspiring dance acts and hilarious comedy gags by the showstoppers of Bollywood. The evening was hosted in style by Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra, naughtily spoong every nominated lm and sending ripples of uncontrolled laughter through the audience. The glitzy soire saw Ranbir Kapoor and Vidya Balan picking up the top laurels of Best Actor and Best Actress respectively for their performances in Rockstar and The Dirty Picture. Zoya Akhtar made multiple trips upstage to collect the Best Film, Best Director as well as Best Story Awards for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. While it was Shah Rukh Khans return as Don 2 that bagged the Jury Award for Best Actor, Vidyas turn as Silk scored a double whammy as she took home the Jury Award for Best Actress too! Hours before the awards show began, there was an enormous crowd building up right outside The Venetian Macao to catch a glimpse of their favorite movie stars. Prominent amongst the celebrities walking the red carpet were actors Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Vidya Balan, Dia Mirza, Kalki Koechlin, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, Randhir and Rajeev Kapoor, Farhan & Adhuna Akhtar, Zeenat Aman, Mithun Da and son Mimoh. When Vidya went up on stage to pick up her well-deserved Best Actress (Popular Choice) and Jury Award for Best Actress trophies, the actress said, This is a very emotional moment for me as I began my career on Zee TV with Balaji Productions rst show on television, Hum Paanch. And now years, later, to be standing and receiving the Best Actress Award on a Zee TV platform and that too for my work in a Balaji Production is just fabulous. Life has come a full circle with me winning not one but two awards at Zees awards ceremony for a lm Ive done with Ekta almost 20 years later. Vidya also thanked her lucky mascots her twin niece and nephew whose very presence
has brought in a wave of applause and awards her way. When she coyly acknowledged her beau Siddharth Roy Kapoor by thanking a special someone who makes every day worth living, she sent the crowd into a frenzy. The most exciting acts of the evening included Ranbir dancing for the very rst time at an awards ceremony. The crowd went berserk when he descended from the stadiums high ceiling on a rope wearing a harness. Besides his Rockstar performance, the young
show in his trademark tongue-in-cheek, witty andaaz. The immensely talented dancers of Zee TVs Dance India Dance rocked the stage with an act that proved once again why DID is the ultimate platform for dance in the country. Representing the power of women on Zee TV were primetime show leading ladies Mitali Nag (Krishna in Afsar Bitiya), Rati Pandey (Indira of Hitler Didi) and Asha Negi (Poorvi of Pavitra Rishta) who openly demonstrated their love and adulation for Vidya Balan, an actress who has successfully transcended the medium of television and made a carved a very special niche for herself in the world of lms. Adding to the festivities, The Venetian Macao presented an exotic lion dance, laser drumming, singing gondoliers and acrobatic Shaolin monks. As Shah Rukh went up on stage to collect his Jury Award for Best Actor (Don 2),
Kapoor paid homage to his late grand-uncle Shammi Kapoor with a medley of his most popular dance hits and Shahid joined him in raising a toast to the evergreen spirit of the late Dev Anand. Later, in the course of his acceptance speech, Ranbir cheekily thanked SRK saying, I would personally like to thank Shah Rukh for having eased out his monopoly over the awards and letting someone else take home the Best Actor trophy. Always ready with a witty comeback, SRK quipped, I look forward to the day when my son, in a few years, will give you a run for your money and beat you at the awards game, Ranbir! Shahid had the women going weak in the knees with his killer moves as he swayed to this years most popular tracks including the title track of Singham, his own Saj Dhaj Ke from Mausam and a catchy remix of the pop ditty Im sexy and I know it! Vidya Balan paid a scintillating tribute to the sirens from the South dancing to the raunchy number Nakka Mukka and her popular ditty Ooh La La. Katrina Kaif raised the temperatures as she showed the boys what a chikni chameli she can be when she decides to! Farhan Akhtar also presented a segment of the awards
he said, Every award I take home is solely for my family. If it werent for their understanding of my profession and being there for me at all times, being the strong and stable support system that they are, I wouldnt be half the actor I am today. The lifetime achievement award went to the Jumping Jack of the 80s Jeetendra who seemed just about as pleased at receiving the award as he was about seeing his daughter Ekta Kapoor on a winning spree with The Dirty Picture. Ekta, as she went up to collect multiple awards for The Dirty Picture said, I really have to thank Punit and Subhash ji for everything Zee has meant to me over the years. It was with Zee that I began my television career many years ago and together,
we have done some very interesting work on television. Today, receiving so many awards for my lm at the Zee Cine Awards means the world to me! As Farhan Akhtar collected his Best Supporting Actor trophy for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, he thanked his sister in a cute way saying, This wouldnt have been possible without The Mental...The Zoya making this lm with her will remain one of the most memorable lming experiences of my life! Zee Cine Cine Awards 2012 with title sponsor Lebara Mobile, powered by Neesa Premium Basmati Rice, in association with The Accident Genie, Cofresh, Royal Sweets, Champion Atta, State Bank Of India and Gujarat Tourism turned out to be an evening of glitz, glamour and acknowledgement for the most deserving artistes of the worlds biggest lm fraternity. With millions of votes pouring in every year from across the globe, it is doubtlessly the most denitive measure of viewers choice in movie awards The Worlds Biggest Viewers Choice Award.
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Kismat Radio
Kismat Radio - The Litt Corporations adult contemporary station has had a severe beating in the ratings this time around. The station has lost a
Each country in south Asia can take a lead in one of many areas of healthcare through collaborative
the governments Directorate of Animal Health. We have received the test reports today that conrm infection of bird u in poultry farms in Khanar and Ithari of the Sunsari district. Bird u has also been conrmed in the eastern hills of Panchathar district and the teaproducing area of Ilam, Katiwada told AFP, adding that surveillance of farms was to be stepped up and 4000 chickens would be killed in the affected areas. There has not been infection to humans in the area so far. Some have complained
chickens and ducks. If it spreads to humans, bird u can cause fever, cough, sore throat, pneumonia, respiratory disease and sometimes death. India: In Odisha, about 20,000 birds have been culled in a farm of Central Poultry Development Organization (CPDO) at Bhubaneswar following detection of avian u H5N1 virus. Culling operation will resume today in the CPDO farm and the rapid response teams formed for the culling operation plans to cull rest of the 9,000 birds in the farm.
an advisory from the Centre to eliminate poultry birds at the CPDO farm and three km radius area around it. The culling operation in other areas of Bhubaneswar is likely to be completed in ve to six days. The H5N1 virus was reported at the farm after culling took place at Keranga in Khordha district and Betanati in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha last month. CPDO had sent samples to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal, which conrmed the detection of bird u virus.
Even though the BBC Asian Network performed exceptionally well in the previous quarter, this time around, the station has witnessed a slight loss. From 507,000 in Q3/11 to a new weekly reach of 472,000 in this quarter - a loss of 35,00 listeners. When data is compared with statistics from this time last year, the station is down 5,000 listeners. The station will be disappointed with todays news after taking the station to new heights late last year with outstanding RAJAR results. It is unclear why listeners drifted away from the station during this period. One piece of positive news for the station is that it is being listened to longer than Sunrise Radio. BBC Asian Network is being listened to 7.3 hours, 0.2 minutes more than its commercial rival. While the BBC Asian Networks future is safe for now, the stations budgets are under the scanner with many back-end changes expected to be rolled out later this year. How much of this affects the stations output remains to be seen. Overview of BBC Asian Network National This time last year: 477,000 As it stands now: 472,000 Difference: - 5,000 Local Sunrise Radio remains the undisputed leader locally in the Greater London region with its weekly reach at 332,000 - a drop from 360,000 in the previous quarter. The station has lost 28,000 listeners in the previous
huge 64,000 listeners in a space of three months. Kismat Radio now attracts a weekly reach of 69,000, down from 133,000 in the previous quarter and more disheartening a loss of 95,000 listeners since a year ago. Overview of Kismat Radio This time last year: 164,000 As it stands now: 69,000 Difference: - 95,000
Buzz Asia
The Litt Corporations troubled youth station, Buzz Asia continues to struggle in the ratings. Even though it has picked up slightly, the change is miniscule. Buzz Asia has added 7,000 listeners. Surprisingly, Buzz Asia has been hovering around the 100,000 mark for a year - more or less around the same time since the Litt Corporation took over the station. Buzz Asia has held meetings recently as part of efforts to revive the station. Overview of Buzz Asia This time last year: 113,000 As it stands now: 108,000 Difference: - 5,000 Other UK based commercial Asian radio stations such as Radio XL in Birmingham, Sabras Radio in Leicester and Asian Sound in Manchester do not subscribe to RAJAR.
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zoning regulations are weak and often not enforced, critics say. A
senior city ofcial said the factory should not have been operating.
countries to overcome the challenges in the way of realisation of full existing potential of their equation and to realise the goal of raising the bilateral trade to $ 5 billion which he said was doable. Those who were present during the meeting included Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Advisor to PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Minister for Interior Senator Rehman Malik, Senator Babar Awan, Secretary General to president M. Salman Faruqui, federal secretaries Foreign Affairs, Petroleum and Economic Affairs division and other senior ofcials. Iranian vice President was accompanied by senior Foreign Ofce ofcials. The Iranian ambassador in Pakistan Alireza Haghighian was also present. The President said that both the countries were poised to play
important role in the promotion of intra-regional and inter-regional connectivity which was the key to the socio-economic development of the people of the region. He said resource constraints can be overcome by joining hands and enhancing cooperation in all the areas particularly trade,
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Gilanis three-day visit to Qatar as an opportunity to boost ties and maximise trade. He will meet among others the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin
Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said. The prime ministers visit is aimed at opening new vistas for enhanced mutual cooperation and activating the existing structured
ISI chief Pasha ready to get out of job unlikely to get extension
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is unlikely to give another extension to ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha in line with a decision made by the top ruling-PPP leadership, several party leaders said on Thursday. There is no question of giving a further extension to Pasha if one goes by the state of relations between the government and the military, especially the premier spy agency, since the US raid in Abbottabad on May 02 last year to kill Osama Bin laden, said a close aide to President Asif Ali Zardari, who did not wish to be named. Some hawks in the PPP even proposed that the ISI chief should have been sacked in the wake of his role in the memo scandal, the Pakistan Peoples Party leader said. He was referring to the controversy over a mysterious memo, made public by PakistaniAmerican businessman Mansoor Ijaz, which had sought US help to stave off a possible coup in Pakistan last year. During the memo controversy, which nearly proved to be the nal nail in the governments cofn, the ISI chiefs role had been suspicious, the presidential aide said. Another PPP leader, who too spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said though there was an impression after Gilanis recent meeting with the Army and ISI chiefs that government-military relations were on the mend, this was not the case. Efforts are still on to get the Prime Minister in one way or another. The Armys top brass is not Prime Minister, and some in the PPP believed this was enough to initiate action against the ISI chief.While the government insisted that a parliamentary panel should investigate the memo issue, the Army and intelligence chiefs had urged the Supreme Court to order an independent probe. The apex court subsequently set up a threejudge commission to investigate the scandal. Prime Minister Gilani recently said that the Army and intelligence chiefs had acted in an unconstitutional and illegal manner by ling afdavits on the memo issue in the apex court without getting the Defence Ministers approval, but subsequently distanced himself from the remarks in an apparent bid to ease tensions with the military.
happy with him, the leader said. After Ijaz made the memo public, the ISI chief met him in London to gather evidence about the unsigned document. Questions have been raised about Pasha meeting Ijaz outside the country without getting approval from the
Off the hook: Three phrama rms get clean bill of health
suspected of supplying spurious drugs which caused the deaths of over 100 people. The FIA has power to initiate legal action under the Drugs Act, 1976 (XXXI of 1976) in a case where drugs found are spurious, a senior member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the matter told The Express Tribune. According to the Drugs Act, spurious drug means a drug which purports to be a drug but does not contain the active ingredient of that drug; or which purports to be the product of a manufacturer, place or country of whom or of which it is not truly a product; or which is imported or exported or sold or offered or exposed for sale under a particular name, while actually it is another drug; or the label of which bears the name of an individual or company purporting to be its manufacturer or producer, whereas the individual or company is ctitious or does not exist.
The Federal Investigation Agency Punjab has discharged cases against three pharmaceutical laboratories allegedly responsible for supplying contaminated medicines to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) after they were cleared of criminal offence. Reports received from laboratories in and outside the country have so far not declared any medicine manufactured by the three pharmaceutical rms as spurious, sources familiar with the matter revealed. As a result, the FIA has been barred from carrying out further investigations into the pharmaceutical rms, which were
committed to continue with the moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris. The whole nation, including all the political parties, is united on the cause of Kashmir, he said. Since Pakistan is a responsible country and a responsible nuclear power, it has to make responsible policies, Gilani said.
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Mr. Nasheed and the Opposition, New Delhi too felt a coalition government would provide Maldives greater stability at a time when it was trying to put in place an alternative
to its overdependence on tourism. Ofcials here discounted suggestions that India had put all its eggs in the Mr. Nasheed-led Maldives Democratic Party basket.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after his address to the Maldivian Parliament last year had met all Majlis Members and especially spent time with the prominent ones
among them, including the Leader of the Opposition, they pointed out. All Maldivians are welcome. We never denied meeting them, they said. After clashes took place and a posse of policemen joined the supporters, the Opposition was very categorical that some sort of change in situation must take place, said ofcials. With India gently nudging the process, talks were held (disrupted at one time by overenthusiastic Mr. Nasheed supporters), a general agreement has been reached on the formation of a national government of both the ruling party and opposition legislators.
to seek treatment for the injuries she received when the riot Police forcefully arrested her. She said that her determination will never be wavered. She added that she is even ready to sacrice her blood for the people. Moreover, Dhiyana reiterated her calls to the President to stop violating the constitution and the
laws of the country. Two weeks in to the series of antigovernment protests organized by the opposition, former SAARC Secretary General Dhiyana Saeed was taken in to police custody along with 10 other women whilst sitting peacefully at the republic square portraying their disapproval of the governments actions.
In the audio, the President informs the Police Ofcer to bring all those who harass the Police to custody and to take immediate action against such people. Although the President said that the media should have the freedom to disseminate news to the public, he said that the media should be kept within bounds.
embers of Parliament in Britain have expressed their growing concern over the state of judiciary in the country, labeling Judges under qualied, corrupt & unreceptive to democratically elected govt, a press release by the
Foreign Ministry said. The press release further stated that in a recent Parliament session, John Glen, a ruling Conservative Party MP, called the Leader of the House to urgently make time for a debate on judicial reform in the Maldives.
In response to the question, George Young, also a Conservative Party member and Leader of the House of Commons, said that the British government was doing everything possible to resolve the crisis in the Maldives, the press release added.
The Ministrys press release also claimed that Young also said that the British Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Alistair Burt, understands the problems inherent in the Maldivian judiciary and was in discussions with President
Nasheed to nd an urgent solution to the problem. We want to help Maldives to make progress towards democratic reform in the direction that my friend John Glen outlines he added the press release said.
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SAARC
2012-13 declared as PM turns to India to ease fuel supply Nepal Investment Year
The government formally announced on Monday that scal 2012-13 would be observed as Nepal Investment Year (NIY). The rst meeting of the National Directory Committee (NDC) chaired by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai decided to move the campaign ahead as per the governments plan. For starters, the NDC has formed four sub-committees and their coordinators. According to Radhesh Pant, chief executive ofcer (CEO) of the Investment Board, the members of the sub-committees will be selected soon after which they will start work. The four sub-committees are the Programme Sub-Committee, Investment Promotion Sub-Committee, Investment Sector Identication SubCommittee and the Act, Rules and Policies Revision Sub-Committee, said Pant. Their coordinators are, respectively, secretary of the Prime Ministers Ofce Lila Mani Poudel, FNCCI president Suraj Vaidya, Investment Board CEO Pant and vicepresident of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Deependra Kshetri. The sub-committees will get four to ve months to accomplish their assigned tasks. If they encounter any problems, they will be resolved by seeking political and procedural assistance that NIY will be observed successfully, said Pant. The meeting has also decided to conduct a public campaign to create a favourable environment to draw investment from overseas. We will launch promotional events like road shows, awareness campaigns and presentations on the need for investment to develop the national economy, added Pant, We will also soon host an extensive investment forum. NIY is one of ambitious programmes of the government that seeks to double foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. Expediting the preparations for NIY, the government gave the Investment Board its full shape a couple of days ago. After failing to manage imports and end a month-long petroleum scarcity, which has spawned desperation among consumers and unruly activity in the market, the government has approached India for increased supplies to Nepal. Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, who met with petroleum dealers and liqueed petroleum gas (LPG) bottlers on Thursday, said he has already talked to New Delhi about the supply problem and requested its help. I have personally talked to the Indian authorities about ending the scarcity. The supply-related problems will end soon, Bishnu Prasad Chaudhary, Minister of State for Commerce and Supplies, quoted the prime minister as saying during the meeting. As Dr Bhattarai did not elaborate, Chaudhary and the other participants in the meeting were unable to explain what actually the prime minister had asked and what the Indian response was. However,
sources said the prime ministers request to India was twofold: step up petroleum supply and issue the fuel on credit for the time being. Currently, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the sole petroleum products supplier to Nepal, sends in supplies depending on the volume of payment it receives from NOC. But NOC, saddled with a cumulative loss of well over Rs 20 billion, has failed to garner funds on its own and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), which has so far provided or guaranteed loans of Rs 21.36 billion, has also exhausted
its resources. So the country has been unable to import enough fuel to meet normal demand over the past one month. Although Commerce and Supplies Minister Lekh Raj Bhatta did not categorically conrm the prime ministers request for supply on credit, he said India has responded positively and committed itself to step up the supply. Requests to India for more fuel and issue of fresh loans of Rs 2 billion to NOC have put multiple arrangements in place. Now the supply will ease within a week, Bhatta told Republica. Meanwhile, the cabinet on Thursday decided to immediately provide two billion rupees to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to ease fuel supply within a week and give 33 percent concession to students, poor and farmers on cooking gas and kerosene. The agitating students have called off their protest after the government decision.
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Sri Lanka celebrated the 64th anniversary of gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1948 with pomp and pageantry in the sacred and ancient city of Anuradhapura, under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday. The days events not only symbolized the freedom gained from the administrative, economic and social bindings of the former British colonizers, but also the hopes and aspirations of a nation that enjoys peace and prosperity after ending nearly a three decade long scourge of terrorism. The event evoked memories of the past, and remembered those who strove and fought for the freedom that the country now enjoys. The celebration which included a grand
parade from the Security forces and Police personnel, cultural troupes and the Presidents address to the nation, carried the message that Sri Lanka achieved independence not through division, but rather by uniting as one. The events demonstrated that it was this unity in diversity that the country celebrates on February 4, with a truly Sri Lankan identity. The President launched the Independence Day celebrations with the hoisting of the National Flag at 8:50am. Two minutes silence followed in remembrance of the fallen heroes who made the supreme sacrice in defending the motherland. A grand march-past with the participation of 1,400 Army personnel, 250 Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force personnel and
Civil Defence Task Force personnel and Police personnel each and 200 cadres from the youth brigade was held followed by a cultural parade consisting traditional dancers from all provinces. The colourful cultural parade included 46 cultural troupes representing all ethnic groups. The performances were inline with the history of the nation symbolizing the culture and heritage that runs into centuries. The holding of the Independence Day celebration once again out of Colombo, in the former Kingdom of Anuradhapura, also symbolised the governments intentions of achieving true equity in all sectors and all areas. The President in his address to the nation also emphasised that we have to give the rural people who comprises
80 percent of our population the results of giant development works we have initiated in the country. It is not only an expectation but also a challenge which we are ready to take up. Emphasising on making the country a knowledge hub, enhancing economic development and strengthening unity, he said: We would be able to utilize the giant development works built by us for national development only if we can bring up a citizen equipped with modern, scientic, technical and language skills and who could be on par with anybody else in the world. We would be able to exist as an independent and sovereign state only if we strengthen our economy. We have to get together and work just
as we got together and worked with dedication to defeat terrorism. He also noted that the country was engaged in the task of creating a stable peace and national unity after liberating the country from terrorism and added that this was not a task conned to one individual or a party. He also pointed out that yet conspiracies and propaganda of terrorists based overseas have not abated. He added: When such things happen abroad, some people here do various things to destabilize the Motherland. They expect to achieve in Sri Lanka certain results that happened in some countries. Both these groups are one. Fuel and nutrition for this struggle in Sri Lanka are received from separatism active in foreign lands.
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BUSINESS
8.4 per cent registered in the nancial year 2010-11. Commenting on the GDP growth estimates, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, The 6.9 per cent is consistent with what we have been saying. We said 7 per cent for year (2011-12) as whole. (With) 7.3 per cent in the rst half and 6.9 in the third quarter, 7 per cent is possible. Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) at current prices is estimated at Rs. 26,09,963 crore in 2011-12 as against Rs. 23,31,382 crore in 2010-11. Gross capital formation is the percentage of GDP invested in creating new xed assets. Any weakness in gross capital formation means an economy is slowing down. This means GFCF grew 11 per cent against a fall of 0.6 per cent in the quarter to September 2011. The government and the RBI had earlier said that global economic slowdown and the high domestic interest rate regime is likely to act as a dampener on the current scals growth. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 3 February 2012 said that the countrys economic growth is likely to slow down to 7-7.5 per cent blaming the continuing uncertainty in the global economic environment. RBI advised the government on Monday that it was necessary to cut the scal decit to stimulate growth. Fiscal decit is the amount the government has to borrow from the central bank (RBI) to meet its expenses.
This Spring, young love will blossom across the globe, in the new Twentieth Century Fox and Rose Productions lm London Paris New York, releasing in cinemas on 2nd March 2012. Starring Bollywoods latest crush and singing sensation Ali Zafar (Tere Bin Laden, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan) and actress Aditi Rao Hydari (Yeh Sali Zindagi, Rockstar), London Paris New York tells the quirky tale of two star-crossed, twenty-somethings, who nd themselves drawn to each other in the most unlikely of circumstances, amidst the exciting backdrop of three of the worlds most vibrant cities London, Paris and New York. A coming-of-age comedy designed to appeal to the youth, London Paris New York speaks their language, reects their aspirations and the angst and joys of falling in love. London Paris New York marks the writing and directorial debut of Anu Menon, a former student at the London Film School. The lm throughout intersperses the signicance of the number three, as it follows the journey of love between Nikhil (Ali Zafar) and Lalitha (Aditi Rao Hydari) who meet for a night in three cities, London, Paris and New York. Mirroring three states of love in a heart-warming, amusing and stylish plot, London Paris New York is said to bring razor sharp wit back into Bollywoods romantic comedies. Ali Zafar is a multi-talented artist - musician, composer, songwriter, singer, actor, painter and model - who shot to fame with hit songs like Channo, Rangeen and Chal Dil Merey. Adding further impetus to London Paris New York, Ali has penned and performed the musical score for the lm too, whose aim was to create a fresh sound, which experiments with various genres in line with the emotions showcased in the lm. He used Pop inuences in London, Electronic Su in Paris and Blues Rap in New York, blended together with a strong Bollywood undertone. The soundtrack also features its multi-talented stars Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao Hydari singing songs on the ofcial soundtrack. Dancer and actress Aditi Rao Hydari made her acting debut in 2007 in Sharada Ramanathans acclaimed lm Sringaram. She is best known for her role in popular lm Yeh Saali Zindagi, and also in Rockstar and Dilli 6. Synopsis: London Paris New York is a lm that captures the angst of being in your twenties, the most dramatic period
of your life - when you have to nd a career; you have your rst signicant relationship and most importantly form your identity in this world. It is the story of Lalitha, a middle class South Indian girl from Chembur (an eastern suburb in Mumbai) who is on her way to New York to study politics on a full scholarship, and Nikhil, a Punjabi, rich kid from Bandra (a posh western suburb of Mumbai - read new money) who is going to study Film Making in London, fully funded by his fathers money. They decide to hang-out together one evening in London and nd that they are completely drawn to each other even as their future lies on separate continents. The lm follows their personal journey and their love story as they meet in London, Paris and New York for a night each over
eight years. The lm is in three chapters and each chapter is shot in a manner that mirrors the mental state of Nikhil and Lalitha. The three bridges on the three rivers - Thames, Seine and Hudson - witness the three states of their love. Music is integral to the lm and takes form according to the moods. The three cities also give a dramatic canvas to create different exciting themes - Pop-Romance in London; Electronic-Su in Paris and Blues-Rap in New York, all blended in true Bollywood style. The dialogues are natural and fresh and you get a sense that you are eavesdropping on these two characters. The lm is romantic but not sentimental, and even though the pair discuss meaningful things, the lm is always underpinned by humour. London Paris New York is released by Twentieth Century Fox on 2nd March 2012.
ENTERTAINMENT
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Well the gossip aunties are busy spinning stories of romance between Prateik and Amy Jackson and the two seem to be enjoying each others company... But yesterday Prateik threw a bomb and said he had proposed Amy many times but met with rejection... Well Amy was mum on this but maintained that their relationship has
Hailing from the new age genre of Hindi cinema that presents a fresh and youth-targeted perspective, Ekk Deewana Tha retells the classic, intense love story with fresh impetus for a new generation of cinemagoers, releasing through Twentieth Century Fox on 17th February 2012. Ekk Deewana Tha weaves an emotive
her attention or generally try to make conversation with her. Jessie is a Malayalee Christian with strict orthodox parents. To make
people in the world why did I fall in love with Jessie? Ekk Deewana Tha is released through Twentieth Century Fox on 17th February 2012. Prateik, Amy speak about their offscreen chemistry Ever since Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson started working for Gautam Menons Ek Deewana Tha, speculation about their relationship has been making rounds. Me and Prateik are very very close. We have shot for ve months and obviously we had a lot of chemistry. How come we cant get romantic when you have such romantic songs? Amy said. Prateik said he was very comfortable with Amy on screen and off screen as well. Latest reports say the two have been staying together for a while, and Prateik seems to be quite happy with these rumours. She is beautiful, isnt she? If there are speculations about me moving in with a beautiful girl then I am happy about it. But no, we havent, the 25-year-old actor said. The leading lady, who is starting her career with Ek Deewana Tha, however believes she does not need support of any rumours to accelerate her career in showbiz. I came here with completely open arms. And now I have joined the lm industry and I am loving every moment of it. My dedication towards it is at the highest peak. So I wouldnt use somebody because I believe I can become a hero on my own and I dont need any rumours to help me do that, she said.
helpe She was quoted saying, Me and Prateik are very very close. We have shot for ve months and obviously we had a lot of chemistry. How come we cant get romantic when you have such romantic songs? No doubt Prateik is bowled over by the beauty and charm of Amy. Prateik kept on saying, She is beautiful, isnt she? If there are speculations about me moving in with a beautiful girl then I am happy about it. But no, we havent. Both were present at the success bash of the music of Ek Deewana Tha yesterday and kept everyone guessing about their relationship status. But nobody can deny the fact that the two were looking cute together and if they move in together we wont mind at least and if they wont we want them to remain as friends forever... Former Miss England Runner Up, Amy Jackson, makes Bollywood debut in the Multi-Oscar winner A.R. Rahmans Musical Ekk Deewana Tha Twentieth Century Fox presents the youth Bollywood love story of the year on 17th February 2012
and powerful tale of how the path to true love never runs smoothly and that following your dreams comes at a price as it explores the highs and lows of being in love and the pleasures and
and lms. Hanging around at lm sets, waiting outside directors ofces and spending time with an assistant director-friend is what makes most of his days. And just when life was churning its monotonous cycle, Sachin and his matters worse, she is also a year older to Sachin. All the odds seem stacked against him. And nally one day, when pushed into a corner, he confesses to her that he likes her. But Jessie is headstrong and refuses to accept that she has any feelings for him. She insists that they should be friends and that anything further would make life very difcult for her. And yet, she feels the need to meet him and talk to him. A beautifully essayed love storymusical between the quintessential romantic Sachin and the confused yet headstrong Jessie, Ekk Deewana Tha is an intense, yet feel good love story between the two lovers as they understand the pangs and pleasure of rst love while battling with the situations that life has placed them in, making Sachin question - of all the
pains associated with it. Making her Bollywood debut in the female lead after a successful run in Tamil Cinema is British actress and model Amy Jackson, who is also former Miss Liverpool, Miss Teen World, Miss Teen Great Britain, and Miss England
family shift to a temporary home in Juhu and it is in this new place, that he sees her for the rst time Jessie (Amy Jackson). It is love at rst-sight for Sachin and when he nds out that she lives in the house upstairs, he leaves no chance to watch her, catch
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impose his evil, oppressive dictatorship over the whole world and mislead mankind and deceive mankind. That evil would take the road to heaven and make it look like the road to hell; and he would take the road to jahannam and make it look like the road to heaven. Those who see with only external knowledge; thats all; the PhD from the University of Cape Town will be unable to penetrate his deception. Will form judgment on the basis of external knowledge; of external observation and would be deceived; would believe that they are on the road to heaven; when in fact they are on the road to hell and they dont know it. The purpose of the spiritual quest the ultimate purpose, in this world, of the halaqatul zikr, is to be able to see what otherwise cannot be seen. The ultimate purpose in this life of the spiritual quest is
Tribune Comment
mastermind will have a PhD in deception. That in that age things will not be what they appear to be. That appearance and reality would be completely opposite to each other. That he
therefore spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge comes when external knowledge and internal knowledge are harmoniously integrated with each other. Allah ? speaks in the Holy Quraan about a people who have no internal knowledge; who do not pursue the spiritual quest or who pursue the spiritual quest but are not conscious of what is the goal of the spiritual quest. Who believe perhaps that the spiritual quest is ultimately for the purpose of being able to perform karamah; actions which look like what the Prophets performed as miracles; and who do not understand that the spiritual quest is ultimately, for the purpose of acquiring internal knowledge. And He says of such people who are
spiritually blind. He says [in the Holy Quraan in the 7th Sura, al-Araaf [The Heights], Verse 179:] They have hearts but they do not understand They have eyes but they do not see They have ears but they do not hear [They are like cattle] These people, who would be the multitudes in that last age, they have a status equivalent to cattle. Even with a PhD from the University of Cape Town! Yes! They have a status equivalent to cattle.
SPECIAL FEATURE
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Shahid Siddiqui
Opportunistic politicians are projecting Muslims as a monolithic vote bank, whereas the reality is of a diverse community divided along caste and theological lines. The myth of the Muslim vote bank, though denied by sociologists and debunked by psephologists, refuses to die. It reasserts itself with new vigour at every election. Even those well aware of the diversity within the community cannot resist building their arguments on this spurious claim. The vote bank theory has been convenient for labelling Muslims and shoving them into handy brackets. It was done in India to explain the political behaviour of Muslims across regional, linguistic, caste, class and social barriers. Today it is done globally to gloss over inconvenient and inconsistent behaviour: it is a one-size ts all formula that cuts across regions and rides over locational differences and circumstances. Whether they are Thai, Chechen, Palestinian or European, Muslims are judged unfailingly by their faith and socalled beliefs. In this foretold story, everything is pre-decided: the crime, the culprit, the cause, the evidence and the punishment. The vote bank The idea that there is something called a Muslim vote bank, which behaves uniformly across the board, suits equally the Muslim leadership and its right wing Hindu counterpart. Muslim leaders and middlemen
community. Before Independence these divisions were not as sharp as they are today, primarily because the British had to be fought as a common enemy. However as electoral politics came to the fore, caste and sub-caste divisions got etched in bolder relief. Caste divisions in Muslim society were never as sharp or as rigid as they are in Hindu society. With the coming of democracy they became distinct political groups, and more so since the Mandalisation of North Indian politics. Today, Muslims in
the bogey of the Muslim vote bank, that turns this fragmented vote into a formidable political entity. Muslim leaders in turn play the Indian Islam/Muslims are in danger card in order to unite the community under one banner. Contrary to popular assumptions, the Muslim vote never goes en masse to a single party, be it the Congress, the Samajwadi Party or the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Before Independence , even the Muslim League could never get more than 50 per cent of the Muslim vote in U.P. So analysts deliberately
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after India and Bangladesh agreed last March to avoid using lethal weapons in dealing with illegal activities on the frontier, and in July Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said India had ordered the BSF not to shoot, except in self-defense. Yet between April and December, 16 Bangladeshis were shot dead by the BSF, seven others were tortured and three more were killed through other methods. In January alone, two Bangladeshis were killed by the BSF, nine were injured and three were allegedly abducted, according to Dhaka-based human rights organization Odhikar. The body of one, 22-year old Saddam Hossain Babu, was recovered from a river bank on January 24 with torture marks on his hands and neck. He had been picked up by BSF personnel three weeks earlier. Last year, 31 Bangladeshis were reportedly killed, 61 injured and 23 abducted. Habibur, a day laborer, told Asia Times Online he had earlier crossed into India after bribing Bangladeshi border guards 20 takas (US$2.33) to get work as a cattle smuggler. Due to a lack of cattle-handling experience, he failed to get a job and was returning to Bangladesh when Indian border guards picked him up late on December 9 and took him to a BSF camp. Out of cash, he was unable to pay any bribes. They beat me for half an hour ... as I did not have any money or mobile phone, he said. Around dawn on December 10, they again asked for money from me,
from where other Bangladeshi cattle-runners rescued me and brought me back to Khanpur in Bangladesh. The horric images of torture ... show what rights groups have long documented: that Indias Border Security Force is out of control, Human Rights Watch South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly said. The Indian government is well aware of killings and torture at the border, but has never prosecuted the troops responsible. This video provides a clear test case of whether the security forces are above the law in India. Whenever offenses attributed to the BSF occur, its leadership insists that there will be an internal inquiry and action taken, said Ganguly. But secret proceedings and suspensions or transfers wont end the abuses. Torture is a serious crime that should be prosecuted in the courts. Much of the BSF violence is against smugglers of cattle, whose export is banned by India. While the present Bangladeshi government is unwilling to strain ties with India, international trade experts and cattle traders in Bangladesh say it also does not want to disturb trade involving inuential smuggling rings that has prevailed for over three decades. Both governments are subtly tolerant particularly toward cattle smuggling, Manjur Ahmed, adviser to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce (FBCC) and Industry, told Asia Times Online.
Bangladesh daily. Once the cattle are brought in from India, the smuggler tells Bangladesh customs ofcials that he found them near the border and that they were probably trafcked. The customs ofcer takes the cattle, whatever the number may be, then lets the good Samaritan buy them back at 500 takas (US$6) per cow making them legal livestock. Akbar Ali Khan, a former chairman of the National Board of Revenue chairman, last week said the payment system was set up by the Bangladesh government in 1993 so it could take in revenues from already established smuggling networks. Once the cattle are sold in the markets, the money they garner is channeled back to Indian businessmen through the illegal hundi, foreign currency payment system, which itself is nourished by gold smuggled from Bangladesh to India. Drugs, phensedyl and light arms are also smuggled into Bangladesh across the border. We hardly hear of the BGB [Border Guard Bangladesh] apprehending these smugglers, said Ahmed of the FBCC. Illegal trade has long been accommodated and the killings and torture of Bangladesh cattle fetchers at the border are actually due to botched negotiations between the cattle trafcking rings and the BSF, he said. The treatment of Habibur was made public through an 11-minute video, apparently taken by a BSF
Matters have recently improved, leading to a state visit to Bangladesh by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last September, when Premier Hasina signed a Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development between India and Bangladesh. The pact was seen to make important headway on issues such as shared water systems and crossborder trade. Yet since then, concern in Bangladesh has grown that India seems prepared to press ahead unilaterally with construction of the Tipaimukh dam, which may threaten the livelihood of millions of Bangladeshis, and no progress is seen on implementation of border realignments intended to remove dozens of troublesome enclaves in both countries. A $1 billion loan by India to Bangladesh under an August 2010 agreement remains virtually untapped. On January 16, the government in Dhaka said it planned to abandon eight of 21 projects planned under the loan due to tough conditions. Terms of the loan require Bangladesh to procure from India 85% of the goods, works and services involved in any project. Only one project, initiated by the Bangladesh Road Transport Corp, is going ahead smoothly, while 19 others are stuck due to procurement complications, the Financial Express reported. Syed Tashn Chowdhury is the Editor of Xtra, the weekend magazine of New Age, in Bangladesh.
COMMENT
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an unarmed civilian activist at the hands of the Occupation State. Having been kidnapped from the Mavi Marmara in International waters of the Mediterranean in May 2010 by pirates a.k.a. Israeli Occupation Special Forces, taken to Hebrew speaking Palestine (Ashdod) against my will at gunpoint then imprisoned in Beer Sheba prison for allegedly entering the State of Israel illegally and breaking immigration laws! Yes, really ! You just couldnt make that sort of lunacy up! I am now subject to a ten year ban from entering the State of Israel. My personal belongings which were stolen from me such as camera, mobile phone, cash etc have never been returned to me by the pirates, I dont like to complain about my missing belongings too much since there are 8 widows and 29 orphans in Turkey who lost so much more. It is alarming to follow the Meir Amit Institute
reports about the Global March to Jerusalem and see their obvious attempt to portray the march as likely to become rowdy and violent. Given Israels tendency to respond to protests with violence, this is hopefully not a pretext for opening re and murdering unarmed civilians. This peaceful event is being seen by Israel as a threat to their legitimacy, and well they might because the publicity surrounding it will ultimately awaken more people in the world to the injustices that Israel perpretrates on Palestinians. But for some reason Israel is blind to the reality that it is its leaders and citizens such as the settlers, and their policies of ethnic cleansing, stealing land and apartheid that deligitimises the State in the eyes of the world. Here below is the call from Palestinians to join the March
are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. Never mind that out of the tens of thousands of people the United States and its NATO front have killed in Afghanistan not one has
been identied as having had anything to do with the events of September 11, 2001. Never mind that the plotting to attack America in 2001 was devised in Germany and Spain and the United States more than in Afghanistan. Why hasnt the United States bombed those
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SPECIAL FEATURE
London. Meetings with anyone other than his immediate family will have to be approved by security ofcials. If he breaks the conditions, he could be back behind bars within hours.
Judges in Britain have described Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, as truly dangerous and have backed his deportation. Spokeswoman for the European Court, Clare Ovey, explained why the decision not to extradite Mr Othman had been made. Qatada will be released despite the Home Secretary Theresa May stating he would be kept behind bars while she considered all legal options to send him back to Jordan. Mrs May wanted him kept in jail while British diplomats continue to seek assurances from Jordanian authorities that evidence obtained by torture would not be used. But, at a hearing at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, Mr Justice Mitting said he should be freed with stringent bail conditions. UK Attorney General: rule of law applies to cleric Britains attorney general said Tuesday he understands why the government is angry about a courts decision to release
release. The Daily Telegraph newspaper said the case epitomizes the waning power of the British state to decide who can and cannot remain in this country, while the Daily Mail said the ruling meant there would be a terrorist on the school run, referring to the fact
Abu Qatada _ whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman _ has never faced criminal charges in Britain, but authorities in Britain have accused him of advising militants and raising money for terrorist attacks. He has been described in both Spanish and British courts as a leading al-Qaida
that Abu Qatada would be allowed to walk his children to school. Earlier in January 2012 Mohamed Ali, head of the Islam Channel TV station,
gure in Europe. A Palestinian-Jordanian citizen, Abu Qatada arrived in Britain in 1993 and was detained in 2002 under anti-
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a radical Muslim preacher, Abu Qatada, cannot be deported from the UK to Jordan while
an extremist cleric described as one of Europes leading al-Qaida operatives on bail but that authorities must follow the rule of law with everyone.
said Abu Qatada, the Islamist preacher who has been ghting deportation to Jordan is not an extremist or a threat to national security. Mr Ali has known the cleric for more than 20 years and
terrorism laws that at the time allowed suspected terrorists to be held in jail without charge. Indignant French ofcials accused MI5 of helping the cleric to abscond.
in Amman seven months before September 11. Bisher al-Rawi is a British resident being held at Guantanamo. In the letter, seen by The Independent on Sunday, Mr al-Rawi alleges that: He was recruited by MI5 weeks after 11 September and was in contact with Abu Qatada. MI5 always knew where Abu Qatada was hiding after he ed his home in west London hours before new powers to detain suspects without charge came into force in December 2001. He lived at Elephant & Castle, close to MI5s headquarters, for nine months before being arrested. Throughout this time, Mr al-Rawi had numerous meetings with three MI5 agents - Alex, Matthew and Martin - in hotels and bars in London, passingmessages between them and Abu Qatada. Continued on page 31
NEWS
This forced the ICC to intervene and say that no dispensation has been given to anyone. In fact, what Ajmal meant was his elbow has a natural angle of 23 degrees and that he does not exceed the permitted 15 degrees tolerance limit. Ajmals lack of fluency in English resulted in the confusion and the PCB also clarified Ajmals comments through their team manager Naveed Akram Cheema, who said: Ajmal was referring to the angle of elbow abduction, i.e.
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the angle of the upper arm to the forearm and not the degree of elbow extension. This angle is approximately 23 degrees in Saeeds case. ICC General Manager Cricket, David Richardson, said: There is a big difference between the elbow carry angle (elbow abduction) and the degree of elbow extension. There is nothing preventing a bowler bowling with a bent arm, provided he does not straighten it beyond the permitted degrees of tolerance.
me as a bowler 23.5 degrees, because my arm is not good. A few years ago I had an accident.
Continued from page 32 >> captain. That much has been made clear by events today. The Football Association have stripped John Terry of the England captaincy, it was announced earlier Saturday. The decision was made after his trial for the alleged racist abuse of QPR defender Anton Ferdinand was delayed until July 9 following a hearing at Westminster Magistrates court on Wednesday. Terry denies the charges. The FA boards decision to take away the captains armband from Terry comes after months of pressure from
anti-racist campaigners and Black footballers past and present who said any player facing such allegations should not lead his country. The seriousness of the allegations mean that he cant lead the nation, said Piara Power, executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe said earlier this week. The FA must do the right thing. The news about Terry losing the captains armband came hours after news broke that energy secretary Chris Huhne is to be charged with perverting the course of justice.
Continued from page 32 >> newspaper on Wednesday. I am on medication and doctors have time and again told me that I am responding well and that I would be back playing cricket. I am a fighter and I will return
stronger than ever. A senior Delhi-based oncologist who has been treating the 30-year-old Yuvraj, Nitesh Rohatgi also said Monday the cricketer would be able to start active training by May.
After Mr al-Rawi expressed anxieties his safety was at risk from his contacts with MI5, a service lawyer assured him that it would aid him in his defence [and] would appear as witnesses on his behalf. David Rose wrote in The Observer,on Sunday 29 July 2007 about Al Rawi heading I helped MI5. My reward: brutality and prison When Bisher al-Rawi agreed to work for the British government, he thought he was doing the right thing. He spent four gruelling years at Guantanamo Bay for his efforts. David ross further wrote A secret telegram was sent from the British Security Service to the CIA, in which they told the Americans that al-Rawi was carrying a timing device for a bomb - in reality, an innocuous battery charger from Argos - on a business trip to Gambia. Al-Rawi, the telegram added, was an Iraqi extremist associate of the preacher Abu Qatada, later described as Osama bin Ladens ambassador to Europe and now in a British jail It did not, however, mention the fact that al-Rawi had been seeing Qatada at the request of MI5. John Loftus, a terrorism expert and a former prosecutor for the US Justice Department, has publically revealed that the so called mastermind of the 7/7 London Bombings, Haroon Rashid Aswat, is a British Intelligence Asset. Former Justice Dept. prosecutor and terror expert, John Loftus, revealed that the so-called Al-Muhajiroun group, based in London had formed during the Kosovo crisis, during which Fundamentalist Muslim Leaders (Or what is now referred to as Al Qaeda) were recruited by MI6 to fight in Kosovo. Loftus stated that ...back in the late 1990s, the leaders all worked for British intelligence in Kosovo. Believe it or not, British intelligence actually hired some Al-Qaeda guys to help defend the Muslim rights in Albania and in Kosovo. Thats when Al-Muhajiroun got started. In a blistering attack on MI6 John Loftus went on to spell out that British Intelligence and the US Dept of Justice had protected Haroon Rashid Aswat. Back in 1999 he came to America. The Justice Department wanted to indict him in Seattle because him and his buddy were trying to set up a terrorist training school in Oregon... weve just learned that the headquarters of the US Justice Department ordered the Seattle prosecutors not to touch Aswat... apparently Aswat was working for British intelligence. According to MI-5 counter-intelligence whistleblower David Shayler, MI-6 is in bed with al Qaeda, All these reports and other facts showing that Abu Qatada or Abu Hamza or Omer Bakri and Anjum Chaudhry all were more than just a terrorist or extremist they are agents against Muslims living in Britain Continued from page 30 >>
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Indias cancer-stricken World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh has vowed to return stronger than ever to competitive cricket, saying he was responding well to treatment in the United States. The ace all-rounder, named man of the tournament after Indias World Cup win in April last year, is currently undergoing chemotherapy
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Pakistan skipper Misbah-ulHaq has sought the inclusion of former captain Shoaib Malek in the one-day and Twenty20 squads against England. Malek did not initially figure when the line-ups were announced early on Tuesday, but a Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) statement later said: On the request of team captain Misbah, the National Selection Committee has agreed to send Malek to join the Pakistan squad. Pakistan skipper Misbahul-Haq announced his new challenge for the team following
the clean sweep over England. He has decided to prove that his team is formidable on foreign wickets too, especially on conditions different from Pakistan wickets This will be my teams next challenge. This team Continued on page 31 >>
No way back for Terry after captaincy loss and racism row
The decision to strip Terry of the England captaincy for his involvement in a race row with Anton Ferdinand has undoubtedly acted to spark both debate and discussion about the future of the stalwart centre-half, with possibly the most intriguing twists and turns yet to come. The decision to take the captaincy from Terry was probably the right one in terms of morality, but at the same time it will have a significant effect on Englands European Championship preparations and
authorities have acted to solve that particular case and remove doubt either way, he cannot be Englands Continued on page 31 >>
short term future. There is no doubt that from a moral standpoint, we cant have a man who awaits trial for racial abuse acting as the biggest
football representative in the country, especially when it would mean lining up alongside so many black players wearing the three
lions. The question of whether John Terry is a racist or not is not one that can be answered on the football pitch, but until the relevant
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