Daily Top News: October 2011

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Dengue virus kills five more persons in Lahore

Five more people lost their lives due to dengue fever in the city while death toll is increasing.
Media Reports say five more dengue patients died in Lahore during last few hours despite Punjab government’s claims of taking measures to control the virus. The patients who died from dengue include 55-year-old Shabir of Taj Pura who was under treatment at CMH, 58-year-old Rahat Bano of Taj Pura, 76-year-old Rafiqa Bibi of Township and 19-year-old Kiran of Chungi Amar Sadhu who was under treatment at General Hospital Lahore. Moreover, 45-year-old Rubina

ISLAMABAD:
In a bid to foster Pak-China cultural ties, a 37-member delegation of National Defence University (NDU) China visited Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) here on Wednesday.
The Chinese representatives were invited by National Defence University (NDU) Pakistan to showcase Pakistan’s soft and enlightened image through visual and performing arts.
The delegates were taken on a tour to the National Art Gallery where paintings by some of the legendary artists including Sadequain were on display.

Hajra Mansoor’s paintings at Nomad Gallery, depicting feminine beauty, are breathtakingly beautiful.
Mansoor, who has been painting for 40 years and is a renowned artist, was recently awarded the special title of Safir-e-Mashriq (ambassador of the east) in addition to a Pride of Performance national award. She is known for painting diverse genres such as classism, oriental formalism and neo-romanticism.
The gallery showcases 40 pieces painted in soft pastel colours. At times her work, depicting doe eyed female characters, seems like an abundance of perfection until she shifts to more serious issues, portraying a female domestic violence victim, morally and physically abused by her husband. Instead of using harsh, abrasive colours to depict socially unjust situations, her work achieves the same impact with softer colours

Kiwis hammer India in new hockey format

Australia — There were goals aplenty in the international debut on Thursday of nine-a-side field hockey in Perth, Australia, where New Zealand thrashed India 6-3 in the men's matches.

The first night of the innovative four-day International Super Series, which includes a number of other trial rules such as 15-minute halves and wider goals to increase spectator appeal, produced entertaining and attacking hockey.
There was only one scoreless game in the four matches, with 21 goals scored in just 120 minutes of hockey.
However, the new format didn't agree with India's men, who paid the price for a sluggish start when they conceded the opening three goals to New Zealand in quick succession en route to a heavy defeat.

KARACHI:
The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has named Wing Commander Abdul Wahab Marwat its new honorary secretary as a replacement for Irfan Asghar, who was recently handed a one-year ban by the World Squash Federation (WSF).
“With effect from October 19 Wing Commander Abdul Wahab Marwat has taken over as Honorary Secretary of the PSF,” said a media release issued yesterday.
According to PSF Vice President Qamar Zaman, the WSF ban was not the prime reason for Asghar’s ouster.

Railway labour unions once again launched protest here due to non payment of their salaries on Thursday.
According to the details, Lahore division and workshop labourers held protest demonstration as Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour failed to fulfill his promise to release salaries of employees. Railway labourers staged a sit-in in front of trains parked at washing line.

Marie Dedieu, who was believed to have been kidnapped by Somali al-Shabab militants. Photograph: Reuters
A Frenchwoman kidnapped from her beach house on Kenya's northern coast by Somali gunmen nearly three weeks ago has died, the French government said on Wednesday.

The French authorities said they heard Marie Dedieu, 66, had died via intelligence officers dispatched by Paris to the region to seek her release. However, they said they had no information as to when she died or in what circumstances.

Dead animals lie near Terry Thompson's Ohio game reserve after being shot by police. Photograph: Matt
Police in the US have called off a big game hunt for more than 50 exotic animals freed from an Ohio game reserve and said they were confident that the last animal unaccounted for, a snow monkey, had been eaten by one of the freed big cats before they were shot or captured.
Eighteen rare Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears and three grizzlies were among the animals let loose from cages at the private Muskingum County exotic animal farm in Zanesville by its owner, Terry Thompson, before he shot himself on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday demanded that Pakistan step up the fight against terrorists within its borders, delivering a blunt message that Pakistanis “must be part of the solution” to the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Using unusually stern language, Ms. Clinton said while visiting the Afghan capital of Kabul that the Obama administration expects the Pakistani government, military and intelligence services to “take the lead” in not only fighting insurgents based in Pakistan but also in encouraging Afghan militants to reconcile with Afghan society.

The war in Libya is over, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday, using a famous Latin quote to mark the reported death of long-time Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

"Sic transit gloria mundi (Thus passes the glory of the world)," Berlusconi was quoted as saying, referring to Gaddafi's demise. "Now the war is over."

Meanwhile, the European Union urged Libya's interim rulers on Thursday to push for a broad-based reconciliation in the country following the death of deposed leader Gaddafi.

Removing incorrect reference to Randy Newman, whose music was played at the event but who did not appear.
The memorial for Steve Jobs at Apple headquarters on Wednesday was, like so many of the Apple product introductions that Mr. Jobs presided over, a musical affair.

According to multiple Twitter posts from people at the event, the British band Coldplay performed “Fix You,” “Yellow” and other songs in an outdoor amphitheater in an interior courtyard on Apple’s campus. The singer Norah Jones covered the Bob Dylan song “Forever Young.”

Islamabad: A nuclear reactor in Pakistan's port city of Karachi reported leakage in a heavy water pipe, triggering a nuclear emergency, a media report said today. The emergency was declared at the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) at midnight on Tuesday after the leak in the primary heat transport system of the nuclear plant at Hawkesbay was detected. The emergency continued till 7 am yesterday, when the situation was brought under control.

PESHAWAR: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association Aptma chairman Mohsin Aziz has urged the federal government to exempt textile industry from electricity loadshedding.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday he said the textile industry should be given preferential treatment by providing the manufacturing units an uninterrupted power supply to let the sector operate to its full potential. He said that the textile was capital and labour intensive industry and with about 3.5 million employees it should receive preferential treatment.

Islamabad gave two hoots to repeated Indian pleas to avoid construction activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
This came to the fore when Pakistan PM Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday laid the foundation for the 4,500MW Diamer-Bhasha Dam in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of PoK.
India, which considers any construction in PoK as illegal, had earlier lodged protests with Pakistan as well as China and the US to stop funding any infrastructure project on a territory that is being held illegally by the neighbouring country.

ISLAMABAD - The government on Wednesday appointed State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Acting Governor Yaseen Anwar as SBP governor.
President Asif Ali Zardari made the appointment on the advice of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The post has been lying vacant for three months after the resignation of Shahid Hafeez Kardar on July 18 due to policy differences with the government.
Yaseen Anwar, who is a dual nationality holder, would be the 17th governor of the central bank of the country, while it is fourth appointment on this post by the incumbent government during its three and half years tenure.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved judgment on a petition against discrimination in allotment of accommodation to federal government employees.
Housing and Works Secretary Kamran Lashari submitted a report before a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, regarding the allotment policy.
The official informed the court that only 16,000 housing units are currently available for 500,000 government employees in the capital city. He said that around 2,624 official residences had been allotted out-of-turn since 2004.

SARGODHA: Former law minister Senator Dr Babar Awan said on Wednesday that Punjab’s rulers were busy in grabbing official lands instead of improving law and order situation, and fighting dengue virus in the province.
Addressing a rally staged in support of President Asif Ali Zardari by Pakistan People’s Party, Babar Awan said that it was the country’s misfortune when PPP founder Chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto sacrificed his life in 1977 and protected the national institutions and democracy, whereas Sharif brothers fled to Jeddah by begging pardon from dictator Pervez Musharraf

The United States believes Iran’s shadowy Quds Force is becoming increasingly aggressive overseas and may be working on other international plots beyond the alleged plan to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington, three U.S. officials told Reuters.
U.S. allegations last week of a foiled plot in Washington have escalated tensions between the United States and Iran.

Samsung Electronics unveiled its newest Galaxy Nexus smartphone Wednesday, the first to use the latest version of Google's Android operating system.

The new phone is seen as the Samsung-Google partnership's answer to Apple's iPhone 4S, which in less than a week on the market has already sold more than 4 million units.

At a glitzy unveiling in Hong Kong, Google executive Andy Rubin said Android's latest "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system demonstrates innovation "that works on phones and tablets and everything in between."

Rubin said features like Android Beam and Face Unlock showcased Ice Cream Sandwich's capabilities

A senior NTC official has said that Muammar Gaddafi has died of his wounds after being captured near Sirte.

Another NTC commander said that Moussa Ibrahim, former spokesman for Muammar Gaddafi's fallen government, was also captured near the Sirte.

Abdul Hakim Al Jalil, commander of the 11th brigade, also said he had seen the body of the chief of Gaddafi's armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a tough warning to Pakistan on the eve of a visit to the country Thursday, saying it was time for Islamabad to decide whether it would help or hinder the U.S.-led war on militants.
Clinton, in Kabul for meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, used a news conference to announce her visit to Islamabad, where she will be accompanied by the new U.S. top military officer and new CIA chief to deliver what amounts to an ultimatum.
"We must send a clear, unequivocal message to the government and people of Pakistan that they must be part of the solution and that means ridding their own country of terrorists who kill their own people and cross the border to kill in Afghanistan," Clinton said

Sheriff's deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals — including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions — in a big-game hunt across the Ohio countryside Wednesday after the owner of an exotic-animal park threw their cages open and committed suicide in what may have been one last act of spite against his neighbours and police.
Exotic animals set free, owner kills himself, police say
As homeowners nervously hid indoors, officers armed with high-powered rifles and shoot-to-kill orders fanned out through fields and woods to hunt down about 56 animals that had been set loose from the Muskingum County Animal Farm by its owner, Terry Thompson, before he shot himself to death Tuesday

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish soldiers, air force bombers and helicopter gunships launched an incursion into northern Iraq on Wednesday, hours after Kurdish rebels killed 24 soldiers and wounded 18 in attacks along the border.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a visit to Kazakhstan and held a nationally televised news conference to announce that Turkey had launched the "hot pursuit" operation, wording that officials often use to describe cross-border offensives in northern Iraq.

DOHA, Qatar - Turkish forces have launched an incursion into the mountains of northern Iraq following simultaneous attacks by Kurdish separatists in southeastern Turkey that killed at least 26 soldiers.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long separatist struggle against Ankara, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which occurred late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday.

A security source said the attacks targeted police and military installations in several locations in Cukurca and Yuksekova in Hakkari province near the border with northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region

Pakistan hopes to win a seat on the UN Security Council as a temporary member alongside India when the United Nations holds annual elections to the 15-nation body on Friday.
Elections for two-year terms — this time running from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2013 — on the Security Council are held on the basis of regional ballots. Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan are vying for a single seat available to the Asia-Pacific group.
India joined the council this year and will stay through 2012. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, mainly over Kashmir, since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

The man who is credited for the revival of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), MNA Engineer Amir Muqam, is contemplating joining Nawaz Sharif’s faction of the PML.
The isolated group of the former prime minister now seems set to regain the political ground that it lost to rivals in the 2008 general polls in the North West Frontier Province, now renamed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The PML-Q provincial president is close to an agreement for joining Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ahead of the next polls, his associates said.
An official of the PML-N said Muqam held a couple of meetings with key leaders of the party in recent weeks.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was due in Pakistan on Thursday, joining American national security leaders at crunch talks designed to build pressure on Islamabad to attack militant havens.

Fresh from meetings in Kabul, she was to be joined in Islamabad by CIA chief David Petraeus and the top US military officer, Martin Dempsey. They will meet top civilian and military leaders in the capital.

Pakistan has long seen US leaders as divided between "good cop and bad cop", but the Clinton-Petraeus-Dempsey troika is a rare joint showing designed to present a united American front in its dealings with Pakistan.

Countries Struggling to Eradicate Malaria

About one-third of all countries across the globe which are alarmed by the health dilemma brought about by malaria are doing its way to eradicate the said disease by the year 2021, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease which is caused by a protozoon called Plasmodium. This parasite multiplies in the liver, and then infects red blood cells. Malaria is endemic in about 108 countries. The Anopheles mosquito which is the vector mosquito of the disease usually thrives in mountainous area where there are shades and humidity is high.

As per the WHO, symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite.

Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) cut short Irfan Asghar’s controversial term as the secretary of the federation, replacing him with Abdul Wahab Marwat.

Besides being recently banned by the World Squash Federation (WSF), Asghar was highly unpopular among the top squash players of the country.

He was the first Pakistani official to be banned by the world body and perhaps the first official of an affiliated federation to receive such a harsh punishment. It seemed well deserved, experts said, after Asghar accused President of the WSF, N. Ramachandran, an Indian, of bias against Pakistan and later denying any such claims

The painstaking efforts of Pakistan's top order put their side in control against a helpless Sri Lankan attack which was remorselessly taken apart on an unresponsive surface, first by the positivity of Mohammad Hafeez and then by the self-denial and accumulation of Taufeeq Umar and Azhar Ali.

After Hafeez had batted with purpose in a productive morning session, Taufeeq and Azhar stonewalled at under two runs an over till tea before displaying some urgency in the final session to leave Sri Lanka deflated in the Abu Dhabi heat. Taufeeq played second fiddle to Hafeez, blocked half-volleys after lunch along with Azhar Ali and displayed refreshing freedom after tea to reach his second century in three Tests. Azhar, mostly bordering on the over-cautious, continued to display the solidity that has marked his short career with another half-century in a partnership which grew to 141 by the end of the day.

ATHENS, Greece – A two-day general strike that unions vow will be the largest in years grounded flights, disrupted public transport and shut down everything from shops to schools in Greece on Wednesday, as at least 50,000 protesters converged in central Athens.
A man throws his fishing line in front of a docked ship during a strike in the port of Piraeus, near Athens, on Wednesday.

KARACHI: Yaseen Anwar has formally been appointed as Governor State Bank of Pakistan according to a notification issued today and may be the chosen one by the authorities, but analysts and former government officials fear he may not be the best central bank governor to fight the challenges faced by the fragile economy.
The soft-spoken former banker has served as deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan since March 2007 and is seen by some as vulnerable to government pressures, especially after the recent aggressive and unexpected rate cuts

Greeces great economic crisis turned into a massive showdown between the little man on the street and lawmakers in Athens's 300-seat parliament when tens of thousands of protesters marched on parliament in a day marked by fury, defiance and ultimately violence.

A demonstration that will be remembered as one of the biggest in modern times – with around 100,000 Greeks taking to the streets ahead of a crucial vote on stinging austerity – ended in ferocious street fighting on Wednesday after riot police fired teargas into the crowd and youths responded with a volley of rocks and petrol bombs

Turkish soldiers, air force bombers and helicopter gunships launched an incursion into northern Iraq on Wednesday, hours after Kurdish rebels killed 24 soldiers and wounded 18 in attacks along the border.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled a visit to Kazakhstan and held a nationally televised news conference to announce that Turkey had launched the “hot pursuit” operation, wording that officials often use to describe cross-border offensives in northern Iraq.

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Acting State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor, who approved what analysts say were highly risky interest rate cuts, was appointed as State Bank of Pakistan Governor on Wednesday, official sources said.

"Yes, Mr. Yaseen Anwar has been appointed as governor of the State Bank," a senior government official told Reuters.
Yaseen Anwar assumed duties on an interim basis three months ago after the former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan resigned citing "differences of opinion on policy actions."

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday welcomed Muttahida Quami Movement’s (MQM) decision to re-join the Government and said it will help bring normalcy to the city. Karachi plays a very important role in the country’s economy, the Prime Minister said during a call-on by Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ebad Khan and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on his arrival here in Karachi at the Governor House. The matters relating to law and order situation in the metropolis were discussed at the meeting.

Pakistan's army chief Ashfaq Kayani has warned the US that it will have to think "10 times" before taking any unilateral action in North Waziristan.

He said that the US should focus on stabilising Afghanistan instead of pushing Pakistan to attack militant groups in the crucial border region.

Washington has for many years urged Islamabad to deal with militants in the area, especially the Haqqani network.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that he has never seen such a corrupt government throughout his life.
"Corruption is going on day and night. Some among the government allies are involved in corruption and some are involved in terrorism," Nawaz said while addressing a public gathering in connection with the launch of "Go Zardari Go" movement here in Dera Ghazi Khan.

KARACHI: The stock market fell on Tuesday as investors opted to book profits in key oil and banking stocks.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.53 per cent or 63.36 points to end at 11,912.19 points.
The oil sector’s decline was led by Pakistan Oilfields which dropped 1% to close at Rs362.81 ahead of its result announcement scheduled today (Wednesday), said JS Global Capital analyst Jawad Khan.
Oil and Gas Development Company also dipped 0.3% despite an announcement that the first phase of Kunnar-Pasakhi Deep project had been completed which would increase gas production by 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), added Khan.
Trade volumes rose to 81.1 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 79.5 million shares. Banking stocks continued to remain out of favour amongst investors with almost all major banks witnessing declines.
Foreign institutional investors were buyers of Rs133 million and sellers of Rs106 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.
Engro closed near its lower limit as its new Enven plant is on Sui Northern Gas Pipelines’ network, which is experiencing new gas issues. On the other hand, Fatima Fertiliser surged 4% as it is on the other gas network with support from talk of another urea price hike. Fauji Fertiliser Company gained 2.3% on expectation of healthy earnings to be announced in coming days.
Attock Refinery jumped 4% to Rs124.2 following announcement of higher than expected earnings for the quarter.
Shares of 377 companies were traded during the session. At the end of the day, 101 stocks closed higher, 168 declined and 108 remained unchanged.
Fatima Fertiliser Company was the volume leader with 13.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.49 to finish at Rs24.38. It was followed by Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim with 7.9 million shares, firming Rs0.2 to close at Rs63.67 and Lotte Pakistan PTA with 7.85 million shares, increasing Rs0.22 to close at Rs12.57.

Railways gets shot in the arm but needs multi-organ transplant

Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour is sticking to his guns on the government’s bailout package: he wants the gift to keep on giving.
After the finance ministry released an emergency Rs1 billion, Bilour was far from satisfied, reportedly telling President Zardari that the government should shut down Pakistan Railways (PR) if it is unable to provide the additional funds he has requested.
The minister was in a fatalistic mood at a press conference on Tuesday, even pointing to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan which do without a railway system. Bilour was also willing to accept personal responsibility for the downfall of PR during his term: “If anybody considers me part of the railway problems, I am ready to resign.

SHAHDADPUR - PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday that his party would rid the people of Sindh from ‘Daku Raj’ and people of the country from the corrupt government.
Addressing a hug gathering of flood affectees of Interior Sindh in Shahdadpur, the PML-N chief said he wanted Sindhis to support PML-N in its struggle to build a new Pakistan.
He said flood affectees were spending miserable and helpless lives at the camps and their houses and fertile lands had been destroyed by the flood waters. He asked the government to provide Rs 100,000 as compensation to the each flood affected family.

KARACHI: Investigations are still underway into the Oct, 18, 2007 Karsaz suicide blast but there is no headway, said Additional IGP Karachi, Saud Mirza here on Tuesday.

“Our senior police officers are investigating the case but so far we are clueless,” he said while talking to media persons after funeral prayers of a Shaheed police constable Muhammad Hanif killed in encounter with robbers in DHA area on Monday afternoon

An accountability court has been directed by the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court to not take up any proceedings in three corruption references pending against Pakistan Muslim League chief Nawaz Sharif and his family till November 17.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Abdul Waheed Khan further directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit their comments in the three identical petitions filed by Sharif and his associates till the next date of hearing.
The Sharif family has said that the hearing in these references was adjourned sine die (without assigning a further date for hearing) in early 2008. This means the cases can be resurrected by the government at its convenience, according to the family.
The Lahore High Court (LHC), however, allowed NAB prosecution to file an application with the trial court for the restoration of the pending corruption references after a deputy prosecutor general argued that the bureau was now ready to contest the case adjourned sine die

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed concerned authorities to release six months withheld dues of the Punjab Colleges Pilot Project (PCPP) employees immediately, otherwise, the court would take strict action.
The three member bench of Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the suo motu notice against the nonpayment of salaries to the teachers of PCPP. Deputy Secretary Finance Muhammad Iqbal informed the court that Rs 563 million are required to pay to the teachers.
Chief Justice, in his remarks, said that teachers should be respected more than anybody else in society. They are made professors but are living from hand to mouth due to nonpayment of salaries, the CJP said.
He asked the authorities to inform the Court as to who ordered to stop the salaries and the court will take action against him.

ISLAMABAD- Pakistan will only hold peace talks with Taliban insurgents if they lay down their arms first, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Tuesday, after both sides signalled willingness to consider negotiations.

"The minimum agenda is that they give up arms and come forward and then there will be talks. But if they think they will keep Kalashnikovs in their hands and also hold talks, that will not happen," he told reporters.

Both sides have indicated recently they were open to talks, but analysts are sceptical the Taliban will ultimately agree.

"The government is saying accept the constitution and lay down arms. But the militants have other aims. They want to take over, gain power. They think negotiations are a joke," said security analyst Mahmood Shah.

US forces are massing on the Pakistan border in eastern Afghanistan amid reports of an imminent drone missile offensive against fighters from the feared Haqqani Network, a Taliban faction which operates from safe havens in Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency,

Parliament should complete its tenure whether we are in the government or not, said Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani while addressing a public meeting after unveiling the commencement of the Diamir-Basha Dam, 35 KM downstream of Chilas district, Gilgit/Bilstan.
The Prime Minister said that the opponents were obsessed with the March syndrome and were bent upon to deprive the PPP from gaining majority in the senate but they would not succeed. Their desperation stems from the fact that after March next year, the PPP government would present fifth budget to serve the nation for another year by undertaking more people’s friendly development projects.
In that case, the Prime Minister said, that the present democratic government would be the first government in the history of Pakistan that would present the fifth budget and also complete the tenure.
The Prime Minister suggested the political aspirants to go to the people and present their manifesto and win the hearts and minds of the people before going to the election in 2013. They should leave it to the people of Pakistan as who would get the right to govern them during the next five years.
The Prime Minister said that economic development was inconceivable without the political stability and political stability comes with the completion of the tenure of the parliament which ensures consistency of the political process, so critical to inculcate confidence of the people in their elected representatives.
The Prime Minister said due to inconsistency the precious resources of the nation had gone down the drain because in the past the rulers started the projects and those who followed them scrapped the same without taking into account the well being of the people. It is only through the democratic process that country achieves political stability so critical for the economic development, the Prime Minister said

Libyans bulldoze Gadhafi's Tripoli compound

Libyan bulldozers began knocking down the green walls surrounding Moammar Gadhafi's main Tripoli compound known as Bab al-Aziziya on Sunday, as the new leaders said it was time “to tear down this symbol of tyranny.”

The sprawling, fortress-like compound has long been hated by Libyans who feared to even walk

MOGADISHU, – Somali militants threatened to bring down Nairobi skyscrapers after Kenya sent hundreds of troops into Somalia. The threat emanated from the same lawless country in which the al-Qaida masterminds behind 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies sought refuge.
Ali Mohamud Rage, spokesman for Somalia's most dangerous militant group, holds a news conference in Mogadishu.
The Kenyan invasion comes at a time when al-Shabab has been weakened by famine in its strongholds, has been pushed from the capital of Mogadishu by African Union troops and finds itself increasingly challenged by clan militias.
The U.S. has also launched airstrikes against al-Shabab leaders amid concerns over terrorist training camps in the failed state of Somalia. The men who masterminded the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania found shelter in the chaos of its 20-year-old conflict.
Al-Shabab lashed out in a news conference and an eloquent English statement on Monday, saying that the "bloody battles that will ensue as a result of this incursion will most likely disrupt the social equilibrium and imperil the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians."

"I used to drive a 1990 Mazda," the young Libyan revolutionary says through child-like giggles, hurtling into the heart of battle at the wheel of a new 4-by-4 looted from slain soldiers of Muammar Gaddafi. "Look at me now."

But there was to be no more fighting for Ali that day. Bani Walid, one of only two towns in Libya that had still been resisting the men who toppled one of the world's most recognisable leaders, had fallen.

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Tuesday, 18 October 2011