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Sunday, March 1, 2009

India has turned into a hub for supply of funds to terrorists: US

 NEW YORK US said that India has turned into a hub for supply of funds to terrorists due to its network of ‘Hundi’ and ‘Hawala’ system of funds remittances. US State Office report available here said this. US report quoting Reserve Bank of India said that an amount of $42.60 billion was remitted to India during 2007-2008. Analysts said that during the same period an amount in the range of $13-17 billion were remitted through Hawala Market, a parallel system of the legal one. Report said that India on priority should cooperate in those international efforts aiming at making the parallel systems of remittances transparent in view of the Hawala Market directly linked to the supply of funds to the terrorists. US State Office report said that India should take up effective law making for combating money laundering and halting the supply of funds to terrorists. India has been asked in the report to work for becoming a full member of inter-governmental organization, Financial Action Task Force, which formulates policies for this purpose. 

Palestinian groups vow to release prisoners, unify

Palestinian rivals agreed Thursday to work toward ending their bitter fighting in an effort to form a unity government in Gaza and the West Bank.Among the measures reportedly reached in an Egyptian-brokered meeting in Cairo was an agreement between the two largest rival factions, Hamas and Fatah.Hamas, which controls Gaza, said it would release Fatah prisoners it holds in Gaza. Fatah agreed to do the same with Hamas captives held in Fatah's West Bank base.The participants also agreed to stop smear campaigns in the media, according to a statement released after the meeting.

Representatives from other groups in the region also attended the meeting. Although the statement referred only to "all the Palestinian forces and factions," without naming them, Gaza's Ramattan news agency reported Fatah and Hamas were present.

U.S. hits house in Pakistan kill 12 in South Waziristan

Pakistan NWFP A U.S. missile strike on a house near Sararoha in northwest Pakistan on Sunday killed nine people and wounded three, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

They said the strikes were aimed at militant targets, and local media reported the hits targeted Taliban locations.

Iran attacks Hollywood over movie 'insults'

TEHRAN, Iran Hollywood should apologize to Iran for "insults and accusations against the Iranian nation," a top aide to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a visiting Hollywood delegation Sunday.Oscar-nominated "American Beauty" star Annette Bening was among the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to hear the remarks, Iran's state-run ISNA news agency said. "Representatives of Iran's film industry should only have an official meeting with representatives of the Academy and Hollywood if they apologize for the insults and accusations against the Iranian nation during the past 30 years," said Javad Shamghadri, Ahmadinejad's advisor on the arts, ISNA reported. He singled out the 1991 Sally Field thriller "Not Without My Daughter," about an American woman who marries an Iranian and then tries to flee Iran with their child, and the comic-book-inspired action flick "300" as "two clear examples of total lies." Do you think an apology is warranted?

India urges 'pause' in Sri Lankan fighting

NEW DELHI, India India has called for a "pause" in the fighting between Sri Lankan forces and Tamil rebels to allow the evacuation of thousands of civilians trapped in the nation's northern war zone.In a statement issued Saturday, India's external affairs minister, Pranab Mukherjee, warned that the humanitarian crisis was "building up with every passing day" in Sri Lanka. Mukherjee referred to the recent rebel offer of a cease-fire as an "opportunity" for the Sri Lankan government to stave off the crisis. "While this (the cease-fire proposal) may fall short of a declaration of willingness to lay down arms, it is our view that the government of Sri Lanka should seize the opportunity presented by the offer to bring about a pause in the hostilities," Mukherjee said. Mukherjee said a civilian evacuation would require cooperation by the Tamil rebels as well. There are reports of more than 70,000 civilians trapped in the war zone. Fighting is occurring in the Mulaittivu region. Mukherjee said people are dying, and there are shortages of food, water and medicine in the war zone.

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British PM attacks 'indefensible' banking practices

LONDON, England Britain's prime minister Gordon Brown repeated his call Saturday for former bank chiefs to give up massive pension packages and demanded a clean-up of the banking system to eradicate "Indefensible" practices.In a speech to the ruling Labour Party's National Policy Forum in Bristol, south-west England, Britain's Press Association quoted him as saying: "Some of the practices now being discovered in our banks are not only unacceptable, they are indefensible and they have got to be cleaned up now. "Many of the bank executives who got banks into this mess have now left their jobs; the boards of failed banks have gone; the four most senior executives of HBOS and RBS have all now left their jobs; seven non-executive directors of RBS lost their jobs; the HBOS board has ceased to exist. "And we are exploring all the legal action necessary to recover pension payments from people who received too much." Brown's comments follow the news last week that embattled former RBS boss Fred Goodwin had rejected calls for him to give up some of his estimated £650,000-a-year ($933,000) pension package.

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N. Korea Warns of 'Unpredictable Military Conflicts'

The rare threat came as North Korea was apparently gearing up to test-fire a long-range missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory. Pyongyang has also stepped up its war of rhetoric against the South over Seoul's tough stance toward its communist neighbor.North Korea's military said U.S. troops advanced as close as 100 feet from the Military Demarcation Line in the western border and took pictures of a North Korean military post last month. It also said more than 60 U.S. patrols approached to within 330 feet of the boundary this year.

All players of Pakistan team sign central contract

LAHORE: All players of the Pakistan cricket team has signed central contract.Captain Younis Khan said that the players had made silent protest on some clauses of the central contract but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) removed the players objections for which he is grateful to the board. The PCB had offered central contract to 27 players two months ago but nine players had reservations including obtaining the central contract again after playing county cricket and fees for playing Twenty20 cricket. After the board has now approved thse demands, the players will receive the payment of Rs 150,000 to 250,000 for playing Twenty20 cricket on the basis of their categories. Younis Khan said that sometimes players have to fight for their rights and therefore they made silent protest. He said that there like Australia, there should be also be a players association in Pakistan.

Hollywood Group Visits Iran for 'Creative Exchange'


The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed to AFP on Friday that it had sent a group from Hollywood to Iran — emphasizing they are on a strictly cultural mission of creative exchange."I can confirm that a group of Academy members... are currently in Iran" on a "completely private initiative for educational and creative exchange and with no political agenda," AMPAS director for communications Leslie Unger told AFP.

US ask China for help on Pak, Afghan issues

BEIJING: Regular military exchanges between the U.S. and China are resuming and deepening under the new U.S. administration, particularly on regional issues such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, David Sedney, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said in Beijing today. 

Sedney downplayed tensions over Taiwan, emphasizing instead cooperation on anti-piracy efforts off Somalia and shared concerns in Southeast Asia. 

“This was the single best set of talks I’ve been to,” Sedney told reporters at a press conference in Beijing, estimating he has participated in more than 50 rounds of military dialogue since 1991. “The kinds of discussions we had about Pakistan and Afghanistan, those were where we really had a new level of dialogue that we hadn’t had before.” 

The first military talks since President Barack Obama took office also mark resumption after China froze some exchanges in October to protest a U.S. arms deal with Taiwan. Sedney’s remarks indicate China is willing to move forward in some areas even as tension over Taiwan remains unresolved. 

“As we’ve had a pause in some things and haven’t been able to do some of the talks, I think that’s helped to bring home to both of us how important it is for us to have continuous, regular dialogue,” he said. Pakistan and Afghanistan are “areas where we do have shared objectives.”