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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Installation 'parties' herald launch of Windows 7


Microsoft wants its fans to hold parties to celebrate the launch of Windows 7. After the spectacular failure of Windows Vista, is Microsoft back on track? Microsoft launches its latest operating system Windows 7 on the mainstream market Thursday, hoping to recover from the disaster of its predecessor Windows Vista. The software giant suffered the indignity of having Vista passed over by many in favour of its lighter and less cumbersome forbearer XP, which continues to be the Windows operating system of choice for many businesses and individuals. Furthermore, Microsoft wants the launch of Windows 7 to be a fun occasion. The company is sending out "party packs" to help groups of friends and families install their new operating system in a festive fashion. These packs include a poster, playing cards, steamers, balloons and lots of other stuff you might find at a five-year-old's birthday party. So much for an end to indignities at Microsoft.

Fraud pushes Karzai to poll runoff



Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, is under pressure to accept a runoff vote after a UN-backed election watchdog recommended that nearly a third of ballots apparently cast in his favour be scrapped, diplomatic sources. The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) published the findings of its long-awaited investigation into voting fraud in Afganistan's elections on Monday. The report, published on the ECC's website, called for ballots cast at 210 polling stations during the country's August 20 polls to be discarded. James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, said sources had told him that as a result Karzai's share of the vote had been cut to below the crucial 50 per cent margin needed to avoid a runoff with Abdullah Abdullah, his main rival.

A report on North and South Waziristan




The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan are areas bordering Afghanistan, outside the four provinces, comprising a region of some 27,220 km² (10,507 sq mi). The area has Afghanistan to the north-west, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to the east and Balochistan to the south. The area is colloquially referred to as Pakistan's Tribal Belt or Pak tribal belt. The geographical arrangement of the seven Tribal Areas in order from north to south is: Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, North Waziristan, South Waziristan. The geographical arrangement of the six Frontier Regions in order from north to south is: Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank, Dera Ismael Khan. Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km², is divided into two "agencies", North Waziristan and South Waziristan, with estimated populations of around 0.6 million and 0.8 million respectively. South Waziristan is the southern part of Waziristan. It comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south, forming part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Waziristan is named after the Pashtun Wazir tribe. South Waziristan is the largest FATA in size. It has two headquarters: Tank is the winter headquarters of the Agency while Wana is its summer headquarters. Mullah Nazir has clout in this area presently. It has been functioning since 1895. It is bounded to the north by the North Waziristan Agency, to the north-east by Bannu and Lakki Marwat Districts, to the east by Tribal Area Adjoining Tank District and D.I. Khan Districts, to the south by Zhob District of Balochistan Province and Tribal Area Adjoining D.I. Khan District, and to the west by Afghanistan. The total area of the Agency is 6,619 km². The Agency is mostly a mass of rugged and complex hills and ridges. There are no regular mountain alignments. The land rises gradually from south and east to north and west. The dominating range is the Preghal in the west along the border with Afghanistan. It is the highest peak which is 3,515 metres high. Zarmelan, Wana, Shakki, Zalai, Spin and Tiarza are the main plains of the Agency. The Mahsuds and Waziris are the two main tribes of this Agency. The Mahsud tribe inhabits the northern regions of South Waziristan near Razmak in North Waziristan. North Waziristan is the northern part of Waziristan. It comprises the area west and south-west of Peshawar between the Tochi river to the north and the Gomal river to the south, forming part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Miran Shah is capital of North Waziristan. It is bounded on the north by Afghanistan, Kurram Agency and Hangu District, on the east by Tribal Areas Adjoining Bannu District and Tribal Area Adjoining Karak and Bannu Districts. On the south by South Waziristan Agency and on the west also by Afghanistan. The total area of the agency is 4,707 square kilometres. The chief tribes in North Waziristan are the Utmanzai Wazirs and Dawars. Militant Commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur has clout in this area presently. The North Waziristan Agency consists of three sub-divisions and nine Tehsils. The Miran Shah sub-division comprises the Miran Shah, Ghulam Khan, and Datta Khel tehsils. The Mir Ali sub-division contains the Mir Ali, Spinwam, and Shewa tehsils. The Razmak sub-division consists of the Razmak, Dossali, and Garyum tehsils.

Pakistan forces 'making progress'



Pakistan's military has claimed early victories as troops push deeper into suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda strongholds in South Waziristan. The army has said that 78 rebel fighters and nine soldiers have died since the assault began on Saturday, but has given few other details. On Monday, military officials said troops had engaged suspected Taliban fighters on three fronts with government jets bombing other positions near the Afghan border. The Pakistani Taliban has also claimed victories in the fighting, but it is virtually impossible to verify the situation on the ground or the number of casualties because the army has blocked media access to the region.

Iran blames US and Pakistan for attack



Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pointed a finger of blame at the United States for Sunday’s suicide bombing at a meeting of the Revolutionary Guards and tribal chiefs in Sistan-Baluchestan. ‘This terrorist crime revealed the evil face of enemies of security and unity who are supported by intelligence organisations of some arrogant governments,’ he said on Monday, according to the Isna news agency. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a telephone conversation with President Asif Ali Zardari, charged that those behind the bombing were in Pakistan and needed to be ‘quickly confronted’. ‘Iran and Pakistan have a brotherly relationship, but the presence of terrorist elements in Pakistan is not justifiable,’ the Irna news agency quoted him as saying. ‘The Pakistani government should help to quickly arrest these criminals so that they can be punished,’ the Iranian president said, adding: ‘The criminal terrorists must be seriously confronted by setting up a bilateral timetable.’