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Thursday, March 29, 2012

North Korea ready to launch missile test

North Korea had begun injecting liquid fuel into the rocket despite West pressure. North Korea has begun fuelling a rocket for a launch that the West considers a missile test, a Japanese newspaper reported Thursday, citing a source "close to the government" in Pyongyang. "The launch is coming closer. The possibility is high that the launch date will be set for April 12 or 13," the source said according to the Tokyo Shimbun in a report from Seoul. It cited the source as saying that North Korea had begun injecting liquid fuel into the rocket. The paper also said a diplomatic source had confirmed that North Korea has moved the rocket to a launch pad in Tongchang-ri in the country s far northwest. The report came after North Korea insisted Tuesday it would go ahead with what it says is a satellite launch, snubbing a call from US President Barack Obama to drop the plan and accusing him of a "confrontational mindset". The United States has suspended plans to send food aid to North Korea, saying it has broken a promise to halt missile launches and cannot be trusted to give the help to those who need it, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. The West and North Korea s Asian neighbours have urged Pyongyang to give up on the rocket launch, which is seen as the pretext for testing ballistic missile technology.

Baghdad summit, focus on Syria

Six visiting Arab leaders as well as UN chief Ban Ki-moon had arrived in Baghdad on Thursday. Arab leaders will stop short of calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit on Thursday in Baghdad, with the city locked down for its first major regional summit in a generation. With 100,000 security forces standing guard in the Iraqi capital, officials took unprecedented measures to prevent attacks, by closing off a large swathe of the city s roads and mobile phone networks, and shutting down its airport and surrounding airspace to commercial traffic. And with the country having suffered deadly violence just last week, just one attack has been reported since Tuesday s meeting of economy and finance ministers, a low figure by Baghdad s often brutal standards. Six visiting Arab leaders as well as UN chief Ban Ki-moon had arrived in Baghdad by Thursday morning for the summit, which regional officials have pushed to focus on a wide variety of issues, ranging from the Arab-Israeli conflict to jumpstarting the area s economy. The focus, however, has been on Syria, and officials say Arab leaders will stop short of calling for Assad s ouster. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari s confirmed Wednesday evening that the summit of the 22-member Arab League will steer clear of the strong moves advocated by Qatar and Saudi Arabia to resolve the Syria crisis. The UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed in a bloody crackdown by Syrian forces on a year-long revolt.

Religion, World, Wealth Or Zardari?


A very amusing incident has taken place in the examination of matriculation, Lahore Board that a question in the paper of Urdu subject for grade nine (9) was asked “what is the system of life based on?” (Nizam-e-Zindagi kis cheez per qayam he?) and the options for the answer of the question were “religion, world, wealth or Zardari Sahab?” The section consists of objective questions included this question and perhaps the question was asked in order to ridicule or make fun of the president, Asif Ali Zardari. It feels that everybody in the country is fed up with the policies of the president or PPP government and surely this ridiculous question can be a reaction of confusion created by the government. Lahore board has issued clarification concerning the issue that the paper was prepared by Dera Ghazi Khan Board whereas investigation about the incident has started and if someone is found guilty, he will be punished according to law. However, the issue is being highlighted by Pakistani media whereas people of Pakistan after a long time have been entertained through such an incident in this era of confusion.

Bloodshed In Karachi, Pakistan


At last MQM’s terrorists sighed of relief after killing various innocent people and injuring various others whereas burning various buses and harming public properties. No sooner were only two suspended activists of MQM shot dead, the terrorists from the party immediately got activated in order to take disadvantage of the situation whereas police, rangers and law enforcement agencies kept quiet on the whole, putting the innocent people’s lives at risk. The whole Karachi was hostage under fistful MQM terrorists who willingly bathed the whole Karachi in blood. I strongly condemn this act of terrorism which was surely supported by police, rangers and law enforcement agencies who were perhaps ordered by the government not to arrest any terrorists and let them do what they want! May Allah save Pakistan and its nation and rid us from PPP, MQM, ANP and other terrorists from various political parties and destroy all of them! Aameen!

Dalai Lama creating "disturbances"

Dalai Lama and his associates are instigating immolation protests. This has been alleged by China days before China s president visits to India, repeating past assertions blaming the spiritual leader for dozens of such protests. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the Dalai Lama and his associates have been instigating Tibetan independence and creating "disturbances" and that showed the Dalai Lama and his associates "single-handedly" planned the man s self-immolation. "These acts aimed at achieving Tibetan independence and separatism through taking people s lives will never possibly be successful and will be severely condemned by the international community," Hong told reporters at a regular news briefing. About 30 such protests have occurred over the past year in ethnic Tibetan areas of China, and a Tibetan self-immolated last year in India, where many exiles reside. The Tibetan self-declared government-in-exile has rejected the Chinese government s accusations and issued statements discouraging self-immolation. "In the long-term interest of the Tibetan cause, we urge Tibetans to focus on secular and monastic education to provide the necessary human resources and the capability to strengthen and sustain our movement," the group said in a statement Tuesday. "We once again remind Tibetans to refrain from drastic actions." Tibetans inside China and exiles say China s crackdown on Tibetan regions is so oppressive, those who choose such a horrific form of protest feel they have no other way to express their beliefs. Jamphel Yeshi, 27, lit himself on fire during a demonstration against Chinese rule over Tibet and against Chinese President Hu Jintao s visit to India this week. Photos and video of Yeshi in flames were widely circulated across the globe in contrast to previous self-immolations that have happened in Tibetan areas in China that are subject to an intense security crackdown and largely inaccessible to the media.

US needs to respect Pak sovereignty

COAS Gen Kayani has made it clear that US needs to respect Pak sovereignty. US Central Command Commander General James N. Mattis, and ISAF Commander in Afghanistan General John Allen called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the GHQ on Wednesday. The November 26 strikes, for which the United States has so far refused to apologise, came under discussion in detail. The strike had prompted Pakistan to shut its Afghan border to NATO supplies and evict American personnel from an air base reportedly used in its drone war against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. According to a statement issued by ISPR, it was the first high level meeting after Salala incident and focused on the inquiry into the incident and improvements in Border Coordination Procedures. On Thursday, US President Barack Obama met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at a nuclear summit in Seoul, and vowed to rescue their troubled alliance which almost ruptured over months of mistrust and recriminations. It was the highest-level exchange between the two sides since the killing of Osama bin Laden in a clandestine US raid last May, which humiliated Pakistan and raised fresh questions about its allegiance in the war on terror.