Govt offers cash reward for info on TTP leaders

The Pakistani government has announced cash reward over information leading to the arrest of the 21 leaders of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). An advertisement published in national newspapers by the government, said that the names of people, providing information, will be kept secret. The contact telephone numbers were also published.According to NWFP information Minister Mian Iftikhar, Rs. 4 million will be awarded over the help arrest of TTP leader Molvi Fazlullah, Rs. 4 million over arrest of Haji Muslim Khan, Rs. 5 million over arrest of Naib Ameer TTP Shah Doran, Rs. 3 million over commander Qari Mushtaq Gali, Rs. 3 million over arrest of commander Koza Bandah Mehmood Khan, Rs. 2 million over arrest of commander Kabal Akber Hussain, Rs. 1 million over commander Charbagh Sher Muhammad Kasab, Rs. 3 million over commander Malam Jabba Sirajuddin, Rs. 3 million over Matta Bakht Farzandi, Rs. 1 million over local commander Koza Bandah Mian Fazal Gahfoor, Rs. 1 million over Matta Nisar Ahmed, Rs. 1 million over Baraymian Torobanda Lal Deen and others.

Barca crowned champions of Europe

In the Eternal City, the nil-all scoreline did not last for long.The two best football teams in the world squared up at Stadio Olimpico in Rome as Barcelona romped home with a 2-0 win over English champions Manchester United.A first-half goal from Samuel Eto'o in the opening ten minutes put an end to Barca's nervy start and then in the 70th minute Lionel Messi scored with a magnificent header, his first goal against an English side and his ninth Champions League goal of the season.United began with the confidence of European Champions, but ended most definitely the second-best team.The victory over the defending champions completed a sweep of titles for 38-year-old Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola in his first season after wins in the Spanish league and cup.United had been chasing their fourth European Cup title, and fourth trophy this season after winning the Premier League, Fifa Club World Cup and League Cup.United were thoroughly outplayed by the Spanish side as Messi scored his 38th goal of an amazing year for Barcelona.The loss left Man United manager Alex Ferguson at 25 titles in 23 seasons.He failed to match Liverpool's Bob Paisley's three titles in the competition.

Recent Attacks In or Linked to Pakistan

A look at some recent major attacks in Pakistan or blamed on Pakistan-based militants:-- May 27, 2009: A suicide car bomber targets buildings housing police and intelligence offices in the eastern city of Lahore, killing at least 30 and injuring more than 200.-- March 30, 2009: Gunmen armed with rifles and hand grenades attack a police academy on the outskirts of Lahore, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens.-- March 27, 2009: A suicide bomber demolishes a packed mosque near the northwestern town of Jamrud, killing about 50 people and injuring scores more.-- March 3, 2009: Gunmen attack the Sri Lankan national cricket team in Lahore, wounding several players and killing six policemen and a driver.-- Nov. 26-28, 2008: Ten attackers, allegedly from Pakistan, kill 164 people in a three-day assault on luxury hotels, a Jewish center and other sites in Mumbai, India.-- Sept. 20, 2008: A suicide truck bomb kills at least 54 and wounds more than 250 and devastates the Marriott hotel in Islamabad.-- Sept. 6, 2008: A suicide car bombing kills at least 35 people and wounds 80 at a police checkpoint in Peshawar.-- Aug. 21, 2008: Suicide bombers blow themselves up at two gates of a weapons factory in the town of Wah, killing at least 67 people and wounding at least 100.-- March 11, 2008: Suicide bombs rip through seven-story police headquarters and a house in Lahore, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 200.-- Feb. 29, 2008: Suicide bomber strikes funeral of slain police officer in the Swat Valley, killing more than 40 people and wounding at least 60.-- Jan. 10, 2008: Suicide bomber blows himself up among police guarding the High Court in Lahore, killing 24 people and wounding scores more.-- Dec. 27, 2007: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and 20 other people are killed in a suicide bombing and shooting attack in Rawalpindi, just south of the capital.

Microsoft to launch new Zune later this year

Microsoft the new Zune, its answer to Apple Inc’s 

popular iPod digital music player

Microsoft Corp plans to launch a new version of its Zune portable media player later this year in the United States, incorporating high-definition video, touch screen technology and Wi-Fi connection.Microsoft said on Tuesday the new Zune, its answer to Apple Inc’s popular iPod digital music player, will also come with an Internet browser and a built-in HD radio receiver that offers higher-quality sound than traditional radio.It did not give a price or a specific date except to say it was due in the fall.The company added new features to Zune’s music service last year, enabling users to download music wirelessly and buy songs they hear on the device's built-in FM radio.

Mingora to be cleared of Taliban within three days

Swat valley

Pakistan vowed Wednesday to wipe out the Taliban from Swat’s main town of Mingora within three days, as fierce fighting raged during a month-long offensive to crush the insurgents. Around 2.4 million people have fled fighting as soldiers struggle to wrest back the northwest Swat and two nearby districts from the Taliban, who advanced last month to within 100 kilometres of Islamabad.The military said 12 suspected militants and one soldier were killed in the last 24 hours in the Swat valley, where a two-year Taliban uprising had crushed the tourism industry and effectively imposed sharia law.In Mingora, the military said troops carried out house-to-house searches, while clashes in the area left eight insurgents dead.‘Mingora city will be cleared of militants in next 2-3 days,’ it announced in a daily briefing update on the offensive.Security officials said earlier that two soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle near Mingora.Clashes also rocked Kabal and Kanju towns, within 25 kilometres of Mingora, a security official told AFP.‘Severe fighting is continuing in Kabal town. Militants are resisting in various parts of town,’ he said.‘It was a little bit calm in Mingora. There are reports of firing but militants are retreating from different parts of the city. Troops are busy clearing roads and streets of mines and bombs.’The military says around 1,200 militants and 76 soldiers have died in the onslaught, launched in the districts of Lower Dir on April 26, Buner on April 28 and Swat on May 8, but those tolls cannot be confirmed independently.

No end to financial crisis before 2010, IMF chief says

The International Monetary Fund's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn (pictured), said he expects no end to the financial crisis before next year but predicts positive growth by mid-2010.The International Monetary Fund's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said Wednesday that he does not expect an end to the financial crisis before next year but predicts positive growth by the middle of 2010. In an interview Strauss-Kahn said a major problem is that global credit channels remain blocked. Without a freer flow of credit, it will be difficult to see a true recovery from the financial crisis, he said.Strauss-Kahn acknowledged that stocks have been on the rebound, but said: "For me, the stock market has never been a true indicator that things are going well."A more important factor, he said, will be the return of consumer confidence and a corresponding rise in spending.

Sri Lanka keeps state of emergency

The Sri Lankan government will maintain its state of emergency, including sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects, after the defeat of the separatist Tamil Tigers, according to a statement posted online.In order to prevent a resurgence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the state of emergency will remain in effect, Nimal Siripala, Sri Lanka's health minister, told the parliament on Tuesday.Last week the government declared an end to its 25-year war against the Tamil Tigers after a military campaign to recapture a region in the north and east that had become a de facto LTTE state.Under the state of emergency, police can arrest, enter homes and seize evidence without warrants and hold those they arrest for 18 months without trial.

Living with the enemy

I first met Abu Wissam at the foot of his son's shallow grave. Never will he be able to erase the last image he has of his son's body."He was cut to pieces," he said. "His hands and feet were chopped off. And he was decapitated."For a long time, Iraqis would say that it was "outsiders" that were carrying out such atrocities. The truth that is so hard to accept for many is that that often was not the case.Iraqis turned on each other, neighbors slaughtered neighbors, friends betrayed one another. It was the sheer degradation of society on a shocking and utterly petrifying scale.Abu Wissam's son Raed was a 25-year-old business school student. His fiance says that one day he got a phone call from a college friend asking to meet him. Little did she know that it was a plot to lure him out of the house and that it would be their last goodbye.They were childhood sweethearts. She says they knew that they would get married from the time they were six. "All I do now is cry," she sobs.Raed's mother can barely form a coherent sentence. Her voice shakes with every word, uncontrollable tears pour down her face. Her hands tremble holding Raed's worn-out photograph. From time to time she caresses the image, the face that she will never touch again."I don't sleep." She stutters. "I take pills ... I live on pills.""Nights aren't nights anymore, days aren't days. They cut his hands off, they cut his head off."As the last words leave her mouth she can no longer speak, only cry.The militia behind the kidnapping was the self proclaimed Mehdi Army, a Shia militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. And the militiamen were once friends and neighbors.For years my colleagues and I have reported on the atrocities committed by Shia militias, Sunni insurgents, and al Qaeda gunmen.We recited the daily tally of unidentified, mutilated bodies found in the streets of Baghdad. We spoke of beheadings, kidnappings and torture. But little did we really know about any of it.Now that there is a semblance of so-called stability, we can start to put a face and name to the victims and begin to try and understand and impart the horrors of what millions of Iraqis lived through and died from. It is only now that we can begin to comprehend the magnitude of what Iraqis went through.Raed's body was found in the courtyard of a mosque not far from his home. Abu Wissam says that the militia accused Raed of being a spy for the Americans. They demanded $10,000 for Raed's corpse. Abu Wissam paid. The killers did not hand it over.

N Korea 'not bound by armistice'

North Korea has declared an end to its half-century-old armistice with the South, saying that it sees Seoul's move to join a US-led anti-proliferation initiative as a "declaration of war".The warning carried on state media on Wednesday comes two days after North Korea conducted a second nuclear test and also follows a series of missile launches.The announcement also came amid reports in South Korean media that the North had restarted its main plutonium producing nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.The reactor had previously been mothballed under a six-nation aid for disarmament deal, but in April the North said it had scrapped the agreement and would resume work on building nuclear weapons.Following the Monday's nuclear test South Korea announced it would become a full member of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a US-led drive to curb trade in weapons of mass destruction.It said the decision had already been taken following the North's controversial April 2 rocket launch, although the formal announcement was brought forward following the nuclear test.

'He would have found bin Laden'

Sebastian Junger found him crouched on a battlefield in Afghanistan, fighting to stay alive.The Taliban had the man cornered and outnumbered. A sniper's bullet came so close to the man that it plucked dirt between his feet. But Junger watched him coolly orchestrate a cunning counterattack by his soldiers -- all while discussing his favorite poetry and international news."He had tremendous magnetism," says Junger, a noted journalist and author who has written bestsellers like "The Perfect Storm," and "A Death in Belmont.""You didn't even need to speak his language to fall under his sway. That's the only time I've ever really felt that from another person."The man Junger met was Ahmad Shah Massoud, the "Lion of Panjshir." Today, Massoud is a national hero in Afghanistan, but he's also become something else: the prototype for the tough but enlightened leader Afghanistan desperately needs today, some Afghans say. Massoud was assassinated two days before the September 11 terrorist attacks by agents linked to al Qaeda. Though he died eight years ago, his legacy looms over any would-be leader in Afghanistan, Afghans and scholars say.Afghanistan's government has been accused of being corrupt and weak. Massoud had a reputation for integrity and strength, says Junger, who traveled to Afghanistan in 2000 to profile Massoud for his book, "Fire."

Niger leader dissolves parliament

Niger's president has dissolved parliament after the country's constitutional court ruled against plans to hold a referendum on whether to allow him a third term in office.Mamadou Tandja gave the order to dissolve the legislature on Tuesday, hours after the court said a move by the ruling coalition to hold a public vote on a third presidential term was illegal."On the advice of the prime minister and the speaker of parliament, the president of the republic signed today ... a decree dissolving parliament," state radio said.Tandja's attempt to change the constitution has prompted demonstrations across the country and has been opposed by several members of his coalition government.His second term in office is set to expire later this year but the government sought a vote on constitutional changes to allow him to run in elections scheduled for November.According to the constitution, a new parliament will now have to be elected within three months, but there was no immediate presidential announcement on a new election date.