US reaches out to Uzbekistan for war supplies

Obama and Uzbekistan s President Islam Karimov discussed expanding US use of the central Asian country as a route to supply troops in Afghanistan, a US official said on Thursday, amid growing concern about the viability of Pakistan as a transit route. The White House said Obama called Karimov on Wednesday to congratulate the former Soviet republic on its 20th anniversary of independence and that the leaders talked about shared interests in a "secure and prosperous" Afghanistan. Obama s outreach to Karimov, whose has faced U.S. criticism over his human rights record, came as the United States and Pakistan are locked in a diplomatic crisis over U.S. accusations linking Pakistan s chief intelligence agency to militant attacks on Americans in Afghanistan. A senior Obama administration official said the use of Uzbek territory, which already serves as a key supply route for U.S. war supplies, was an "important topic of discussion" between Obama and Karimov. On Capitol Hill, U.S. senators have also made a clear push for improving ties with Uzbekistan so that more supplies can be moved to and from Afghanistan through the "Northern Distribution Network" that goes through Uzbekistan.

Saudi woman sentenced for driving car

A Saudi woman was sentenced to be lashed 10 times with a whip for defying the kingdom’s prohibition on female drivers, the first time a legal punishment has been handed down for a violation of the longtime ban. Normally, police just stop female drivers, question them and let them go after they sign a pledge not to drive again. But dozens of women have continued to take to the roads since June in a campaign to break the taboo. Making sentence all the more upsetting to activists is that it came just two days after King Abdullah promised to protect women s rights and decreed that women would be allowed to participate in municipal elections in 2015. Abdullah also promised to appoint women to a currently all-male advisory body known as the Shura Council. Abdullah said he had the backing of the official clerical council. But activists saw sentencing as a retaliation of sorts from the hard-line Saudi religious establishment that controls the courts and oversees the intrusive religious police. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women both Saudi and foreign from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and those who cannot afford the $300 to $400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor.

Iranian MPs criticise Saudi role in Yemen, Bahrain

They criticised what they called Saudi Arabia’s “role” in suppressing protests in Bahrain and Yemen, the parliament’s website reported. “The killing of innocent people in these two countries, in light of Saudi Arabia’s role, shows the weakness of the governments,” in Manama and Sanaa, said the statement signed by 210 MPs of the 290-seat parliament. The statement called on the United Nations to send a delegation and investigate the human rights situation and to “stop Saudi Arabia’s interference in the internal affairs” of the two countries. The lawmakers also denounced “the West’s silence” in the face of “savage suppression.” Iran has vocally supported most uprisings in the Arab world, with the exception of the revolt in its regional ally Syria, where it backs the regime of President Bashar al-Assad while advocating reforms. Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia rose sharply in March when Saudi troops intervened in Bahrain to help the Gulf kingdom’s Sunni ruling family suppress month-long protests led by its Shiite majority community. The Saudi intervention triggered angry protests from Tehran, also heightening tensions with other Gulf monarchies. Iran has also slammed the Riyadh-backed crackdown on protesters in Yemen.

Sluggish donor response another disaster

Oxfam regretted the slow response to UN appeal for flood affectees of Sindh and Balochistan. Oxfam called the Government of Pakistan and the international donor community to dig deep into their resources and rapidly increase their funding to prevent the disaster from deteriorating further. The agency warns that the situation of millions of people in Sindh and Balochistan will worsen unless more aid arrives. According to the latest figures, more than 8.8 million people in Sindh and 14,000 people in Balochistan so far have been affected by the 2011 monsoon rains. The human impact of this disaster in terms of the number of people affected is more than the combined impact of the Haiti earthquake and the Pakistan earthquake of 2005. Reported losses are being estimated at $215 million, and that number is likely to increase as some areas are inaccessible, and the impact of the floods cannot be assessed. This is a cruel repeat of last year. Again funding is too little and far too slow. Donors must recognise the gravity of the situation. Millions of innocent people, the majority of which are women and children, are in desperate need of the basics: food, water, sanitation, healthcare and shelter. If assistance does not come quickly, then a second emergency of rising malnutrition and rising water-borne diseases risks making a public health disaster a reality. There is no time to waste. We must all act now, said Neva Khan, Country Director of Oxfam in Pakistan. Approximately 6.8 million acres of land have been damaged by the floods - an area nearly as large as Haiti. According to the UN, the floods have wiped out 73 percent of standing crops, 36 percent of livestock and 67 percent of food stocks in the 13 worst affected districts of Sindh. In a province where already 72 percent of the population is acutely short of food, this loss of crops means hundreds of thousands more people do not have enough to eat. Approximately 97 percent of the UN’s $357 million appeal remains unfunded. So far only $11.5 million has been committed by donors. This pales in comparison with the amounts committed to other crises. Within the first 10 days of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, which left some 3.5 million people homeless, the international community had committed $247 million and pledged $45 million. This works out to $70 committed per person, during that time period. Likewise, some $742 million was committed to Haiti 10 days after the quake and $920 million pledged. Some 1.5 million were directly affected by the quake, which works out at $495 per person in the first 10 days.

Israel approves 1,100 new homes in east Jerusalem

Israel’s Interior Ministry said the homes would be built in Gilo, a sprawling Jewish enclave in southeast Jerusalem. It said construction could begin after a mandatory 60-day period for public comment, a process that is largely a formality. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their future capital. They have demanded that Israel halt all settlement construction in east Jerusalem and the adjacent West Bank territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war as a condition for resuming peace talks. Israel says east Jerusalem, home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, is an eternal part of its undivided capital. Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, swiftly condemned the Israeli decision, saying it amounted to “1,100 no’s to the resumption of peace talks.” He urged the United States, Israel s closest and most important ally, to change its position and support the Palestinians in their quest for UN membership. With peace talks stalled for the past three years, the Palestinians last week asked the United Nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. The US opposes the measure and has vowed to veto the request in the Security Council. Like Israel, the US says a Palestinian state can only be established through negotiations.

26 schoolchildren killed in Kalar Kahar Pakistan tour bus accident

A school bus, carrying 105 children, three teachers, headmaster and a servant, on a trip to the salt mines resort skidded off the motorway and fell into a ditch. 26 children and Headmaster Muhammad Hafeez Anwar have reportedly been killed in the accident while there were reports of injuries to the others. The children were from a Millat Grammar School, Faisalabad. One of the deceased children has been identified as Mehtab Sarwar, student of class 9. His body has been shifted to a DHQ Hospital in Chakwal, where injured have also been taken. Dr Alamgir, MS DHQ Hospital, said around 35 injured children have been brought to the hospital. He said four children are in critical  condition. The accident took place reportedly due to failure of brakes.

Pictures Telling the Story

Palestinian leader rejects int’l peace blueprint

Abbas said he would not agree to any proposal that disregarded Palestinian conditions for the resumption of peace talks. Abbas, who returned to the West Bank on Saturday after submitting a statehood bid at the United Nations a day earlier, told reporters accompanying him that he was still studying the proposal by the peacemaking Quartet -- the US, European Union, United Nations and Russia. But he appeared to tip his hand by saying "we will not deal with any initiative" that doesn t demand a halt to Israeli settlement construction or negotiations based on borders before the 1967 War when Israel captured land the Palestinians claim for their state. The Quartet statement made no such demands. Abbas dug into his positions after resisting heavy, US-led pressure to abandon his bid to have the UN recognize a state of Palestine in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. His willingness to stand up to Washington has won him newfound respect at home, where he had been considered a lackluster leader. The unilateral bid for statehood and UN membership reflects deep-seated Palestinian exasperation over 44 years of Israeli occupation. Israel has had no comment on the Quartet plan to resume long-stalled negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, which mediators regard as the only way to establish a Palestinian state. Israeli leader Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the long-standing conditions Abbas has put forth, saying talks must go forward without imposing terms. Netanyahu opposes negotiations based on 1967 lines, saying a return to those frontiers would expose Israel s heartland to rocket fire from the West Bank. And he says the fate of settlements should be left to negotiations. The Quartet urged both parties to draw up an agenda for peace talks within a month and produce comprehensive proposals on territory and security within three months. Mediators aspire to a final deal within a year, but similar plans have failed to produce a peace agreement in the past, and this latest proposal offered no program for bridging the huge differences that have stymied negotiations for most of the past three years. The Quartet plan was meant to rechannel to negotiations any momentum the Palestinians would gain from their statehood application. A UN nod would not deliver any immediate changes on the ground: Israel would remain an occupying force in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and continue to restrict access to Gaza, ruled by Palestinian Hamas militants. But Palestinians are hoping that any upgrade in their international status would give them more clout in any future talks with Israel. UN chief Ban Ki-moon relayed the Palestinians  statehood request to the Security Council on Friday, shortly after Abbas formally submitted it. It is expected to be shot down there, either because it won t win the required support of nine of the Council s 15 members, or because the US will make good on its threat to veto it. The Security Council will meet Monday to deal with the membership request, but final action is likely to take weeks or months. Washington has been lobbying hard to muster enough support in the Council to block the statehood application so the US won t have to resort to a veto something that would be frowned upon by the Arab world at a time when autocratic regimes are coming under assault there. Abbas told reporters, without explaining, that he expected the Council to take action within weeks, not months. With Council support necessary to be admitted to the UN as a state, the Palestinians are expected to ask the UN General Assembly, where they enjoy broad support, to grant them a more modest status upgrade to nonmember observer state from permanent observer. On board his plane, Abbas described himself as exhausted by the international efforts to wear him down but buoyant when he explained in a speech to the General Assembly why he had sidestepped the negotiating process that had been the cornerstone of international Mideast policy for nearly two decades. The pressure "didn t affect our spirits to reach the target and to deliver the Palestinian message officially," he said. Abbas noted, without elaborating, that some unspecified Arab states had also tried to pressure him to drop the statehood application.

US allegations baseless or?

In testimony before the Senate Thursday, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that agents of Pakistan’s spy agency—Inter-services Intelligence, or I.S.I.—provided support for last week’s attack on the American Embassy in Kabul. That is stunning news. It may turn out to be the event that compels President Obama and his advisors to finally force significant changes in America’s alliance—the word is used lightly here—with Pakistan’s military and civilian leaders. As I suggested in a recent piece on Pakistan, we should not be surprised by the I.S.I.’s blatant venality, or by its willingness to act so aggressively against American interests, despite the billions of dollars Pakistan receives each year in aid. The United States embassy was attacked on September 13th by a group of insurgents who American officials say came from the Haqqani network, an especially lethal group that is allied with the Taliban. The assault was extraordinarily brazen: the American Embassy is in downtown Kabul, and is adjacent to the headquarters for the American military and its NATO allies. Sixteen people were killed, including eleven civilians—six of them children. (The Embassy itself was not breached.) The Embassy attack was one in a series of spectacular operations, which have included assassinations and suicide bombings, that have contributed to a growing sense of demoralization among the Afghans and their American sponsors. If the I.S.I. was indeed involved in the planning or direction of the Embassy attack, it would constitute the most dramatic evidence yet that the Pakistani military and security agencies are actively trying to subvert the American-led project in Afghanistan. But it would not be the first such evidence: American and Western officials have been saying for years that the I.S.I. actively supports Taliban and Haqqani insurgents who are killing American troops. In 2008, according to American officials, I.S.I. agents helped facilitate the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which killed fifty-four people. Privately, senior Pakistani officials have even referred to the Haqqani network as their strategic asset. Stripped to its essence, the Pakistani rationale for supporting the Haqqani group is this: the Pakistanis don’t know if the United States is going to prevail in Afghanistan—all signs suggest that the American effort has peaked—and Pakistan wants to maintain an agent of influence inside Afghanistan that will advance its own interests if the U.S. fails. By backing Haqqani and the Taliban, of course, the I.S.I. makes that eventuality all the more likely. What can the United States do? The answer is not as easy as it seems. As much as eighty-five per cent of NATO’s supplies and materiel in the region flows through Pakistan. The alternative routes—though Iran or Central Asia—are at least as problematic. That reliance has obviously led senior Pakistani officers to believe they can flout American demands—and even, it appears, help kill American andNATO soldiers. But Pakistan’s leverage may not be as great as some of the country’s senior military leaders believe. American tolerance for Pakistan’s double game is waning fast, especially in Congress, as is American support for the war in Afghanistan. It might be a first, but don’t be surprised if this time, Pakistan—caught in the act—is forced to face the consequences of its actions.

15 killed in renewed violence in Yemeni capital

Renewed violence in the Yemeni capital killed at least 15 people as forces loyal to the regime and its opponents shelled each other s strategic positions from hills surrounding the city, medical and security official said.The shelling over the city has terrified residents and emptied out city streets, already pockmarked by street battles between rival forces in different corners of the capital. A number of shops in a main boulevard in Sanaa were torched from earlier mortar shelling and oil spots covered the streets after electricity transformers also took a hit. Smoke billowed from the opposite edges of the city, as two military officials said rival forces were caught in an exchange of artillery and mortar shelling from northern and southern hills at the edge of Sanaa. It was not clear what was hit by the shelling. The Republican Guards, forces loyal to Saleh and led by the son of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been in control of the south of Sanaa, while defecting military units led by Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a former Saleh aide who sided with the opposition, hold the city s north. Officials said six people were killed in central Sanaa when government forces shelled thousands gathered for a protest there with mortars and rocket propelled grenades. Snipers on rooftops also targeted the protesters at Change Square, the center of Yemen s seven-month-old uprising, and adjacent streets. Three bystanders were killed by a mortar shell in Sanaa s northern Hassaba district, the officials said. The district is home to several of the tribal chiefs who switched sides in March to join the opposition against Saleh s 33-year rule. The Interior Ministry later said four gunmen among supporters of Saleh were also killed. The rival side said one of its fighters was shot dead and 13 were wounded. The house of a former defense minister, who has declared his support for the protesters, was also hit by government shells, leaving one of the guards dead, a defecting military official said. The former minister himself was unharmed. The latest deaths took to about 100 the number of people killed in Sanaa and elsewhere in Yemen since Sunday, in the worst bout of bloodshed in months. The deaths also shattered hope that a cease-fire negotiated on Tuesday could be restored and significantly diminished the chances for a proposal by Yemen s Gulf Arab neighbors to end the crisis. The Gulf plan, backed by the United States, provides for Saleh to step down in exchange for immunity from prosecution and for the vice president to assume power until elections.

US building drone bases in Africa

Pakistanis have long asked America to get its drones out of their country. While Obama isn’t necessarily going to end spy-plane operations throughout Asia, it looks like the US is building drone bases elsewhere. Now it appears as if the latest bases will be built in locales throughout Africa. A report from the Washington Post reveals that the United States is expanding its controversial drone program into Africa, building bases throughout the continent in order to run unmanned planes over al-Qaeda territories in the ongoing War on Terror. In the Post’s report, an unnamed source close to the operation confirms that the CIA is currently working on a secret base in the Arabian Peninsula in order to send more spy planes into Yemen. Bases are also said to be either in operation or under construction in Ethiopia and another in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation of Seychelles. Both Seychelles and the United States had acknowledged the base in the past, but reported then that it was only there to track area pirate operations. The officials cited in the Post report, however, say that the increase in drone operations is being used to target al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, as the US builds up its drone bases despite continuing criticism of the competency of the spy planes. Drones are unmanned, robotic aircraft that are able to fly at twice the high of standard commercial aircraft and are able to spot insurgents from upwards of 100 miles away. Once identified, command stations operating elsewhere can collect intelligence or order in strikes on militants to be carried out by the craft. These operations are rarely as successful as the US would hope, however. A February drone strike in the Afghanistan province of Oruzgan killed around two dozen civilians — including two children — when US operators of a robotic plane mistakenly identified the victims as members of the Taliban. A report published by the UK-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism last month suggested that at least 385 of the casualties caused by unmanned robotic America drones in Pakistan have been civilians. Additionally, the Bureau claims that at least 160 of those deaths were of children under the age of 18. Regardless, it looks like that operation will only be extended in the years to come. The post writes that the US will have four drone airstrips in the Horn of Africa alone once the current constructions are completed, including one in the small nation of Djibouti.

Burhanuddin Rabbani killed in suicide attack in Kabul

Burhanuddin Rabbani, chairman of Afghanistan s High Peace Council, was killed in an attack on his home in Kabul on Tuesday, a senior police official said. "Rabbani has been martyred," said Mohammed Zahir, head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kabul Police. The bomber struck during a meeting at the Kabul home of Rabbani, who was last year appointed chief of the Afghan High Peace Council that President Hamid Karzai tasked with negotiating with the Taliban. His death is the most high-profile political assassination since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power and comes just two months after Karzai s brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was also killed. The attackers arrived at Rabbani s house with Mohammad Massom Stanikzai, Rabbani s deputy, for a meeting before the turban bomber detonated his explosives, according to one source amid conflicting reports of the incident. A member of the High Peace Council, Fazel Karim Aymaq, said the men had come with "special messages" from the Taliban and were "very trusted." Kabul criminal investigations chief Mohammad Zaher said two men "negotiating with Rabbani on behalf of the Taliban" arrived at his house, one with explosives hidden in his turban. "He approached Rabbani and detonated his explosives. Rabbani was martyred and four others including Massom Stanikzai (his deputy) were injured." The bomber struck close to the US embassy, making it the the second attack within a week in Kabul s supposedly secure diplomatic zone. The killing prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to cut short his visit to the United States, his spokesman said, adding he was still expected to meet US President Barack Obama as scheduled before leaving. The reporter also heard guards at the house shouting for an ambulance for Rabbani s deputy. Two of the former president s political allies, who did not want to be named and speaking before police confirmed Rabbani s death, wept as they confirmed killing. "Yes, he is dead," said one of them. The meeting came hours after a suicide bomber in Kabul assassinated Afghanistan s former leader Burhanuddin Rabbani. The Taliban were not immediately reachable for comment, but the insurgency led by its militia has hit Kabul increasingly hard in recent months. Karzai was due to cut short his trip to the United Nations General Assembly shortly after his meeting with Obama, to return home after the killing of Rabbani, who was leading the government s peace talks with the Taliban. 

Two blast took place in Pakistan

Peshawar blast

The blast took place in a CDs shop Monday night and damaged as many as ten other shops. The deadly bomb was planted on a motorcycle. It was the second blast in the country on Monday as a blast in Karachi early in the morning at SSP CID’s house killed 8 innocent people.

A women is also reported to be amongst the people killed in Peshawar blast. A police van was damaged in the blast.

The bomb disposal squad said the bomb was planted on a motorcycle.

Karachi blast

A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives Monday outside the home of a senior police officer tasked with cracking down on militants in Pakistan s largest city. The blast killed at least eight people and left a crater 10 feet (3 meters) deep, police said.

The Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack in the southern port city of Karachi. The target of the bombing, Chaudhry Aslam, escaped unscathed and said he would not be cowed by the attack.

The eight people killed in the attack included six policeman guarding Aslam s house and a mother and daughter, said Aslam. He estimated that at least 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of explosives were used in the attack. Local television footage showed extensive damage from the blast. The front of one two-story concrete building was totally blown away. Rubble littered the streets amid the burned carcasses of cars hit by the explosion. Aslam is a top police officer in the Crime Investigation Department, which works to arrest Taliban fighters and other militants in Karachi, a bustling city that is home to some 18 million people and is also Pakistan s main commercial hub.

US eyes Asia from secret Australia base

The post was originally set up at the height of the Cold War. Officially designated United States territory and manned by agents from some of America s most sensitive intelligence agencies, the Pine Gap satellite station has been involved in some of the biggest conflicts in modern times. But its role in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, and in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, had been little recognised until one of its most senior spies broke ranks recently to pen a tell-all account. Intelligence analyst David Rosenberg spent 18 years at the base, 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) south of Alice Springs, working with top-secret clearance for the National Security Agency (NSA), home to America s code-cracking elite. Formally known as the "Joint Defence Space Research Facility", Pine Gap is one of Washington s biggest intelligence collection posts, intercepting weapons and communications signals via a series of satellites orbiting Earth. Australia has had joint leadership at the post and access to all intercepted material since 1980, but the base s history is not without controversy. Former prime minister Gough Whitlam was sensationally sacked by the British monarchy -- allegedly at American urging -- not long after he threatened to close Pine Gap in 1975, although other domestic political issues were also involved in his removal. Its futuristic domes were originally built as a weapon in America s spy war with Russia, officially starting operations in 1970, but Rosenberg says it is now targeting the US-led "war on terror" and Asia s military boom. "There s a large segment of the world that are weapons-producing countries who have programmes that the United States and Australia are interested in, and obviously a lot of Asia encompasses that area," Rosenberg told a news agency. The career spy is under a lifetime secrecy agreement with the NSA, meaning he cannot reveal classified information and is limited in what he can say about his time at Pine Gap, but said North Korea and China were among its targets. "I think any country that has a large military, is a large weapons producer, is always going to be a focus for the intelligence community and China of course is growing and it s growing rapidly," he said. "There are developments there that we are looking at." India and Pakistan were also "very much of a concern", he added, with a surprise nuclear test by New Delhi in 1998 catching Pine Gap s analysts "blind". The latter half of his time at the mysterious station known to locals as the "Space Base" was dominated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an intense focus on Al-Qaeda following the September 11 attacks in 2001. Rosenberg recalls that day as his most sombre in the job, with analysts scouring the region for clues on what was going to happen next, knowing instantly that Al-Qaeda was responsible and fearing they would strike again. "While these attacks were happening we of course were thinking how many other simultaneous or near-simultaneous actions are going to happen?" he said. "We didn t know how many other attacks had been planned that day." It was also a huge wake-up call to the fragmented spy community, he added, who soon realised all the signs had been there of an impending attack but they had failed to piece them together to perhaps prevent 9/11. Delays also allowed Bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders to escape into hiding, a "significant intelligence failure" which left agents with a 10-year hunt Rosenberg was not around to see completed -- one of his few regrets. It was "certainly possible" that Pine Gap was involved in the US mission which ultimately saw Bin Laden killed in Pakistan in May, he added. He sees "cyber-warfare" such as state-endorsed hacking and increasingly portable technology allowing, for example, the remote detonation of a bomb with a mobile phone, as the next big front for the intelligence community. Rosenberg s book offers a rare insight into the mysterious world of military espionage, discussing widespread doubts amongst spies about the since-debunked claims of weapons of mass destruction that presaged the invasion of Iraq. It was screened 16 times before publication by four intelligence agencies -- three American and one Australian -- and has been altered or blacked out in sections through an arduous censorship process which saw him, at one point, taken into a vault in Canberra for interrogation. Defence officials were also due to seize and destroy his computer hard-drive to ensure classified elements of the original manuscript were wiped out. But the self-confessed "Mission: Impossible" fan said he had no regrets about telling his story. "Imagine being in a job where secrecy surrounds everything you did for 23 years -- it s kind of like letting the cork out of a champagne bottle, all the secrets come flowing out," he said. "It was quite a liberating experience for me."

20 killed as 6.9 quake rocks India, Nepal

A strong 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit northeast India on Sunday, killing at least 20 people, including three caught in a wall collapse at the British Embassy in neighbouring Nepal. The US Geological Survey said the quake struck the small, landlocked Himalayan state of Sikkim -- which borders Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet -- at around 6:10pm. The epicentre was just over 60 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of the Sikkim state capital Gangtok, which was plunged into darkness by a power cut after the quake. "There is no electricity. Everybody is out on the road," Gangtok resident C.K. Dahal told the CNN-IBN television news channel. "We all ran out our houses, some even jumped out of their windows. You can see some buildings that have developed cracks," Dahal added. Powerful tremors were felt across a wide region, including Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Indian cities of Guwahati and Kolkata, and even as far away as the Indian capital New Delhi. In Nepal, police said three people were killed, including a motorcyclist and his eight-year-old daughter, when a wall collapsed at the British Embassy compound in the capital Kathmandu, 270 kilometres west of the epicentre. "Another two died in a separate incident in eastern Nepal," national police spokesman Binod Singh said. A budget debate in Nepal s parliament was stalled for 15 minutes while lawmakers leapt to their feet and fled the chamber as the entire building shook. Telephone landlines to Sikkim, India s least populous state, were knocked out and mobile networks were swamped, making communication with the affected area difficult. The quake was followed by two strong aftershocks, one with a magnitude of 6.1. Sikkim Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso told AFP that five people had been killed and 60 injured in and around Gangtok as the result of mudslides, building collapses and falling debris. "We have reports of dozens of collapsed houses, and roads to many towns have ben blocked by landslides," Gyatso said. Another person was reported killed in a stampede by panicked residents in a town in the eastern state of Bihar. Manish Sharma, a doctor attending a conference in Gangtok, told the NDTV news channel that guests in his hotel had all run for the doors as soon as the first tremors were felt. "I am standing in front of the legislative assembly and I can see one of the outer buildings... the upper side is in two parts," Sharma said. "I can see light coming out of that particular portion. It has not collapsed but it is in two parts. One part has moved aside," he said. "The police are trying to calm people down." In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called an emergency meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority, and Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth said that air force planes carrying rescue teams and relief supplies had been despatched to Sikkim. Strong tremors were felt in Guwahati, the main city in Assam state, some 600 kilometres away, sending panicked residents running into the streets. "Our apartment block was literally swaying," said housewife Anamika Das. In Kathmandu, traffic came to a standstill as hotels and bars were evacuated. Hundreds of anxious tourists and residents waited for news in car parks and on the streets as the seasonal monsoon rain lashed down. In Bhutan, buildings in the capital Thimphu were also rocked. "Our wooden house is safe. Jars fell in kitchen, books fell from shelf," Thimphu resident Aby Tharakan, a media consultant, said in a message posted on the microblogging website Twitter. India s seven northeastern states, joined to the rest of the country by a narrow sliver of land, are located in an area of frequent seismic activity.

Heavy rain in Karachi

Dengue fever in Pakistan

The dengue fever outbreak in Pakistan has officially become an epidemic, reports the International News Network. At least 28 people have died of the disease and more than 5000 people have been infected. Medical supplies in the region are running out. Dengue fever is an infectious disease transmitted to humans through the bite of a mosquito carrying the virus. Characteristics of the disease include fever, severe headache, muscular and joint pains, and rash. The disease is non-fatal, reports Pakistani newspaper the Nation. Poor hygiene is the most common cause for the spread of the disease, but heavy rainfall is providing a breeding ground for the mosquitoes. The mega platelets used in the blood transfusion of dengue fever patients is no longer available at any of the public hospital in Lahore, the city most affected by the disease. The number of deaths is expected to rise if the situation is not remedied, reports the International News Network. According to a story by the Associated Press of Pakistan, there was no need to panic, because dengue fever is a completely curable disease. However, as it is not endemic to Pakistan, raising awareness about the disease continues to be one or the largest challenges. Pakistan is already grappling with flash flooding in the Punjab region, as well as major floods and heavy rains in other parts of the country.

Muammar Gaddafi's

Libyan provisional government forces on Friday launched fierce full-scale assaults on two of Muammar Gaddafi's last strongholds in the country, Bani Walid and Sirte, the town in which he was born. Here are some facts about the towns making a last stand: BANI WALID * The desert town 150 km (93 miles) south of Tripoli was the first point of focus for new rulers, the National Transitional Council (NTC), when they secured the capital and began looking to exert their control over the whole country. It has been besieged by their forces for more than two weeks now. * At first they tried to negotiate a surrender with the town's elders but that failed. * One major reason they failed to reach agreement is that Bani Walid is the main stronghold of Libya's Warfalla tribe -- the country's largest with a population of up to 1 million, out of a total Libyan population of around 6.6 million. * The Warfalla, together with the Gaddafa and the Magarha, were traditionally considered the pillars of Gaddafi's rule, dominating the security services and the ranks of the military. Though their support for Gaddafi was inconsistent and their leadership is scattered, many of them benefited from closeness to his government and access to his oil wealth. They now fear reprisals from the NTC. * Bani Walid has been described as being "in a valley, reached through several other valleys, in one big valley". This difficult and rocky terrain has also played a part in keeping the anti-Gaddafi NTC fighters at bay. Gaddafi loyalists are dug into the valleys with rocket launchers and sniper positions. * The town has several very steep roads leading to its centre, where the brunt of Gaddafi loyalists are believed to be. They have been pouring oil down those streets to stem the NTC advance. SIRTE * Gaddafi was born in a Bedouin tent just outside the ancient Mediterranean village in 1942 and it has always had a special place in both his affections and his development plans for Libya. * Sirte is about 450 km east of Tripoli and lies almost exactly halfway between the capital and Benghazi, the cradle of the revolution that toppled Gaddafi after 42 years in power. * During his time as leader, Gaddafi turned it from a sleepy hamlet into a bustling town that acted as Libya's de facto capital, hosting the country's toothless parliament and international meetings. Gaddafi often hosted heads of state here, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2007. * The African Union was founded at a summit in Sirte, on Sept. 9, 1999. State-owned Afriqiyah Airways marks that date by painting the motif "9.9.99" on the tail of each of its jets. Gaddafi often proposed the idea of creating a "United States of Africa" with Sirte as its capital. SABHA * Sabha, 700 km from Tripoli and deep in the country's southern deserts, is the last major town before much of the country becomes thinly inhabited and cut-off from its cities. * It was here Gaddafi declared "the dawn of the era of the masses" in a famous speech. * Sabha is well-known as home to a large population of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa -- many of them now terrified they will be attacked and possibly killed if and when the NTC takes the town. * African mercenaries -- from countries including Uganda, Senegal, Chad and Niger -- were captured fighting alongside Gaddafi soldiers during the war. When the NTC took over, some of its fighters took their anger out on the Africans, killing several and raping some African women, rights groups say. * But Libya also has a large population of sub-Saharan African migrant workers. The International Labour Organisation says thousands of them are trapped in Sabha, including women and children. JUFRA AND THE SOUTHERN DESERTS * Another smaller oasis, Jufra, is still believed to be under the control of Gaddafi loyalists. Some NTC officials have mentioned the possibility of a massive arms cache there. * Battles could also potentially erupt in the vast deserts in the south of the country. Gaddafi loves to talk about his Bedouin origins and some NTC officials privately concede he could probably do quite well in the desert, perhaps even bettering the nine months Iraq's Saddam Hussein spent on the run.

Yemen Update

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets during Friday prayers in the Yemeni capital Sanaa in protest against the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Protester Nezar Salem said peaceful demonstrations would continue despite attempts to turn rallies violent by the opposition. “We want to send a message to the remains of the family of the regime that we are continuing our peaceful revolution. We will end our revolution peacefully God willing. Despite their attempts to drag us into violence and use force, we will continue being peaceful,” Nezar said. Another protester at the demonstration, Ahmed Hassan voiced a similar sentiment of peaceful progress. Demonstrators have grown increasingly frustrated by their inability to loosen Saleh s grip on power. Saleh, recovering in Saudi Arabia from a June assassination attempt, is holding on to power despite international pressure to quit and eight months of protests against his 33-year rule. The United States and Saudi Arabia fear unrest in Yemen will embolden al Qaeda s Yemen-based regional wing to launch strikes on the region and beyond. In other parts of the capital thousands of others gathered to express their support of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule. Mohammed Yehia al Hakimi who was taking part in the pro-government rally said he had travelled from another city to support the constitutional legitimacy of Saleh’s rule.

Flood in Pakistan 2011

This has been estimated by the local officials and Western aid groups. More than 300,000 people have been moved to shelters. Some 800,000 families hit by last year s floods are still homeless. Aid groups have warned of a growing risk of fatal diseases. Last year, the military took charge of rescue and relief efforts, along with aid groups. The army is active again in the latest disaster. But some Pakistanis are growing impatient with it as well. Juman and his extended family fled when water as high as 12 feet (3.6 metres) raged through their village. Home has been a thatched hut on a roadside for several weeks in another village called Mohammad Yusuf. “We go to the army and we have been asking for food, but they beat us with sticks and told us to leave," said Juman, who added he was turned away because the army camp was already overwhelmed. “They scared us away.” The military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history, is seen as the only institution that can handle crises in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation. Pakistan s cash-strapped government already faces many challenges, from growing frustration over power cuts to a stubborn Taliban insurgency. Disillusionment with the state can drive young men to join militant groups waging a violent campaign to topple the U.S.-backed government. Some flood victims are turning to the Al Khidmat charity which is linked to the most influential Islamist party in Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). JI is not believed to have ties with the Taliban or other banned groups. Nevertheless, its relief efforts in last year s floods and other natural disasters helped discredit the government because of its relative efficiency. At a camp consisting of rows of white tents, green and blue JI flags flutter. Organisers wearing bright orange vests and badges organise flood victims. People have to drink rain water and wash clothes in it but there is some relief. “When we arrived there wasn t a camp here. They set the camp up and gave us the tents,” said Shabira, 35, holding her baby. “Now we are getting food every day.” Pakistani leaders are facing pressure on the diplomatic front as well. Islamabad s ties with Washington have been heavily strained since a unilateral US raid killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town in May. There were signs that ties were under repair when the allies recently spoke of counter-terrorism cooperation. But fresh tension has emerged. A US warning on militants based in Pakistan, blamed by Washington for this week s attack on the US Embassy in Kabul, works against counter-terrorism cooperation between the two allies, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. It was referring to comments by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that Washington would do whatever it takes to defend American forces in Afghanistan from Pakistan-based militants۔ Gilani may have wanted to meet senior American officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to try to patch up ties with Washington, the source of billions of dollars in aid. Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is expected to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the United States on Sept. 18. She will be addressing the General Assembly in Gilani s place.

Israelis begin their search for revolution

In this protest camp in Tel Aviv, the epicentre of Israel s social uprising, a vast array of slogans is scrawled, tagged and pinned on the dozens of structures erected by activists. "We all live in a tent. This summer the revolution is in the streets," reads one of the many rallying calls of the unprecedented movement, which brought over 400,000 people out for protests on Saturday evening, breaking Israeli records. The movement is united in one demand: "The people want social justice," a call that appeals to Israelis from all walks of life, crystallising widepread anger over how difficult life in the Jewish state has become. In some ways, the scene on Tel Aviv s Rothschild Boulevard has a Sixties feel -- young people caught up in a moment of unprecedented political fervour, challenging inequality, feeling they can effect a real change. But the movement is also very Israeli, emphasising a patriotism that is displayed in the numerous national flags adorning tents, and calling for a return to the social Zionism that prevailed in the early years of the state. The slogans of the movement pay tribute to its many strands -- "defence of the middle class," one reads, "the right to happiness," says another, while a third nearby calls for "free love." A range of groups have hitched their wagons to the movement, including activists fighting violence against women, environmental organisations and even those calling for the integration of Orthodox Jews into the military. But the movement has at its core the economic problems faced by many Israelis, and a plethora of signs call for cuts to the cost of housing, food and education -- "We fight for the house" reads one. It is also an indictment of the neo-liberal economic policy followed by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- "privatisation kills the state" and "the market is free, but not us," signs read. For some, the movement is Israel s "tentifada" -- an allusion to the two intifadas or Palestinian uprisings that Israel has faced since 1987. The protests, and the tent cities that have sprung up like mushrooms across Israeli cities, are the closest thing to an uprising that Israeli society has ever seen, a sort of intifada of the silent majority, protesters say. On the streets, doctors and taxi drivers can be seen alongside students and housewives. Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern origin join Ashkenazi Jews of European origin and even Arab Israelis. Netanyahu has said he understands the grievances of the protesters and has pledged to undertake economic reforms, even promising to rethink his liberal economic policies. But demonstrators accuse him of failing to take their cause seriously, and have shown no mercy for him or his wife Sarah. "Sarah, you re not alone, Bibi has screwed us too," reads one sign on Rothschild Boulevard, using Netanyahu s popular nickname. The movement began in mid-July, when young activists angry over the price of housing in Tel Aviv decided to pitch their protest tents on Rothschild, but quickly swelled into a movement the likes of which Israel has never seen. Non-violent and non-partisan -- a popular sign reads "Neither right, nor left, all together" -- its vigour has been the envy of Israel s beleaguered left, even if the slogans touted by some protesters suggest a sort of youthful naivete -- "We can dream," or even "Take acid, make revolution." These sorts of slogans prompted some on the Israeli right to dismiss the demonstrators as "sushi eaters and water pipe smokers," but as organisers brought increasing numbers of people out for protests, the criticism dwindled. Aware of the tenuous ideological ties between the movement s supporters, protest organisers have been eager to gloss over differences and steer clear of divisive questions like the Israeli occupation, the cost of settlement construction and the enormous weight of the defence budget. Still, the "Israeli Summer" has not been afraid to tie itself to the "Arab Spring," with many signs paying tribute to the wave of revolutions seen across the Middle East this year.

WikiLeaks

Anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks on Friday dumped its full unredacted archive of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables online, drawing a furious response from its media partners. The Web site confirmed in a message on Twitter that all 251,287 of the US embassy cables had been posted on the Internet and posted a link to a site containing the documents that can be accessed without a password. Five media groups that worked with WikiLeaks on the first release last year — The Guardian, the New York Times, German news magazine Der Spiegel, Spanish daily El Pais and France’s Le Monde — condemned the decision to publish the cables without first deleting the names of sources who spoke to US diplomats. “We deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted [US] State Department cables, which may put sources at risk,” they said in a joint statement published in The Guardian. “Our previous dealings with WikiLeaks were on the clear basis that we would only publish cables which had been subjected to a thorough editing and clearance process,” the statement said. WikiLeaks had been slowly releasing the leaked documents since November and had largely worked with the media organizations, which trawled through the information to erase the names of potentially vulnerable sources. The decision to dump the remaining documents will also anger the US, which has warned the move could endanger the lives of its sources and was irate last week when some of the cables were published with names unprotected. “Shining a light on 45 years of US ‘diplomacy,’ it is time to open the archives forever,” WikiLeaks said in a tweet announcing the release on Friday. Previous releases revealed the often candid views of US diplomats about foreign governments around the world and caused huge embarrassment to the US. The Guardian said the newly published archives contained more than 1,000 cables identifying individual activists, as well as some labeled with a tag used by the US to mark sources it believed could be in danger if identified. Meanwhile, Iraq said it would open an investigation into the alleged summary execution of 10 Iraqis, including four women and five children, by US forces in 2006, disclosed in an April 2006 US diplomatic cable released last week. The document release came amid a row between WikiLeaks and The Guardian over who was behind last week’s release of thousands of unredacted cables. WikiLeaks accused The Guardian of leaking the password to the archive, but the newspaper denied the allegation. The joint statement by the five media partners on Friday said the decision to publish the full archive was the decision of WikiLeaks’ Australian frontman Julian Assange, “and his alone.” Assange is currently living under stringent bail conditions in Britain, fighting extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over alleged rape and sexual assault. The US Department of State said on Thursday that WikiLeaks had informed it in advance of the document releases, but ignored US appeals that making them public could endanger lives and put US national security at risk. WikiLeaks has defended the release of the diplomatic cables as the journalistic exposure of official deception. US soldier Bradley Manning is suspected of leaking the cables and other military documents to WikiLeaks. He was arrested in June last year while deployed in Iraq and is being held in a US military prison.

Torrential rains kill 18 across Pakistan

The incessant rain of three days caused destruction in interior Sindh and destroyed standing crops. Several villages were inundated and cut off from other areas. Three killed in a roof collapsed in Shikarpur. In various accidents during rain one man each was killed in Badin, Ghotki, Nosheroferoz, Matyari, Moro and Hala. Rain flooded many areas in Dadu district. In Badin, 400 millimetre of rain submerged many areas and land link of the district was also disconnected. The hour long rain in Hyderabad turned the city roads into the brooks and streams. The situation is not different in other areas of Sindh where rains have disrupted life. Two men in Lasbela and one in Loralai districts of Balochistan were killed in rain related incident. People are starting evacuation from Nasirabad where rain has seized the cycle of life. It is feared that lower areas in Sibbi district can be sunk if rain continues. Two people were also reported to be dead in rain related incidents in Punjab.

Gaddafi calls for guerrilla war against rebels

Libya s fallen leader Moamer Gaddafi called for a guerrilla war against rebel forces who have seized control of the country, in audio tapes aired on an Arab satellite television. "Prepare yourselves for a gang and guerrilla war, for urban warfare and popular resistance in every town ... to defeat the enemy everywhere," he said in a second message of the day that could not be immediately authenticated. "The aim is to kill the enemy wherever he may be, whether he be Libyan or foreign," Gaddafi, himself a revolutionary who led a 1969 coup against the country s monarchy, said on the 42nd anniversary of his takeover. "We will never allow our (oil) wells and our ports to be under their (the West s) control. Our resistance will expand," vowed the 69-year-old colonel. Earlier, in a less calm voice likewise broadcast on the pro-Gaddafi, Arab television Arrai Oruba which is based in Syria, Gaddafi reiterated he would not surrender and was prepared for "a long battle" even if Libya burns. He urged his supporters to keep up their resistance to the insurgency which has forced him into hiding, as a major conference opened in Paris on aiding the rebel National Transitional Council to set up a new administration. "Even if you cannot hear my voice, continue the resistance ... We will not surrender. We are not women and we are going to keep on fighting," he said. "If they want a long battle, let it be long. If Libya burns, who can govern it? So let it burn," Gaddafi added in the message sent from an undisclosed location. A senior rebel leader dismissed the statements as a reflection of Gaddafi s "despair" at the success of the insurgency. "Gaddafi s speech is a sign of misery and despair," Ahmed Darrat, who is overseeing the interior ministry for the rebels until a new government is elected, told AFP in Tripoli. Gaddafi claimed there were splits between NATO, "the alliance of aggression" whose warplanes have paved the way for the insurgents  advance, and the rebels, "its agents."

World Powers Line Up Behind Libya’s Provisional Government

World powers have pledged to give Libya's provisional authority billions of dollars in financial and humanitarian support. They announced the assistance plans on Thursday at the end of a Paris conference that included representatives of 60 nations and Libya's National Transitional Council . U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told delegates that the U.N. should move to ease restrictions on Libyan assets. She also said the United States had transferred $700 million of the $1.5 billion in assets that were unfrozen for Libya last week. The U.S., the Netherlands and France have vowed to unfreeze nearly $5 billion in funds withheld from Moammar Gadhafi's government as it fought rebels seeking to end his 42-year rule. Also Thursday, the European Union announced it was lifting sanctions on 28 Libyan entities, including ports, banks and energy companies. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said the meeting focused on the urgent needs and priorities presented by the NTC. He said the U.N. would deploy a civilian mission to Libya as soon as possible. British Prime Minister David Cameron said NATO would continue its operations in Libya for as long as needed. He also urged the country's provisional leaders to pursue an inclusive, democratic transition. NTC leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil pledged to pursue stability and security. Meanwhile, Mr. Gadhafi delivered a defiant message from an undisclosed location. He said his forces would not surrender and would ultimately be rewarded with victory. His audio statement was carried by Arabic television stations. Libya's provisional authorities on Thursday gave pro-Gadhafi fighters in his hometown of Sirte an additional week to surrender. The NTC originally set a Saturday deadline and said it would resort to military action if the deadline was not met. But NTC officials said there has been progress in negotiations with holdouts in Sirte.

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