Yemen: Rivals fail to sign GCC-brokered deal as President Saleh backs out again (Aljazeera English, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Aljazeera English", 18 May 2011

Yemen rivals fail to sign GCC-brokered deal

Gulf mediator leaves Sanaa after President Saleh refuses to ink plan that would have seen him stepping down in a month.

Yemen's president has for a second time backed out of a Gulf-sponsored deal to transfer power.
The long awaited agreement brokered by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) would have seen Ali Abdullah Saleh stepping down within a month.
Yemen's opposition had earlier said the deal would be signed on Wednesday.
But the head of the GCC left Sanaa without securing a signed agreement.
The departure of Abdullatif al-Zayani suggested that differences remained despite the government and opposition earlier agreeing on the deal in principle.
Zayani had been in Sanaa since Saturday to try to persuade the sides to sign the deal, with help from US and European diplomats.

Is the galaxy full of orphans? Billions of Lonely Planets, Adrift in Space (New York Times, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "New York Times (NYT)", 18 May 2011
Billions of Lonely Planets, Adrift in Space
By DENNIS OVERBYE

Is the galaxy full of orphans?

Astronomers said Wednesday that space is littered with hundreds of billions of planets that have been ejected from the planetary systems that gave them birth and either are going their own lonely ways or are only distantly bound to stars at least as 10 times as far away as the Sun is from the Earth.
There are two Jupiter-mass planets for each of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, according to measurements and calculations done by an international group of astronomers led by Takahiro Sumi, of Osaka University in Japan, and reported in the journal Nature.
“It’s a bit of a surprise,” said David Bennett, a Notre Dame astronomer, who was part of the team. Before this research, it was thought that only about 10 or 20 percent of stars harbored Jupiter-mass planets. Now it seems as if the planets outnumber the stars.

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on suicide watch at New York prison (Aljazeera English, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Aljazeera English", 18 May 2011

IMF chief on suicide watch at New York prison

Dominique Strauss-Kahn placed on suicide watch following his arrest and detention on attempted rape charges.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been placed on suicide watch following his arrest and detention on attempted rape charges.
Strauss-Kahn, who denies the charges, is expected to remain in New York's Rikers Island jail, known for gang violence, at least until his next court appearance on Friday, when lawyers may again request bail.
A law enforcement source said Strauss-Kahn was being watched as a precautionary measure.
A maid told New York police that Strauss-Kahn had tried to rape her in his hotel suite on 14 May and later picked him out at an identity parade.
A lawyer for the maid, a 32-year-old widow from Guinea with a 15-year-old daughter, said she had not been aware of Strauss-Kahn's identity until a day after the alleged attack.

Strauss-Kahn case raises issue of diplomat abuse in U.S. (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011
Strauss-Kahn case raises issue of diplomat abuse in U.S.

By Brian Grow

ATLANTA | Wed May 18, 2011 12:49pm EDT

(Reuters) - The case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is an extreme example of alleged sexual assault by an elite member of the international community. But the charges against him also shine a light on how diplomats and international officials have been accused of abusing maids or nannies in the United States, and have largely escaped prosecution.
Foreign diplomats have been the subject of at least 11 civil lawsuits and one criminal prosecution related to abuse of domestic workers in the last five years, according to a Reuters review of U.S. federal court records. The allegations range from slave-like work conditions to rape, and the vast majority of the diplomats in these cases avoided prison terms and financial penalties.
Strauss-Kahn, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, was charged on Sunday with sexually assaulting a hotel maid. He does not have full diplomatic immunity, but IMF rules grant him immunity limited to acts performed in his "official capacity." He was denied bail Monday and sent to jail in New York. He did not enter a plea, and his lawyer said he intends to plead not guilty.

US imposes sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad for Human Rights abuses (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

US slaps sanctions on Syria's Assad for abuses

By MATTHEW LEE and BEN FELLER

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States slapped sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad and six senior Syrian officials for human rights abuses over their brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, for the first time personally penalizing the Syrian leader for actions of his security forces.

The White House announced the sanctions Wednesday, a day before President Barack Obama delivers a major speech on the uprisings throughout the Arab world with prominent mentions of Syria.

The Obama administration had pinned hopes on Assad, seen until recent months as a pragmatist and potential reformer who could buck Iranian influence and help broker an eventual Arab peace deal with Israel.

Assad's increasingly brutal crackdown left U.S. officials little choice but to abandon the effort to woo Assad, and to stop exempting him from the same sort of sanctions already applied to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

General Zia's Policies and Pakistan's Dilemma - ضیاالحق نے جنرل چشتی سے کہا ’مرشد مروا نہ دینا‘

بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام :Courtesy

ضیاالحق نے جنرل چشتی سے کہا ’مرشد مروا نہ دینا‘

محمد حنیف

انیس سو ستتر میں چار اور پانچ جولائی کی درمیانی رات تھی۔ ذوالفقار علی بھٹو کی حکومت الٹنے کا فیصلہ ہوچکا تھا۔ آپریشن کا نام طے ہوچکا تھا ، آپریشن فیئر پلے۔

آپریشن شروع ہونے سے چند لمحے پہلے فوج کے سربراہ جنرل ضیاءالحق اپنے دستِ راست اور راولپنڈی کے کور کمانڈر لیفٹینٹ جنرل فیض علی چشتی سے ملے۔ آپریشن کی جُزیات ایک بار پھر دہرائی گئیں اور جب فیض علی چشتی مشن پر روانہ ہونے لگے تو مستقبل کے مردِ مومن نے چشتی کے کان میں کہا ’مرشد مروا نہ دینا‘۔
یہ جنرل ضیاءالحق کا انداز دِلرُبائی تھا۔ وہ اپنے جونیئر کی انا کو ایسے سہلاتے کہ وہ اپنے آپ کو سینیئر محسوس کرنے لگتا اور وہ اپنے سینیئر کے قدموں سے ایسے لپٹتے کہ اسے اپنے اوپر خدا کا روپ اترتے ہوئے محسوس ہوتا۔

International Pirates: Price Tag for Somali Piracy Surges (Spiegel International, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 18 May 2011
The Booty Business
Price Tag for Somali Piracy Surges 
International piracy is emerging as a market in its own right, one that cost the global economy an estimated $8.3 billion in 2010. Efforts to contain the problem are having little impact, and the costs of lost booty, ransom and other costs associated with pirates could double within a few years.

Pirates of yesteryear have been romanticized in literature through books like "Treasure Island" and in films like "Pirates of the Caribbean". But the modern day piracy off the coast of Somalia is no swashbuckling fun and adventure. It is an expensive and dangerous problem that is escalating at an alarming rate.

Piracy cost the international economy up to $8.3 billion last year and "has emerged as a market it its own right," states a new report by political and economic intelligence consulting firm Geopolicity. Already in the first quarter of 2011, Somali pirates have attacked more than 117 ships, killed 7 crew members and held 338 hostages for ransom, the study finds. But international efforts to scupper the problem are failing, and it is predicted that piracy-related costs could more than double in just the next three years.

Has the Arab Spring Stalled? Autocrats Gain Ground in Middle East (Spiegel International, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 18 May 2011
Has the Arab Spring Stalled?
Autocrats Gain Ground in Middle East

By Alexander Smoltczyk and Volkhard Windfuhr

Burning churches in Cairo, dead and wounded in Syria, Libya and Yemen, and a deathly silence in Bahrain. The Arab protest movement has come to a standstill, and the kings, emirs and sultans are rallying to launch a counterrevolution.

According to the "Fundamental Law of Revolution," regimes fall when those at the bottom are fed up with the status quo and those at the top are no longer capable of remaining in power.

That was the experience of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. But difficulties arise when there is one thing those at the top are still quite capable of doing, namely deploying tanks to deal with their opponents -- as is the case in Syria and Libya.

CIA flew stealth drones into Pakistan to monitor bin Laden house (Washington Post, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Washington Post", 18 May 2011
CIA flew stealth drones into Pakistan to monitor bin Laden house
By Greg Miller
 The CIA employed sophisticated new stealth drone aircraft to fly dozens of secret missions deep into Pakistani airspace and monitor the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed, current and former U.S. officials said.

Using unmanned planes designed to evade radar detection and operate at high altitudes, the agency conducted clandestine flights over the compound for months before the May 2 assault in an effort to capture high-resolution video that satellites could not provide.

The aircraft allowed the CIA to glide undetected beyond the boundaries that Pakistan has long imposed on other U.S. drones, including the Predators and Reapers that routinely carry out strikes against militants near the border with Afghanistan.

Role of Women in the Arab Spring "Not Something NEW" (Inter Press Service, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Inter Press Service (IOS)", 18 May 2011
Spring Not New to Arab Women
By Simba Russeau
CAIRO, May 18, 2011 (IPS) - Women have been taking leading roles in the Arab uprisings of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Morocco and Bahrain - shattering many decades old Western myths that Arab women are powerless and enslaved.
"It’s really unfair to ignore history and to try to misinterpret the reality," founding member of the Union for Women’s Action in Morocco, Fatima Outaleb told IPS. "Who can deny that woman who is shouting slogans and dragging men behind her, repeating her slogans? She’s a veiled woman. She’s also a leader."
According to Outaleb, women - whether as mothers, housewives, veiled or not, from Islamist parties or with no political upbringing - have always played a pivotal role in the Arab world.
"The Western media is shaped according to certain agendas, to certain priorities they have in mind, and policies regarding Arab women. They have ignored the reality that Arab women have always been at the heart of revolutions in the region - whether leading, strategising, raising awareness or mobilising as bloggers, or on Facebook," Outaleb said.

Ireland: Queen Elizabeth seeks reconciliation on 4-day Irish tour (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Queen seeks reconciliation on 4-day Irish tour

By GREGORY KATZ

DUBLIN (AP) -- Queen Elizabeth II's journey of reconciliation was taking her Wednesday to the site of a notorious massacre where British troops killed 14 Irish civilians in 1920.

The queen's visit to Croke Park on the second day of her historic trip to the Republic of Ireland highlights the vast improvement in Anglo-Irish relations since those dark days. It brings the English monarch to a large stadium that is a revered spot for Irish nationalists who mourn those who died there during the conflict with Britain.

She and husband Prince Philip began the day with a visit to the Guinness Storehouse, one of Ireland's most popular sites, and also saw the famous Gravity Bar, which offers a panoramic view of Dublin.

Master brewer Fergal Murray expertly prepared a pint of Guinness for the queen in the Gravity Bar, but she declined after smiling broadly. Prince Philip gazed at the brew with obvious longing but also walked away without a taste.

Syrian president Assad says Security forces made mistakes (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Syrian president: Security forces made mistakes

By ZEINA KARAM

BEIRUT (AP) -- Syria's president said the country's security forces have made mistakes during the uprising against his regime, blaming poorly trained police officers at least in part for a crackdown that has killed more than 850 people over the past two months.

President Bashar Assad's comments, carried Wednesday in the private Al-Watan newspaper, came even as a human rights activist said Wednesday that Syrian troops have used heavy machine guns to attack a neighborhood in the central city of Homs.

Still, his remarks were a rare acknowledgment of shortcomings within Syria's powerful security agencies. Assad said thousands of police officers were receiving new training.

The brutal crackdown across Syria has sparked international condemnation, and the United States and European Union are planning new sanctions against the Syrian leadership. More than 850 people have been killed in the crackdown on protests that erupted in mid-March, according to Syria's top rights organization.

Europe faces extinction of many species, EU says (Associated Press)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Europe faces extinction of many species, EU says

By DON MELVIN

BRUSSELS (AP) -- The Iberian lynx that prowls the grasslands of southern Spain. The Mediterranean monk seal swimming waters off Greece and Turkey. The Bavarian pine vole that forages in the high meadows of the Alps.

These are among hundreds of European animal species - up to a quarter of the total native to the continent - that are threatened with extinction according to a warning issued this month by the European Union.

"Biodiversity is in crisis, with species extinctions running at unparalleled rates," said a statement from the European Union's Environment Commissioner, Janez Potocnik.

The threatened species include mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and butterflies. Plant life is under threat as well. The crisis is due to several factors, including loss of habitat, pollution, alien species encroachment, climate change and overfishing.

Shuttle Endeavour arrives at space station (Associated Press, 18 Amay 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Shuttle Endeavour arrives at space station

By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Endeavour and its six astronauts showed up at the International Space Station on Wednesday with the most expensive payload ever carried by a shuttle, a $2 billion magnetic device that scientists hope will unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.

The two orbiting crews will attach the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the space station Thursday.

Endeavour - making its final journey and the next-to-last flight of NASA's shuttle era - docked with the space station as the two vessels soared more than 200 miles above the planet, near Chile.

Commander Mark Kelly steered Endeavour in for the slightly early linkup. He is married to wounded Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who attended the shuttle launch Monday. Giffords was shot in the head Jan. 8 during an assassination attempt in Tucson.

Russia: Dmitry Medvedev disagrees with Vladimir Putin on modernization (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011
Medvedev disagrees with Putin on modernization

MOSCOW (AP) -- President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia could modernize faster than his predecessor Vladimir Putin thinks, but he remains coy about whether he plans to seek a second term.

The president expressed a clear difference of opinion with his powerful prime minister on Wednesday as he sought to project an image of a strong and modern leader with tough statements on foreign policy and domestic issues.

Medvedev was speaking at a business school - one of his pet projects - in the Moscow suburb of Skolkovo. It was his largest ever news conference.

Asked by a reporter if the release of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky would pose any threat to the public, Medvedev only said it would pose "absolutely no danger," but stopped short of saying if he plans to pardon him.

"The Tree of Life", Brad Pitt reflects on paternal side, on screen and off (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Pitt reflects on paternal side, on screen and off

By DAVID GERMAIN

CANNES, France (AP) -- You won't catch Brad Pitt doing fatherhood in a small way, on screen or in his real family life with Angelina Jolie.

In Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," which premiered this week at the Cannes Film Festival, Pitt plays a father of three in a drama that deals with the biggest of questions about our place in the cosmos.

In his home life, Pitt and Jolie are parents of six - three biological children, three adopted. For Pitt, who was childless into his 40s after his marriage with Jennifer Aniston broke up, it all happened in just a few years.

"I know it seems extreme from the outside, but I've always kind of operated this way. When I know, I know, and why mess around?" Pitt, 47, said in an interview.

11 Afghans killed in Protests against NATO's killing of Civilians in Raids (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Afghan rally over NATO raid turns violent; 11 die

By RAHIM FAIEZ and HEIDI VOGT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Hundreds of protesters, angered by an overnight NATO raid that they believed had killed four civilians, clashed on Wednesday with security forces on the streets of a northern Afghan city. Eleven people died in the fighting, government officials said.

The demonstrators fought with police and tried to assault a German military outpost in the city of Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, the officials said, adding that some 50 were injured.

The protest was triggered by an overnight NATO raid on the outskirts of the city. The coalition said four insurgents died in the operation and that two others were detained.

Night raids targeting insurgents regularly stir up controversy in Afghanistan, where angry residents often charge the next day that international forces go after the wrong people or mistreat civilians as they search compounds. Success by NATO in reducing civilian casualties and agreements to conduct night raids alongside Afghan forces have not managed to stem the tide of accusations.

French agape over treatment of jailed IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

French agape over treatment of jailed IMF chief

By ELAINE GANLEY

PARIS (AP) -- The trans-Atlantic gap separating the U.S. and French justice systems and moral codes is as wide as the ocean itself - appalling a nation witnessing the unraveling fortunes of a favorite son, jailed IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Some of the charges leveled against Strauss-Kahn in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid in New York do not exist in France. And if the case was being heard in France, the 62-year-old IMF chief might risk three to five years in prison instead of scores in the United States, a leading expert says.

Strauss-Kahn also likely wouldn't be sitting in a notorious jail right now on a suicide watch.

The photos of a potential French president - handcuffed, stooped, unshaven, tieless and whisked away to court before photographers - knocked the breath out of the French public.

The initial response was a collective "that would not happen here."

Measles Claims Many Lives in Congo as Public, Private Resources Stretched Thin (Inter Press Service, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Inter Press Service (IOS)", 18 May 2011
Measles Claims Lives as Public, Private Resources Stretched Thin
By Emmanuel Chaco
KINSHASA, May 18, 2011 (IPS) - More than 3,000 cases of measles have been recorded in the past three months in two districts of Maniema Province, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Provincial statistics seen by IPS for the districts of Kibombo and Kindu, show that since mid-April, a measles epidemic has caused more than 15 deaths at health facilities, and three or four times as many have died at home, in cases where families did not take stricken children to medical centres.
"The villages further upstream along the Congo River are the worst affected by measles," says Dr Théo Katako, interim head of the Provincial Inspectorate of the Ministry of Public Health. "Meanwhile, the province was only able to organise a vaccination campaign against polio, for lack of resources to take on these two epidemics at once."

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Revelations could tarnish His legacy (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Revelations could tarnish Schwarzenegger's legacy

By JULIET WILLIAMS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger's political legacy in California already was tenuous.

He left the governor's office after seven years without making good on his central campaign promise to fix the state's budgeting system, then commuted the manslaughter sentence for the son of a political ally in one of his final official acts, drawing the condemnation of prosecutors and the family of a slain college student.

Now he's revealed to be the father of an out-of-wedlock child, a secret he kept during two gubernatorial terms.

No matter his accomplishments in office, Schwarzenegger may be best remembered as yet another philandering politician who got caught.

"Pakistan: VICTIM of Terrorism" - 'FATA Awareness Initiative' Series

Pakistan has emerged as the biggest victim of Terrorism and Terrorist Attacks over the past decade or so. Mild estimates put the civilian casualty figures in these Terrorist attacks at 14000~15000 (5 times the total American civilian casualties in Terrorist attacks). The casualties among Pakistan's security forces are roughly estimated to be 6000~7000 (Again 5 times the total American military casualties in the War on Terror).
Even then the OBAMAs and BROWNs and SINGHs and KARZAIs call Pakistan a "HUB of Terrorism". In reality Pakistan is the "VICTIM of Terrorism".
In an effort to allay the "Terrorist Pakistan" rhetoric, "FATA Awareness Initiative" Team presents the actual picture of Pakistan's woes at the hands of Terrorism in a new series "Pakistan: VICTIM of Terrorism". 
Here, we will try to share as much information, about the Terrorists attacks against Pakistan's STATE, SECURITY FORCES and CIVILIANS, as possible. Just click the Links to see the information.

Brief Facts about Terrorist attacks against Pakistan (Source: Associated Press)

Casualties in Terrorist Violence in Pakistan (2003~2011)

Year 2011 - “War on Terrorism” Related Violence against Pakistan’s Citizens

Year 2010 - “War on Terrorism” Related Violence against Pakistan’s Citizens

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Note: All info is shared here "in good faith" and after all thorough research possible. However, "FATA Awareness Initiative" Team may not be held responsible for any discrepancy in the info that may explicitly and/or implicitly damage anybody's interests. Corrections will, however, be made if any errors in the info are pointed out.
....................

We Hope You find the info useful. Keep visiting this blog and remember to leave your feedback / comments / suggestions / requests / corrections.
With Regards,
"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team.

Year 2010 - “War on Terrorism” Related Violence against Pakistan’s Citizens

In an effort to counter the "Terrorist Pakistan" rhetoric, "FATA Awareness Initiative" Team presents the actual picture of Pakistan's woes at the hands of Terrorism in a new series "Pakistan: VICTIM of Terrorism". 
We present the "War on Terrorism" related violent incidents in which Pakistani STATE, SECURITY FORCES and CIVILIANS have been targeted. The following information is for the year 2010.

December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010

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Note: All info is shared here "in good faith" and after all thorough research possible. However, "FATA Awareness Initiative" Team may not be held responsible for any discrepancy in the info that may explicitly and/or implicitly damage anybody's interests. Corrections will, however, be made if any errors in the info are pointed out.
....................

We Hope You find the info useful. Keep visiting this blog and remember to leave your feedback / comments / suggestions / requests / corrections.
With Regards,
"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team.