M WAQAR.....
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary.Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
--Albert Einstein !!!
NEWS,ARTICLES,EDITORIALS,MUSIC... Ze chi pe mayeen yum da agha pukhtunistan de.....(Liberal,Progressive,Secular World.)''Secularism is not against religion; it is the message of humanity.''
تل ده وی پثتونستآن
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is urging international troops to leave Afghanistan and take their fight across the border to Pakistan.
Mr. Karzai delivered his latest criticism of NATO efforts Saturday in Asadabad, the capital of eastern Kunar province, where he was visiting the relatives of civilians killed in a raid by international forces.
The Afghan leader said his government has shown NATO that the terrorists and militants are not in Afghanistan, but instead are hiding in neighboring Pakistan.
The French news agency quoted Mr. Karzai as saying that Afghans are a tolerant people but now "our tolerance has run out."
The topic of civilian casualties has been a sensitive one for Afghanistan and its Western allies.
Earlier this month, NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, apologized for an air strike that killed nine children in Kunar province.
The coalition blamed miscommunication for the deaths, but Afghan President Karzai warned NATO could face "huge problems" if the accidental killing of civilians does not stop.
Earlier this week, a report by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said there had been nearly 3,000 war-related civilian deaths in 2010, an increase of 15 percent compared to 2009.
The reports said insurgents and militants were responsible for about 75 percent of the deaths.
The Agriculture department is feeling stressed over transfer of agriculture affairs to the province as some new and ongoing schemes may suffer due to lack of resources.
Sources informed that new and ongoing schemes, which were otherwise to be completed with the help of the federal government, amount to hundreds of millions in rupees in the sector.
The sources said that only new schemes in agriculture sector for the province cost over Rs. 2 billion though in few cases donors like Asian Development Bank support the provinces in Pakistan.
Agribusiness development and diversification project, commercialisation of tea production are among the ongoing projects in the province while projects like rehabilitation and strengthening of summer agriculture research station of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) is among the new projects. Only the one new scheme cost over 11 million in rupees, the sources informed.
KP was already reportedly disturbed over the financial and human losses in face of last year’s devastating flood and the violence that has been paralysing normal functions in parts of the province that not only increased the government expenditures but also affected the tax collection.
The KP government has recently cut funds to its several development schemes as rehabilitation of the affectees and several other issues are limiting resources for progressive activities, an official who was not authorized to speak to media said.
Situation in other provinces may be different as the province like Punjab has enough resources to continue its developmental activities but the affected and a small and violence hit province like KP is in a difficult situation, the officials maintained.
The sources also informed that the provincial government is not ready to accept the employees of the federal ministries, which are going to transfer to the provinces as a part of the devolution plan under 18th amendment.
However, the province attitude is not without reason. According to the data of finance department and some reports, 68 per cent of the provincial non-development budget goes to salaries and pensions of the employees in KP.
The staff strength of the provincial government has risen from 288,203 to 375,935 posts over five years between 2005-06 and 2010-11.
When contacted DG Agriculture Extension in KP Muhammad Tasleem confirmed that the province lacks funds to continue the new as well as the ongoing schemes in the sector if responsibility was shifted to the calamities-devastated province.
He told Online that funds for the ongoing schemes in agriculture are expected to be provided by the federal government for the current year but after that, the KP government would have to run the expenses within the limits of its resources.
On the other side officials in revenue department on condition of anonymity said they cannot say something certain about the future finances in KP, however, keeping in view the on-going situation and history of tax collection in the province, high expectation of future would be unrealistic.
Nevertheless, it could be verified that transferring of the agriculture subject to the province like Punjab creates no problems of funds to the projects.
In an exclusive chat with Online the Agriculture Secretary of Punjab Arif Nadeem confirmed that at least agriculture department in Punjab is not feeling any stress over transfer of the subject.
He said that transfer of the subjects are beneficial and is in interest of the people in Pakistan.
On finances, he said that there is no limitations of the resources as private sector investors are ready to invest in the sector.
The estimated death toll from Japan's disasters climbed past 10,000 Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns and hundreds of thousands of people struggled to find food and water. The prime minister said it was the nation's worst crisis since World War II.
Nuclear plant operators worked frantically to try to keep temperatures down in several reactors crippled by the earthquake and tsunami, wrecking at least two by dumping sea water into them in last-ditch efforts to avoid meltdowns. Officials warned of a second explosion but said it would not pose a health threat.Near-freezing temperatures compounded the misery of survivors along hundreds of miles (kilometers) of the northeastern coast battered by the tsunami that smashed inland with breathtaking fury. Rescuers pulled bodies from mud-covered jumbles of wrecked houses, shattered tree trunks, twisted cars and tangled power lines while survivors examined the ruined remains.
One rare bit of good news was the rescue of a 60-year-old man swept away by the tsunami who clung to the roof of his house for two days until a military vessel spotted him waving a red cloth about 10 miles (15 kilometers) offshore.
The death toll surged because of a report from Miyagi, one of the three hardest hit states. The police chief told disaster relief officials more than 10,000 people were killed, police spokesman Go Sugawara told The Associated Press. That was an estimate — only 400 people have been confirmed dead in Miyagi, which has a population of 2.3 million.
According to officials, more than 1,400 people were confirmed dead — including 200 people whose bodies were found Sunday along the coast — and more than 1,000 were missing in Friday's disasters. Another 1,700 were injured.
For Japan, one of the world's leading economies with ultramodern infrastructure, the disasters plunged ordinary life into nearly unimaginable deprivation.
Hundreds of thousands of hungry survivors huddled in darkened emergency centers that were cut off from rescuers, aid and electricity. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck and some 1.9 million households were without electricity.
While the government doubled the number of soldiers deployed in the aid effort to 100,000 and sent 120,000 blankets, 120,000 bottles of water and 29,000 gallons (110,000 liters) of gasoline plus food to the affected areas, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said electricity would take days to restore. In the meantime, he said, electricity would be rationed with rolling blackouts to several cities, including Tokyo.
"This is Japan's most severe crisis since the war ended 65 years ago," Kan told reporters, adding that Japan's future would be decided by its response.In Rikuzentakata, a port city of over 20,000 virtually wiped out by the tsunami, Etsuko Koyama escaped the water rushing through the third floor of her home but lost her grip on her daughter's hand and has not found her.
"I haven't given up hope yet," Koyama told public broadcaster NHK, wiping tears from her eyes. "I saved myself, but I couldn't save my daughter."
A young man described what ran through his mind before he escaped in a separate rescue. "I thought to myself, ah, this is how I will die," Tatsuro Ishikawa, his face bruised and cut, told NHK as he sat in striped hospital pajamas.
Japanese officials raised their estimate Sunday of the quake's magnitude to 9.0, a notch above the U.S. Geological Survey's reading of 8.9. Either way, it was the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan, which lies on a seismically active arc. A volcano on the southern island of Kyushu — hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the quake' epicenter — also resumed spewing ash and rock Sunday after a couple of quiet weeks, Japan's weather agency said.
Dozens of countries have offered assistance. Two U.S. aircraft carrier groups were off Japan's coast and ready to help. Helicopters were flying from one of the carriers, the USS Ronald Reagan, delivering food and water in Miyagi.
Two other U.S. rescue teams of 72 personnel each and rescue dogs arrived Sunday, as did a five-dog team from Singapore.
Still, large areas of the countryside remained surrounded by water and unreachable. Fuel stations were closed, though at some, cars waited in lines hundreds of vehicles long.
The United States and a several countries in Europe urged their citizens to avoid travel to Japan. France took the added step of suggesting people leave Tokyo in case radiation reached the city.
Community after community traced the vast extent of the devastation.
In the town of Minamisanrikucho, 10,000 people — nearly two-thirds of the population — have not been heard from since the tsunami wiped it out, a government spokesman said. NHK showed only a couple concrete structures still standing, and the bottom three floors of those buildings gutted. One of the few standing was a hospital, and a worker told NHK that hospital staff rescued about a third of the patients.
In the hard-hit port city of Sendai, firefighters with wooden picks dug through a devastated neighborhood. One of them yelled: "A corpse." Inside a house, he had found the body of a gray-haired woman under a blanket.
A few minutes later, the firefighters spotted another — that of a man in black fleece jacket and pants, crumpled in a partial fetal position at the bottom of a wooden stairwell. From outside, while the top of the house seemed almost untouched, the first floor where the body was had been inundated. A minivan lay embedded in one outer wall, which had been ripped away, pulverized beside a mangled bicycle.
The man's neighbor, 24-year-old Ayumi Osuga, dug through the remains of her own house, her white mittens covered by dark mud.
Osuga said she had been practicing origami, the Japanese art of folding paper into figures, with her three children when the quake stuck. She recalled her husband's shouted warning from outside: "'GET OUT OF THERE NOW!'"
She gathered her children — aged 2 to 6 — and fled in her car to higher ground with her husband. They spent the night in a hilltop home belonging to her husband's family about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away.
"My family, my children. We are lucky to be alive," she said.
"I have come to realize what is important in life," Osuga said, nervously flicking ashes from a cigarette onto the rubble at her feet as a giant column of black smoke billowed in the distance.
As night fell and temperatures dropped to freezing in Sendai, people who had slept in underpasses or offices the past two nights gathered for warmth in community centers, schools and City Hall.
At a large refinery on the outskirts of the city, 100-foot (30-meter) -high bright orange flames rose in the air, spitting out dark plumes of smoke. The facility has been burning since Friday. The fire's roar could be heard from afar. Smoke burned the eyes and throat, and a gaseous stench hung in the air.
In the small town of Tagajo, also near Sendai, dazed residents roamed streets cluttered with smashed cars, broken homes and twisted metal.
Residents said the water surged in and quickly rose higher than the first floor of buildings. At Sengen General Hospital, the staff worked feverishly to haul bedridden patients up the stairs one at a time. With the halls now dark, those who can leave have gone to the local community center.
"There is still no water or power, and we've got some very sick people in here," said hospital official Ikuro Matsumoto.
Police cars drove slowly through the town and warned residents through loudspeakers to seek higher ground, but most simply stood by and watched them pass.
In the town of Iwaki, there was no electricity, stores were closed and residents left as food and fuel supplies dwindled. Local police took in about 90 people and gave them blankets and rice balls, but there was no sign of government or military aid trucks.
The rapid increase in population and ill-planned construction of new buildings in and around the provincial capital are main sources of plethora of civic and health problems.
If this unbridled and ill-planned construction of houses and other buildings was not controlled immediately, the sanitation would be out of control, experts feared.
They said that former chief minister Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan during his tenure, from 1997 to 1999, had planned dividing Peshawar into four zones to control civic problems, which emerged owing to haphazard expansion of the provincial capital.
A lot of work had done on the project but it was shelved with the end of his government, they said.
In the NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 2001, the subjects of master planning, land use, zoning, classification and re-classification are mentioned in section III (i) of Part D in the 1st Schedule of the ordinance.
Under section 35 of the Ordinance, the city district government is empowered to deal with the issues mentioned in part D of Schedule I.
“Under this law, it is the prime responsibility of the city district government to divide the city into four zones including agricultural, commercial, residential and industrial zones,” they said. Unfortunately, the city district government didn`t bother to fulfil its responsibility during the last 10 years since local government ordinance had been introduced, they added.
Under the Local Government Ordinance 2001, planning officers were also appointed at town and tehsil levels for building control and dividing their territory into zones but to no avail.
The non-implementation of the relevant law regarding zoning and building control and no master planning, the civic problems and water-borne diseases couldn`t be controlled, the experts said.
An official of the local government department said that it was obligatory for the owner to approve the map of house before constructing it. “Often the building inspectors don`t bother to visit their respective areas to inspect new construction of houses,” he added.
He said that even if they located new houses then they didn`t ask for the map rather received bribe from the owners.
He said that irrigation channels were being used for sewer, which was a source of many water-borne diseases. As there was no water treatment plant in the capital city, some of the drain water fell into the rivers, which polluted them and posed a threat to aquatic life.
Similarly, the owners of the houses also don`t care for the street, leaving it narrow wherein neither drain can be constructed nor pipes for gas can be installed.“We cannot stop such practices because the authorities concerned have not framed any rules in this regard,” claimed a Tehsil Municipal Officer.
Planning is the first step of any developmental activities. Without planning, the desired results are greatly reduced if not lost at all. This is why that more time is spent on planning in most of the developed countries. Resources, time and even the positive effects of developmental activities on the environment are carefully planned.
The master plan has all developmental activities including roads, water supply, sewerage, treatment plants, residential areas, commercial areas, parks, greenbelts, schools, hospitals, industrial areas, slaughter houses, etc. and also its future extension.
The master plan is implemented in letter and spirit and violation is strictly prohibited. This way a proper city and urban areas are developed and population is bestowed with healthy living and pleasant environment. All the resource is efficiently and effectively utilised.
Hayatabad Township in Peshawar was developed with all the essential facilities, having master plan and building control agency under Peshawar Development Authority. Under the same policy, more authorities were established in all divisions of the province.
Mardan Development Authority, Malakand Development Authority, Hazara Development Authority etc built townships in Mardan, Sawabi, Kanju, Swat, Kohat, Banu and D.I. Khan.
These townships are properly planned and have all the essential services and the developmental activities are executed as per master plan. “A visit to these towns will reveal that more towns should be developed on this pattern and the existing urban area should be improved on the guidelines established for these townships,” an official of Peshawar Development Authority said.
Under this policy, poor of the countries most benefited as three marala and five marala plots were developed at subsidised rates and the burden was shifted to the plots developed for rich, he said.
White House statement calles on both countries to show restraint and pursue dialogue; at least 100 people injured in Yemen protests."
The White House chided U.S. allies Yemen and Bahrain on Sunday for violence used by their governments against protesters and urged both to
exercise restraint.
"We urge the governments of these countries to show restraint, and to respect the universal rights of their people," the White House said in a statement.
Riot police in Bahrain have used tear gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to force a group of hundreds of anti-government protesters from blocking the capital's financial district.
A large number of officers reportedly fired "dozens" of tear gas canisters in an attempt to clear the area in front of the Bahrain Financial Harbour on Sunday, but protesters refused to fall back.
Footage of the scene on the video-sharing website Youtube showed one protester apparently being shot with a teargas canister at close range.
A number of people injured in the crackdown were taken away in ambulances.
Demonstrators have been camped out in front of the Financial Harbour site for more than a week, and on Sunday had threatened to form a human chain to block access to the facility.
Riot police also encircled demonstrators at Pearl Roundabout, the focal point of protests in Bahrain for nearly a month, firing tear gas canisters, according to witnesses.
"They are using tear gas in Lulu [Pearl Roundabout], and the riot police have circled the roundabout," a witness told Al Jazeera. "There were [also] many injured because of the rubber bullets that they used in BFH [Bahrain Financial Harbour]."
Hundreds of protesters are now reportedly moving towards Pearl Roundabout to join the group already there.
Mohammed Al Maskati, the president of the Bahraini Youth Society for Human Rights who was participating in the protests, told Al Jazeera that police used batons, tear gas and rubber bullets despite being told it was a peaceful protest.
Al-Maskati said police continued to fire tear gas on people who came to help the protesters following the initial crackdown.
Also on Sunday, a protest at the main university in Bahrain descended into violence with security forces and government supporters clashing with students, according to an Associated Press report.
Police injured
Manama has been paralysed by protests for weeks, with thousands of people, frustrated by unemployment and economic inequality, camped in the main roundabout since mid-February.
The protesters have also staged a number of marches on symbolic targets – the prime minister's office, the foreign ministry, and the state television building, among others.
But the decision to occupy Bahrain Financial Harbour was controversial within Bahrain's increasingly fractious opposition.
The sit-in outside the harbour was organised by a loose coalition of "youth protesters". The country's six formal opposition parties did not endorse the move.
Bahrain's interior ministry said eight police were injured during Sunday's operation to disperse protesters, including removing tents.
There were "eight injuries among policemen ... all were transferred to hospital," the ministry said on its Twitter page after announcing that police had fired tear gas to disperse some 350 protesters.
The ministry urged protesters to "remain in the [Pearl] roundabout for their safety", insisting the operation was aimed at reopening King Faisal Highway next to the financial centre.
Security forces had avoided the area after six protesters were shot dead in a pre-dawn assaulton February 17. A seventh died later of his wounds.
Three hard-line groups in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain have united and called for the ruling family to step aside, they announced.
The Haq, Wafa and Bahrain Freedom Movement parties have formed a "Coalition for a (Bahraini) Republic," the groups said late Tuesday.
"The people want to overthrow the regime," said Hassan Mushaima, secretary general of Haq movement, at a news conference. Video of the event was posted on YouTube.
He said the coalition was "motivated by the rules of our Islamic religion and international charters on human rights to freely decide their faith, and expressing our gratitude to the Bahraini community who suffered from the rule of the corrupt family of Al-Khalifah."
Anti-government protesters have been camped out in the Pearl Roundabout in the capital city, Manama, for nearly a monthThe new coalition is calling for a democratic republic with no ruling family -- a step further than other opposition groups, which are calling for a constitutional monarchy.
It appeared the hard-line groups represented a minority of the protesters at the roundabout, with more moderate protesters in the majority.
The government has promised to build 50,000 new housing units and hire an additional 20,000 police officers, roughly doubling the size of the force, amid protests.
Members of Bahrain's majority Shiite Muslim community are not allowed to join the force. Sunni Muslims -- a majority worldwide, but a minority in the kingdom -- dominate the government of Bahrain.
A large number of people protested outside the palace where Bahrain's cabinet was meeting Sunday, the first time a protest had been allowed at the site.
Protesters chanted slogans calling for the downfall of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa.
The protest, which lasted about 2 1/2 hours, was peaceful and broke up before the Cabinet meeting ended.
Anti-government demonstrators remain at the Pearl Roundabout, where seven people died when security tried to clear the area in mid-February.
More than 500 people have been injured in Bahrain since the protest began as part of a wave of popular unrest crashing through the Arab world, according to human rights activists.
A few dozen of those injured remain in the hospital. Four of them are in serious condition, said Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
Protesters initially took to the streets of Manama to demand reform and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy.
The royal family has led the Persian Gulf state since the 18th century.
Sunday, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa addressed the nation on television, saying that a consensus has emerged around 70% to 80% of the people's demands, according to a release from the government.
"Everybody wants better services. Everybody wants dignity. Everybody wants to be heard," he said.
"Instead of having winners and losers, let's have victory for all, security and stability for all, and respect for all."
Bahrain's king reshuffled his cabinet last month as protesters continued to call for reforms. He has also touted a "national dialogue" and urged Bahrainis "to engage in this new process" and "move away from polarization."
"Today we are drawing the future of a country," the crown prince said. "I can assure you that Bahrain will not go back to its former state because the one thing that is certain in life is change."
The young Shiite Muslim majority has staged protests in recent years to complain about discrimination, unemployment and corruption, issues they say the country's Sunni rulers have done little to address.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said authorities launched a clampdown on dissent in 2010. It accused the government of torturing some human rights activists.
Best known for its historic Buddha statues blown up by the Taliban 10 years ago, the Afghan province of Bamiyan has a fresh attraction which it hopes will draw in tourists -- skiing.
Travelling to the slopes in Bamiyan is a risky business due to the security situation in the war-torn country, although the central Afghan province itself, around 130 kilometres (80 miles) west of Kabul, is relatively safe.
While it is short on apres-ski and lifts, organisers are hopeful that adventurous travellers could have their interest piqued by Bamiyan's dramatic beauty and the promise of wild, ungroomed runs.
Afghans are also taking an interest in the sport, including a handful of women from the more liberal Kabul, despite conservative social codes in the country under which many still wear the burqa in public.
"In Europe and the US, more and more people want to go back to country skiing, wilder, without tens of people on the same piste," said Henry Charles, a 31-year-old British security worker who regularly skis in Bamiyan.
"That is a trend, and Bamiyan is all about that... you get your own line in fresh powder snow, that's great. We're at 2,500 metres (8,200 feet) so the snow stays very well, like sugar, for several days."
The 1.2 million dollar project to encourage skiing in the area was launched in 2008 by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) with the help of NZAID, the New Zealand government's international aid agency.It is backed by local officials who hope that skiing and tourism more generally can boost the economy of the poor agricultural region, where world culture body UNESCO said last week it wants to set up several museums to house the remains of Bamiyan's Buddha statues.
The three summits of Koh-e-Baba, Bamiyan's ski area, face the cliff where the massive Buddhas were blown up by the Taliban 10 years ago this month.
Before the Soviet invasion and subsequent wars in Afghanistan, Bamiyan welcomed around 65,000 tourists a year, of which some 10,000 were from Japan and came to see the Buddhas.
Last year, the figure stood at just over 3,300, of which just 805 were foreigners, mainly those already working in Afghanistan. The AKF says the figures are gradually increasing.
Taliban activity in Bamiyan is extremely rare because the area is largely populated by the Hazara ethnic group, their historic foes.
But there are other problems with attracting tourists to Bamiyan. One is that getting there is tough, and local officials say government promises of help to improve the situation have not been delivered on.
The two main roads from Kabul carry the risk of mines and hijackings by insurgents looking for cash, making flying the safest option.
However, at this stage no commercial airlines operate between Kabul and Bamiyan so most people travelling to the province rely on United Nations flights or those operated by Western embassies.
"The government promised us a couple of choppers but we haven't seen them yet," said Bamiyan's vice governor Haji Qasim Kazemi.Accommodation in the town is also primitive -- none of its 18 hotels has round-the-clock electricity and hot water.
In addition, no one really knows what the security situation in Bamiyan will look like in a few years, after international combat troops are due to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014.
Western sources suggest Bamiyan could be among the first wave of provinces in Afghanistan where responsibility for security will pass from international to Afghan forces from July.
Said Shah, a local teenager who has taken up skiing in recent years, highlighted fears that security could deteriorate, destroying Bamiyan's hopes of becoming a tourist destination again.
"If the foreigners continue their cooperation, we could be a ski station here one day. But peace is the first thing to achieve," he said.
Afghanistan could face a serious drought in 2011 that would make millions of poor go hungry and fuel instability as foreign troops seek to reverse surging violence in the battle against the Taliban.
Low rainfall early in the wet season will likely threaten Afghanistan's irrigated harvest, forecasts show, which with a surge in global grain prices could be devastating for a nation already ranked as having the world's worst food security. Officials are concerned drought, which could be averted if rain and snow fall heavily in coming weeks, could further destabilize Afghanistan as Washington races to prove it can turn back a tenacious Taliban before an initial withdrawal in July.
"Many Afghans live right on the edge of starvation and without necessary water there will be communities that will be on the move, seeking pasture and agricultural work in other areas," a senior U.S. defence official said on condition of anonymity.
"That has potential to put pressure on society ... While who sends the rain has nothing to do with your politics, the Taliban can say the government is not providing for (them)," he said. Afghanistan's population is about 30 million. Afghanistan needs about 5.2 million tonnes of wheat, the staple crop, a year. This year, the agriculture minister says the country will need to import, or receive donations, to cover about a fifth of that amount. Once an important regional producer of raisins and other fruit, Afghanistan watched its vineyards become minefields during years of war.
While a surge in U.S. troops last year helped drive Taliban fighters out of parts of southern Afghanistan, violence in 2010 hit its highest level since the Taliban government was toppled and militants are taking the fight to once-quiet areas. The bloodshed has turned Afghans like Khayatullah, a father of seven who abandoned his tiny farm in Ghazni province over a year ago, into refugees even less able to feed themselves.
Khayatullah, who earns $3 to $4 a day when he can find work as a day labourer in the capital Kabul, stands in the freezing mud along with dozens of others queuing for a 50-kilogram bag of wheat WFP provides him once a month during winter and early spring.
"I'd go back to Ghazni if there was work and security," said Khayatullah, wrapped in a worn blanket against the winter cold. "But I don't think that's going to happen any time soon."
Food prices here can also spike locally due to the violence, which makes transport more risky and more expensive. Yet there is time for things to turn around. Mohammad Asif Rahimi, Afghanistan's agriculture minister, said it was too early to say what the impact of poor early rains would be on harvests.
In a gym at Kabul's main stadium, where the Taliban used to publicly execute women accused of adultery, female Afghan boxers hoping to make it to the London 2012 Olympics are practising their jabs.
Some wearing headscarves, all in tracksuits, the slightly built young women pummel four heavy old punchbags hard, moving fast and light on their feet while their male trainer barks instructions.
The women are among a small number in Afghanistan training hard across a range of sports in the hope of being able to bring some pride to their war-torn country at next year's Olympic Games.
Men walking past the gym look in with lingering curiosity, highlighting how unusual it is for women to take part in such a violent sport in a conservative, religious state like Afghanistan.
Under the Taliban, who were ousted from government in 2001, all sport for women was banned, and it is still extremely rare for them to participate in rural areas. Even in cities, many sports for girls are at a fledgling stage.
But the sportswomen say they have the support of their families.
One boxer, 17-year-old Shafika, says her mother had encouraged her to take up the sport.
"When I started boxing I felt myself free and comfortable and happy," she says. "In the name of Afghanistan, we should have some women boxing and get some medals.
"We want the Afghan flag to come up at all the medal ceremonies for women boxing."
Still sweating after a vigorous session, one of the best prospects, 18-year-old Shabnam Rahimi, explains her love of boxing -- and says the idea of performing in the sporting world's biggest arena does not scare her.
"When I was 11, I saw boxing on TV, I followed it and now for four years I have been coming to training," she says.
"Some of the women say it is very bad for the face to be a boxer. I was worried because of my face but I'm not scared any more. I'm feeling strong and I can fight for myself."
The female boxers have some distance to go before they make it to the Olympics, though.
Trainer Mohammad Saber Sharifi says that the women must pass a pre-qualifying stage before they can join the games, which begin in July next year.
"I hope we send one or two to the Olympics," he says. "Boxing is very difficult and we have time to grow and improve. It takes time. The girls are growing and we hope for the future we have a good team."
In total, Afghanistan's Olympic committee is hoping to send around six women to the 2012 Olympics to represent Afghanistan, including in boxing, judo and taekwondo.
No Afghan woman has ever won a medal at the games, and only one man has -- taekwondo star Rohullah Nikpai -- making him a hero in his homeland.
Organisations which support female boxing in Afghanistan say its impact goes beyond only sporting success.
"Not only are they doing something they enjoy but they are challenging perceptions of Afghan women," says Louise Hancock, a Kabul-based spokeswoman for Oxfam, which supports the boxers through local NGO Co-operation for Peace and Unity (CPAU).
Pakistanis serving in Bahrain’s security forces were reportedly involved in a crackdown on protestors in Manama in February in which seven people were killed and hundreds injured. Some injured protestors told the media that the police who beat them up spoke Urdu.
“They are uneducated, don’t speak Arabic and are difficult to communicate with,” said Maryam alKhawaja, the head of the Foreign Relations Office at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, about the Pakistanis serving in the anti-riot police.
“Mostly they are Baloch. One story I heard from a witness was that a Baloch refused to shoot a protestor at close range, despite orders from his superior, because he was saying Allah o Akbar. The high-ranking officer, who was Bahraini, took the Baloch’s weapons, beat him and then shot the protestor himself.
According to Reuters, opposition activists estimate that up to half of Bahrain’s approximately 20,000-strong national security apparatus is made up of Sunnis from Pakistan, Jordan and Yemen.
Recruiting security personnel from these countries and any moves to naturalise them is viewed by the opposition as a way to increase the Sunni demographic, given that at least 70 per cent of Bahrain’s population is Shia. Thousands protested in Manama earlier this week against any move to give citizenship to Sunnis serving in the military.
“We can’t tell whether there has been an increase in Pakistanis (in the security forces) since the government refuses to give us any numbers on political naturalisation,” said alKhwaja.
Former Pakistani dictator Musharraf Terms Nawaz Sharif a closet Taliban. He’s a man who is — who has been — in contact with Taliban. He is a man who, today, appeases the clerics and mawlawis [Sunni Islamic scholars] — the extremists,” ‘Foreign Policy’ quoted Musharraf, as saying in an exclusive interview. “Moreover, he (Sharif) has tried [his hand at leadership as prime minister] twice in the past — and he has failed. Why are we giving him a third chance to destroy Pakistan”
Shabaz Sharif ,brother of Nawaz Sharif and thief minister of Punjab “tipped off” the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) about impending UN sanctions following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, allowing the outfit to empty its bank accounts before they could be raided.
The government of Punjab has been paying the salaries of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif’s personal staff members, A TV channel revealed in its report that the staff members who were being paid by the Punjab government included the PML-N chief’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Rai Riaz, his secretary, the cameraman and the photographer.
The salary of the PML-N chief’s PRO and personal secretary is said to be Rs 75,000 each, while his photographer and cameraman are being paid Rs 35,000 each, the channel reported. Nawaz’s PRO is also working as a consultant at the Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR). Later on the same channel, Senator Pervaiz Rasheed denied the news, saying that the personal staff of the PML-N chief was not being paid from the provincial exchequer. “None of them are part of Nawaz Sharif’s personal team and they are employees of the DGPR,” Rasheed said. “I am the personal PRO of Nawaz Sharif,” he added.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s slip of the tongue about requesting the Taliban to spare the Punjab may have triggered graver concerns as to the inner thinking of the party supposedly in waiting to hold power in Islamabad. The changing style of Nawaz Sharif’s cult politics, the pointed-top organisational pyramid and his party’s ambivalent position on crucial issues like the growing religious militancy and terrorism, the security paradigm, economic revival, and stance towards the US, India and Afghanistan necessitates more explanations than are available from the second biggest party of Pakistan.
The PML-N offers a vague one-size-fits-all policy on most issues. The idea is to keep the mainstream swing voters in a flux and show the real teeth once the levers of power are in control. The same strategy is in practice within the party where nobody knows who is going to do what in a future power set-up. A deliberate chaos has been created where all PML-N leaders are saying all things to all people. The real position, if there is one, is only known to Nawaz Sharif.
The party is likely to perform better than its earlier governments, if their hopes of returning to power in Islamabad materialize, or definitely better than the PPP government. But the PML-N is far short of the nirvana its sympathisers are hoping it to deliver.
The PML-N, to be fair, has fought a historic fight and bounced back from a near oblivion to stake its claim for a third round of power in Islamabad. It seems to have learnt a few lessons this time around. There has not been a major corruption scandal against the party. The PML-N seems to have developed respect for public opinion as shown in the case of supporting the judiciary movement and also by sacking elected members when found on a wrong foot. It has supported a democratic continuity and has refrained from becoming a tool in the hands of the establishment to dislodge the PPP government in the Centre — even after the provocative dissolution of their government in the Punjab. The party took a firm stance against the Army’s involvement in politics and did not fall in line to please the Americans overly.
Nawaz Sharif stands taller as a political leader with his closest rivals, after Benazir’s assassination, placed at a distant second position. He has the longest tenure in power than Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and even dictators Ayub, Zia and Musharraf. In his 27-year political career, he has been in power for 13 years — two years as Punjab minister, five years as Punjab chief minister and almost six years as twice prime minister.
Yet we still don’t know enough about him. What are his habits; his likes and dislikes? What does he read, if at all he does? There is more emphasis on his food habits than his mental and intellectual growth, particularly after his return from exile. What are his perceptions about the rapidly changing Pakistan and the world around him?
All we know is that Nawaz Sharif has been sucked into alarmingly dynastic politics of his family, his Kashmiri clan and few loyalists. The involvement of his family in politics and decision-making continues to grow.
First, it was just Nawaz Sharif. Then brother Shahbaz Sharif came along followed by Abbas Sharif, who did a stint as member of the National Assembly. There was always some issue about their late father Mian Sharif’s role as a guide from the back seat. Nawaz Sharif’s exile created a situation where his wife Kalsoom had to enter politics and exposed the next generation of the Sharifs to politics. Nawaz Sharif’s eldest Hussain was put in jail and younger Hassan had to travel all over the world for seeking help for the family.
The two brothers are out of active politics but son-in-law Safdar has entered the arena with an extra vigour. Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza learnt the ropes of politics through tough times in jail and has since joined active politics. His younger brother Salman is also politically ambitious and wants to join this charade of family grandees. Shahbaz Sharif’s third wife Tehmina Durrani, an author and an able person in her own right, is believed to be quite an influence on his political thinking. Ishaq Dar is also in the family after his son got married to Nawaz Sharif’s daughter.
If this jigsaw of family tree in politics was not enough, the involvement of the larger Kashmiri clan makes it more complicated. Kashmiris, they say, have a common grandmother. This web of distant relatives commands much more power than earlier, particularly in the central Punjab. MNA Khawaja Saad Rafiq is handy as a helping hand to manage Lahore and so are his MPA wife Asma and MPA brother Salman. Another Kashmiri Khawaja Ehsan is prominent all around and so are Sohail Zia Butt and his MNA son Omer in Lahore. Ghulam Dastgir and his MNA son Khurram oversee Gujranwala; Sher Ali and his MNA son Abid control Faisalabad, while Khawaja Asif is the ultimate authority in the affairs related to Sialkot — and much beyond.
It is widely believed in Lahore that if your name has a suffix of Kashmiri castes like Butt, Mir, Lone, Khawaja, Dar or Banday, you have a better chance of your grievance being addressed. The joke around town is that, like the clannish Chaudharies of Gujrat who tried to envision ‘Jattistan,’ the new move is to create the Islamic Republic of Butt-istan.
In the earlier PML phase, most political heavyweights like Gohar Ayub, Ejazul Haq, Majid Malik, Sheikh Rashid, Chaudhary Shujaat had grown in politics together with Nawaz Sharif. They had the collective weight to exercise more participation in decision-making. The crucial decision-making in the new PML-N is confined to a small number of close family members. The only outsiders with some weight are Chaudhary Nisar, Ahsan Iqbal and Pervaiz Rashid. All three of them have learnt the ways to survive in the dominant Kashmiri culture where food is discussed more than foreign policy.
Others like Raja Zafarul Haq, Zulfiqar Khosa, Tehmina Daultana, Mehtab Abbasi, Ghous Ali Shah are given lots of respect but this is more ceremonial than concrete. Everybody knows that Javed Hashmi is out of favours yet nobody talks about it. It is only in muted whispers that people will tell you that he was almost sold out to hijack PML while Nawaz Sharif was abroad. Everybody will deny this on record but it is obvious that he is given a cosmetic respect.
The ultimate decision making power, everybody agrees, is Nawaz Sharif. He forms an opinion by discussing things with the members of the family, clan and a handful of loyalists. A facade of consultation is devised where party elders are asked for their opinions. In nine cases out of 10, they try to give the opinion, which they think the great leader has already arrived at.
Nawaz Sharif then makes announcements, which are final. Nobody dares question his word and never in public. Welcome to democracy — the PML-N style.
In a country of 175 million, replete with some 15 million politico-religious extremists, opportunities for a positive geopolitical paradigm shifts are rare. Punjab’s Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Pakistan’s principal opposition figure Nawaz Sharif, tried to wreck this one by suggesting Taliban work out a “separate peace” with Punjab province.
“Cease targeting Punjab,” he said and focus on the other three provinces. Mercifully, there was a nationwide outcry against the wacky suggestion. Kayani summoned him and upbraided him in language he won’t soon forget. But this didn’t deter Nawaz Sharif from bragging about his “old friendship” with Osama bin Laden.Ex-ISI official says he arranged 5 meetings between Nawaz, Osama
LAHORE: Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Khalid Khawaja has claimed that he arranged five meetings in the past between former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden on separate occasions.
In a recent interview with a private TV channel, Khawaja said Nawaz asked the al Qaeda chief to provide financial support for “development projects”.
“I still remember that Osama provided me funds that I handed over to then Punjab chief minister Nawaz to topple Benazir Bhutto’s government,” said Khawaja, adding that Nawaz met Osama thrice in Saudi Arabia alone. “Nawaz insisted that I arrange a direct meeting with Osama, which I did in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “Nawaz was looking for a Rs 500 million grant from Osama. Although Osama provided a comparatively smaller sum … he secured for Nawaz a meeting with the Saudi royal family.”
The former ISI official also claimed that Nawaz had met leaders of Islamic movements around the world.
Khawaja said following a “forced retirement”, he went straight to Afghanistan in 1987 and fought against the Soviet forces alongside Osama.
Going into Friday, the world was bracing for a day of rage in Saudi Arabia.
It was largely a flop, and on Saturday the Saudi market surged on the calm.
But now there are fresh reports of trouble.
An AP report says 200 people are protesting in Riyadh outside of the Interior Ministry to protest the holding of prisoners. And at a protest in an unspecified in the east, police have actually fired on protesters, injuring 1.
In terms of the Saudi market today, it was rallying strongly throughout the day, and then dived late in the situation, finishing modestly higher.
This, combined with the ongoing tragedy in Japan, should make for a very active open to world markets over the next several hours.
Dozens of anti-government protesters in Yemen have been injured after security forces fired live rounds and tear gas at demonstrators in the capital.Witnesses said police and supporters of the ruling General People's Congress party attacked protesters occupying University Square on Sunday with live gunfire and tear gas.
Several thousand people had gathered in Sanaa early in the day, setting up barricades in an effort to separate themselves from riot police.
Witnesses said most of the wounded were suffering severe effects from tear gas but some were hit by bullets and two of them were thought to be in a serious condition.
Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reporting from Sanaa said security forces along with government loyalists started opening fire on the protesters, beating them with batons, throwing rocks and also firing tear gas canisters.
"At least 70 people have been injured, 14 of whom had bullet wounds ... two of them in very critical condition," he said.
"I've seen more than 40 people being carried to the makeshift clinic set up by the protesters, suffering from the suffocating effect from the tear gas."
Our correspondent said the day started relatively quietly with security forces deployed around the area when gunshots were heard and the scene became chaotic.
A statement from the United States on Sunday called for an end to the violence at protests in Yemen, which in total over the weekend claimed the lives of seven people.
"The United States is deeply concerned by continuing reports of deaths and injuries at demonstrations throughout Yemen in the past week," Philip Crowley, the US state department spokesman, said.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives."
The latest crackdown comes as pro-democracy opposition groups and students escalate their campaign to remove Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's president for 32-years, from power.
Anti-government protesters have been camped out for days at Tagheer Square demanding Saleh step down.
Streets to the square were blocked with tents earlier on Sunday, many flying flags and other symbols denoting the provinces of demonstrators who have come from around the country to join the opposition sit-in.
Footage appears to show man shot in chest with tear gas canister as police also use rubber bullets on Manama protesters.
Riot police in Bahrain have used tear gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to force a group of more than 300 anti-government protesters from blocking the capital's financial district.
A large number of officers reportedly fired "dozens" of tear gas canisters to clear the area in front of the Bahrain Financial Harbour on Sunday.
Footage of the scene on the video-sharing website Youtube showed one protester apparently being shot with a teargas canister at close range.
A number of people injured in the crackdown were taken away in ambulances.
Demonstrators have been camped out in front of the Financial Harbour site for more than a week, and on Sunday had threatened to form a human chain to block access to the facility.
Riot police also encircled demonstrators at Pearl Roundabout, the focal point of protests in Bahrain for nearly a month, firing tear gas canisters, according to witnesses.
"They are using tear gas in Lulu [Pearl Roundabout], and the riot police have circled the roundabout," a witness told Al Jazeera. "There were [also] many injured because of the rubber bullets that they used in BFH [Bahrain Financial Harbour]."
Hundreds of protesters are now reportedly moving towards Pearl Roundabout to join the group already there.
Mohammed Al Maskati, the president of the Bahraini Youth Society for Human Rights who was participating in the protests, told Al Jazeera that police used batons, tear gas and rubber bullets despite being told it was a peaceful protest.
Al-Maskati said police continued to fire tear gas on people who came to help the protesters following the initial crackdown.
Also on Sunday, a protest at a university in Bahrain descended into violence with security forces and government supporters clashing with students, according to an Associated Press report.
Police injured
Manama has been paralysed by protests for weeks, with thousands of people, frustrated by unemployment and economic inequality, camped in the main roundabout since mid-February.
The protesters have also staged a number of marches on symbolic targets – the prime minister's office, the foreign ministry, and the state television building, among others.
But the decision to occupy Bahrain Financial Harbour was controversial within Bahrain's increasingly fractious opposition.
The sit-in outside the harbour was organised by a loose coalition of "youth protesters". The country's six formal opposition parties did not endorse the move.
Bahrain's interior ministry said eight police were injured during Sunday's operation to disperse protesters, including removing tents.
There were "eight injuries among policemen ... all were transferred to hospital," the ministry said on its Twitter page after announcing that police had fired tear gas to disperse some 350 protesters.
The ministry urged protesters to "remain in the [Pearl] roundabout for their safety", insisting the operation was aimed at reopening King Faisal Highway next to the financial centre.
Security forces had avoided the area after six protesters were shot dead in a pre-dawn assaulton February 17. A seventh died later of his wounds.
