Saturday, August 31, 2013
Karachi: A 'targeted' operation
Pakistan: 4 killed in North Waziristan drone strike
The Express Tribune NewsA drone attack in Northern Waziristan killed four people on Saturday, Express News reported. The drone fired 2 missiles at a house in the Mir Ali area.
Founding an open Malala school system
Friday, August 30, 2013
The Gang Rape Epidemic in India
http://newsjunkiepost.com/The subjects of sex and property have nourished the Indian film industry for years. The female body has always been an object of gaze. Barring few notable exceptions, the stories are about a man in whose world a woman is but an accessory. The hero fights the battle and the heroine nurses the wound; the hero kills the villain and his woman submits her body and soul to him. They become block-busters, those harmless pieces of entertainment. “Let us watch it. So what if it is rubbish?” If this be the motto of our people, then I dare say: we are doomed. This sexist culture is reinforced by the Hollywood movies where the modern man finally finds his refuge, his model, his own image. Hollywood’s ability to detoxify every human experience is what appeals to us. The political is made apolitical and the anti-political, the dissenting, is turned into an object of ridicule. In our haste, we ignore the painful and honest voices. Our age admires the human-machine Arnold: his brick-like body, his machismo. In India during 2011, the total number of reported rapes was 24,206. One can fairly guess that, given the harassment of women who raise their voices, the real number of rapes was significantly higher. A month ago, Digvijay Singh, a senior leader of the Congress Party made a rude remark about a woman politician, and the entire country had a good time laughing at his sexist jibe. It is not uncommon in India for women to get raped even inside police stations; the army too has to its credit a large number of cases where women were raped by its personnel and then murdered. A year and half ago, I visited Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi on the surcharged day when India was playing a cricket match against its arch rival Pakistan. JNU is the bastion of the left, with excellent records in academics and activism. The campus was in a “nationalistic” mood (that is: an anti-Pakistani, anti-enemy mood). During the match, when an Indian batsman would score a boundary, the pro-India group would hoot, and when the Indian batsman would get out, the pro-Pakistan group would shout and hoot. This soon led to an ugly brawl during which the female students were singled out and targeted: in other words subjected to double violence for (a) being members of the “pro-Pakistani” group and (b) being women. She must know how to behave. “She is the enemy’s woman”, hence…. But it is heartening that JNU is making gender studies compulsory for everyone who is enrolled in the University. A month ago, a young woman at JNU was shot with a pistol in a classroom. She thankfully survived, but the young man who shot her died after he consumed pesticide. The media is in a state of mourning today, but yesterday, Amitabh Bachan, an Indian actor of distinction was asked by a journalist: “Why don’t you play a lead role, a role of a protagonist?” Would this journalist ever bother to ask this same question to a woman actor of the same age? No, because she would be an “old woman.” Female writers of hallmark and distinction are asked “Why haven’t you married?” Such nonsense is uttered, and people read it with delight. Sexism as an industry survives in India with much fanfare and approval. Sexism is part of the mass entertainment on which this country survives. Under the current circumstances, with another Indian gang rape being publicized world wide, the media has already started “Live self-defense training programs” that raise some ugly and profound questions about disciplining the body. If the media is so genuinely concerned, it must immediately start live or recorded classes on women’s studies. But such a thing will never happen. It is at best a quixotic dream. The media’s recently found love for fascism is sufficient proof of its concern toward the plight of working-class women. The “country” means: a tiny elite of the super-rich. Aided by the US and European bourgeoisie, a new aesthetic of culture is being circulated. Women are its first victims. Imperialism never respects. It is the sadistic pleasure of destruction that it thrives on. Its connecting motor is hatred of the other: blind and brute hatred. Rape in India is becoming an act of collective spectacle. After each rape, the politicians from the right use it as an occasion to teach women which values are Indian and which ones are not. According to Raj Thakrey, the recent incident would not have happened if the inept and corrupt Chief Minister and his Deputy had not been in office. In other words: “Get me elected, and I will ensure that such incidents do not happen.” For many Muslim fanatics, a rape becomes an occasion to “keep our women within bounds.” The youth too respond: they walk with candles under the glare of media cameras, upload their photos on FaceBook and then compete for “likes.” They gleefully participate, with hearts beating like water pumps, in the great debates organized by serious-looking journalists. And the media sincerely cries over it, weeps, confesses its helplessness. On other occasions it takes up the issue of a trial and condemns the rapists after “shifting through evidence with the seriousness of a Learned Judge.” Women are gang raped by the army and police in “disturbed” areas. But these incidents are never even discussed by our elite English-speaking journalists. They are mostly busy discussing castration and the death penalty. Given the fact that the vast majority have already succumbed to the lure of capital and its culture, it seems that those of us who live on the fringe are being asked to get used to the rapes and then to the banal televised outbursts. - See more at: http://newsjunkiepost.com/2013/08/24/the-gang-rape-epidemic-in-india/#sthash.2MoQrYP5.dpuf
UK's no vote on Syria harms ties to US
Afghanistan: Ending violence with violence
http://www.afghanistantimes.af/Once upon a time, mosques were considered to be places of solace, tranquility, and safety. It was when religion was neither a business nor was it used as an element of facade. But simplicity and dedication gained strength. It was when politics had never infiltrated the mosque. Now no place is safe—mosques, schools, markets, shrines, military barracks and playgrounds. The questions remain: why such sacred places are no longer safe and snug? And why our blood is spilled everywhere and everyday. It’s all because we face the scourge of militancy. Militants have become real life vampires whose sanguinary nature knows no bounds. This nation has suffered irreparable losses in men and material because of militants. These losses are becoming intolerable. But there is none who could place a full stop to their deadly activities. They have become the embodiments of terror while the general public is treated as scapegoats. Living up to their modus operandi and targeting once again a mosque, the militants killed a district chief in northern Kunduz province on Friday morning. 19 others were also killed in the suicide attack. The dead included the Dasht-e-Archi district’s administrative head Sheikh Sadruddin, his bodyguards, a public representative’s brother and some other civilians who had come to offer condolences to the family of a tribal elder who died a day earlier. The attack left 30 others injured. According to the Deputy Police Chief for Kunduz, the suicide bomb blew up at about 3:30am when a number of people were sitting in the condolence ceremony. The militants have become that much cunning, untrustworthy and treacherous that they can use any trick and any ploy to mow down government officials, public representatives, and tribal elders. The fury is elicited even more as these butchers don’t spare public places and education centers too. They don’t spare graveyards as well. They don’t stop spilling the blood of Afghans. They claim they have been fighting against foreigners but it is the Afghan nation that has borne the agonizing pain of fundamentalists’ repulsive actions. And it is the civilian population that has become the victim of a war orchestrated to annihilate terrorism. There is hardly a day where they don’t spill the blood of Afghans. They claim they have been fighting to bring peace and stability in the country and to push the foreign forces out but war itself is anti-peace. They have been at war over the past dozen years, claiming to be bearers of peace. Isn’t it absurd to say something and do something else? It is very contradictory. They claim they are fighting in the name of Islam while their very war is against the peace teachings of this great religion. Islam never allows targeting civilians or those who are not in the battlefield. It also doesn’t permit to target women, children and elderly and also trees and animals. What the Taliban have been doing is totally against Islam. They kill anyone - combatants and non combatants - irrespective of their gender, age and profession. They have become such a ruthless breed that none is safe in this country from their illogical ire and their insanity. They hate everything that belongs to Afghanistan. Even though reconciliation and diplomacy are effective tools, but looking into their mounting deadly attacks violence should be met with violence. The government should show its force to the militants as until now they have interpreted the peace appeals of the government as its weakness.
Afghanistan women’s football team defeats Kyrgyzstan
khaamapress.netdna-cdn.comAfghanistan national women’s football team defeated the national women’s football team of Kyrgyzstan during a regional match, organized ahead of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Gold Cup.
After British Vote, Unusual Isolation for U.S. on Syria
By DAVID E. SANGER
With a few exceptions in the past half-century, there has been a simple rule of thumb when it comes to international conflict: America does not use force without Britain at its side. So when Prime Minister David Cameron was unable to muster the votes in Parliament for support for a strike in Syria — even one limited to stopping the future use of chemical weapons — shock could be heard in the voices of senior White House officials who never saw the British rejection coming. “Bungled by Cameron,” said one. “Embarrassing,” said another. “For Cameron, and for us.” Now Mr. Obama is left to cope with miscalculations on both sides of the Atlantic. If he goes ahead with the strike — which seems all but inevitable, based on the statements of senior administration officials who say the president is determined to restore “international norms” against the use of chemical weapons — he will look more isolated than any president in recent memory entering a conflict. True, Britain stayed out of Vietnam — it was dealing with issues in the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia at the time — and there was no need for Britain in small actions in Panama and Grenada. Ronald Reagan angered his close partner Margaret Thatcher by providing minimal assistance in the Falklands War. But the Middle East, site of Britain’s former empire, is a different matter — territory in which Britain and the United States have long history and deep interests. For that reason, it was symbolically important that Britain was side by side with the United States in both Iraq wars in the past two decades, not only marching to Baghdad in 2003 but holding key parts of the country. It was a key player in the Balkans, a NATO operation. And so while its decision to sit this one out, over Mr. Cameron’s objections, may have more to do with the specter of Iraq among the British public, it is what one former adviser to Mr. Obama, who declined to be quoted by name, “the kind of setback that reeks of misjudgment and mismanagement.” Other former players in the Obama team, at least when speaking on the record, were only slightly more forgiving. “I think Obama is fighting a lot of war weariness and war wariness in both Britain and the U.S.,” said Christopher R. Hill, Mr. Obama’s first ambassador to Iraq and a longtime diplomat before becoming dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. “But you could almost see it coming. When you don’t have an overall diplomatic strategy, it’s hard to marshal a coalition. It’s better to have diplomacy backed by force, than force without a diplomatic strategy.” Instead, Mr. Obama has talked about restoring “international norms” against the use of chemical weapons, an argument he might reasonably believe would resonate with the British public, given the horrific experience British soldiers endured as they faced gas attacks during World War I. He may have also relied on Britain’s deep involvement in the Libyan intervention two years ago. But in this case, Mr. Obama has done comparatively little to explain his longer-term strategy for changing the course of events in Syria without getting sucked into a war. In fact, he has argued the opposite — that a brief strike will do the trick of teaching the Syrians a lesson. “It doesn’t seem credible,” said Eliot Cohen, a professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and the author of “Supreme Command,” a study of presidents and their relationships with the military. “The argument has been that you can do a strike, call it a day, and say ‘We taught them a lesson.'” If so, said Mr. Cohen, who served as a counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the State Department, “I fear it will just be a symbolic use of power.” The British Parliament, however, fears it will be something else: the beginning of another conflict in which the West will inevitably get sucked in.
Demos held across world over US-led military strike on Syria
People around the world have held demonstrations to express opposition to a Western military intervention in Syria.
In Jordan's capital, Amman, protesters expressed support for the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and chanted anti-US slogans on Friday.
“We are here today in protest against the prospective strike on Syria. The Arab people oppose any military strike by the United States and its NATO allies against Syria,” said a protester during the rally.In Turkey, people gathered outside the US consulate in the southern city of Adana to denounce the possible military action on the Arab country.
In the Turkish city of Istanbul, people held similar demonstrations and chanted slogans against the United States.
Anti-war demonstrations were held in Venezuela and Greece as well.
On Thursday, Londoners took to the streets to say no to a strike on Syria while in the US, anti-war rallies were held in a number of cities including Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
On August 21, the militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that hundreds had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar.
A number of Western and Arab countries have also accused Damascus of carrying out the attack.
However, the Syrian government has denied their allegations as baseless.
Since August 27, speculations have become stronger about the possibility of a military attack on Syria.
The UK parliament on Thursday voted against a motion by British Prime Minister David Cameron to authorize military action against Syria.
Washington says it is willing to carry out an attack against Syria without the approval of the UN or its allies.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the violence.
US ready to decide on military action in Syria 'on our own' - White House
President Obama could well consider a military strike in Syria despite the British Parliament rejecting a motion authorizing the UK’s involvement in the conflict.
White House officials told reporters Thursday that the statement from United States’ closest ally, reluctance from the United Nations Security Council, and widespread uncertainty in the US Congress would not be enough to sway Obama from a limited missile strike on Syrian targets. Obama, who has been criticized for not consulting with Congress over Syria, met with lawmakers and other top leaders in a White House conference call Thursday.
“We have seen the result of the Parliament vote in the UK tonight. The US will continue to consult with the UK government - one of our closest allies and friends. As we've said, President Obama's decision-making will be guided by what is in the best interests of the United States,” said a White House statement following the meeting. “He believes that there are core interests at stake for the United States and that countries who violate international norms regarding chemical weapons need to be held accountable.”
A White House statement released after the 90-minute teleconference said the call included, among others, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel as well as relevant committee chairmen and ranking members.
"The views of Congress are important to the President's decision-making process, and we will continue to engage with Members as the President reaches a decision on the appropriate US response to the Syrian government's violation of international norms against the use of chemical weapons," the White House statement read.
Hegel also said on a recent trip to the Philippines that "it is the goal of President (Barack) Obama and our government ... whatever decision is taken, that it be an international collaboration and effort," adding that the US would continue to consult with Britain on the matter.
"Our approach is to continue to find an international coalition that will act together. And I think you're seeing a number of countries publicly state their position on the use of chemical weapons."
When asked whether it was in Assad's power to do anything to prevent the threat of military action against his country, Hagel replied that he did not wish to "speculate on hypothetical situations."
US Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that administration officials failed to provide any new evidence but only revealed the government has allegedly intercepted "some discussions and some indications from a high-level [Syrian] official" regarding use of chemical weapons. "The main thing was that they have no doubt that Assad's forces used chemical weapons," Engel said.
The administration also plans to release a declassified intelligence report on the recent chemical weapons attacks in Syria Friday, according to Major Garrett of CBS News. The White House will reportedly release the legal justification for military action if Obama orders it, as well.
“When the president reaches a determination about the appropriate response…and a legal justification is required to substantiate or to back up that decision, we’ll produce one on our own,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in the hours before the British vote.
Thursday’s intelligence presentation did not implicate Assad in the chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus, White House aides told the New York Times, but administration officials believe they have “enough evidence to carry out a limited strike that would deter the Syrian government from using these weapons again.”
Assad and the Syrian government have blamed the chemical attack, documented in gruesome footage throughout the Internet, on opposition forces. The White House has admitted that the US has “no smoking gun” to prove Assad was behind the attack, leaving enough doubt for the British House of Commons to reject military action.
While UK MPs debated possible a possible missile strike US Congress was in the midst of a summer recess, although Senator Dianne Feinstein of California said a vote would not be necessary.
“There have been consultations. There will be more consultations,” she told Time magazine. “This is not to send troops over, as I understand it…obviously, it would be good to wait, but if time is of the essence that’s the decision the administration has to make. I think there is lots of ways of doing consultations which is adequate.”
Pakistan: Article 245 being misinterpreted: Raza Rabbani
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani Thursday said those demanding to call out army in Karachi are not presenting a full picture and Article 245 of the Constitution is being misinterpreted. “If the army does come to Karachi, it will render the High Court unable to exercise its powers,” Senator Rabbani said while speaking from the floor of the Senate. Speaking on the same issue, Senator Maula Bux Chandio warned that an (army) operation will leave everyone screaming at the end of the day. “I am against an operation in Karachi. I am saying this with my eyes set on Col. Mashadi that an operation will leave both you and us screaming,” Chandio said.http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/
Blasphemy in Pakistan: Why is Asia Bibi still in jail?
http://ahmadiyyatimes.blogspot.com/Four years ago, Asia Bibi was asked to fetch water while working in the fields. Some of her Muslim fellow workers refused to drink it because they considered it to be “unclean” since it was collected by a Christian. A dispute ensued and her co-workers complained that she blasphemed against the Prophet Muhammad. Then she was arrested, sentenced to death by hanging, and has been languishing in a jail ever since. Her husband and five children live under death threats and have been forced into hiding. The case has prompted widespread international condemnation, including from heads of state and the Pope.
Who is Veena Malik’s billionaire boyfriend? Find out!
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/Who is Pakistani actor Veena Malik dating these days? No, she’s not gone back to her Supermodel co-star Ashmit Patel. Neither is she with any cricketer. We spotted her with businessman Shaikh Umar Farukh Zahoor, who is her current boyfriend.
Judge overturns jail term for Pakistan doctor who helped find Osama bin Laden
South Korea shatter Pakistan's Hockey World Cup dreams
The Express Tribune
Pakistan lost to South Korea 2-1 in the Asia Cup Semi-final on Friday, Express News reported.
Pakistan managed to score just one goal from four penalty corners, evicting the team from the Asia Cup race.
Team green cannot qualify for the World Cup following its defeat in the Asia Cup semi-final.
Pakistan has played six World Cups so far.
Pakistan: Torture: the police’s language
EDITORIAL:Daily TimesThe police in Pakistan does everything except what it is meant to do: enforce the rule of law and prevent crime. In fact, having excelled as spoilers of the citizen’s peace, the force is used to carry out illegal jobs of the politicians and those who matter in the power circles. In a study carried out by the Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD) in three districts of Punjab, Faisalabad, Multan and Rahimyar Khan, a not unusual but persistent picture of the police culture has emerged. Bribes, torture, extra-judicial killings, manhandling at the time of arrest, resistance to lodge a First Information Report (FIR), misbehaviour with women, altering investigation processes without informing the complainant are excessively rampant. Combined, this is what makes up the popular misnomer: ‘Thana culture’, something the Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had vowed to dispense with. However, the rise of police encounters in recent years in Punjab certainly builds the case for a broken promise. The underlying theme of the report by DCHD is the third degree torture applied by the police that even makes innocent people confess to crimes they had never committed. Suspects are tortured to either protect the actual criminal or to get away with avoiding arduous investigative processes by cutting them short at the initial stage. People usually avoid going to the police, fearing that it will make things worse for them. Theoretically, in the case of a crime, the police is considered the first step towards the ends of justice. The prevalence of murders for personal revenge, acid-throwing incidents, abusive traditional punishments by panchayats (traditional courts), and the recent phenomenon of setting up of Taliban courts in Karachi are the results of a parallel justice system operating in society. The criminals have become fearless, making their own rules and dividing turf conveniently among different groups in, for example, Karachi, where they are busy killing people for extortion money and other reasons. According to one report presented in the Supreme Court, nearly 400 police officers are running crime rings in Karachi. The question arises that if the police is not doing what it is supposed to do, what then is it doing? Used for personal and political purposes by the higher ups, no attention is paid to its capacity building and neither is there any effective system within the police to convict officers complicit in crime or involved in abusing the law. This is where the rub lies. The only way to remove this anomaly is to ensure mechanisms to hold the police accountable for its misdeeds.
President Zardari: Demands for Karachi’s handover to army unjustified
President Asif Ali Zardari said in unequivocal terms on Thursday that there was no justification for calling the army out in Karachi in the presence of elected governments at the Centre and in the provinces.
The president expressed these views during a meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah at the Bilawal House here. The law and order situation in Karachi in particular and in Sindh in general came under discussion.
Zardari said the Sindh government should make an example of criminals and no slackness would be tolerated in protection of life and property of the masses.Sources said the president grilled the chief minister over the Karachi situation and the failure to provide timely relief to flood victims in the interior Sindh.
Shah briefed the president on the steps taken to improve the law and order situation in Karachi and provision of relief to flood victims; however, the president said it was not enough.
Zardari asked the chief minister to give a free hand to the police and other law enforcers to eliminate the criminals from all parts of Karachi without succumbing to political affiliations. The president also directed practical steps for provision of relief to flood victims.
President Zardari to be in politics after vacating presidency
China Over Syria : Action won’t help
What is behind Obama's actions in Syria?
Syria crisis: Commentators react to Cameron defeat
Britain says no to Syria intervention as U.S. considers actions
'US, NATO, hands off Syria' – hundreds of New Yorkers during massive protest against US strike on Syria
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Fast-food workers protest for higher wages in Los Angeles
U.S: Fast-food workers continue fight against low wages: 'This is our right'
Veronica Clark, a mother of three children and the sole breadwinner for her family in Detroit, has spent the last six years looking for a better paying job, to no avail. Every day, she puts on the shirt McDonald's provides her with and a pair of work pants of her own and goes to work serving burgers for $7.40 an hour. Clark, 47, is paid less per hour in real terms than the lowest paid US workers were half a century ago, when, on 28 August 1963, hundreds of thousands of citizens flooded into Washington for the historic march for freedom and jobs for black Americans. One of the marchers' demands was a minimum wage raise from $1.25 to $2, reflecting their belief that the wage floor did not enable hardworking men and women to live in dignity. In today's dollars, that would represent a raise from $8.37 to $13.39, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute this week, substantially less than the minimum wage of $7.25 today. Clark works between 36 and 40 hours a week to give her daughters, Crystal, 14, and Veronique, 15, and their brother, André, 16, a decent roof over their heads. But she takes home around $800-$1,000 a month, wages so low the government subsidises her earnings with food stamps. On Thursday, Clark plans to skip her shift at the burger giant for a day to take part in a nationwide protest by US fast-food workers designed to highlight wages that have fallen, in real terms, in the past five decades. Thousands of workers in 50 cities are expected to take part in the one-day demonstration, to demand $15 an hour wages and the right to unionise. It is the fourth time Clark, one of 53,000 fast-food workers in the city, has taken action to protest low wages. Unafraid of being fired for her actions, she says she is "doing what I have to do" to try to lift her and her family out of poverty. "I'm not scared," said Clark. "This is our right. We're trying to work on that too, to get unionised." The workers are supported by a broad coalition of unions, local community organisers and members of the clergy, who have successfully escorted workers threatened with the sack or other discipline for their actions, back into their jobs. The movement to raise the minimum wage has grown since 200 workers in New York staged a one-day strike last November. By July this year it had expanded, with seven other cities including Chicago, Detroit and Washington DC hosting strikes. The fast-food industry has long been the province of low wages, but unions and poverty campaigners point out that it is no longer an entry-level job for teenagers, but has disproportionately replaced many better-paying jobs lost in the recession. It is now one of the fastest-growing job sectors in the US, occupied by many family breadwinners. Women make up two-thirds of workers in the fast-food industry, and the median age of a female worker is 32, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A quarter of fast-food workers are raising children, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research Campaigners argue that, while wages remain low, profits at the big US chains, such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Domino's and Papa John's, are booming, reporting higher revenues and fatter operating margins than before the recession. McDonald's, which has 1.8 million employees, made $5.46bn in profits in 2012, while Domino's, with 34,000 employees made $112m the same year. So far, the strikes have yielded few tangible results and critics say that while unemployment stays high and jobs are in high demand, employers have no incentive to increase wages. President Barack Obama is pushing to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. The last federal raise of the minimum wage was in 2009. But even if Congress were solidly behind him, which they don't appear to be, the higher figure would still leave the US behind many other industrialised countries. The differences are stark. The US lags behind the UK, where the minimum wage is £6.11 ($9.50) Australia, where it is 15.96 Australian dollars, ($16.91), France, €9.43($12.68), and Tokyo,$9.10. And while the US's nearest neighbour, Canada, doesn't have a minimum wage, the lowest provincial wage in Alberta is $9.73 in US dollars. Although Canada is not part of the US strike for a minimum wage, it also has a fast-food campaign to raise the minimum wage to $14. Armando Zapata, 22, from Ottawa, Canada, works for Tim Horton's, a fast-food coffee and donut restaurant. It has taken him three years, he said, to find a job that pays what he needs to finally make ends meet, at $11.50 Canadian ($US 10.96) an hour. But he says it is "unimaginable" that US fast-food workers earn as little as $7.25. "Instead of always being stressed about money, I finally got to a stage that I am making ends meet," said Zapata. "I was struggling to feed myself but it's unimaginable that someone could feed a family on much less – $7.25 an hour." The restaurant where Zapata works is unionised, and as a result it pays a dollar above other non-unionised Tim Horton restaurants. It also pays health benefits. Fast-food workers in Ottawa typically earn $10.25 an hour, the minimum wage, or close to it. Such disparities raise a question: how can fast-food companies pay workers higher wages in some states, districts and countries, yet still make a profit, while arguing that paying higher wages elsewhere will hurt their profits? When the Guardian asked one outlet, McDonald's, how it could pay workers in Australia $16.91, while paying workers in Detroit $7.40, they sent a statement in reply. The story promoted by the individuals organizing these events does not provide an accurate picture of what it means to work at McDonald's. We respect the strong relationship which exists among McDonald's, our independent operators, and the employees who work in McDonald's restaurants. Our restaurants remain open, with our dedicated employees providing strong service to our customers. It went on to say that McDonald's pays "competitive pay and benefits to all our employees". "Our history is full of examples of individuals who worked their first job with McDonald's and went on to successful careers both within and outside of McDonald's." Pastor WJ Rideout the III, of All God's People church in Detroit, is part of a local coalition of campaigns for a minimum wage of $15, a group that includes the Service Employees International Union as well as D15 and Good Jobs Now. "People can't survive off $7.25 an hour," said Rideout. "A gallon of milk is almost $5 today and a loaf of bread is $4. Every thing has gone up significantly but the minimum wage has not. People are crazy to think you can live on minimum wages. Fast-food jobs are no longer starter jobs, they are mom-and-pop jobs, even senior citizens jobs. We call them survivor jobs now, because all people are doing is surviving. I see the hurt and the pain." Rideout said he expects thousands of Detroit's 53,000 fast-food workers to come out on strike on Thursday. Asked if he thought the protest would change anything, he said: "President Obama asked for $9 an hour before we did the strikes. A Democratic senator in California [Senator Barbara Boxer[ has now asked for it to be raised to $10. This is happening all across America. We are going to keep pushing until we see a change."Thousands of workers to take part in a nationwide walk-out as part of a growing movement for industry workers' rights
Syria: Are UK anti-war protests gaining momentum?
By Gerry Holt & Justin Parkinson
It is more than 10 years since the invasion of Iraq began.
During the long build-up to the conflict, amid debates over weapons of mass destruction and government intelligence, public opinion was divided.
Those against war made their feelings known.
A mass demonstration took place in London in February 2003. Two million people marched through the streets, according to organisers.
But, with the indicators growing stronger that some sort of military action is likely in Syria in the next few days, how loud is anti-war sentiment this time round?
'Sold a pup'
With less than a day to go before MPs and peers were due to debate the government's proposals, a demonstration took place opposite the entrance to Downing Street.
Several hundred people, ranging from teenagers to the elderly, held placards bearing slogans such as "Hands off Syria" and "Cut war, not welfare".
Ann-Kristine Westwood, a grandmother from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, told the BBC: "I can't see what we've achieved in 10 years in Iraq or Afghanistan. And I'm convinced we are being sold another pup.
"We can't afford schools, houses, teachers, nurses, but we buy as many bombs as we want. The people in this country can't afford another war."
She added: "The mothers in Syria are going to be terrified. We are now the terrorists."
As a man with a loudspeaker denounced the government, another man, in his late 20s, who declined to reveal his name, said: "We want to bring home to the politicians the fact that the vast majority of people in this country are against war.
"I think this may be a way to change some politicians' minds before the vote."
He added: "I've been interested in the Iraq war and the military intervention in Libya for a long time, but it's only now that it's reached this height of ridiculousness. This is the first time I've really felt compelled to come out and protest.
"I'm absolutely astonished how quickly this has happened and how much the government has rushed into this."
More marches
But most of the protesters were what might be called "veterans", those old enough to have been involved in the Iraq march.
What of the less committed?
Ian Chamberlain, a spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition (SWC), said anti-war sentiment was building.
Some 5,000 people were expected to march from Embankment to Trafalgar Square via Downing Street once more this Saturday, he said.
"I think we speak on behalf of a lot of people at the moment, as we did in 2003 and on Iraq, when two million went out on to the streets of London [to march] against intervention there," Mr Chamberlain said.
"We've seen in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya how intervention by the West has not been humanitarian."
But how many people does SWC speak "on behalf of"?
The Sun newspaper commissioned a YouGov poll of almost 2,000 adults and found that they were opposed to the use of British missiles against military sites in Syria by two to one.
YouGov's president Peter Kellner, said: "The public are very wary of any form of military engagement. They certainly don't want any British arms to go into Syria - even lightly defensive arms, let alone tanks and artillery.
"But we asked specifically about this idea of missile attacks on military targets in response to chemical warfare and by two to one the poll found people don't want that."
Mr Kellner added: "If one goes back 10 years ago to a similar situation to what we have now - the build-up to a special debate in Parliament about Britain going to war in Iraq - the week before the parliamentary vote only one third of the public wanted Britain to go to war without specific authorisation from the United Nations.
"But on the day of the parliamentary votes, when there hadn't been authorisation, it went from 33% to 50% and three weeks later, when Baghdad fell, it was 66% support.
"So public opinion is currently against British military involvement but I'm not certain it will stay against. It will depend on what happens in the next 24, 48, 72 hours."
'Tired of war'
People do not know what will happen. A "boots-on-the-ground" intervention in Syria is deemed unlikely, but perhaps targeted missile strikes could take place.
Some think this will be enough to deter President Assad's government from using chemical weapons in future.
Others fear the reaction could lead to a wider, ongoing, bloody conflict.
The disagreements transcend political party lines.
But will it be like 2003 again? Will thousands of children skip school once more in co-ordinated protests? Will the centres of cities come to a halt?
After Iraq and Afghanistan, UK Independence leader Nigel Farage, has said the "great British public are tired of being at war".
Can tiredness be turned into passion?
Mr Chamberlain said: "By mobilising people on the streets we're going to make it very clear what public opinion is [on Syria] and put our MPs under pressure to make the right decisions."
One of the protesters, Frank Friedmann, spoke of widespread anger, but added that, in the face of the government's decision, there was a "feeling of futility" about protest.
He added: "But I've come down here from Leicester to play my part."
The next few days will show how many people feel compelled to join him.
Putin and Merkel agree UN Council must study Syria probe
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Thursday on the need for the UN Security Council to study a report by UN experts on the alleged chemical attack outside Damascus, the Kremlin said.
Russia: West is acting in Muslim world like a ‘monkey with a grenade’
The Washington Times
Western countries are behaving in the Islamic world like a “monkey with a grenade,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tweeted on Tuesday as the United States and its allies mull military action against Syria.
“The West behaves towards the Islamic world like a monkey with a grenade,” Mr. Rogozin posted to his 150,000 followers as Russia begins to evacuate its citizens from Syria, AFP reported.
Envoys from the United States and its allies have told rebels fighting President Bashar Assad that Western powers might attack Syria within days, Times Live reported.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/28/russia-says-west-acting-muslim-world-monkey-grenad/#ixzz2dN8wPxJA
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
Foreign Firm to Survey Afghan-Tajikistan-Turkmenistan Railway Project
http://tolonews.com/The Afghan Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) on Thursday said that a foreign company would soon begin an assessment the Afghan leg of the Afghanistan-Tajikistan-Turkmenistan railway project. The MoPW refused to reveal the name of the company, which just recently won the bid to survey to project, until the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had vetted and approved the firm for contracting. The company's documents were sent to the ADP office in the Philippines this week. "The Asian Development Bank has always helped Afghanistan in carrying out several infrastructural projects," said Nurgul Mangal, the Deputy Technical Minister of the MoPW. "The Bank has committed to fund a part of the project, and the assessment of will begin soon after the firm is approved." Mr. Mangal said that his Ministry tentatively approved the foreign company to evaluate the technical and financial modalities of the Afghan section of the transnational railway construction following a competitive bidding process. The 550 KM railway line is intended to be completed in a span five years. The entire project is estimated to cost approximately $960 million, much of which will be provided by the ADB. In addition to the Afghanistan-Tajikistan-Turkmenistan railway project, recently, President Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed to establish a railway line between their two nations to better facilitate travel, trade and commerce.
Pakistan overturns sentence of doctor who helped find bin Laden
A Pakistani judicial official on Thursday overturned the 33-year jail sentence passed on Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped CIA agents hunting for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who was killed in 2011.
U.S. officials have hailed Afridi as a hero for helping pinpoint bin Laden's location before the secret May 2011 raid by U.S. special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after more than a decade of searching.
Judicial official Sahibzada Mohammad Anees ordered a new trial on the grounds that another official had exceeded his authority when handing down last year's sentence. Afridi remains in custody.
"The assistant political agent ... did not have the authority to award 33 years' imprisonment to Dr. Shakil Afridi," said the written judgment. "The assistant political agent played the role of a magistrate for which he was not authorized."
A political agent and his assistant are representatives of the Pakistani government in the tribal areas, which are not covered by the country's judicial system.
Afridi's sentence further damaged ties between Pakistan and the United States when they had already strained over the bin Laden raid. Angry U.S. senators symbolically withheld $33 million in aid from Pakistan in retaliation.
Relations since then have slowly improved but there remains plenty of residual distrust on both sides.
Lawyer Samiullah Afridi said Afridi plans to submit an application for an early hearing.
Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign, in which he collected DNA samples, that is believed to have helped the American intelligence agency track down bin Laden.
Pakistani officials initially said Afridi would be tried for treason for helping the United States, but court documents showed he was jailed for being a member of a militant group, Lashkar-e-Islam.
Afridi denied the charges and a spokesman for the group said they had no ties with him.
"Shakil was himself kidnapped by militants," Afridi's lawyer told Reuters. "He had to pay a lot of money for his release. There is no question that a person like him would treat militants or give them funds."
Afridi's new trial will be conducted under the auspices of the political agent of Khyber Agency, Anees said in his statement.
Anees is a commissioner with responsibility for law in Pakistan's tribal areas.
Russia, Pakistan Hold 'Strategic Dialogue'
http://www.rferl.org/Officials from Russia and Pakistan are wrapping up a two-day "strategic dialogue" in Moscow on August 29. Media reports from Pakistan say Foreign Secretary Jalil Jilani is leading his country's delegation in the talks, with topics ranging from economic, political, and defense cooperation to regional and international security issues. Commentators say the talks mark a high point in bilateral ties after years of frosty relations. Russia has been supportive of Pakistan becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and helped Pakistan obtain observer status in the organization. For its part, Islamabad backed Russia's bid to gain observer status in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Defense ties between the two nations are also closer. Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Kiyani visited Moscow last year and the Russian Air Force chief visited Pakistan earlier this month.
PPP supports targeted operation in Karachi
The Express TribunePakistan Peoples Party (PPP) supported calls for a targeted operation in Karachi on Thursday, Express News reported. PPP leader Naveed Qamar was representing his party during the National Assembly today, where he said that an operation should be conducted without any discrimination. He further said that a targeted operation is the only solution to the prevailing violence in the city and the judiciary should also support this suggestion. Earlier today, the federal interior minister proposed a targeted operation to counter the ongoing violence and killings in Karachi. Background Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took notice of the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi on Wednesday. The notice came after MQM demanded that the army be deployed in Karachi. MQM chief Altaf Hussain had demanded army deployment to protect the life and property of the Kutchi community in Lyari. He had clarified that the Constitution allows them to make such a demand. Nawaz decided that a special cabinet meeting will be held on September 2 or 3 in Karachi to discuss the situation in the city and determine what parties are in favour of this demand. Earlier, major political parties in Sindh rejected MQM’s demand to deploy army in Karachi to maintain law and order. Imtiaz Shaikh of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) had said that his party would not extend any support if the forces are moved in Karachi for law and order. “Police officials should be appointed on merit and given full authority, otherwise no change will take place,” he said. “It should be examined as to why the situation in Karachi reached a point where the MQM had to make this demand”, said PTI Deputy Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi. However, he did not subscribe to the demand. Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Mohammad Hussain Mehnati had said that calling the soldiers was not a solution to every problem. The provincial government should end its reconciliation policy and take action against the criminals, he said.
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