Obama to order expansion of overtime pay

By Zachary A. Goldfarb

President Obama plans to order new overtime protections for “millions of workers,” using his executive authority to revise regulations covering who should be paid extra for working more than 40 hours a week. A White House official said Wednesday that Obama would direct Labor Secretary Thomas Perez “to begin the process of strengthening overtime pay protections for millions of workers to help make sure they are paid a fair wage for a hard day’s work while simplifying the rules for employers and workers alike.”

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the move reflects the fact that current Labor Department regulations establishing a 40-hour workweek have grown outdated. According to the White House, millions of salaried workers have had to work 50 or 60 hours a week without being paid overtime — and, in some cases, “making barely enough to keep a family out of poverty.”

Asked about Obama’s planned executive order by reporters Wednesday morning, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) rejected suggestions that the issue could become a difficult one for Republicans to ignore in an election year. “There’s all kinds of rumors about what the president may or may not do with regards to overtime pay and reclassifying some jobs for overtime,” he said. “But if you don’t have a job, you don’t qualify for overtime. So what do you get out of it? You get nothing. The president’s policies are making it difficult for employers to expand employment. And until the president’s policies get out of the way, employers are going to continue to sit on their hands.”

The effort has already drawn intense resistance from the business community, which is likely to say that new regulations and higher wages could hurt jobs in a still-recovering economy with a 6.7 percent unemployment rate.

The White House did not say how administration officials plan to overhaul regulations to ensure that workers are better compensated. But administration officials cited their authority to regulate overtime under the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. That act requires most workers to be paid overtime but permits exemptions at the discretion of the Labor Department. One prominent exemption permits employers to deny overtime pay to “executive, administrative and professional” workers.

Companies have broad leeway to classify workers as being in this category, even if their job duties are far from what’s generally considered white-collar work. Today, most workers who make more than $455 per week are eligible to be classified as “executive, administrative and professional.” Workers earning less than that must be paid overtime. The George W. Bush administration set the $455 level in 2004, and it has not been adjusted to account for inflation. If inflation were taken into account, the threshold would be $553 per week. The White House official noted that the Labor Department first set the salary threshold in 1975 at $250 per week, which would be $970 in today’s dollars.

One option for the administration would be to hike the federal threshold to somewhere between $550 and $1,000 per week, and perhaps set it to rise automatically with inflation. California and New York already have set state thresholds of $640 per week and $600 per week, respectively, with the caps set to rise to $800 per week and $675 per week in 2016.

The White House official said the action, which was first reported by The New York Times, is part of the administration’s campaign to make progress on important priorities despite political gridlock in Congress. “The central tenet that motivated President Obama to run for office and guides him every day is that, in America, if you work hard and take responsibility, you’ll have the opportunity to succeed,” the official said.

“Today, after weathering the Great Recession, and through five years of hard work and determination, America is creating jobs and rebuilding our economy. But as a result of shifts that have taken hold over more than three decades, too many Americans are working harder than ever just to get by, let alone to get ahead.”

The Future of Internet Freedom

By ERIC E. SCHMIDT and JARED COHEN

OVER the next decade, approximately five billion people will become connected to the Internet. The biggest increases will be in societies that, according to the human rights group Freedom House, are severely censored: places where clicking on an objectionable article can get your entire extended family thrown in prison, or worse.

The details aren’t pretty. In Russia, the government has blocked tens of thousands of dissident sites; at times, all WordPress blogs and Russian Wikipedia have been blocked. In Vietnam, a new law called Decree 72 makes it illegal to digitally distribute content that opposes the government, or even to share news stories on social media. And in Pakistan, sites that were available only two years ago — like Tumblr, Wikipedia and YouTube — are increasingly replaced by unconvincing messages to “Surf Safely.”

The mechanisms of repression are diverse. One is “deep packet inspection” hardware, which allows authorities to track every unencrypted email sent, website visited and blog post published. When objectionable activities are detected, access to specific sites or services is blocked or redirected. And if all else fails, the entire Internet can be slowed for target users or communities.

In other cases, like in Ukraine, sites are taken offline with distributed-denial-of-service attacks, which overwhelm a server with digital requests, or else the routing system of the national Internet system is tampered with to make entire sites mysteriously unreachable. Entire categories of content can be blocked or degraded en masse; in Iran, we hear that all encrypted connections are periodically severed and reset automatically.

How common is each tactic? Reliable data can be scarce. Measuring patterns of censorship brings its own risks: If you repeatedly check whether “objectionable” content is being blocked, you risk becoming a target yourself. And while the technologies of repression are a multibillion-dollar industry, the tools to measure and assess digital repression get only a few million dollars in government and private funding. Private and academic centers like the Citizen Lab in Toronto are building detection tools, but we are still in the early days of mapping the reach of digital censorship.

Of course, detection is just the first step in a counterattack against censorship. The next step is providing tools to undermine sensors, filters and throttles. Again, the groundwork is being laid. For years, a vibrant community of engineers from San Francisco to Beijing have collaborated on circumvention technologies to shield dissidents from surveillance. One such tool, called Tor, has been used by tech-savvy dissidents around the world for over a decade. Our travels have taken us to North Korea, Saudi Arabia and other countries grappling with repression. Yet when we meet dissidents and members of harassed minorities, we are surprised by how few of them use systems like Tor. Trust is perhaps the most fundamental issue. In Iran, online bazaars sell services that promise secure access. Yet rumors swirl that these services are covertly provided by the Iranian government, and can be monitored or terminated at any time.

Scalability is another problem. One popular approach, virtual private networks, allow users in a repressively censored place like Syria to “proxy” the connections through a computer in a more open place like Norway. But when thousands of users connect to a single intermediary, the repressive government notices, and shuts them down. The final challenge is usability. Engineers can build sophisticated algorithms, but they’re useful only if a member of, say, the Kurdish minority in Iran can figure out how to install them on her low-bandwidth phone.

None of these challenges are new. What is new is the possibility to overcome them — if we make the right public and private investments. For example, software using peer-to-peer algorithms lets users route an Internet connection through another computer without having to go through a V.P.N., helping to address the trust and scalability issues. These algorithms don’t resolve the trust issue completely. How do you know you’re actually connecting to your friend, not a government agent? Ten years ago, this challenge would have been a deal breaker for many people. But today it’s possible to use networks like Facebook or Google Hangouts to verify one another’s identities similarly to how we do offline.

Obfuscation techniques — when one thing is made to look like another — are also a path forward. A digital tunnel from Iran to Norway can be disguised as an ordinary Skype call. Deep packet inspection cannot distinguish such traffic from genuine traffic, and the collateral damage of blocking all traffic is often too high for a government to stomach. Finally, advances in user-experience design practices are a big, if not obvious, boon. The Internet is becoming easier to use, and the same goes for circumvention technologies — which means that activists will face less of a challenge getting online securely. Much of the fight against censorship has been led by the activists of the Internet freedom movement. We can join this open source community, whether we are policy makers, corporations or individuals. Money, coding skills or government grants can all make a difference. Given the energies and opportunities out there, it’s possible to end repressive Internet censorship within a decade. If we want the next generation of users to be free, we don’t see any other option.

New York: Authorities respond to massive explosion in East Harlem

New York police and fire officials were responding to reports of a massive explosion in Manhattan's East Harlem, authorities said Wednesday. There were at least 11 minor injuries as clouds of dark smoke rose over the residential neighborhood of red-brick tenements, fire officials said. Metro North commuter rail service, which runs along the site of the blast on Park Avenue, was suspended, officials said. "Two buildings have collapsed. I hope there is no one in there. It's just rubble," a worker at a nearby flea market said. Clouds of dark smoke could be seen for a three-block radius as hundreds of rescue officials descended on the scene. CNN first learned of this story via Twitter.

Thar's Hindu minority restricted to weak food supplies

There have been gross allegations of discrimination against minorities, even in relief commodities dispatched by the Federal government for drought-hit Thar's region of Mithi.

According to sources bulk of commodities dispatched to Thar include meat products, which are religiously prohibited for the majority Hindu religion, which form in Thar.

The unfortunate Hindus have been restricted to small portions of lentils (pulses), which is an insufficient source of whetting appetites, while vegetables which are strong source of building immune system have been ignored. Medical and nutrition experts and chief coordinator of relief services Arbab Ghulam Rahim have also termed this prohibition of meat by Hindu community as the chief cause of Thar's horrific famine, since many Hindu citizens are said to have fallen ill from continuous consumption of lentils.

PPP's parliamentarian Ramesh Lal has said that about 2 million Hindus of Thar were suffering due to lack of access to relief goods arriving in Thar. He said though the Sindh government is trying is best to facilitate the Thar people; however, it could not succeeded as it should be.

http://www.nation.com.pk/national/12-Mar-2014/thar-s-hindu-minority-restricted-to-weak-food-supplies?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online%2Fislamabad+%28The+Nation+%3A+Islamabad+News%29

Video: Thousands gather for Turkish boy's funeral after night of protests

Pakistan: Rupee Strengthens Against $USD After Receiving $750m Saudi Funds Agaisnt Asad Government

shiapost.com

The rupee continued to appreciate on Tuesday as the value of the US dollar fell to below from PKR 108 to PKR 100 after receiving $750 million funds from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over military support against Bashar-al-Asad government in Syria.

According to the forex.pk website, the open market rates for the greenback were Rs99.90 in buying and Rs100.45 in selling. However, the inter-bank rates dropped further to Rs99.50 in buying and Rs99.70 in selling. The ongoing trend in the open market suggests that the value of the rupee has fallen by 0.99 per cent from Monday, and dropped by 5.64 per cent since January.

The current trend in the inter-bank trading showed a drop of 2.64 per cent from yesterday, and a 5.23 per cent fall from last month.

The yearly difference in both the open market and the inter-bank trends is a rise of 1.01 per cent and 1.73 per cent respectively. Pakistan’s senior politician of Sheikh Rashid observed that the government instead of taking care of its own people hardly hit by terrorism has preferred to interfere in Syria which he added was a violation of international norms when it comes to international relations. He termed himself misfit for the parliament under the circumstances and announced boycott of the session. It is to mention here that according to foreign media, Saudi Arabia has received Pakistani arms including anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets to Syrian rebels to try to tip the balance in the war to overthrow President Bashar Al Assad.

As the State Bank of Pakistan remains tightlipped over the source and purpose of funding, Pakistan received another tranche of $750 million in the newly-established Pakistan Development Fund (PDF), taking the total contribution to $1.5 billion so far. Highly-placed sources told The Express Tribune that friendly countries have injected another sum of $750 million in the PDF – an account opened to channel money from abroad. The last tranche was received in February that stabilised the dwindling official foreign currency reserves.

On February 13, 2014, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a weekly news briefing that defence cooperation would figure in the Crown Prince’s interactions and that Pakistan was eyeing Saudi Arabia as a market for military gear. “Certainly, defence cooperation would figure in the talks. The army chief would be calling him separately,” she said.

Pakistan is interested in selling arms to Saudi Arabia, including the JF-17 Thunder jet co-developed with China, the Mushak trainer aircraft and other equipment, she added. Aslam rejected recent Western media reports suggesting that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are looking at nuclear cooperation, describing them as “baseless”. “There is a whispering campaign and at times there are reports based on leaks or background briefings…They are baseless. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are not discussing nuclear cooperation,” she said It is the first time that any country has generously given $1.5-billion assistance to Pakistan within one month, as Islamabad never received such an amount as ‘upfront’ payments. The US, which remains the largest contributor, always gave amounts in tranches spreading over several years. Under its five-year, $7.5-billion Kerry Lugar aid package, Washington gave less than $2.5 billion in government-to-government assistance in over three years.

However, it was not clear whether the money received is a grant or depository loans aimed at temporarily bailing out the country. The Pakistani rupee’s strong showing against the US dollar over recent days has taken financial analysts and currency traders by surprise.

The rupee gained 1.66 on the dollar in one day on Monday and has gone down from over Rs 111 to just above Rs 100 against the greenback.

Increases in remittances, the clearance of Pakistan’s share in Coalition Support Funds (CSF) of almost $ 350 million, and a massive payment of more than $ 750 million into Ishaq Dar’s brainchild, the Pakistan Development Fund, have played their part.

In particular, growth in exports, almost 18 percent year-on-year, has pushed the trade imbalance down almost five percent, strengthening the rupee. However, globally, the dollar has been weakening for the better part of seven months, as part of a deliberate monetary policy by the US Federal Reserve to help exports. One can’t overplay the effects of funds entering Pakistan from various sources, which have boosted the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) forex reserves by over $ one billion in the last month.

The SBP was tightlipped about the source for much of these funds, but it is possible they recalibrated forex levels after a deferred payment scheme was reportedly reached with Saudi Arabia for oil purchases. The prime reason for rupee to revert back sharply in the last week is the building up of SBP reserves which are up from the low of $2.84 billion to $3.92 billion in a span of three weeks. Some of the flows like CSF money were well anticipated but the market was surprised by around $700 million jump in reserves in the third week of February. That is probably due to $750 million in aid coming from Saudi Arabia for some military related supports to the Kingdom.

That has changed the sentiments–punters, traders and treasurers are expecting reserves to build up further on account of some negotiations going on with KSA and some GCC countries for deferred oil payments. The government has almost finalized a deal with KSA for six months deferred oil payments for a period of three years, similar deals are envisaged with Kuwait and the UAE. Together, these measures can give a cushion of over $5 billion in imports payment in next six months and that can be continued for three years. Even, only with Saudis we can save $400-500 million per month in oil import payments for six months and forex reserves to be up by same amount. No wonders, the SBP expects its reserves to reach by $4.7 billion by April end and $6.7 billion by June end (See BR Research article Whats behind rupee appreciation?” published on Feb 18). This information has changed the market sentiments, thereby creating a domino effect as many who were holding back dollars for months are now offloading them to book the loss, and that has resulted in further appreciation in the currency. Plus, the USD is falling internationally for a host of reasons–the Indian rupee has appreciated by 3-4 percent last week against USD, so Pakistani market is no exception.

But this sudden appreciation in currency without strong macroeconomic fundamentals has all the potential to worsen current account balance and can make currency more volatile. Its a big loss to exporters–if the dollar is down by one rupee, our textile exports lose out Rs12billion per annum, so in the last week potential loss is close to Rs50billion. Soon the strong textile lobby and large vote bank in Faisalabad may approach PML-N leadership to bail them out. Plus, its going to be windfall for importers to enjoy higher margins by not fully passing on the impact of rupee appreciation. Even if they do pass on the benefit then higher import demand may put a pressure on balance-of-payment.

Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMEA) on Monday expressed concerns over the appreciation of Pak rupee against dollar, which has a serious impact on exporters. “The appreciation of rupee against dollar during your tenure is no doubt a very good sign; however, this has seriously impacted our exports,” says the PHMEA letter to Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. In the letter, Chief Coordinator, PHMEA, Javed Bilwani said that the foreign buyers signed deals with Pakistani exporters three to four months ahead of the shipments. “Exporters, who have taken orders on the costing before the increase in value of rupee, will be seriously affected as by the time payment is realised there would be a difference of approximately seven percent as the exchange rate of dollar against rupee was Rs 108.46 on December 12, 2013 and Rs 100.90 on March 10, 2014,” he said.

He said that the exporters were striving hard to retain their share in the global market just at 4 to 5 percent of margin of net profit, adding that the strengthening rupee value will left them ‘ruined’. He said the rupee value grew during November and December last year which is always a peak booking period for the exporters to strike deals with foreign buyers for next summer season. He requested Ishaq Dar to spare time for a meeting with the value-added textile products exporters to evolve a policy that may support the struggling sector to earn foreign exchange for the nation without getting affected.

Pashto Tapay :Nazia Iqbal and Javid Fiza

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Indian VP, Hamid Ansari, Attends Afghan Vice Prez Fahim's Funeral

http://www.afghanistantimes.af/

Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari today attended the funeral of Afghanistan's First Vice President Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, and said in his demise India has lost a "true partner".

Ansari, the senior most foreign dignitary to attend the funeral, described the former senior commander of the Northern Alliance that fought Taliban as an "illustrious son" of Afghanistan and a "towering leader" of the Afghan people. Fahim, 57, died of natural causes in Kabul on Sunday. Fahim, a close lieutenant of charismatic Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Masood, visited India in 2011. India has lost a "true partner", Ansari wrote in the condolence book. Earlier, Ansari arrived here with a delegation which, in a unique gesture, included three former Ambassadors to Afghanistan - Vivek Katju, Rakesh Sood and Jayant Prasad. Ansari too was India's envoy to Afghanistan in 1989-90. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy and point person for Afghanistan Satinder Lambah was also part of the delegation. The pointed inclusion of former ambassadors to accompany an Indian dignitary at a funeral, is the first of its kind in the realm of India's foreign engagement and reflects the importance that India places on the strategic partnership with Afghanistan, sources said. After the funeral prayers, Ansari had detailed talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace here. The two leaders discussed the situation in Afghanistan as it heads to presidential elections on April 5 and other bilateral issues. Thanking the Vice President for braving snow and bad weather to attend the funeral, Karzai said this reflected the "all weather" nature of India-Afghanistan relations. Karzai said whatever the outcome of the forthcoming elections and the orientation of the new leadership, friendship with India would remain a "top priority" for any new government in Afghanistan. Ansari mentioned that friendship between the people of India and Afghanistan existed much before friendship between the two governments and there was unanimity in India about the continuance of good relations with Afghanistan. India's strong bonds of friendship with Afghanistan were a "matter of conviction not convenience," said Ansari. (Outlook India)

Group claims responsibility for killing Swedish journalist in Afghanistan

A more radical militant group has claimed responsibility for killing a Swedish journalist in a brazen raid in the Afghan capital. The slaying on Tuesday of 52-year-old Nils Horner, who also held British citizenship in Kabul’s diplomatic enclave, has sent a new shock wave for foreigners living there.

While Afghans are still probing the motive and scrambling to find the two culprits who fled right after the attack, a militant group calling itself Fidayee Front of Afghanistan’s Islamic Movement said it carried out the killing.

The group, which according to some Afghans has been operating separately from the Taliban insurgents led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, was formed in recent years. The group said it killed the journalist because it believed he was a spy for the British M.I.6. “Mujahideen targeted Nils Horner. Nils Horner was killed in this attack. He was not a journalist. He was a spy of (M.I.6), he was a special worker of (M.I.6),” a statement on the group’s website quoted its spokesman Qari Hamza as saying. The group claims loyalty to Mullah Dadullah, a notorious Taliban commander killed in 2007. It has also claimed responsibility for killing a former Taliban minister, Mullah Arsala Rahmani, in 2012 in Kabul. Rahmani, who lived under government protection in Kabul, was viewed as a potential intermediary in stalled peace talks between the government and the Taliban led by Mullah Omar and other insurgents.

On Wednesday, an official for Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency said it recently foiled a major planned attack in Kabul by the Dadullah group.

Canadian military involvement in Afghanistan formally ends

The Canadian army has hauled down the flag in Afghanistan. An understated ceremony, held under heavy guard, at NATO headquarters in Kabul brings to an end just over a dozen years of military involvement in the war-wasted nation.

The last Canadian commander, Maj.-Gen. Dean Milner, says the training mission taking place over the last three years has been invaluable preparation for the Afghan army, but the progress made is not irreversible and the West needs to continue nurturing both military and civilian institutions.

anadian commandos, hunting al-Qaeda, were the first troops to hit the ground in late 2001 and they were followed by as many as 40,000 more rotating through different campaigns, including the five-year combat mission in Kandahar. The war cost the lives of 158 soldiers, one diplomat, one journalist and two civilian contractors. The Canadian ambassador in Kabul, Deborah Lyons, says the country will remain engaged in Afghanistan and the focus will be on helping build the ruined nation's economy, particularly in the resource sector.

VIDEO: CNN crew caught in police tear gas

Turkey tense ahead of teenage boy's funeral

Thousands of people have gathered in Istanbul for the funeral of a teenage boy who died nine months after being injured during Turkish anti-government protests. Berkin Elvan's death on Tuesday led to protests in cities across the country. President Abdullah Gul has appealed for calm ahead of his funeral. Berkin was injured while walking to buy bread in Istanbul in June. He was hit on the head by a tear gas canister at the height of the unrest.

Correspondents say his 269 days in a coma gripped the country and became a symbol of the heavy-handed tactics used by police to rein in the biggest demonstrations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Crowds of mourners began arriving early on Wednesday in the streets near an Alevi Muslim prayer hall, known as a Cemevi, in the Okmeydan area of Istanbul.

After his funeral at the Cemevi, a march is due to take place in the centre of the city. News of his death - the eighth linked to mass anti-government protests - triggered demonstrations in several Turkish cities the previous day. In Ankara, police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse some 2,000 protesters who chanted: "Government of Erdogan, government of corruption, resign, resign." Police pursued the protesters into side streets where small clashes continued. There was similar police action against thousands of protesters on both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul and in the cities of Mersin and Adana.

'Fabricated'

The June protests started as a gathering to save an Istanbul park, but they quickly grew into a nationwide movement against the government of Mr Erdogan, which critics say has become increasingly authoritarian and corrupt. The sons of three former cabinet ministers have been arrested and accused of corruption, while Mr Erdogan himself has condemned as fabricated an audio recording that appears to show him talking to his son about hiding large sums of money. He said last month that the recording, allegedly tapped and then posted on social media, was a "treacherous attack". It appears to reveal Mr Erdogan asking his son Bilal to dispose of millions of euros in cash from a house. The prime minister says the corruption allegations are part of a plot to unseat him by US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally whose is thought to have millions of followers in Turkey. President Gul sent a message of condolence to Elvan's family in which he said that Turkey was going through difficult days and that the "mind of the state has become overwhelmed by anger and hatred".

"This atmosphere of hatred is undermining society's need for love and peace and efforts to understand one another," he said. "Little 15-year old Berkin Elvan is the latest victim of this atmosphere."

After Berkin's death was announced, his mother appeared outside Okmeydani hospital and was quickly surrounded by mourners. Tributes appeared on social media and hundreds of people gathered to show their anger. Riot police soon arrived at the scene and protesters attacked one of their vehicles.

BBC Turkish correspondent Rengin Arslan said many in the crowd believed the police had not turned up at the hospital to ensure the safety of mourners but to make things worse.

Further protests were reported in the coastal cities of Antalya and Izmir and in the capital, Ankara, where students boycotted classes and staged sit-ins.

Moscow: US to violate own laws by financially aiding Ukraine’s coup-installed govt

Washington’s decision to provide financial aid to the coup-appointed government of Ukraine goes against the US laws, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, urging American politicians to think about the consequences of supporting the radicals in Kiev. Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovich, said on Tuesday that the US plans to loan $1 billion to the country’s new authorities are illegal.

“Indeed, in accordance with the amendments introduced to the 1961 law (Foreign Assistance Act) a few years ago the provision of foreign assistance is prohibited to ‘the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree.’ The relevant provision is contained in 22 US Code § 8422,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Thus, by all criteria the provision of funds to the illegitimate [Kiev] regime, which seized power by force, is unlawful and goes beyond the boundaries of the US legal system,” the statement added.

However, the ministry said it realizes that the American side “would hardly recognize this obvious fact” due to the stance it has already taken in the Ukrainian crisis.

“The US administration will most probably continue to close its eyes on the dominance of the ultranationalist forces in Kiev, which have launched a hunt for dissidents across the country, increasing pressure on the Russian-speaking population and our compatriots, threatening the people in the Crimea with punishment for their desire for self-determination,” the ministry stressed.

Moscow has also urged the decision makers in the US to think hard about the possible consequences of “reckless indulgence of radical Nazi-oriented elements in Ukraine.” The US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that Washington is preparing a $1 billion loan for the coup-imposed government of Ukraine during his visit to Kiev last week.

Yanukovich, who wants to challenge the lawfulness of the American aid to Kiev in US courts and Congress, “has some very legitimate points to be raised,” senior editor of Executive Intelligence Review, Jeffrey Steinberg, told RT. Prohibition of American financial support to governments, which came to power via a coup, “isn’t some esoteric issue” as it has been applied just recently, he stressed.

US Code § 8422 saw the US Congress freezing financial aid to Egypt, following the 2013 military coup, which resulted in the ousting of president, Mohamed Morsi.

However, this January the senators authorized President Obama to send about $1 billion in aid to the Northern African state. “There was a ferocious debate in the Obama administration and in the congress over whether it was to be technically labeled a coup,” Steinberg stressed. “And ironically under that debate Senator John McCain was one of the leading voices arguing for a total cut off of all the military aid to Egypt. So now he’s on the exactly opposite side of the same debate.” According to the Executive Intelligence Review senior editor, Washington is using the law as a “political football.” “It’s applied in instances where it suits the policies of the administration and certain hardline allies in congress. And it’s freely ignored when it’s inconvenient truce,” he said. And, in the case of Ukraine, “nobody can dispute” that Yanukovich’s democratically elected government was “overthrown by military force, involving the most severe right wing neo-Nazi and Neo fascist elements,” Steinberg concluded.

President Obama to welcome Ukrainian PM, in affront to Russia

http://www.france24.com/

US President Barack Obama welcomes Ukraine’s interim prime minister at the White House on Wednesday, a high-profile diplomatic gesture aimed at emphasising Western recognition of Ukraine’s fledgling government.

Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk will be greeted at the White House with all of the grandeur of a state visit, including an Oval Office meeting with Obama. The two men are expected to make comments to the media following their discussions. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Yatseniuk’s visit is meant to signal “that we strongly support Ukraine, the Ukrainian people and the legitimacy of the new Ukrainian government”. Ukraine’s parliament installed Yatseniuk as head of the country’s interim leadership after pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovich fled the capital Kiev following three months of popular protests against his decision to reject an economic agreement with the European Union in favour of pursuing closer ties with Moscow. Vice President Joe Biden, who has served as a primary administration contact with Ukraine’s old and new governments, will also attend the meeting. Secretary of State John Kerry, who met with Yatseniuk in Kiev last week, is expected to have a separate meeting with the prime minister. Yatseniuk will, above all, be seeking financial assistance when he arrives in Washington to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia, which he has described as being “armed to the teeth”. The United States has so far promised Ukraine $1 billion in loan guarantees, as well as technical support as it moves towards elections. The European Union has pledged $15 billion in assistance to Ukraine, though that falls well short of the $35 billion in international rescue loans that Kiev says it will need over the next two years. Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, said Tuesday that Russian leaders were “rejecting a diplomatic solution” by rebuffing dialogue with their Ukrainian counterparts.

"They are refusing all contact at foreign ministry and top government levels," he told AFP.

He told the parliament in Kiev that he wanted the United States and Britain, as guarantors of a 1994 treaty that saw Ukraine give up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons, to intervene to fend off Russian "military aggression". "The US and the European Union must force Russia to stop this military aggression and these provocations against Ukraine," Turchynov said. But despite NATO air patrols of the Polish and Romanian borders, and US naval forces preparing for exercises in the Black Sea, the West has made clear that – as when Russia annexed parts of Georgia in 2008 – it has no intention of risking a military conflict with Moscow over Ukraine.

An ‘illegitimate’ referendum

Yatseniuk’s talks with the Obama administration come as the largely Russian-speaking region of Crimea prepares for a referendum Sunday on whether to become a part of Russia or remain a semi-autonomous enclave of Ukraine.

Russia sent troops to occupy the enclave last week after Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin government was ousted. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far ignored threats from the West to impose visa bans, economic sanctions and halt an international economic summit Russia is scheduled to host in June. The United States and Europe have declared the Crimea referendum illegitimate, saying that Ukraine’s central government must be involved in decisions about its territory. But Russia does not recognise Ukraine’s new government, nor the presidential elections Ukraine has planned for May. Yanukovich, for his part, declared in a televised appearance Tuesday that he remained Ukraine’s rightful ruler. Crimea’s parliament declared the same day that if the public votes to become part of Russia, the peninsula will declare itself independent and seek to become a Russian state. The Russian parliament has already approved the accession, in principle, of Crimea, which was given to Ukraine by Soviet rulers nearly 60 years ago. A poll released this week showed that two-thirds of Russians support the Kremlin's moves in Crimea. But it is not clear whether or how soon Russia would formalise an annexation as it remains engaged in a complex confrontation with the West over the Black Sea territory.

Malaysia Finds Managing Crisis Exposes Leadership Crisis

By Sharon Chen and Jason Scott

Malaysia, aspiring to become a developed nation in six years, is finding that more than 50 years under one coalition and tight control over information is a mismatch for handling a rapidly growing crisis followed across the world.

China is calling on Malaysia to be more transparent as Prime Minister Najib Razak lets his cousin, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, be the face of the investigation into why a Malaysian Airline System Bhd. (MAS) plane vanished on March 8. It was en route to Beijing with 239 people on board. Investigators from at least nine countries are trying to locate the jet.

Najib’s United Malays National Organisation leads the coalition governing the Southeast Asian nation. Only in recent years has it seen a move toward more competitive elections, in some districts, that put a premium on public speaking. The government’s lack of a clear message, compounded by a series of false leads on the plane’s whereabouts and questions on coordination, risks undermining its image internationally. “They’re handling a huge global issue as if it was domestic politics,” said Clive Kessler, Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, who has analyzed the nation’s politics for half a century. “With the cause of the disappearance still unknown you can understand the need for discretion and caution but it’s being perceived in Malaysia and elsewhere in the region as a bid to hide the truth.”

‘Doesn’t Work’

Najib’s administration is sending the message that people should let the “government tell them what they need to know, when they need to know it, and not before,” Kessler said. “That’s the way they’ve acted for generations and they are starting to find out it doesn’t work anymore.”

Many newspapers and television networks in Malaysia are controlled by the government directly or indirectly. And Najib, 60, has yet to make good on a pledge to replace the nation’s Sedition Act with legislation that would protect free speech while preventing incitement of religious or ethnic hatred. The law, which dates back to 1948 when Malaysia was under British control, mandates jail sentences of at least three years for words deemed seditious, including those that “excite dissatisfaction” against the government.

Government-controlled Malaysian Airlines said in a statement yesterday it would “continue to be transparent in communicating with the general public via the media” on all matters affecting Flight 370.

Stolen Passports

Nations searching for the plane had little to go on with no distress calls or emergency-beacon signals. The hunt continued for a fifth day as planes and ships prowled waters on both sides of Peninsular Malaysia after failing to find debris along the jet’s route, with Vietnam sending a team to Vung Tau in the nation’s southeast after getting an e-mail tip from an oil rig worker about the missing plane.

The discovery that two passengers boarded the missing flight using stolen passports raised concern about Malaysia’s immigration security practices.

“The Malaysian side cannot shirk its responsibilities,” the Global Times, a Chinese government-controlled newspaper, said in an editorial on March 10. “The initial response from Malaysia was not swift enough. There are loopholes in the work of Malaysia Airlines and security authorities.” Faced with pressure from families of the 153 Chinese nationals who were on the flight, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang for a second day yesterday noted the lack of progress in finding the Boeing Co. 777-200.

Urging Malaysia

“We once again request and urge the Malaysia side to enhance and strengthen rescue and searching efforts,” Qin told reporters in Beijing.

“The Chinese government is under quite a lot of pressure,” said Xu Liping, senior fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. Ordinary people in China feel the investigation “has not been professional.”

Broader ties between Malaysia and China probably won’t suffer, he said, citing a phone conversation between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Najib on March 8 about the missing flight. “This channel has been unimpeded.”

Cautious Personality

China accounted for 8.262 billion ringgit ($2.52 billion) of Malaysia’s exports in January, the second-largest amount after Singapore. Malaysia approved $920 million of foreign investment from China in the manufacturing sector in 2013, up from $646 million the year earlier, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority. Najib’s government has a $444 billion 10-year plan to build roads, ports and utilities plants to elevate the country to developed-nation status by 2020.

It is understandable that Najib doesn’t want a high profile in this situation given his cautious personality, according to Joseph Liow, associate dean of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“He’s not one who would go to the front of the camera and do lots of chest thumping and wave the flag and all that without being certain that there’s substantive” progress in the investigation, he said. “Hisham is very different from his cousin. He’s someone who is not uncomfortable with the limelight,” he said, referring to Hishammuddin.

Hishammuddin, 52, has been the acting minister since a general election last May. He is unable to formally take the role given internal coalition rules on which party assumes particular posts in cabinet.

Other Leaders

Other Asian leaders have faced questions for not reacting to crises immediately. Philippine President Benigno Aquino was criticized for taking two days to visit victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan last year. So was China’s former premier, Wen Jiabao, when he took more than two weeks to visit the site of the country’s worst snow storms in 50 years in 2008.

In the U.S., President George W. Bush was criticized for his handling of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 after he remained on vacation as New Orleans flooded. He cut short the break by two days to survey the damage from the air, something he later said was a “huge mistake” since it made him look “detached and uncaring.”

Najib needs to assure Malaysians and the international community that his government is doing all it can, said Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Mizuho Bank Ltd. in Singapore.

“What could have been done was the prime minister delegating the transport secretary to locating the plane and assigning one other person in charge of investigating the security breach and another to handle international relations,” he said. “It’s not easy to convey all that is happening in the background and the government needs to highlight these things.”

Airline Statement

Compounding the image that authorities leading the investigation are struggling to communicate effectively, Malaysian Airlines issued three versions of a press statement yesterday to correct several errors. One was a reference to an “expensive” rescue operation, which it meant to call “extensive.”

“There are big issues -- transparency, information sharing, questions associated with security,” said Bridget Welsh, a political science professor at Singapore Management University. “They are not in control of the discussion and the problem is they’re not instilling confidence. Everyone wants to give them the benefit of the doubt but this is a crisis of credibility for the administration.”

Najib postponed a trip to Mauritius, according to the state-run news service Bernama. He also met the families of the crew from the missing plane at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, his press office said on Twitter on March 8.

‘Everything Possible’

“I assure you we are doing everything possible within our means,” Najib said on Twitter on March 9. “We thank you for your prayers, assistance and show of solidarity.” Najib’s office directed queries on China’s concerns about the handling of the incident to authorities involved in the investigation. Hishammuddin, who is also defense minister, was elected a vice president of UMNO in October, putting him in line to possibly succeed Najib. He is the nephew of Malaysia’s second prime minister, Najib’s father, Abdul Razak Hussein. “It’s a lack of experience, anybody would be tested,” said SMU’s Welsh. “This is Hisham’s test, and Najib’s government’s test.”

Mahathir Years

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who led the country through the 1998 Asian financial crisis, “was a stronger leader,” said RSIS’s Liow.

Mahathir responded with capital controls when investors fled Asian economies during the crisis. He called billionaire financier George Soros a “moron” who was trying to destroy growth through speculative attacks on the currency.

Confusion as search for Malaysian jet spreads across SE Asia

The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner expanded on Wednesday to cover a swathe of Southeast Asia, from the South China Sea to India's territorial waters, with authorities no closer to explaining what happened to the plane or the 239 people on board.

Vietnam briefly scaled down search operations in waters off its southern coast, saying it was receiving scanty and confusing information from Malaysia over where the aircraft may have headed after it lost contact with air traffic control.

Hanoi later said the search - now in its fifth day - was back on in full force and was even extending on to land. China also said its air force would sweep areas in the sea, clarifying however that no searches over land were planned.

The seas off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also being combed for traces of the lost jet.

"We are expanding to the east of the expected route of the flight and on land," Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, Vietnam's deputy army chief of staff and spokesman for its search and rescue committee, told reporters.

The confusion over where to look is adding to one of the most baffling mysteries in modern aviation history, and prolonging the agonizing wait for hundreds of relatives of the missing. Flight MH370 dropped out of sight an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early on Saturday, under clear night skies and with no suspicion of any mechanical problems. Dozens of planes and ships have already searched tens of thousands of square miles of Malaysia and off both its coasts without finding a trace of the Boeing 777.

Adding to the frustration and uncertainty, Malaysia's military has said the plane could have turned around from its planned flight path, but there were conflicting statements and reports about how far and in which direction it could have flown after communication was lost.

OFF COURSE?

Malaysia's air force chief, Rodzali Daud, denied saying military radar had tracked MH370 flying over the Strait of Malacca off the country's west coast, about 500 km (310 miles) from the point ,roughly midway between the east coast town of Kota Bharu and Vietnam, where it was last seen by air traffic control.

Malaysia's Berita Harian newspaper on Tuesday quoted Rodzali as saying the plane was last detected at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca at 2.40 a.m. on Saturday, more than an hour after it lost contact.

"It would not be appropriate for the Royal Malaysian Air Force to issue any official conclusions as to the aircraft's flight path until a high amount of certainty and verification is achieved," Rodzali said in a statement on Wednesday. "However all ongoing search operations are at the moment being conducted to cover all possible areas where the aircraft could have gone down in order to ensure no possibility is overlooked."

Indonesia and Thailand, which lie on either side of the northern part of the Malacca Strait, have said their militaries detected no sign of any unusual aircraft in their airspace. The massive search operation involving ships and aircraft from 10 countries is spread out over the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, which lie between Malaysia and Vietnam, and in the Strait of Malacca extending into the Andaman Sea. An Indian foreign ministry official said Malaysia has sought its help in the search. India has a large military command in its Andaman and Nicobar islands and its navy patrols in the Malacca Strait.

ONE OF SEVERAL THEORIES

A senior military officer who had been briefed on the investigation told Reuters on Tuesday that the missing aircraft had made a detour to the west after communications with civilian authorities ended.

"It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait," the officer said.

After the comments from the officer, a non-military source familiar with the investigations said the reported detour was one of several theories and was being checked.

If the plane had made such a detour it would undermine the theory that it suffered a sudden, catastrophic mechanical failure, as it would mean it flew at least 500 km (350 miles) after its last contact with air traffic control.

In the absence of any concrete evidence to explain the plane's disappearance, authorities have not ruled out anything. Police have said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew on the plane had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.

The airline said it was taking seriously a report by a South African woman who said the co-pilot of the missing plane had invited her and a female companion to sit in the cockpit during a flight two years ago, in an apparent breach of security.

"Malaysia Airlines has become aware of the allegations being made against First Officer Fariq Ab Hamid which we take very seriously. We are shocked by these allegations. We have not been able to confirm the validity of the pictures and videos of the alleged incident," the airline said in a statement.

The woman, Jonti Roos, told Reuters that she and her friend were invited to fly in the cockpit by Fariq and the pilot between Phuket, Thailand, and Kuala Lumpur in December 2011.

"I thought that they were highly skilled and highly competent and since they were doing it that it was allowed," Roos said. "I want to make it clear, at no point did I feel we were in danger or that they were acting irresponsibly."

Hugh Dunleavy, the commercial director of Malaysia Airlines, told Reuters there was no reason to blame the crew.

"We have no reason to believe that there was anything, any actions, internally by the crew that caused the disappearance of this aircraft," he said.

The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on July 6 last year when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 struck a seawall on landing in San Francisco, killing three people. U.S. planemaker Boeing has declined to comment beyond a brief statement saying it was monitoring the situation.

Meera Dance to Naheed Akhtar's Song

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Pakistan Struggles To Find Missing Children

تھر میں غفلت برتنے والوں کیخلاف سخت کارروائی ہوگی: بلاول بھٹو زرداری

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کراچی: پیپلزپارٹی کے سرپرست اعلیٰ بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ ہم اپنا پیٹ کاٹ کر تھرپارکرکے بچوں کا پیٹ بھریں گے۔ انھوں نے مزید کہا کہ گندم کی ایک لاکھ20 ہزار بوریاں تھر پہنچا دی گئی ہیں لیکن وہاں کے ایک ایک فرد کو جب تک مکمل غذا نہیں مل جاتی میں اور میرے ورکرز چین سے نہیں بیٹھیں گے۔ بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ پیپلزپارٹی تھر کے ایک ایک بچے کی صحتیابی کیلیے کام کرے گی۔ انھوں نے کہا کہ تھر کی صورتحال میں اگر کسی بھی سطح پر غفلت برتی گئی تو ذمہ داروں کیخلاف سخت کارروائی کی جائیگی۔ اس موقع پر وزیراعلیٰ سندھ قائم علی شاہ نے کہا کہ قدرتی آفت پر سیاست بازی نہیں ہونی چاہیے، تھر کا ایک ایک بچہ میرے بچوں کی طرح ہے، سندھ تمام وسائل کا رخ مصیبت زدہ بہن بھائیوں کی طرف موڑ دے گی

Karachi: Series of blasts kill 12 in Lyari

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At least 12 people including two women were killed in a series of explosions and exchange of fire between two rival groups in strife-hit Lyari area of Karachi. According to initial details, four blasts occurred in different areas of Lyari one after the other, killing 12 people while injuring 30 others. The explosions were followed by intense firing in Chakiwara and Jhatpat market. Around 8-10 grenades were hurled in different areas of Lyari, one of the officials said. The dead and the injured were taken to the nearby hospital while the death toll is feared to rise. Tension and fear gripped the city soon after the blast. Meanwhile, people were forced to stay at homes while business outlets and markets were immediately closed.

Women doctors say what ails Pakistan

By Beena Sarwar

On one of her many visits to Pakistan recently, Sarah Peck, director of the US-Pakistan Women's Council, spent some time talking to young women medical students in Pakistan. She was struck by their passion and commitment - and by the hurdles they face. Women outnumber male students in medical colleges across Pakistan, forming up to 85% of the student body in private universities and 65% in the public sector.

But only about half of them end up working as doctors. There are no nationwide figures for this estimate, but the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council's records show the discrepancy between the number of women medical students and women doctors in Pakistan.

Less than half the 138,789 doctors registered with this nationwide body are women, 62,315. For specialists, the numbers are even lower - of the total 29,914 specialists registered with PMDC, only 8,056 are women. The pattern is also visible in doctors from Pakistan coming to the United States.

"When doctor couples come here, the husband starts to work, the wife takes care of the family," says Dr Jamila Khalil, president of APPNE, the New England chapter of APPNA, the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America.

"I grew up here, I was already a dentist by the time I got married," she told IPS. A Pashtun from Pakistan's northwest region bordering Afghanistan, she is a dentist and mother of two teens.

"It was very hard," she added, her New England twang evident in her pronunciation of the last word, "haahd".

The hurdles women doctors face in Pakistan and how to support them came under discussion at a lunch meeting that Sarah Peck attended recently in Somerville, Massachusetts convened by APPNE.

The US-Pakistan Women's Council has powerful political connections. It was launched in September 2012 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, flanked by two of Pakistan's most powerful and glamorous women, the then Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Ambassador Sherry Rehman.

The initiative, housed at the American University, is a public-private partnership between the State Department and American University, in collaboration with the Organisation of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN). Its mission is to promote education, employment, and entrepreneurship.

The council's aim to promote people-to-people relations between the US and Pakistan represents a major shift in Washington's foreign policy towards Pakistan since the Obama administration took over.

Previous US governments focused on transactional ties with Pakistan's powerful military establishment, pursuing short-term strategic agendas with long-term disastrous consequences.

One of the organisers, Dr Khalil Khatri, a dermatologist and former president of APPNE, was also present at the APPNA winter session in Karachi last December where Peck met women medical students. At the Karachi meeting women medical students had identified many different factors behind the difficulties they face in practicing medicine.

There are social pressures and lack of support, with mothers, mothers-in-law, and husbands often not wanting women to work. Families may help young couples with household matters and childcare but they also pressure them to conform to traditional gender roles.

Then, those who don't go into ob-gyn or pediatrics have to deal with male patients, frowned upon in that highly gender segregated society - although the women medical students at the Karachi meeting said they had no issues seeing male patients.

What was hard, they said, is the harassment they face, like finding the locks broken on their changing room doors, making it difficult for them to strip and scrub down. Male peers and supervisors don't take this seriously. In fact, those who complain face further problems.

Transport issues and security concerns, especially for those working late night shifts, are also daunting.

"One way to tackle the security and transport problem would be to arrange shuttles for women medical students especially after hours," suggested Dr Nasar Quraishi, a pathologist visiting from New Jersey.

One of Dr Khatri's nieces in Karachi recently started working as a doctor there. "When she has to work late nights, her parents are constantly worried. Two of my other nieces are in medical school there, but they also have every intention of practicing." Saima Firdous, 32, a medical student from Pakistan who finished her post-doc at Harvard University last year and is a board member of APPNE, says there is a need for "more women-only medical colleges in Pakistan, so that more people allow girls to study medicine".

"Coming from a conservative, rural family, I found it really hard," she told IPS. "Our culture doesn't allow girls to live or travel alone. I've had to fight a lot." Her brother didn't want her to attend the co-ed medical school in their city, Rawalpindi, but he also didn't want her to go to the only women's medical college in Pakistan, in Lahore, where she would have to live in a hostel.

"It was my three older sisters, who themselves have never been to school, who stood by me and supported me," said Firdous, who for two years conducted a television show on the state-run Pakistan Television aiming to educate rural dwellers about basic health issues.

She received a major blow when the man she was in love with and about to marry, a US-qualified physician who had encouraged her in her studies, told her that she could finish medical school, but he didn't want her working as a doctor.

"I refused," she said. "I hadn't studied all those years to sit at home."

Traveling alone to the United States, where she initially stayed with family friends, was another hurdle. "When I'm done, in another two or three years, I want to return to Pakistan and work, motivate other girls," added Firdous.

"Women doctors are already respected role models in Pakistan, in all fields. Women have a loud voice in media and society in general," said Dr Naheed Usmani, a paediatric oncologist from Pakistan who lives and works in the Boston area, and has also worked in Pakistan for several years.

The Council should train women doctors from the Pakistani diaspora to mentor and help students problem-solve, she told Peck. The Council could also use its network to identify and train mentors based in Pakistan.

In the long term, there is a need to "increase motivation among women medical students and support them to not give up," Dr Khatri told IPS. "Secondly, educate society to develop a system where medical students are enabled to carry on their work after graduating."

The Council's partnership with US doctors of Pakistani origin provides no quick-fix solutions to these myriad problems, but it is a step in the right direction.

Erum Sattar, a law student from Karachi and president of the Harvard Pakistan Student Group who was present at the lunch, said that the Pakistani students at Harvard would help in any way, perhaps by facilitating video conferencing for mentors and connecting people.

Pakistan's Shia Genocide:ASWJ-TTP Terrorists Kill Two More Shias Including Top Activist In Karachi

Takfiri Deobandi terrorists of Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal-Jamaat (ASWJ) known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) have killed two more Shia Muslims in Karachi, The Shia Post reported. Acording to reports, a Shia Muslim syed Naeem Abbas Jafri s/o Syed Latafat Hussain Jafri aged 49 years was attacked on a shop ‘Jaffri Optics’ near Imambargah Bab-e-Fatimah in Lalukhait area Liaquatabad No. 10 in Karachi. Martyr recieved several bullets in his chest and face. He was rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Another Shia Muslim Syed Fazal Abbas Naqvi, aged 35-years, Central Secretary General of Wehdat Youth Scout Pakistan, was also shot martyred in Federal B. Area of Karachi. Martyr Fazal Abbas was attacked near Fazal Mills Karachi opposit UBL Sports Complex in F.B Area Block-21. Pro-Taliban terrorists have killed thousands of innocent Shiite Muslims across the country, but government, judiciary and law enforcement agencies have failed to protect the citizens across the country.

Secret Talibanization of North-West Pakistan

Taha Siddiqui

Hide-and-seek the Taliban way

The hub of distinct indigenous cultures and peaceful beautiful valleys of North-West Pakistan have recently come into a lot of limelight unfortunately, for the wrong reason.

There are new threats of rapid Talibanization of areas like Chitral, Gilgit-Baltistan and other parts surrounding this belt. In a recent video release, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has announced an “armed struggle” against the non-Sunni Muslims and the polytheists belonging to the Kalash tribes, for which the Supreme Court took a suo moto notice and has directed the local administration to ensure protection to the people of the area.

Just last year, nine foreigners were shot dead in the Gilgit region, which the Tehreek-e-Taliban has taken responsibility for. Before that, in two incidents Shia bus passengers were shot dead after identification. Although the problem of religious intolerance has existed for more than three decades in this area, local experts believe that after the military operation in Swat in 2009 new terrorist strongholds have emerged across Pakistan. This includes areas like Karachi in the South and the North-Western belt bordering Afghanistan, China and Kashmir.

“There is a huge threat of Taliban infiltration into these areas on the Pakistani side of the Pak-Afghan border,” says Dr. Inayatullah Faizi, a social activist based in Chitral.

“Many Pakistani Taliban fighters are based on the other side now -- in the Kunar and Nooristan provinces of Afghanistan and they regularly enter into and exit from Pakistan,” he adds.

However, according to Dr. Faizi, who has also authored a book on the Wakhan Corridor, the problem of religious extremism is not new. “The Jamat-e-Islami started campaigning against the Kalash in the Seventies, pressuring the government to ban their dancing and singing culture. Simultaneously, the Ismailis and non-Muslims in the area were being pressured to convert to Islam,” he recalls. The situation worsened when General Ziaul Haq took power in 1977 and Pakistan became part of the American-backed jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan. “In the early Eighties, Chitral and Gilgit were attacked by Sunni radicals from neighbouring areas in an effort to rid the area of other sects or else convert them to Islam,” Dr. Faizi says, adding dozens were killed in 1981 and 1983. That is when Sipah-e-Sahaba, now a banned Sunni militant group, came into existence. “In the Shia majority areas, the then military government of Pakistan saw them as a threat, and often accused them of being anti-state, with Iranian links. Therefore, in Gilgit, Parachinar and Jhang, Sipah-e-Sahaba started preaching and radicalizing the population,” he adds. While the Nineties were relatively calm for this region post–9/11, the situation has taken a dangerous turn now, as militancy in these areas has become more violent.

The situation in Gilgit and the adjoining areas is quite tense. Shops close early and curfews have become the norm here. Anti-Shiite wall chalking is a common sight everywhere. Even the neighbourhoods have been demarcated according to Shiite-Sunni sects.

“The militants from Gilgit, Chitral and other North-Western parts have been frequenting Waziristan developing links with the Swati Taliban for training in terrorism,” says Brigadier Asad Munir, a retired military officer who handled intelligence affairs, especially, pertaining to the tribal belt on the Pakistani border where he was posted after 9/11. According to Brig. Munir, the area became vulnerable after 2010, when NATO troops withdrew from the corresponding Afghan provinces. “The Kunar and Nooristan area has become a hotbed of the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan government does not have any control over it. Since, the border areas are extremely porous there are frequent infiltrations and attempts of Talibanization,” he adds.

Part of the problem is the way this region, especially, Gilgit-Baltistan has been governed through a federal authority and does not enjoy political rights.

Dr. Faizi explains that at the time of Independence, this region was aligned with the Maharajah of Kashmir, who did not want to join Pakistan. “However, the then Pakistani government decided to take this region into its ambit citing it to be a demand of the local people. Once merged into Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and what is now called Azad Kashmir, were separated. Chitral was included in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province,” he adds, saying that this division was done to prevent possible revolt. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) concluded its fact-finding mission in Gilgit-Baltistan recently, and will release the report soon.

“The Pakistani security establishment wants to ensure that the country become a one-religion State, that too of Sunni Islam,” says Zaman Khan, a representative of the HRCP. “In line with this policy, there is visible intolerance at the State level where religious minorities do not enjoy equal status,” he adds, pointing to the North-Western parts of Pakistan. And, while the militants are desperate to redraw the demographics of the area, experts feel such adventures come with a heavy cost, signs of which are already visible.

“The killing of nine foreign mountaineers and other such terror activities have discouraged tourism in the area,” says Sher Ghazi, a development consultant from the Gilgit region. Not only that, Ghazi believes that if the area falls under the Taliban rule, it can be an international disaster which will further isolate Pakistan globally.

“China uses the trade route through the Gilgit-Baltistan province into Pakistan, and the Indian-administered Kashmir is nearby too. Such geo-strategic location should not fall in the hands of wrong people like the Taliban. Also, the government should pay attention to the growing extremism in these areas and take steps to ensure that sympathy for militancy within the State security apparatus is checked and stopped,” he adds.

Pakistan: 'Heads roll over Tharparkar tragedy in Sindh'

The Sindh government has taken back portfolio of Minister for Relief from Makhdoom Jamiluzaman and removed Relief Commissioner Lala Fazlur Rehman from his post.

Sources said the changes are being made in view of apathy on part of Sindh government officials in the aftermath of over a hundred deaths in drought-hit areas of Thar.

Geo News reporter said that senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Taj Haider has been appointed as advisor to Sindh Chief Minister tasked with monitoring relief work in the affected areas.

Sources said changes in bureaucracy were also expected on the directives of Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who has expressed anger over Sindh government's performance.

Pakistan: Islamabad court attack: 'Muddy waters'

The Supreme Court, with good reason, appears to believe that the loose lips of politicians may sink the investigation into the Islamabad court attack. Initially it was believed that an unknown militant group had carried out a suicide attack but Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan muddied the waters by raising the possibility that judge Rafaqat Awan may have been shot dead by his guard, a claim that till now has not been verified and for which no factual evidence has been presented. The Supreme Court has now rejected the reports on the attack presented by the IG and the chief commissioner, after the reader of the murdered judge, Khalid Noon, told the court that he had seen an attacker enter the judge’s chambers and kill him but was being pressurised by the police not to include that information in his statement. In his report the IG claimed that there were two attackers, while the chief commissioner believes there were more assailants. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled out the possibility that the attackers had inside help.

That the police are still so clueless about the attack more than a week after it took place is a stark reminder of how unprepared our law enforcement agencies are for dealing with militant attacks. We often express anger at the number of suspected militants who are able to walk free and the incompetence of the police shows just how they manage that. The failure of law-enforcement agencies is complete, starting from their inability to gather intelligence that might thwart such attacks, continuing with the insufficient security measures at sensitive locations and ending with botched investigations. The only information we have on the attack is from the Ahrar-ul-Hind, a new organisation that claimed credit for it. Had they not released their statement we would be completely clueless about each and every aspect of the attack, including the identity and affiliation of the perpetrators. This failure has very real consequences for the administration of justice in the country, with Pervez Musharraf securing yet another delay in his treason case by pointing out security threats. The sad fact is that the police performance after the attack means that everyone who has business in the courts will feel justifiably insecure, especially after the prospect of an inside job has been raised. The Supreme Court now faces the unenviable task of ensuring the police do their job and finally lays this matter to rest.

PPP Punjab to launch its very own website

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Punjab is going to launch its website very soon to provide information at a click about the party, its leadership and the vision it holds for the future of the province, PPP Punjab President Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo said on Monday.

He was speaking at a meeting of the party’s social media team, led by Jehan Ara. “We should not lag behind in the use of latest information technology because our leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been using it in view of its immense suitability,” he observed. The website will upload the activities of the party on daily basis for the possible consumption of all including the media and the party workers at the grassroots level providing them the opportunity to get themselves acquitted with the party position pertaining to regional and national issues. It will also serve as an effective tool to rebut biased and misplaced criticism against the party and its leadership, he asserted.

Mian Manzoor Wattoo said that the website should also cover the important subjects like the its history, arduous struggle of its founding leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and above all its political philosophy and struggle for the rights of the down-trodden people, giving them the confidence and courage to claims their rights in the face of those who usurped their rights.

While underscoring the importance of the website he directed that it should ensure its connectivity with the party structure at the divisional and district levels so that there was quickest and flawless interaction between the Provincial leadership and the subordinate tiers.

The website should also provide online membership form for those who seek membership of the allied wings of the mother party, he asked.

He assured the Social Media team his full support adding that all facilities and modern gadgetry would be provided to them to equip it with the state of the art information technology in view of its criticality to project the party’s manifesto and its policies. He added that the website should also give comprehensive account of the achievements of the party in general and during the previous PPP led democratic government in particular. In this regard, he mentioned the restoration of the 1973 constitution disfigured by the successive dictators, 7th National Finance Award, granting of identity to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Special Status for Gilgit-Baltistan, unprecedented legislation for the empowerment of women and minorities, amendments in the FCR in FATA, consensus on Basha Dam etc to name the few.

He said that the website should also give the details of the elections results of each provincial and National Assembly in the Punjab held in 2002, 2008 and 2013.It would give overview of the electoral performance of the party so important to motivate the rank and file to make the province of Punjab again as the strong hold of the party.

Pakistan: Now another committee

The government has embarked on another round of committee formation for negotiations with the Taliban. According to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali, the new four-man committee will be the official negotiator of the government and will consist of three to four senior bureaucrats. In the light of the rejection by some political parties of the idea of having army representation in the committee, Chaudhry Nisar categorically said no army man would be part of the committee. However, an army officer would be detailed to liaise with the committee and provide intelligence and other inputs. The army would be part of all decisions taken by the committee, the minister clarified, perhaps to allay any impression that the army was not fully on board. The new committee is expected to draw members from FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Meanwhile the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), having been asked by the government to name its representative for the committee, preferably Chief Minister Pervez Khattak in the government’s eyes, nominated MNA Gulzar Khan, himself a retired bureaucrat with long experience of FATA and tribal affairs, as its representative on the new committee. The PTI had Rustam Shah Mohmand as its representative on the now disbanded previous committee headed by the prime minister’s advisor on national affairs Irfan Siddiqui. No explanation has been forthcoming for the dissolution of the previous committee, what it had achieved in its relatively brief existence, or why it is being replaced. Speculation in the media has pointed to the disagreements between the members of the previous committee that had of late become public as the probable cause of the decision. The government and Irfan Siddiqui have been at pains to put the best face on the development by arguing that the committee had fulfilled its role in advancing contacts between the government and the Taliban and now its role was over. No such ‘limited’ role or mandate had been mentioned at the outset or the later activation of the committee. Perhaps the government has taken to heart the criticism that the committee was powerless to take decisions and a long, inconvenient, ineffective conduit for negotiations. If the new committee is truly empowered to take decisions, it may see a less inglorious existence.

While Imran Khan is still fixated on drones and this being the Americans’ war despite the former having paused and the latter’s pain being inflicted on our bodies and souls, he stated that the proposal for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to set up its office in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be settled in consultation with the federal government. While many sceptics see the present ‘lull’ as a tactical pause by the TTP to regroup, the media exposure of the TTP and other extremists is a worrying concern since it projects the Taliban’s point of view, thereby violating the time-honoured approach not to allow the terrorists the oxygen of publicity. At the same time, certain media houses have been attacked, others threatened by the Taliban unless they toe their line. Ignoring the terrorists would be a better outcome if the media would dispense with its normal obsession with ‘breaking news’ in recognition of its national duty.

Even if the new committee gets off the ground and the three days contacts (why three?), according to Chaudhry Nisar, lead to deciding the venue for the talks to follow, what the government needs to explain to the people is the agenda for the talks. Ambiguity may be good sometimes for conducting sensitive negotiations between parties with polarised positions, but the concerns regarding the Taliban’s stated position that they do not recognize the constitution or the democratic system and want them replaced by sharia according to their lights, a version unacceptable to the vast majority of the people of the country, dangles like a sword above our heads. Secrecy in delicate negotiations may be good, but the government owes the people some explanation what it hopes to achieve as an outcome of the talks and what it may be prepared to concede to the terrorists.

Pakistan: When killers become ‘patriots’

OUR interior minister epitomises all that is going wrong with the country’s internal security. His histrionics defy rational thinking. Trust him to come up with the most outrageous defence of the Taliban even when they stand completely exposed. However, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s statement before the National Assembly last week on the Islamabad court carnage borders on insanity.

There is nothing to worry about the Taliban, the majority of whom are not anti-state, the minister assured a nation still reeling from the latest killing spree in the heart of the capital. He even sought the TTP’s help to track down the attackers who may well have come from the banned group’s own ranks. What an excellent example of bonhomie even though the newfound ‘patriots’ never falter when it comes to blowing up soldiers on the frontline and killing innocent civilians in the country’s heartland.

In the same breath while praising them for their ‘patriotism’ the minister revealed that the militants had plotted to carry out an aerial bombing on Islamabad. This shocking disclosure came just a week after he had declared the capital as the safest city in the world. How can one take this politician, who happens to be in charge of the country’s internal security, seriously? The minister seems to have lost all sense of rationality. No wonder the terrorists seem to be more emboldened.

Not surprisingly, these irresponsible utterances from a senior member of the government have sent jitters across foreign diplomatic missions and international agencies. Many of them are now planning to relocate their staff to the Gulf countries. Can one blame them? It is not comforting to see a man like Chaudhry Nisar at the helm of the country’s security. He is becoming an embarrassment, maybe not for the government but certainly for the country.

Under his stewardship the country may have become more secure for the Taliban, and increasingly unsafe for the people. The impunity with which the terrorists went on a killing rampage in the Islamabad court compound proves the point. Instead of taking the responsibility for security failure, he defended the Taliban in his speech at the National Assembly. It is often difficult to differentiate the interior minister from the Taliban spokesman. Remember his mourning the death of Hakeemullah Mehsud? But there was no such show of emotion on the killing of judges and lawyers by the militants. Instead, the murderers were legitimised as not anti-state. Even before the investigation was completed the minister told parliament that Judge Rifaqat Hussain was killed accidentally by his own guard. The guard and other witnesses have challenged this version of the incident.

Such a stubborn defence of the militants by no other than the federal interior minister increases the prevailing sense of insecurity. He may next ask the Taliban to take over Islamabad’s security. He has already requested them to help find the perpetrators of the Islamabad shooting.Chaudhry Nisar merely exemplifies the prevalent confusion and disarray in the government, particularly when it comes to dealing with the Taliban. After initially staying in the background, the interior minister is back as a focal person for direct talks with the TTP. His stamp of patriotism may have further endeared him to the Taliban, but there is no sign of talks getting off the ground.

The decision by the military leadership to keep their institution out of negotiations has dealt a serious blow to the so-called peace talks. Yielding to the demand of the Taliban committee, the prime minister had tacitly agreed to have a representative of the military and the ISI in the government’s negotiating team. The move seemed a Taliban trap to suck the military into the farce and get operations completely suspended in the tribal regions.

This has brought the growing fissure between the civil and military leadership over peace negotiations to the surface. It is apparent that the two are not on the same page on the issue. The military has strong reservations over unconditional talks with the insurgents who have been responsible for killing thousands of soldiers and are not willing to give up violence.

A day after the prime minister announced that the talks’ option remained his top priority militants killed six soldiers in an IED attack in Kurram Agency. The latest Islamabad attack has reinforced scepticism among the security forces about talks delivering peace. The widening division between the civil and military leadership could aggravate the existing policy paralysis.

Many in the federal cabinet and within the ruling PML-N also share this scepticism. While Chaudhry Nisar is engaged in sweet-talking the Taliban, the defence minister has warned of a possible military operation as early as this month. He does not rule out the resumption of aerial bombing on militant sanctuaries in the tribal territories. Unlike the interior minister, the defence minister does not seem convinced that the TTP is seriously interested in peace

These conflicting positions within the cabinet raise the serious question of who represents the actual official policy. This also underscores the policy confusion and indecisiveness that have become the hallmark of the third Sharif government.

There is a strong view that it is a deliberate state of confusion generated by the prime minister himself and is intended to send different signals to different lobbies. This is illustrative of Mr Sharif’s style of governance. This is a very dangerous game and may have serious repercussions for national security.

Pakistan: SC again refrains from action against PM, CM

Exercising extreme restraint, the Supreme Court on Tuesday again came short of invoking constitutional provisions against the chief executives of federal and provincial governments for their perceived defiance of its directives relating to missing persons.

“Should we not issue notices to the chief executives of both the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments,” Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja asked Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt. “Is this what you want?”

The attorney general replied quickly and assured the court that the government would show some progress at the next hearing — March 18. A three-judge bench had taken up a case relating to a missing man, Yasin Shah. The case was initiated on an application of his elder brother Muhabbat Shah.

On Dec 10 last year, the court held that the army authorities were responsible for removing 35 internees from the Malakand internment centre. But only 12 of them were produced before the court.

At the last hearing on Jan 20, the court warned the government that it would initiate contempt proceedings under Article 204 of the Constitution against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. The court had directed the prime minister’s secretary Javed Aslam to bring to the notice of the premier non-compliance of its order for production of the remaining missing persons. The court had also ordered KP Chief Secretary Mohammad Shahzad Arbab to inform Chief Minister Pervez Khattak about the same.

On Tuesday, the court recalled its previous order which also required the two chief executives to deal sternly, but under the law, against the officers responsible for detaining these persons. The court regretted that as of today, it appeared, its directives had not been complied with. The court made it clear that it could invoke constitutional provisions available with it to ensure compliance of its orders.

“I cannot, for the life of me, understand that with all resources at disposal of the government, the whereabouts of the persons could not be found,” Justice Khawaja said.

The court also took exception to perceived foot dragging by the government of not complying with its Jan 23 suggestion of setting up a fund exclusively for assisting needy complainants whose near and dear ones had gone missing, but they were pursuing cases and appearing regularly before the court. The court had suggested that the fund should be kept with the office of the attorney general and used for subsistence of those family members who could not afford board and lodging in Islamabad. “This is so insensitive,” Justice Khawaja said, adding that the government should tell its citizens to go on exile because nobody was there to look after them. Additional Attorney General Shah Khawar assured the court that the suggestion would be taken care of.

“Why this has not been taken care of yet,” Justice Khawaja asked. He regretted that billions of rupees were wasted at the drop of a hat, but nobody bothered. “If this continues and if there is no fear of God in us, much (worse) is on the way,” he observed.

The KP Advocate General, Abdul Latif Yousufzai, submitted a report which said that in compliance with the court’s order, a meeting of Nawab Ali with his brother, wife and children had been arranged at the Lakki Marwat internment centre. About internee Yousuf, son of Akhter Munir, the report said no relative had ever requested for a meeting.

The court observed that it appeared the government was not taking steps to locate the family of Yousuf who lived in Bat Khela (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). There was nothing on record to show any effort by the government to inform his family members that they were entitled to meet him under the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation 2011.

Bilawal Bhutto promises all help for Thar’s children

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The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has said that his party would make sacrifices for the children of Tharparkar as 120,000 bags of wheat had been sent there.

He vowed that he and his party workers would remain engaged in providing each and every affected person with adequate food. Bilawal said the PPP would work for the well-being of each child of Tharparkar and would bring them back to a healthy state. “Negligence at any level will not be tolerated,” he noted.

He vowed to fight the calamity with full devotion and vigour. He pledged that no official of the Sindh government would sit idle till relief was provided to each household of Tharparkar. On the occasion, CM Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that the Tharparkar calamity should not be politicised. He said that he would treat each child of Tharparkar like his own children. He stated that the poor people of Tharparkar faced difficulties quite often. He promised that his government would allocate all resources to the relief of the affected population.

Talking to political workers, provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said that the crisis was not much critical and it was exaggerated. He said that he was not the only representative of the people but was also the custodian of their life and property.