Asma Nawar — a journalist, politician departs in prime age

PESHAWAR: One of the casualties of the torrential rains on July 29 was Asma Nawar, a young journalist and Awami National Party (ANP) women wing provincial vice-president, who died when the roof of her room collapsed in her village Dag Besod in Nowshera district. The 26-year old Asma worked for several media and social organisations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. No other room in the well-to-do family’s house collapsed except Asma’s. She was destined to die young is how grieving relatives and acquaintances described her untimely death. Her father Nawar Khan said Asma was not only his daughter but was also a son. “She was courageous and brave. She also played an important role in ANP politics,” he recalled. She did her master in journalism and mass communication from the University of Peshawar and joined The Frontier Post as a trainee reporter in June 2007. The same year the National Democratic Institute (NDI) selected her for study tour to Holland. She was one of 15 reporters working for a Khyber Agency-based FM radio station. Talking to her colleagues, she once said: “It is good that we are the voice of the people and even better to be voice of the women. Like men, women should also have their say in radio programmes to attract them towards this field.” In 2009, she joined Internews Pakistan as a reporter and producer for radio programmes on the issues of tribal womenfolk. Recently she was working as a reporter with Intermedia Pakistan on issues related to tribal women. Tayyab Afridi, station head of a Fata Secretariat-run FM radio in Khyber Agency, said when their radio started bulletin and signature news programme Asma became its first female correspondent. “She covered political issues of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in an impartial manner. People in Khyber Agency had benefited from her reporting on health and education issues,” he added. Intermedia Pakistan Manager Aurangzeb Khan also paid her tributes: “People in the tribal areas do not want their women to make calls to a radio show, but Asma proved to be a bold woman who raised voice for women.” Asma was engaged to journalist Sajid Khattak. They were classmates, best friends and co-workers in the same organisation. A grieving Sajid Khattak said he was proud of Asma due to her many qualities. “She was a loving daughter, sister, colleague and a professional, with a firm trust in Almighty Allah.” He remembered Asma telling him that she would die before him. “She was right. Now she is gone. Asma was serious in pursuing her career as journalist. She was happy that we worked for the same media organisation,” he said. “Asma Nawar was a noble woman. She was hardworking and honest,” remarked executive producer of Intermedia in Peshawar, Islam Gul Afridi. “For the first time I saw a woman here who was bold and confident and worked like men. She never felt that she was a woman reporter in our male-dominated society,” he said.

Asma Nawar — a journalist, politician departs in prime age

PESHAWAR: One of the casualties of the torrential rains on July 29 was Asma Nawar, a young journalist and Awami National Party (ANP) women wing provincial vice-president, who died when the roof of her room collapsed in her village Dag Besod in Nowshera district. The 26-year old Asma worked for several media and social organisations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. No other room in the well-to-do family’s house collapsed except Asma’s. She was destined to die young is how grieving relatives and acquaintances described her untimely death. Her father Nawar Khan said Asma was not only his daughter but was also a son. “She was courageous and brave. She also played an important role in ANP politics,” he recalled. She did her master in journalism and mass communication from the University of Peshawar and joined The Frontier Post as a trainee reporter in June 2007. The same year the National Democratic Institute (NDI) selected her for study tour to Holland. She was one of 15 reporters working for a Khyber Agency-based FM radio station. Talking to her colleagues, she once said: “It is good that we are the voice of the people and even better to be voice of the women. Like men, women should also have their say in radio programmes to attract them towards this field.” In 2009, she joined Internews Pakistan as a reporter and producer for radio programmes on the issues of tribal womenfolk. Recently she was working as a reporter with Intermedia Pakistan on issues related to tribal women. Tayyab Afridi, station head of a Fata Secretariat-run FM radio in Khyber Agency, said when their radio started bulletin and signature news programme Asma became its first female correspondent. “She covered political issues of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in an impartial manner. People in Khyber Agency had benefited from her reporting on health and education issues,” he added. Intermedia Pakistan Manager Aurangzeb Khan also paid her tributes: “People in the tribal areas do not want their women to make calls to a radio show, but Asma proved to be a bold woman who raised voice for women.” Asma was engaged to journalist Sajid Khattak. They were classmates, best friends and co-workers in the same organisation. A grieving Sajid Khattak said he was proud of Asma due to her many qualities. “She was a loving daughter, sister, colleague and a professional, with a firm trust in Almighty Allah.” He remembered Asma telling him that she would die before him. “She was right. Now she is gone. Asma was serious in pursuing her career as journalist. She was happy that we worked for the same media organisation,” he said. “Asma Nawar was a noble woman. She was hardworking and honest,” remarked executive producer of Intermedia in Peshawar, Islam Gul Afridi. “For the first time I saw a woman here who was bold and confident and worked like men. She never felt that she was a woman reporter in our male-dominated society,” he said.

Risk of disease rises amid deadly Pakistan floods

Pakistan dispatched medical teams Monday to the deluged northwest amid fears that cholera could spread after the worst floods in the country's history that have already killed up to 1,200 people, an official said. The disaster has forced 2 million to flee their homes. Residents have railed against the government for failing to provide enough emergency assistance nearly a week after extremely heavy monsoon rains triggered raging floodwaters in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. The government says it has deployed thousands of rescue workers who have so far saved an estimated 28,000 people and distributed basic food items. The army has also sent some 30,000 troops and dozens of helicopters, but the scale of the disaster is so vast that many residents said it seems like officials are doing nothing. Thousands more people in the province remain trapped by the floodwaters. The anger of the flood victims poses a danger to the already struggling government, now competing with Islamist movements to deliver aid in a region with strong Taliban influence. "We need tents. Just look around," said flood victim Faisal Islam, sitting on the only dry ground he could find in Nowshera district — a highway median — surrounded by hundreds of people in makeshift shelters constructed from dirty sheets and plastic tarps. Like many other residents of Pakistan's northwest, people camped out by the highway in Kamp Koroona village waded through the water to their damaged houses to salvage their remaining possessions: usually just a few mud-covered plates and chairs. "This is the only shirt I have. Everything else is buried," said Islam. The army has given them some cooking oil and sugar, but Islam complained that they needed much more. Now people in the northwest also face the threat of waterborne disease — which could kill thousands more if health workers cannot deliver enough clean drinking water and treat and isolate any patients in crowded relief camps. "To avert the looming threat of spread of waterborne diseases, especially cholera, we have dispatched dozens of mobile medical teams in the affected districts," said Sohail Altaf, the top medical official in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. Officials have yet to receive concrete reports of cholera cases, but fear of an outbreak is high, said Altaf. Patients with stomach problems from dirty water are being treated in government medical camps, he said. The disastrous flooding comes at a time when the weak and unpopular Pakistani government is already struggling to cope with a faltering economy and a brutal war against Taliban militants that has killed thousands of people in the past few years. The death toll from the disaster has ranged from about 870 provided by the prime minister's office to 1,200 given by Bashir Ahmed Bilour, senior minister in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, who warned that it could go even higher. More than 2 million people have been displaced, he said. Pakistan's international partners have tried to bolster the government's response by offering millions of dollars in emergency aid. The United Nations and the United States announced Saturday that they would provide $10 million dollars each in emergency assistance. The U.S. has also provided rescue boats, water filtration units, prefabricated steel bridges and thousands of packaged meals that Pakistani soldiers tossed from helicopters as flood victims scrambled to catch them. The high-profile U.S. gesture of support comes at a time when the Obama administration is trying to dampen anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and enlist the country's support to turn around the Afghan war. "The Pakistani people are friends and partners, and the United States is standing with them as the tragic human toll mounts from flooding in northwest Pakistan," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a statement. The U.S. provided similar emergency assistance after Pakistan experienced a catastrophic earthquake in 2005 that killed nearly 80,000 people. The aid briefly increased support for the U.S. in a country where anti-American sentiment is pervasive. But feelings have since shifted, and only 17 percent of Pakistanis now have a favorable view of the U.S., according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. Conducted in April 2010, the survey has a margin of error of three percentage points. The U.S. could be hoping to get a similar popularity boost from the emergency flood assistance. But like the earthquake relief effort, the U.S. must compete with aid groups run by Islamist militants who also use assistance to increase their support. Representatives from a charity allegedly linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group distributed food and offered medical services on Sunday to victims in the town of Charsada. "We are reaching people at their doorsteps and in the streets, especially women and children who are stuck in their homes," said an activist with the Falah-e-Insaniat charity who would identify himself only by his first name, Saqib. With suspected ties to al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed 166 people, and the U.S. military has said the group has stepped up activity in Afghanistan as well. Pakistani militant groups often rail against government ineffectiveness as a way to build support, a message likely to resonate with many in the northwest who have criticized the official flood response. The military has deployed at least 30,000 army troops who helped rescue more than 28,000 people, said the national government. But thousands of people in the province remained trapped Sunday and authorities said 43 military helicopters and 100 boats had been deployed to try to save them.

Risk of disease rises amid deadly Pakistan floods

Pakistan dispatched medical teams Monday to the deluged northwest amid fears that cholera could spread after the worst floods in the country's history that have already killed up to 1,200 people, an official said. The disaster has forced 2 million to flee their homes. Residents have railed against the government for failing to provide enough emergency assistance nearly a week after extremely heavy monsoon rains triggered raging floodwaters in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. The government says it has deployed thousands of rescue workers who have so far saved an estimated 28,000 people and distributed basic food items. The army has also sent some 30,000 troops and dozens of helicopters, but the scale of the disaster is so vast that many residents said it seems like officials are doing nothing. Thousands more people in the province remain trapped by the floodwaters. The anger of the flood victims poses a danger to the already struggling government, now competing with Islamist movements to deliver aid in a region with strong Taliban influence. "We need tents. Just look around," said flood victim Faisal Islam, sitting on the only dry ground he could find in Nowshera district — a highway median — surrounded by hundreds of people in makeshift shelters constructed from dirty sheets and plastic tarps. Like many other residents of Pakistan's northwest, people camped out by the highway in Kamp Koroona village waded through the water to their damaged houses to salvage their remaining possessions: usually just a few mud-covered plates and chairs. "This is the only shirt I have. Everything else is buried," said Islam. The army has given them some cooking oil and sugar, but Islam complained that they needed much more. Now people in the northwest also face the threat of waterborne disease — which could kill thousands more if health workers cannot deliver enough clean drinking water and treat and isolate any patients in crowded relief camps. "To avert the looming threat of spread of waterborne diseases, especially cholera, we have dispatched dozens of mobile medical teams in the affected districts," said Sohail Altaf, the top medical official in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. Officials have yet to receive concrete reports of cholera cases, but fear of an outbreak is high, said Altaf. Patients with stomach problems from dirty water are being treated in government medical camps, he said. The disastrous flooding comes at a time when the weak and unpopular Pakistani government is already struggling to cope with a faltering economy and a brutal war against Taliban militants that has killed thousands of people in the past few years. The death toll from the disaster has ranged from about 870 provided by the prime minister's office to 1,200 given by Bashir Ahmed Bilour, senior minister in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, who warned that it could go even higher. More than 2 million people have been displaced, he said. Pakistan's international partners have tried to bolster the government's response by offering millions of dollars in emergency aid. The United Nations and the United States announced Saturday that they would provide $10 million dollars each in emergency assistance. The U.S. has also provided rescue boats, water filtration units, prefabricated steel bridges and thousands of packaged meals that Pakistani soldiers tossed from helicopters as flood victims scrambled to catch them. The high-profile U.S. gesture of support comes at a time when the Obama administration is trying to dampen anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and enlist the country's support to turn around the Afghan war. "The Pakistani people are friends and partners, and the United States is standing with them as the tragic human toll mounts from flooding in northwest Pakistan," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a statement. The U.S. provided similar emergency assistance after Pakistan experienced a catastrophic earthquake in 2005 that killed nearly 80,000 people. The aid briefly increased support for the U.S. in a country where anti-American sentiment is pervasive. But feelings have since shifted, and only 17 percent of Pakistanis now have a favorable view of the U.S., according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. Conducted in April 2010, the survey has a margin of error of three percentage points. The U.S. could be hoping to get a similar popularity boost from the emergency flood assistance. But like the earthquake relief effort, the U.S. must compete with aid groups run by Islamist militants who also use assistance to increase their support. Representatives from a charity allegedly linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group distributed food and offered medical services on Sunday to victims in the town of Charsada. "We are reaching people at their doorsteps and in the streets, especially women and children who are stuck in their homes," said an activist with the Falah-e-Insaniat charity who would identify himself only by his first name, Saqib. With suspected ties to al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed 166 people, and the U.S. military has said the group has stepped up activity in Afghanistan as well. Pakistani militant groups often rail against government ineffectiveness as a way to build support, a message likely to resonate with many in the northwest who have criticized the official flood response. The military has deployed at least 30,000 army troops who helped rescue more than 28,000 people, said the national government. But thousands of people in the province remained trapped Sunday and authorities said 43 military helicopters and 100 boats had been deployed to try to save them.

Opiate of the masses..Building illegal Mosques

EDITORIAL:Daily Times The news of a band of clerics from a religious party constructing an illegal mosque on government property in Green Town, Lahore, served as a reminder to our authorities that their writ was being challenged. It was good to see that the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) took quick action late night after Daily Times’ exclusive reportage and demolished the illegal building. A case has also been registered against 50 people and so far seven people have been arrested. Since the clerics in Green Town had threatened to kill people on blasphemy charges if the illegal construction is stopped, they should be locked up behind bars. More such illegal encroachments should be identified and demolished. When religion is used as a tool to create fear amongst the masses, it is time to think logically and aim for a secular state instead of letting the state be a tool in the hands of vested interests. Building illegal mosques is not a new phenomenon in this land of the pure. In the not-so-distant past, the notorious Lal Masjid issue started with the demolition of illegal constructions by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad. Mosques built illegally were razed but the Musharraf government acquiesced in the demands of the Lal Masjid clerics to rebuild them after they terrorised the citizens of Islamabad. This only made things worse as the fanatics, high on their ‘religious’ power, started making demands that bordered on absurdity. If there is a lesson to be learnt from that whole fiasco, it is that the state should never give in to the demands of religious zealots. Islam does not teach us to occupy land illegally to build mosques or seminaries. These so-called religious clergy have to be taken to task for maligning the true meaning of our religion. Pakistan should take a leaf out of its old wing, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), where its Supreme Court has struck down the bulk of the controversial 5th Amendment by reinstating a ban on Islamic political parties. Bangladesh’s original constitution was secular in nature but following a coup in 1975, the constitution was amended and given a religious tinge. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that she was “not in favour of banning any political party”. This may have more to do with the fact that the Jamaat-e-Islami is a large political party with some clout. Earlier, the Bangladesh High Court had outlawed punishments handed down in fatwas (religious edicts), after a series of cases of Muslim women being beaten and caned. Not only that, the Bangladesh government has also banned books by Maulana Maududi because they “encourage terrorism and militancy”. It is time that Pakistan follows in the footsteps of Bangladesh, also a Muslim country but which is paving a path towards the traditions laid down by its founding fathers. Mr Jinnah had also visualised a secular Pakistan but this was not to be. Soon after his death the Objectives Resolution inseminated the seeds of religious intolerance into our body politic. The religious parties in the Indian subcontinent were the most vocal in their opposition to the new state, but as soon as Pakistan came into being, they became its ‘guardians’. Appeasement of religious fundamentalists has led to an intolerant society where hate-literature is sold freely and religious minorities are persecuted. The state’s role has been far from ideal. State support to militant and sectarian outfits has bloodied our soil while our history textbooks have adopted a religious colour. John Locke introduced the idea of separating the church from the state back in the 17th century and since then many countries have adopted this secular, democratic model. In Pakistan, there is a misconception about secularism being ‘anti-religion’ when it is actually ‘religion-neutral’. If we are to make this country a progressive state, we must get rid of obscurantist and reactionary ideas so as to imbibe religious tolerance amongst our ranks and make Pakistan a state that can hold its head up high in today’s world. *

Humanitarian crisis looms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

PESHAWAR: Even though six days have passed since the devastating floods hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, thousands of people are crying for food, shelter and drinking water as a food crisis is looming in the flood-hit districts. The UN has estimated that some one million people have been affected by the floods, but only a few hundreds have received relief from the government and the remaining are in need of immediate food assistance. Swat, Shangla, Charsadda and Nowshera districts of KP were the worst-hit areas, where thousands of people were marooned in flooded villages, and needed immediate evacuation and food supply. During a visit to a few devastated localities in Peshawar the affected people said, “Our women and children have been swept away, and people are dying of hunger and thirst, while ministers are flying in helicopters, just as an eyewash.” Camp Korona, a village of about 400 houses situated near the Peshawar Motorway, was almost completely destroyed in the torrential rains and flash floods. Few houses were in good condition, while the majority had been completely destroyed. The people had taken refuge on the motorway, and have been sleeping outdoors, without any government relief. Similarly, about 500 houses had been completely destroyed in Momin Ghari, a suburb area of Peshawar. Question: Mohammad Awais, sitting along with his 11-member family on the motorway told Daily Times that he had rescued his family members. “Now like a beggar, I am asking people to provide food for my family,” Awais said. Strongly condemning the government, he said, like him, no one was getting any government relief. He said their destroyed houses are still full of floodwater. Awais questioned the relief activities of the government, saying that if they were without any relief near Peshawar, what would be the condition of the other thousands in places like Charsadda and Nowshera. Little: Similarly, people in Larama, another flood-hit area of Peshawar, strongly criticised the government for not providing any relief to them even after six days. Residents of the Larama area included Shabir, Ibrahim and Luqman, all of whose houses were destroyed, and who said that they had been receiving relief from philanthropists and charity organisations, but the residents have not received any relief from the government so far. A majority of the flood-affected people in Peshawar, have been shifted to government schools, but even there the people were complaining of a shortage of food and health facilities. People were seen evacuating luggage from their destroyed houses in Peshawar, as the government has not provided them basic necessities, including water coolers and tents, to name a few. The province is facing the worst natural calamity in its history, and the situation could turn into a humanitarian disaster if the government and the international community does not extend immediate help. Thousands of people, including women and children, have taken shelter on rooftops and nearby mountains in Nowshera. Most parts of the Nowshera district have been inundated and thousands of people are still marooned. Stranded: Anger is growing, due to the slow pace of relief work and delays in evacuation. Demonstrations were held in Pabbi and Taro Jabba with protesters demanding food, drinking water and shelter. Swat is the worst-hit district, and according to reports, thousands are still stranded, and waiting for their evacuation to safer places. “I am stranded with my other 20 fellows including females in the Kanju area of Swat. We are waiting for evacuation and have nothing to eat and drink,” Ziaullah, a worker of a non-government organisation (NGO) informed through his cell phone. All link bridges have been washed away, and about 233 people have died in Swat. Only a single helicopter was being used in Swat for rescue operations. Interestingly, though the devastating flood has nearly made one million people homeless, the KP government has distributed only 200 tents each in Tank, Lakki Marwat and Bannu, and 40 in Peshawar. The government had only distributed food items among 4,950 families in Charsadda, 1,000 in Tank, 2,000 in DI Khan, 300 in Bannu, and among 600 families in Peshawar.

Pakistan flood Survivors lash out after Pakistan floods kill 1,100

Survivors crammed into inadequate shelters expressed anger over inaction from the Pakistani government on Monday as the death toll from the country's worst floods in generations topped 1,100. UN chief Ban Ki-moon pledged extra aid of up to 10 million dollars to help in the crisis, which local officials say has affected more than 1.5 million people in Pakistan's northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "I had built a two-room house on the outskirts of Peshawar with my hard-earned money but I lost it in the floods," said labourer Ejaz Khan, one of several hundred people who demonstrated in the northwestern city of Peshawar. "The government is not helping us... the school building where I sheltered is packed with people, with no adequate arrangement for food and medicine," the 53-year-old told AFP. The floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains capped a devastating week in Pakistan, where 152 people were killed when an Airblue passenger jet slammed into hills overlooking the capital in the country's worst plane crash. Ban said he was "deeply saddened" by the losses incurred in the worst floods in Pakistan for 80 years, reiterating a full commitment to "meeting the humanitarian needs" of those affected. Pakistani television footage and photographs taken from helicopters showed people clinging to the walls and rooftops of damaged houses as water rushed through villages, with waterborne diseases emerging as a threat to survivors. Thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland have been destroyed in a region of Pakistan reeling from years of extremist bloodshed. "The floods have killed more than 1,100 people in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and affected over 1.5 million," said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the northwest province's information minister. "We are receiving information about the loss of life and property caused by the floods all over the province," he told AFP, adding that he feared the death toll could rise. A senior official at the provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) confirmed the toll. Hussain said more than 3,700 homes had been swept away and the number of people made homeless was mounting. Hundreds of survivors sought shelter in schools in Peshawar, the main city in northwest Pakistan, and in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, after escaping the floods with children on their backs. Pakistan's meterological office said the northwest had been hit by an "unprecedented" 312 millimetres (12 inches) of rain in 36 hours. The US government announced an initial 10-million-dollar aid pledge and has rushed helicopters and boats to Pakistan. China, which has also been hit by severe flooding, announced a 10 million yuan (1.5 million dollar) donation, according to the official Xinhua news agency, which cited a government website. Hussain said rescue teams were trying to reach 1,500 tourists stranded in Swat district, the scene of a major anti-Taliban military offensive last year. "We are also getting confirmation of reports about an outbreak of cholera in some areas of Swat," he said. The Pakistan Air Force said it had airlifted more than 500 stranded people, including six foreigners, as part of relief operations and was carrying out reconnaissance missions to assess the damage to infrastructure. President Asif Ali Zardari is due in Paris Monday for a two-day visit, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner expressed France's "solidarity" with Pakistan in the face of the floods. Floods also ravaged parts of Afghanistan, killing at least 65 people and affecting more than 1,000 families, officials said.

BlackBerry Users in UAE and Saudi May Have Services Cut...SHAME SHAME SHAME!!!!

More than a million BlackBerry users may have key services in Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut off after authorities stepped up demands on smartphone maker Research In Motion for access to encrypted messages sent over the device. BlackBerry's Messenger application has spread rapidly in the Gulf Arab region but because the data is encrypted and sent to offshore servers, it cannot be tracked locally. "Certain BlackBerry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns," the United Arab Emirates' Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a statement. The UAE said it would suspend BlackBerry Messenger, email and Web browser services from October 11 until a fix was found, while industry sources said Saudi Arabia had ordered local telecom companies to freeze Messenger this month. Sunday's moves cap wrangling with regulators over the issue, which first surfaced in 2007. India raised similar security concerns last week, and Bahrain in April warned against using BlackBerry Messenger to distribute local news. As far back as 2007, France cautioned officials about using the services. Indian security officials were concerned that BlackBerry's encrypted data could be used to coordinate acts against the state. They have clamped down on mobile phone operators in the wake of 2008 attacks that killed 166 people in Mumbai. The UAE, home to Gulf financial hub Dubai, said it would halt BlackBerry services until an "acceptable solution" was developed and applied. Users of the device said that could mean disruptions for companies and individuals who rely on the services, including almost 700,000 in Saudi Arabia and some 500,000 in the UAE. "It's a final decision but we are continuing discussions with them," Mohammed Al Ghanem, director general of the UAE's TRA, told Reuters.

Chelsea Clinton's Fairytale Wedding

RHINEBECK, N.Y. — Bill and Hillary Clinton have tried to shield their daughter, Chelsea, from the gaze of the public for most of her life. But on her wedding day on Saturday, even as the Clintons sought to shroud the event in secrecy, residents and onlookers here decided they were going to celebrate along with them, invited or not.Most every girl dreams of a fairytale wedding. On Saturday, it seems as if Chelsea Clinton got hers. So despite confidentiality agreements, anonymous hotel reservations and a no-fly zone established over the area, this moneyed and normally subdued town turned into a Chelsea theme park, with shop windows filled with tributes to her, including one with a live model in a wedding dress having her makeup done. A baseball team sent its mascot, dressed up as a raccoon, parading through town with a sign asking Ms. Clinton to marry him. Teenage boys chased after former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, seeking autographs. Young women passed out slices of pizza with “I do” written in pepperoni. Caravans of guests sped by reporters who waited forlornly in a pen on the road leading to the wedding site, while, just beyond, a dozen brown milk cows chewed on dinner. At 7:23 p.m. came an announcement from the family via e-mail: Ms. Clinton was now married to Marc Mezvinsky. “Today, we watched with great pride and overwhelming emotion as Chelsea and Marc wed in a beautiful ceremony at Astor Courts, surrounded by family and their close friends,” the Clintons said. “We could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life together, and we are so happy to welcome Marc into our family.” The former president and Mrs. Clinton, the secretary of state, also thanked Rhinebeck for its welcome and good wishes. Ms. Clinton, 30, wore a strapless gown, beaded at the waist and designed by Vera Wang (who caused a commotion of her own when she showed up in town on Saturday). The mother of the bride wore a plum-colored gown by Oscar de la Renta. The interfaith ceremony was conducted by Rabbi James Ponet and the Rev. William Shillady. Ms. Clinton is Methodist, and Mr. Mezvinsky is Jewish. It included elements from both traditions: friends and family reading the Seven Blessings, which are typically recited at traditional Jewish weddings following the vows and exchange of rings. A friend of the couple read the poem “The Life That I Have” by Leo Marks. Many of the guests were friends of the bride and groom from college and work; they both attended Stanford University, and Ms. Clinton recently received her master’s degree from Columbia University’s Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health. Family flew in, too. The president’s half-brother, Roger Clinton, was spotted in town in a T-shirt and track pants hours before the wedding. Marie Clinton Bruno, a cousin of the president’s, reminisced about a 10-year-old Chelsea appearing as a bridesmaid at her own wedding, which was held at the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock, Ark., in 1990. That day, Chelsea wore a pale pink dress with ruffles on the shoulders and tended to the artificial flowers in the bride’s bouquet. “She was just a wonderful bridesmaid,” Ms. Bruno said. “She’s just as wonderful today as she was back then.” As she strolled through Rhinebeck, Ms. Bruno spoke approvingly of the location: “It reminds me of the Ozarks in Arkansas, except more chic.” President Clinton appeared to have followed his daughter’s instructions and lost quite a bit of weight for the ceremony. She had ordered him to lose 15 pounds, but people close to him said he had actually lost more than 20. While the media and local residents have been buzzing for months about celebrities who were expected here — including Oprah Winfrey, Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg and John Major, the former British prime minister — none of those particular bold-faced names were invited. Still, there was star power: One of the most prominent guests was Vernon Jordan, a longtime confidant of Mr. Clinton’s and a family friend. But he was not generally recognized by the gawkers here as he strode into a cocktail reception Friday night. One man in the crowd authoritatively identified him as Hamilton Jordan, who was a top aide to former President Jimmy Carter and who died in 2008. Another man in the crowd declared that Vernon Jordan was actually Warren Buffett. The media pack surrounded the actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, who are married, with the force of a sudden summer storm. “We must be the only celebrities in town,” Mr. Danson said. “I’m sorry.” Linda Ennis, a Clinton fan who drove more than an hour in hopes of glimpsing the former president and possibly the bride, seemed star-struck about Ms. Clinton. Like many here, she said she had watched Ms. Clinton grow up, then compared her grace to that of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. “She’s turned into such a beauty,” Ms. Ennis said. “It’s royalty,” her friend, Arlene Newman, added. “It’s our royalty.” Photos released by the Clintons showed the former president looking solemn as he walked his daughter down an aisle created by rows of white chairs against a backdrop of arched windows and columns that evoked the White House. They also showed Ms. Clinton bursting with joy at several moments during the ceremony. Jim Valli and his band provided music at the reception (the couple’s good friend Tim Blane and his band played at the rehearsal dinner). The reception was catered by the St. Regis Hotel (the rehearsal dinner by Blue Ribbon Restaurants). La Tulipe Desserts made the gluten-free wedding cake. Mr. Mezvinsky, an investment banker at 3G Capital Management and a son of two former Democratic members of Congress, proposed to Ms. Clinton over Thanksgiving weekend, and the pair released a statement to friends joyfully wishing them a happy Thanksgiving and telling them about their wedding plans. The couple lives in a three-bedroom apartment on Lower Fifth Avenue in New York with views of Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building; Mr. Mezvinsky bought the apartment in 2008 for $4 million. Maureen Missner, whose shop, Paper Trail, was believed to be helping to prepare the gift bags, said this wedding felt different from one last year in the area, when the actor Griffin Dunne was married and residents spotted stars like Hugh Jackman. She said that comparing it to Mr. Dunne’s wedding put these festivities into perspective. “This is not a star-studded wedding,” Ms. Missner said. “This is clearly about the bride and groom.”

Pakistan floods; 900 dead...Pakistanis criticize government response to floods

Rescue workers struggled Sunday to save more than 27,000 people still trapped by massive flooding in Pakistan's northwest that has killed over 900 people and destroyed thousands of homes, officials said.The effort has been aided by a slackening of the monsoon rains that have caused the worst flooding in decades in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. But as flood waters have started to recede, authorities have begun to understand the full scale of the disaster. "Aerial monitoring is being conducted, and it has shown that whole villages have washed away, animals have drowned and grain storages have washed away," said Latifur Rehman, spokesman for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. "The destruction is massive and devastating." The death toll from the flooding has risen to 903 people, said Mujahid Khan, the head of rescue services for the Edhi Foundation, a private charity. The worst hit areas have been the districts of Swat and Shangla, where more than 400 people have died, he said. The disaster comes as the residents of Swat are still trying to recover from a major battle between the army and the Taliban last spring that caused widespread destruction and drove some 2 million people from their homes. About a million of those people are still displaced. Authorities have deployed 43 military helicopters and over 100 boats to try to rescue some 27,300 people still trapped by the floods, said Rehman, the disaster management spokesman. At least 115 people are still reported missing in Swat and Shangla, he said. As rivers swelled in the northwest, people sought ever-shrinking high ground or grasped for trees and fences to avoid getting swept away. Buildings simply crumbled into the raging river in Kalam, a town in the northern part of the Swat Valley, local TV showed. "All efforts are being used to rescue people stuck in inaccessible areas and all possible help is being provided to affected people," said Rehman. But some residents stepped up their criticism of the government's response on Sunday. "The flood has devastated us all, and I don't know where my family has gone," said Hakimullah Khan, a resident of Charsadda town who complained the government has not helped him search for his missing wife and three children. "Water is all around and there is no help in sight," said Khan. The military has deployed 30,000 army troops who had evacuated 19,000 trapped people by Saturday night, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. But the scale of the disaster has strained the resources of a government already grappling with a faltering economy and a brutal war against the Taliban. Even people like Sehar Ali Shah who were rescued by the government complained that authorities didn't provide shelter that would allow them to stay until the flood waters receded. "My son drowned, but I don't see the government taking care of us," said Shah after returning to his half-submerged house in the city of Nowshera. "The government has not managed an alternate place to shift us." Authorities have recovered more than 400 bodies from Swat and Shangla, but the collection effort has been hampered by mud and debris from destroyed houses, said Khan, the Edhi Foundation representative. The floods have caused an acute shortage of fruits and vegetables in the northwest because many of the hardest hit areas were the key centers of production, said Khan. The threat of disease loomed as well as some evacuees arrived in camps with fever, diarrhea and skin problems. "There is now a real danger of the spread of waterborne diseases like diarrhea, asthma, skin allergies and perhaps cholera in these areas," said Shaharyar Bangash, the head of operations in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa for World Vision, a major international humanitarian group. A variety of nations and aid organizations have begun to mobilize a response to the flood disaster. The U.S. delivered 380,000 food packages, four rescue boats and two water filtration units to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said Rehman, the group's spokesman. "This is much needed stuff in the flood-affected areas and we need more of it from the international community," said Rehman. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad has also announced it will provide 12 prefabricated steel bridges to temporarily replace some of the spans damaged by the water.

Chelsea Clinton Says 'I Do' and Marries Marc Mezvinsky

Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton married her longtime boy friend investment banker Marc Mezvinsky in a ceremony today that was marked by strict secrecy and what her parents said was "overwhelming emotion." The wedding took place in Rhinebeck, N.Y., a picturesque town along the Hudons River, on a warm summer evening. "Today, we watched with great pride and overwhelming emotion as Chelsea and Marc wed in a beautiful ceremony at Astor Courts, surrounded by family and their close friends," the former president and the current secretary of state said in a statement released after the wedding. "We could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life together, and we are so happy to welcome Marc into our family. On behalf of the newlyweds, we want to give special thanks to the people of Rhinebeck for welcoming us and to everyone for their well-wishes on this special day," they said. The ceremony was conducted by a rabbi and a reverend as Chelsea Clinton is Methodist and Mezvinsky is Jewish. The couple read a poem by Leo Marks titled, "The Life I Have," according to the family. The short poem includes the stanza, "The love that I have/ Of the life that I have/ Is yours and yours and yours."

UN says floods affect 1 million Pakistanis

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The United Nations says devastating floods have affected 1 million people in Pakistan. Officials say floods have killed 430 people in the deadliest such disaster to hit the region since 1929. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the cost of damage from floods was not clear. Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to reach flood-hit areas. Government official Lutfur Rehman said Saturday floodwaters were receding in the northwest, but rescuers were facing problems reaching affected people because of damage caused to roads and bridges. The flooding capped an already deadly week in Pakistan. A passenger jet slammed into hills overlooking Islamabad killing all 152 people on board Wednesday.

Wedding bells for Chelsea Clinton

Floods kill more than 400 in Pakistan's northwest

Heavy monsoon rains have triggered the worst floods in decades in Pakistan's northwest, killing more than 400 people and forcing thousands from their homes as authorities struggle to reach stranded villagers. Three days of torrential rains caused rivers to burst their banks in several places and unleashed widespread destruction in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, destroying houses, bridges, schools, roads and railway tracks. "According to initial reports received from all districts, 408 people have so far been killed" since Wednesday, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters in the provincial capital of Peshawar. "We fear the death toll will rise once the water recedes. We are facing the worst disaster in the history of our province." The towns of Nowshera and Charsadda and the northwestern valley of Swat were the worst hit where gushing flood waters washed away houses and hotels around the banks of swollen rivers. "Half of Nowshera is already under water," said Imran Khan, whose ancestral home is beside the river in the garrison town, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Islamabad. "The military hospital, and many other buildings in the cantonment area, are also half under water. ... Some trucks of military rescue convoys are stuck on the road," he said. The Pakistan army, which is leading the rescue and relief activity, said it had evacuated about 14,250 people from the flooded regions so far. About 50 tons of rations had been airlifted into affected areas, the army said in a statement. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen some of the fiercest fighting in Pakistan's war against Taliban insurgents, with Swat and regions nearby especially hard hit. Militants came within 60 miles of the capital last year, prompting a major military offensive. The province has received more than 312 mm rains in the past three days -- the highest figure recorded in the last 35 years -- chief meteorologist Ghulam Rasul said. The monsoon season in Pakistan lasts until the first week of September. Weather officials are forecasting continued heavy rains for the next 10 days. About 70 people were killed in flash floods in the southwestern Baluchistan province last week, which also uprooted nearly 100,000 people. Minister Hussain appealed for help from the international community and said the assistance must reach the province now, or the provincial government would be forced to cut employees' wages and development work to meet losses. "If they want to help, help now."

Pakistan's intelligence agency cancels UK visit

Pakistan's intelligence agency cancelled planned talks with security experts in the UK in protest at David Cameron's claim that elements within the country were promoting the export of terror. The cancelled trip is the most concrete indication so far of damage done to Anglo-Pakistani relations by Mr Cameron's comments, which sparked outrage in Islamabad when he made them during this week's trip to India. Answering questions following a speech, Mr Cameron said he wanted to see "a strong, stable and democratic Pakistan", adding: "But we cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world." The Times reported that senior officers from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had been due to come to London for talks on counter-terrorism co-operation with British security services. But an ISI spokesman told the paper: "The visit has been cancelled in reaction to the comments made by the British Prime Minister against Pakistan." The spokesperson added: "Such irresponsible statements could affect our co-operation with Britain." It comes days ahead of a three-day visit to the UK by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, during which he is expected to stay with Mr Cameron at his country retreat Chequers.

Chelsea Clinton's 'wedding of the year'

Chelsea Clinton took great pains to keep the details of her wedding extravaganza a secret even as the media pointed cameras at the posh estate in Rhinebeck, New York, where the ceremony will be held.

Floods in the Pakistan's Peshawar area

The death toll in three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 313 on Friday, rescue and government officials said, as rains bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides. The rising toll from the monsoon rains underscore the poor infrastructure in impoverished Pakistan, where under-equipped rescue workers were struggling to reach people stranded in far-flung villages. The weather forecast was mixed, with some areas expected to see reduced rainfall and others likely to see an intensification. Pakistani TV showed striking images of people clinging to fences and other stationary items as water at times gushed over their heads. The northwest appeared to be the hardest hit, and Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for the province, said it was the worst flooding in the region since 1929. The highway connecting Peshawar to the federal capital, Islamabad, was shut down after the water washed away bridges and other links. At least 291 people died in various parts of that province over the last three days, said Mujahid Khan of the Edhi Foundation, a privately run rescue service that operates morgues and ambulances across the South Asian country. In Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, at least 22 people had been confirmed dead as of Thursday evening, the area's prime minister, Sardar Attique Khan, told reporters. The tolls from the deluge were expected to rise because many people were still missing. Poor weather this week also may have been a factor in Wednesday's Airblue plane crash that killed 152 people in Islamabad. In the Swat Valley, residents were forced to trudge through knee-deep water in some streets. A newly constructed part of a dam in the Charsadda district collapsed, while the U.N. said it had reports that 5,000 homes were underwater in that area. Hussain estimated 400,000 people were stranded in various northwest villages. "A rescue operation using helicopters cannot be conducted due to the bad weather, while there are only 48 rescue boats available for rescue," he said on Thursday. Pakistan's poorest residents are often the ones living in flood-prone areas because they can't afford safer land. Southwest Baluchistan province has also been hit hard by the recent rains. Last week, flash floods in that region killed at least 41 people and swept away thousands of homes. The U.N. statement Thursday said 150,000 people were affected there. The U.N. said Punjab province in Pakistan's east was also hit by some flooding. Crops were soaked in farmlands throughout the country. The U.N. said the humanitarian community was trying to put together a proper response, but the rains were making many roads impassable, complicating efforts to assess needs.

Obama appears on 'The View': A bit of TV history

'We're making American history!" cried the announcer on ABC's The View. And they were. Special guest Thursday on the late-morning talk show: President Obama, the first sitting president to make a personal appearance on a daytime TV talker. The audience was pumped, the political tension was palpable, and behind it all boiled the vitriolic political year of 2010. Lead host Barbara Walters showed up, still convalescing from recent heart surgery. She opened with: "[Y]ou've gone through a little bit of a beating the last month. Do you really think that being on a show with a bunch of women, five women who never shut up, is going to be calming?" From his first answer ("Look, I was trying to find a show that Michelle actually watched . . . "), Obama sought to project openness, cool, and faith in the cohering power of a shared Americanness. But thanks to the world we live in, with new media and new messages instant by instant, the political landscape is changing fast - for politicians and voters alike, and all are scrambling to keep up. That's why Obama went on the show that now dubs itself "Red, White, and View." What viewers saw was the TV president, the Internet and YouTube president, moving fast not to be left behind. Obama said it himself: "These things change very quickly." G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, lays out in an e-mail how quickly: "His job performance [rating] dropped 20 points from Jan. '09-Jan. '10, and nothing he has done . . . ha[s] moved the performance meter one way or the other very much. He remains about 47-48 percent positive, with virtually no change this year at all." Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, says there's no question: Instant, all-pervasive media have contributed to the volatility of the electorate. "Because technology changes so fast," he says, "politicians have to change fast to keep up, and it means the audience changes rapidly, too." But news events great and small - oil slick, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Shirley Sherrod, Afghanistan, WikiLeaks, jobs, orders for durable goods, polls and more polls - tear at that shared image. And the electorate shifts shape: Many of those who voted for Obama now, as Thompson puts it, "don't seem to be particularly fond of the message." Tradition old and new. A presidential-level pol on pop TV is not new. Obama's View visit Thursday was just the latest in a tradition at least 42 years old. Richard M. Nixon appeared on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in September 1968, to say, famously, "Sock it to me?" Tenor-sax man Bill Clinton played "Heartbreak Hotel" on the Arsenio Hall Show in 1992. Candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore hit all the talks in 2000, as did candidates Obama and John McCain in 2008. All these were but candidates looking to get elected. The telling difference yesterday was that Obama, a sitting president, was campaigning to keep Congress for his party, and thus protect his agenda. He's the first president to resort to pop TV in a bid to retain power at midterm. And so, there he was, fielding questions from hosts Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on the economy, Afghanistan, the Shirley Sherrod affair, race, and - the playlist on the presidential iPod. (He listed Jay-Z, Frank Sinatra, and Maria Callas, but confessed he had no Justin Bieber.) No bombshells. OK, he did admit he didn't know who Snooki is. He projected such calm that Behar blurted, "Are you on Zoloft?" Taking in "The View." The View was a fascinating choice, especially now, as the nation careers toward the November elections, with control of the Congress at stake. The Nielsen people say 70 percent of The View's 3.8 million daily viewers are women, with a median age of 59. That's a heavy-voting bunch, rich in those much-polled, much-dissected swing voters. On the air since 1997, The View takes women, and their interest in current events, seriously. It has long featured its "Hot Topics" segment, in which hosts debate issues of the day. During the testy 2008 election year, when hosts started to shout at one another, audience numbers spiked to near four million. And they've stayed there, steadily around 3.8 million, beating Meet the Press (3.7 million) and The O'Reilly Factor (2.7 million). The View actually draws a million more viewers than it did in 2000. Viewers apparently like to watch celebrity women fight about issues. Who knew? The View knew. The media president. Obama broke ground in 2009, the first sitting president to go on a late-night show, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, one-liners at the ready ("I do think in Washington it's a little bit like American Idol, except everybody is Simon Cowell"). He also has been on Late Show With David Letterman, and repeatedly on 60 Minutes. Madonna writes, "Obama has had more public events - speeches, pressers, town halls, etc. - than any president in the first 19 months of a term in American history. He may have had more than any president during their full term." Baltimore Sun writer David Zurawik quips on his website that "when the going gets tough, President Obama gets air time." Unity and division. The subtext to many of the questions Thursday was, as Walters put it, the "beating" the White House has taken, and the fragmenting forces of media and politics. As Hasselbeck told Obama, "We are a very divided States of America." Obama acknowledged the fragmentation. He glanced at the 24/7 news cycle, which, in the case of Sherrod, he said, had "generated a phony controversy." He acknowledged that racial tensions persisted but insisted that, generation by generation, they were moderating, and that "we're making great progress." And he repeatedly declared his faith that "We share the same hopes, we share the same dreams, we share the same aspiration. . . . Everybody here is connected in some way. . . . I think most Americans feel that way." In the face of the splintering power of politics-stoked media and media-driven politics, Obama had come to assert the image of a unified government and people. Will it work? Madonna writes that stints on shows such as The View "are not likely to change the fundamentals of his situation. . . . I think the public just does not pay attention anymore - a classic case of overexposure going on here." Thompson worries that, as voters and politicians learn the skills of skepticism necessary in the information world vintage 2010, "skepticism grows so great that we cease to have common ground." Common ground, the sense of anything shared, was really what was at stake yesterday on The View. The next three months will test which country emerges: Obama's United States or Hasselbeck's "divided states."

Passenger plane crashes in Islamabad, All 152 on board dead

ISLAMABAD: The passenger plane of a private airliner carrying 152 people crashed in a ball of flames Wednesday into densely wooded hills outside Islamabad amid heavy rain and poor visibility, killing everyone on board. Rescue officials said pieces of charred flesh and body parts were littered around the smouldering wreckage, partially buried on a remote hillside, in the deadliest crash involving a Pakistani passenger jet in 18 years.

Clinton: US, world stand with Afghanistan

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday vowed the United States and its allies will stand by Afghanistan even as fears are growing about the course of the nearly 9-year-old war and the Obama administration plans to begin withdrawing American troops from the country next year. Clinton acknowledged deepening opposition to international involvement in the conflict amid the rising death toll of foreign troops in the country. But she told an international conference on Afghanistan's future that the "world is with Afghanistan" and that the planned drawdown of U.S. forces was not a sign of flagging commitment. "The July 2011 date captures both our sense of urgency and the strength of our resolve," she said of U.S. plans to accelerate the process of turning over security to Afghanistan's police and military. "The transition process is too important to push off indefinitely." "But this date is the start of a new phase, not the end of our involvement," Clinton told the conference, which is being attended by senior officials from about 70 countries. "We have no intention of abandoning our long-term mission of achieving a stable, secure, peaceful Afghanistan." Mounting concerns about the war and rampant corruption in Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government have prompted many in the U.S. and allied countries to raise serious questions about the wisdom of carrying on the fight. Clinton allowed that "the road ahead will not be easy," particularly given those concerns, which could threaten funding for military operations. "Citizens of many nations represented here, including my own, wonder whether success is even possible — and if so, whether we all have the commitment to achieve it. We will answer these questions with our actions," she said, pledging to step up U.S. civilian assistance to help rehabilitate and reconstruct the war-shattered nation.

Pakistan: Muslim marauders target Christians

“Policemen patrol every street in Waris pura. After last night's attacks, the situation is tense and some panic stricken Christian families are barricaded in their homes. I and other Catholic priests spent the night on the streets trying to reassure people, calling on Christians not to react toviolence with violence”: said Dominican Fr. Pascal Paulus, parish priest at Holy Rosary Church, in Waris pura, suburb of Faisalabad, after a sleepless night of emergency, fear of massacre, and the determination “to do everything possible to prevent bloodshed”. As the sun set – the priest told Fides– “a mob of about 2,000 armed Islamic militants launched an attack on the Christian district of Waris pura. The mob was out of control, shops and streets were devastated, there was shooting, looting and torching. Some Christian were hurt, but the outcome could have been much worse ”. Yesterday was a tragic day for Christians in Faisalabad: two brothers Rashid and Sajid Emmanuel, born to Catholic parents, charged with blasphemy, arrested, tried and then finally acquitted, were barbarously murdered as they left Faisalabad law courts escorted by police officers as free innocent men. Armed men attacked the group killing the two brothers and also wounded one of the accompanying police officers. Bewildered Christians poured into the streets voicing grief and anger: “Emotional tension was high, there was some shouting, stone throwing against Muslim shops ”, said Fr. Khalid Rashid Asi, vicar general of the diocese of Faisalabad. Reaction from Muslim extremists was swift: a few local mosque preachers urged the Muslim mob to “fight the infidels”: some 2,000 militants raged through Waris pura all night long. Fr. Khalid continues: “We, four priests, went from door to door, begging Christians not to react, to stay calm, to avoid provoking a dangerous spiral of violence and revenge. We reminded them: we belong to Christ, we love peace, we forgive our enemies ”. The police intervened to restore order and this morning Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabd, presided the funeral of the two murdered brothers. Among those present, besides about 500 local Catholics, Fr. Emmanuel Mani, head of the Pakistani Bishops' Justice and Peace Commission. “Many of the faithful were still to frightened to leave their homes. Some leading Muslim citizens expressed solidarity with the Christians and condemned the violence ”, Fr Khalid told Fides. The brother's parents were Catholics and both had been baptised at the local Catholic church. Rashid recently had taken course with a Protestant denomination to prepare for preaching the Bible. “They were two innocent men. They are our martyrs. We ask only for respect, peace, equality and rights. As long as Pakistan has this blasphemy law, tragic episodes such as this will continue to happen ”, concludes Fr. Khalid.

Pakistan army chief to remain in post

Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, who is popular at home and has won praise from U.S. officials for his leadership in the fight against Taliban militants, will serve three more years as army chief of staff.

Alcohol And Benefits

Over the last five years, the health benefits of moderate drinking have been widely celebrated in the headlines. To those who think everything enjoyable must be bad for you, this news might seem like a dream come true. Of course, there are many caveats - and these studies don't indicate that teetotalers should take up drinking or that infrequent drinkers should start drinking more. The operative word here is drinking in moderation. Studies show, for example, that health benefits only come with moderate drinking and are greatest for older men. And even moderate drinking is not recommended for women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, or for people who are under 21. The strongest medical evidence exists for the link between moderate drinking and a reduced risk of heart disease. Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, an internist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, was the lead author of a New England Journal of Medicine study examining the roles of drinking patterns and heart disease that found, after 12 year of follow-up, that men who consumed alcohol between three and seven days a week had fewer heart attacks than men who drank once a week. Below, Mukamal discusses the risk and benefits of moderate drinking. Do we know why moderate drinking lowers heart disease risk? We think that a lot of the benefits of alcohol are on the blood vessels and on blockages in the arteries to the heart and to the brain. This might be related to alcohol's effect on the good cholesterol, the HDL cholesterol. In fact, alcohol affects HDL levels just about as strongly as any other lifestyle factor. People also think that alcohol may lower heart attack risk by acting as a blood thinner. What are some of the other health benefits associated with moderate drinking? A wide variety of health effects have been attributed to moderate drinking. A lower risk of diabetes has been seen in women and men. There actually have been experiments done in which alcohol was administered over a couple of months to people without diabetes. In those studies, most of which have been conducted in women interestingly, it looks like moderate drinking improves the body's sensitivity to insulin. It may actually lower insulin levels altogether and may prevent diabetes through that mechanism. More recently we've done some work on moderate drinking and dementia. We looked at a group of older adults in the United States - average age was in the mid-70s - and found a reduced risk. There has been some more work in slightly younger populations from Europe, and those studies have fairly consistently suggested that older adults who were drinking moderately may have a lower risk of dementia. We're not exactly sure what the mechanisms may be behind that. Some of it may very well be because drinking tends to occur in social settings and just the process of getting out and socializing may be an important way to prevent dementia. There is also evidence that moderate drinking may prevent silent strokes or other subtle types of brain injury that we know over time can predispose to dementia. I think it's still an area where we need some more investigation. Is the pattern of alcohol consumption important? In most of the studies that look at this issue, people have been asked 'How much alcohol do you usually drink?' When that question is asked, people take an average. For example, I drink 10 drinks a month. But 10 drinks a month is very different for someone who has them all on one night vs. someone who has them on 10 different nights of the month. That kind of detail surprisingly hasn't been available in most of the studies that have been devoted to this topic. In our study we tried to figure out the drinking pattern that's most closely tied to lower heart attack risk. What we found in a study of about 38,000 men was that the key factor wasn't what men were drinking, or frankly even so much how much they were drinking at a time, but how frequently they were drinking alcohol. We found that men who were drinking at least three to four days a week or more had lower heart attack risks than people who had one drink a week. We also have some very strong studies showing that heart disease risk, while lower amongst moderate drinkers, can be substantially higher among people who drink to excess even occasionally. They don't have to be drinking excessively every single night to potentially have a greater heart attack risk. Many of the effects of moderate drinking, such as acting as a blood thinner, are only true at moderate levels of drinking. Those effects actually go away and reverse if people drink too much. What constitutes one drink? What doctors usually consider a drink is basically a medium glass of wine, a 1.5 oz shot of spirits, or a can or bottle of beer. All of those have roughly similar amounts of pure alcohol in them. We usually define moderate drinking as up to one drink per day for adult women who aren't pregnant and up to two drinks per day for adult men. Some guidelines recommend that moderate drinking among adults over 65 be limited to one drink per day. Are the heart benefits of alcohol consumption the same for men and women? In general, when we're thinking about the putative health benefits of moderate drinking, they mostly apply to older people and to men. Issues for women and for younger individuals are much more difficult to sort out. The role of alcohol consumption in heart disease varies strongly by gender. The reason for that is twofold. On the one hand, women at any given age tend to have lower risks of heart disease than men do. As a result, the benefits of moderate drinking accrue disproportionately to men. At the same time, there are some particular risks of drinking for women that don't exist for men. There is some evidence that women may be particularly prone, for example, to liver disease related to drinking. Even moderate drinking may increase breast cancer risk. And, while the effects on heart attack risk are roughly similar in men and women, I think it's even more difficult to determine what the ideal level of drinking ought to be for women than it is for men. I think it is fair to say that if young women in general are drinking with the expectation that there is some health benefit to it for them, they're probably mistaken. Young women are a group of people for which, as of now, we basically have no clear proof that the overall balance of alcohol's risks and benefits is going to work in their favor. What are some of the risks of moderate drinking? There is fairly consistent evidence that breast cancer rates are higher among women who drink moderately. I think that's important because obviously breast cancer is very common disease. I certainly think women at high risk for breast cancer should talk with their doctors about whether they should be drinking any alcohol. Another important risk, which is unrecognized for many people in this country, is that even moderate drinking among people with hepatitis C may increase their risk of permanent liver damage. Anybody who is known to have hepatitis C shouldn't be drinking any alcohol at all. People who have risk factors for hepatitis C ought to be tested because it will very substantially impact what the potential risks are related to moderate drinking. In addition, although we don't think moderate drinking necessarily clouds our judgment, it turns out that it probably does. In simulated driving tests that were done as far back as the 1950s, people have realized that at very low blood alcohol levels, simulated driving performance is impaired. When I say low blood alcohol, what I'm talking about is as low as .02 percent. Some studies, for example, the analysis of the National Alcohol Survey, showed something similar. You begin to see higher risks of injury even when people are reporting one drink a day. That's why we still recommend that even moderate drinking occur in the home, preferably tied to meals. That is not so much because we find that that drinking with a meal is more likely to lower heart disease risk, for example, but because it's the safest way to prevent high blood alcohol levels that can get people into accidents. What about people with a history of alcohol abuse? Although it has been bantered back and forth, most people think that people who have a personal history of alcoholism very rarely can return to social drinking. People who, for personal or family reasons have never had alcohol before, at least as of now, probably shouldn't start drinking for any health reason. What is your advice for an individual who is weighing the risks or benefits of moderate drinking? It's hard to give any single piece of advice because of all the things we've learned about moderate drinking. The potential risks and benefits are going to vary by a person's health history, their age, sex and family history. The number of factors that would have to go into the decision is really very substantial. As a primary care doctor myself, these are long discussions that people should have with their doctor. I would not recommend that anybody go out tomorrow and start drinking alcohol simply on the basis of results that we and others have presented. I would say that for people who are drinking moderately and are able to control it and don't have any of the absolute reasons why they shouldn't be drinking alcohol, that there is no evidence now that that's a bad thing to do. Beyond that, I don't think right now we have enough evidence to say that anybody should take up drinking just for any particular benefit unless their doctors recommend that they do so.

Obama announces $2 billion for solar power

President Barack Obama announced Saturday the awarding of nearly $2 billion for new solar plants that he said will create thousands of jobs and increase the country's use of renewable energy sources. Obama disclosed the funding in his weekly radio and online address, saying it is part of his plan to bring new industries to the U.S. "We're going to keep competing aggressively to make sure the jobs and industries of the future are taking root right here in America," Obama said. The two companies that will receive the funds from the president's $862 billion economic stimulus are Abengoa Solar, which will build one of the world's largest solar plants in Arizona, creating 1,600 construction jobs; and Abound Solar Manufacturing, which is building plants in Colorado and Indiana. The Obama administration says those projects will create more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs. Obama's announcement came a day after the Labor Department reported that employers slashed payrolls last month for the first time in six months, driven by the expected end of 225,000 temporary census jobs. Meanwhile, private-sector hiring rose by 83,000 workers. The unemployment rate dropped to 9.5 percent. Obama said that while it may take years to bring back all the jobs lost during the recession, the economy is moving in a positive direction. He placed some of the blame for the slow pace of recovery on Republicans, saying GOP lawmakers, "are playing the same old Washington games and using their power to hold this relief hostage." Obama has said that to bring the nation's economy back from the brink of a depression, it was necessary to add to the country's debt in the short term. Republicans have tried to capitalize on that growing sum. Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss said in the Republican's weekly address that the country's $13 trillion debt is a national security issue that will leave the U.S. vulnerable and force future generations to "pay higher taxes to foot the bill for Democrats' out-of-control spending."

Clinton Calls for Reflection on US Ideals During July 4 Independence Day Holiday

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is urging people to reflect on the ideals of the founding fathers of the United States this Independence Day as nearly 4,000 people prepare to become U.S. citizens. Americans are readying for the traditional Independence Day festivities of picnicking, grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, and watching fireworks and parades this July 4. Clinton, who will be overseas this Independence Day, issued a pre-taped message to celebrate what she called America's Birthday Party. "Every year, Americans gather with friends and family on the Fourth of July to celebrate the values that inspired the founders of our nation more than two centuries ago, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," she said. She urged people to reflect on these ideals, saying they are enshrined in the constitutions of many nations and underscore our common humanity. "We're very proud of our founders. Those brave patriots championed those rights 234 years ago, and they've been inspiring people not only in my country but around the world ever since. I know they inspire me," Clinotn added.On the subject of founding fathers, naturalization ceremonies will be held this July 4th at Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, and George Washington's estate, Mount Vernon, both in Virginia. In fact, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says more than 3,800 people will become U.S. citizens in 55 special ceremonies in the U.S. and abroad this first week of July. Special naturalization ceremonies also include one at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, where more than 12 million immigrants entered the United States between 1892 and 1954. And 110 people took the Oath of Allegiance outdoors before a bevy of rockets when Kennedy Space Center hosted its first naturalization ceremony on July . Plus, the U.S. says more than 500 military service members will become citizens at all-military ceremonies in Seoul, Frankfurt, Baghdad and elsewhere.

Obama: Economy Headed in Right Direction

President Barack Obama says the latest employment figures show the U.S. economy is headed in the right direction, but more needs to be done to put Americans without jobs back to work. The U.S. economy lost 125,000 non-farm sector jobs during the month of June. That figure reflects the end of some 225,000 temporary U.S. census worker jobs. The Labor Department reported a decline in the overall unemployment rate which dropped to 9.5 percent from 9.7 percent, the lowest level since 2009. While the private sector gained 83,000 jobs, the figure was below levels from the previous two months. President Obama recognized the mixed nature of the latest figures. He said they show the economy is headed in the right direction, with the sixth consecutive month of private sector job growth. But he also recognized that for millions of Americans, the economy is not being fixed fast enough. "We're not headed there fast enough for a lot of Americans," he said. "We're not headed three fast enough for me either. The recession dug us a hole of about eight-million jobs deep, and we continue to fight headwinds from volatile global markets," said the president. Saying a lot of work remains to repair the economy and get people back to work, the president announced a new initiative to expand broadband Internet service to U.S. communities with no access. The government estimates that 66 projects involved in this would create about 5,000 short-term construction and installation jobs, with additional longer term economic gains. The head of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, said the latest figures demonstrate the magnitude of the damage from the recession. Addressing Americans still looking for work, President Obama pledged that he and his administration will do everything possible to create jobs and opportunity. President Obama spoke at the beginning of the U.S. July 4th holiday weekend, a time he said should remind Americans that they have never backed down from a challenge and will make it through tough economic times. The president will spend part of the July 4th weekend at the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland, but is expected to return to the White House on Sunday.

Obama vows action on immigration

General Petraeus in Afghanistan warns of tough mission

The United States' top field commander, General David Petraeus, warned on Saturday of a tough mission ahead a day after arriving to take command of the 150,000-strong NATO-led foreign force in Afghanistan. Petraeus told hundreds of guests at a U.S. embassy party held to mark U.S. independence day that it was essential to show unity of purpose to solve Afghanistan's problems. "This is a tough mission, there is nothing easy about it," he said at the sprawling and heavily fortified U.S. embassy complex in Kabul, Washington's biggest foreign mission anywhere in the world and boasting 5 ambassadors. Petraeus is charged with not only winning the war against a growing Taliban insurgency, but also with starting a withdrawal of U.S. forces from July next year. Wearing casual camouflage under a scorching Kabul sun, Petraeus and a besuited U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry on Saturday welcomed scores of guests to an embassy compound liberally decorated with Stars and Stripes flags. A brass band played as guests munched on burgers, corn-on-the-cob, popcorn and ice-cream cones. Petraeus's appointment could be a last throw of the dice for Washington to end an increasingly costly conflict that is draining Western budgets as they emerge from one of the worst global recessions in history. APPOINTMENT CONFIRMED He landed in Kabul on Friday after his appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives approved $33 billion in funding for a troop surge he hopes will turn the tide of the war. The surge will bring to 150,000 the number of foreign troops in Afghanistan just as a new strategy takes root. It entails tackling the Taliban in their strongholds while relying on the government to simultaneously improve local governance and development. Petraeus, who is due to formally take command at a ceremony at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters on Sunday, is credited with turning the tide of the war in Iraq using similar tactics. ISAF said on Saturday that a service member had died in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the south. Nearly 1,900 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001 -- including more than 100 last month, the bloodiest since the war began. The last two weeks have thrown an especially harsh light on the war effort, with new reports of corruption in President Hamid Karzai's government and the change in command of foreign forces. Doubts have also been raised over the commitment of the government to push governance and development alongside the military drive, and also the ability of Afghan forces to take over responsibility for security. At the same time, Karzai has been wooing the Taliban with a series of modest peace overtures, all have which have been rejected by the hardline Islamist movement, which insists all foreign forces must leave before they will end the insurgency.

Fighting terrorism

The Frontier Post If the deadly suicide strike on Data Darbar shows vexatiously how vulnerably is caught Lahore in the vortex of a prowling terrorism, it also exposes worryingly how terribly wanting is the state apparatus in fighting this monstrosity. Now for pretty long, the provincial metropolis is being soaked with innocent blood by this stalking terrorism. Not just vulnerable civilian targets has it struck lethally. It has murderously attacked seemingly impenetrable security establishments and defence facilities in the city, too. Yet appallingly no methodical or systematic strategy or effort is in evidence to curb this monstrosity. After every strike, the city administrators and law-enforcers promptly come out to tell cheekily that the head or the legs of the thuggish striker have been found as if they have done a marvellous job of their responsibility to protect the citizens’ lives and safeguard their properties and the state establishments. Little do they realise that their prank to cover up their inexcusable failure grates sourly on a harried citizenry yearning to hear of no heads or legs found but of having busted the lairs of these thugs of death and destruction, of having hobbled them on their legs, and of having defanged them and decapitated them from perpetrating their vile acts. Indeed, there is perturbing hiatus to the act of the state in fighting this vicious monstrosity. Presently, Lahore may be in its bloody grip. But no other part of the province as also of the country is immune from its wickedness. Terrorists strike wherever they want and whenever they will. And if in the past they had Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in their evil sights with its metropolis of Peshawar bearing the brunt of their evilness quite too often, it appears now they have shifted their thuggery to Punjab to drown its capital city in particular in bloodbath. That smacks of a systematic coordinated scheming. But the state deplorably shows no such methodical endeavour to smash their conspiracy and finish off their cruel bloodletting business. Months ago, the prime minister had convened a top-level inter-provincial security conference to formulate a counter-terrorism strategy. And it did hammer out quite an impressive comprehensive plan involving a coordinated effort at the federal, provincial and local levels to take on this monstrosity with full state might. But either that plan has fallen a prey to the crusher of the official rut or is being pursued at best half-heartedly. Its envisaged coordination at various official tiers, so essential in fighting a war against an invisible monstrosity like terrorism, is nowhere perceivable. In fact, a tiff over the putative wellsprings of terrorism in Punjab keeps the provincial top political and administrative hierarchies at loggerheads with the federal interior ministry, with the latter insisting that the province’s southern parts have become a lair of fanatical extremists and terrorists and the former stubbornly in denial of this and seeing only politics in this federal assertion. It really is so shocking and exasperating that something so grave as a matter of life and death should become political football so churlishly and insanely between the state’s two centres of power. Curiously, as the monster of terrorism is perceptibly baring still lethal fangs to kill and maim our people to wipe out all their sense of safety and security and so destabilise our polity, there is no evident effort on the official corridors even to understand this monstrosity which is increasing becoming intricately complex to tackle. Believably, it is no more a one-dimensional phenomenon. It is an evil complex of motivated terrorists, plain mercenary murderers, criminal gangs, mafia syndicates, sectarian fanatics, and proxies and agent provocateurs of inimical foreign powers and agencies. And if not tackled now, this evil complex will surely become all the more intricate and hence intractable and very hard to overcome, even by the army which already is too overstretched with fighting militancy in tribal and settled areas. The prime minister must therefore reconvene the top-level inter-provincial security conference to review the working of the counter-terrorism strategy and rectify its shortcomings to make it effective and result-oriented. The participants, too, must come to the conference with open minds all shorn of political inhibitions and reservations. A secure and safe Pakistan free from all terrorism, militancy, criminality and rabid religiosity is in the interest of all, the political strands included. Saved from: http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ed&nid=406&ad=03-07-201

Little Obama' Movie Opens in Indonesia

A new movie titled Little Obama (Obama Anak Mentang), chronicling the time President Barack Obama lived in Indonesia as a boy, has opened in Jakarta. The director says the film shows a young Barack Obama becoming the leader he is today. At the premier of the movie Little Obama in Jakarta, children from the school President Obama attended when he lived in Indonesia as a child, sang and danced. Invited guests also had their pictures taken with a look-alike of the adult president. But the main event was the screening of the film about the lessons a young Barry Obama, as he was then known, learned while living in Jakarta in the early 1970s. From his Indonesian stepfather young Barry learned to fight when he must. From his mother he learned to forgive. In the movie there is action and a touch of romance.The film's director, Damien Dematra, says Little Obama is based on actual events but it is also a movie with a message. "The importance of differences, of pluralism. That it is okay to be different, you know. When we are different it does not mean we have to fight and number two do not use violence, that violence will not only solve the problem," he said. The part of young Barry Obama was played by 12-year-old American Hasan Faruq Ali, who had never acted in a movie before. Like President Obama, he is the son of a mixed-race couple and moved from the United States to Indonesia as a toddler. "I feel really lucky because the first movie I play at, I get to play someone I am really a fan of and the number one person in the world right now, the most powerful man in the world right now," Ali said. The guest list for the premier included many supporters of President Obama, including political analyst Wimar Witoelar. He hopes the film will strengthen the cultural connection between the United States and Indonesia. "Say it was shown in America that Obama was in Indonesia, that Indonesia is an acceptable country to live in," Witoelar says, "for Indonesians it shows that this American president is one of us, so it is a very useful movie." The movie, however, did present a few concerns. Before its release, a scene showing the young Barry Obama, who is a Christian, praying like a Muslim was dropped because producers deemed it too political.