Journalist Hurls Shoe At Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
April 7, 2009
New Delhi: In a shocking incident, a journalist hurled a shoe at Union Home Minister P Chidambaram during a press conference convened by the Congress party to unveil its blueprint to fight terror in India. The journalist has been identified as Jarnail Singh.
The incident occurred while the minister was answering a question related to the clean chit given by CBI to Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The journalists was apparently not happy by the reply given the minister and hence was insisting on getting clarifications.
Then all of a sudden he hurled a shoe at the Home Minister. Everybody present was shocked by the incident. He was then caught and taken out of the conference room.
Jarnail Singh was later taken to the Sansad Marg police station. While be taken away he said that he hurled the shoe because he wanted to protest against the injustice meted out to the Sikhs by the government.
Incidentally, the Sikh community is planning a march from Jantar Mantar to Sonia Gandhi’s residence to register their protest against the clean chit given to Tytler.
Obama reaches out to Muslim world
April 7, 2009
Barack Obama has declared that the US “is not at war with Islam”, in a major speech during his first visit as president to a mainly Muslim country.
Addressing the Turkish parliament, Mr Obama called for a greater partnership with the Muslim world and said the US would soon launch outreach programmes.
“America’s relationship with the Muslim world cannot and will not be based on opposition to al-Qaeda,” he said.
Mr Obama also said Washington supported Turkey’s efforts to join the EU.
Earlier, at a news conference with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, he urged Turkey to help bridge the gap between the Muslim and Western worlds.
He said his visit was a “statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States, but to the world”.
The US president began his visit to Turkey on Monday morning by laying a wreath at the tomb of the founder of modern Turkish state, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, whose “vision and courage” he praised.
He then travelled to the presidential palace in Ankara for talks with President Abdullah Gul, before giving an address to the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Mr Obama devoted much of his speech to calling for a greater bond between Americans and Muslims, admitting that “the trust that binds us has been strained”.
“Let me say this as clearly as I can: the United States is not and will never be at war with Islam,” he stated.
“In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject.”
He said: “The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country – I know, because I am one of them.”
“And when people look back on this time, let it be said of America that we extended the hand of friendship,” he said.
“There is an old Turkish proverb: ‘You cannot put out fire with flames.’”
BBC North America editor Justin Webb in Ankara says there are some back in the US who wonder if Mr Obama is going too far, but his intention seems clear.
He is on a mission to charm with the hope that in years to come, there is a tangible benefit for America and the world, our correspondent says.
‘Crucial ally’
In his speech, Mr Obama said the US considered Turkey a “critical ally”, despite the deterioration of their relations over the war in Iraq.
He said that while they had not always agreed on everything, the two states were stronger when they worked together.
“That is why we must listen to one another, and seek common ground,” he said.
The president also reiterated that the US government strongly supported Turkey’s bid to become a member of the European Union.
“Europe gains by diversity of ethnicity, tradition and faith – it is not diminished by it,” he said to a round of applause from the audience. “And Turkish membership would broaden and strengthen Europe’s foundation once more.”
The EU agreed to open accession talks with Ankara in 2004, but in recent years Turkey has made little progress with democratic reforms which would improve its chances of membership, correspondents say.
Later in his address, Mr Obama said the US strongly supported the full normalisation of relations between Turkey and Armenia.
At his earlier news conference with President Gul, he had stood by his 2008 assertion that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted “genocide” – without repeating the word.
The issue remains highly sensitive between the governments of Armenia and Turkey, which denies those killed were victims of systematic genocide, and has prevented normal relations between them for many years.
During his election campaign, Mr Obama said the “Armenian genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence”.
After his speech, Mr Obama was due to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The US leader will then leave Ankara for Istanbul, where he will attend the Alliance of Civilizations forum.
Pakistan ‘battling for survival’
April 7, 2009
Pakistan is “battling for its own survival”, its president, Asif Ali Zardari, has told visiting US special envoy for Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.
Mr Holbrooke has been holding key talks with Pakistani leaders focusing on the new US regional strategy to confront the Taleban and al-Qaeda.
Mr Zardari said Pakistan needed “unconditional support” to fight terrorism and extremism.
The US regards Pakistan’s cooperation as vital to its new regional drive.
Mr Holbrooke, the joint US envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Islamabad after talks with Afghan leaders in Kabul.
US President Barack Obama recently unveiled his new strategy, which combines Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of a new regional push to defeat the militants affecting both nations.
The strategy is at the forefront of Mr Obama’s foreign policy agenda.
Drone attacks
Mr Obama has pledged substantial economic assistance for Pakistan – more than $1bn annually over the next five years – but the money will depend on the army’s performance against the Taleban and al-Qaeda.
The BBC’s Barbara Plett in Islamabad says President Zardari has now told the two US envoys that this is not good enough.
His statement after the meeting read: “Pakistan… needs unconditional support by the international community in the fields of education, health, training and provision of equipment for fighting terrorism.”
“Pakistan is fighting a battle of its own survival,” his office quoted him as telling Mr Holbrooke.
It also added: “The president said the government would not succumb to any pressure by militants.”
Our correspondent says his statement revealed the frustration and resentment about the aid conditions – which reflect American distrust of the Pakistani army.
The conditions strengthen Pakistani perceptions of its army as a mercenary force doing American bidding, she adds.
Washington has been particularly concerned at the escalating Taleban insurgency on Pakistani territory and wants to eliminate “safe havens” along the Afghan border.
Increasing US drone attacks on militants in Pakistan were also high on the agenda – Islamabad has always opposed them as a violation of sovereignty.
In recent weeks the militants have shown themselves capable of carrying out major assaults in the heart of Pakistan – with dozens of people dying last week in a number of suicide bomb attacks.
Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister, Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, told the BBC that ordinary Pakistanis had not been convinced by Mr Obama’s efforts to win over the Muslim world.
“There was a little bit of hope when Mr Obama became the president, and the expectation was that there would be a little bit of shift in policy. But I don’t think that has happened,” he said.
“The drone attacks continue, and they feel that there is little for Pakistan. Yes, they have said that they will be giving aid, but at what cost?”
Mr Holbrooke and Mike Mullen are expected to go on to India for discussions of regional security issues.
Italy rescuers comb quake rubble
April 7, 2009
Italian rescuers are continuing to search for survivors under buildings wrecked by a devastating earthquake which killed at least 179 people.
With 1,500 injured and some 17,000 homeless after Monday’s quake struck L’Aquila and its region, many survivors spent the night in shelters.
Emergency crews were hampered by after-shocks and rain, but have reportedly pulled 100 people alive from rubble.
Authorities put the number of people still missing at 34.
Rescuers were forced to briefly postpone their efforts as the after-shocks dislodged more rubble from buildings.
Our correspondent in L’Aquila said the strongest came around 2200 GMT on Monday and made the ground feel like jelly for a few seconds.
Survivors spent the night in hotels, cars or a tent city which has been erected in the medieval hill city.
At the tent city on the outskirts of the city, volunteers handed out blankets, food and water to evacuees numbering 600.
Camp co-ordinator Paolo Diani said they were having to prioritise inadequate resources.
“As far as this first night is concerned, we gave shelter to elderly people and children, while we wait for more tents for everybody.
“And the tents will arrive tomorrow for all the population.”
As the pouring rain turned brick dust into a white sludge, exhausted emergency workers toiled through the night, pulling away bricks and broken pieces of wood with their bare hands.
Under the eerie glare of floodlights, they combed the rubble of a university dormitory where two students were reportedly found early on Tuesday and where several more were believed to be buried.
Cranes and diggers were also being used in the rescue effort.
Several people were arrested for looting and police were patrolling the area monitoring buildings ripped open by the quake, Reuters reported.
Many houses in L’Aquila have been reduced to piles of rubble, and the streets dotted with crushed cars.
In the village of Onna, with a population 350, the quake killed at least 38 people.
At least 5,000 rescue workers are in the region and hospitals have appealed for help from doctors and nurses throughout Italy.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said the country has the resources to handle the disaster.
The state of emergency in place means that more resources can be brought in to give the region what it needs, the BBC’s Duncan Kennedy reports from L’Aquila.
India’s defiant opposition leader
April 5, 2009
The prime ministerial candidate of India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Lal Krishna Advani, looked fresh and alert as always. At 81 he carries himself quite well.
But he looked more relaxed, assured and confident when I met him a year ago, shortly after he had published his autobiography.
This time one could detect a certain tension, a kind of restlessness.
Not difficult to understand considering it’s election time, he is leading his party’s campaign and on a personal front the stakes could not be higher.
Hung parliament
This is the first time in several decades that former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is not the BJP’s mascot in a parliamentary election.
That responsibility now rests on Mr Advani and the veteran leader realises that this year’s elections could well be his last shot at trying to become the country’s prime minister.
He also realises it’s not an easy election.
A key ally has deserted the BJP-led alliance, the party is still looking to identify the one big issue with which to connect with the masses and there is a growing perception among political observers that the elections may throw up another hung parliament with a number of smaller, regional parties holding the key to power.
“But I don’t see any chance of a third front – a non-Congress party or non-BJP government coming to power. Whichever group or party forms the government in Delhi it will have to seek the support of either Congress or the BJP,” Mr Advani says.
The BJP’s election slogan of “strong leader, decisive government” is aimed at trying to exploit this perception of confusion and chaos after the elections.
The projection of Mr Advani as a strong leader is also part of a careful two-pronged strategy. It is an image the party has assiduously tried to build over the years.
Mr Advani’s decisiveness has been contrasted by the BJP in the run-up to this campaign with the character of Congress leader and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has been portrayed as a weak man constantly in deference to the party president, Sonia Gandhi.
But as the election campaign gathers heat and momentum Mr Advani has been keen to take the debate away from personalities to issues.
So during our nearly one-hour conversation this time he chose not to attack the prime minister by name even once. The BJP leader chose to concentrate on what he described as the failures of the Congress-led coalition.
Anti-Muslim image
“There is not even one success which I can credit to this government. I can’t think of any other government in my 60 years of public life which can’t boast of even one achievement.
“All that this government has done is run to the USA each time India is in trouble. Even post 26/11 (the Mumbai terror attack) all the pressure was exerted on Pakistan by the West, particularly the USA.
“Washington is this government’s police station and they run at the smallest pretext to register their complaint there.”
Mr Advani was keen to shrug of his anti-Muslim image. Not an easy task considering the BJP leader has always been seen as a hardliner. He shot to prominence by launching and leading a controversial campaign for the construction of a Lord Ram temple in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya which resulted in the demolition of the 16th century Babri mosque there.
But in recent years Mr Advani has attempted to seek an image makeover. He all but lost the chance to lead his party in this year’s election campaign when a couple of years ago – during a much publicised visit to Pakistan – he showered praise on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founder and certainly not a very popular figure among the Hindu right in India.
Mr Advani was roundly criticised for his positive remarks on Jinnah. His party virtually disowned him and for a brief while it looked as if it was curtains on the BJP leader’s public life.
Retirement
“But the party soon appreciated I had said nothing wrong. Ours is a democratic party and once the leadership realised its mistake we made amends.”
Mr Advani may not like to dwell too much on intra-BJP tensions but it’s clear that he firmly believes that the Jinnah episode was a turning point in his relationship with Muslims.
“Nowhere was I perceived as an enemy more than in Pakistan. But after my visit and my comments on Jinnah, my image in Pakistan has completely changed. I am now seen by them as a friend.
“It’s only a matter of time before Indian Muslims also realise that certain parties have exploited their mistrust for the BJP by instilling a sense of fear in them. I am sure Muslims will soon see that their welfare is best served by the BJP.”
Mr Advani said he was optimistic about his party doing well in these elections.
“We should be able to form the government.”
It’s always difficult to tell, but he appeared to sound a bit hesitant making these bold assertions. Certainly he did not have the swagger of a sure-fire winner. But then to be fair to him it’s difficult to find one leader who projects that kind of confidence in Indian elections.
So will this be his last election if he loses? Considering he is in his eighties, will he contemplate retirement if his party does not form the government?
“Why should I?” this veteran politician responds defiantly. “Out of my 60 years in public life, only eight have been in power. I never feel that I am not doing anything constructive if I am out of power. We will sit in the opposition.
“My only wish is that I am still healthy whenever I decide to opt out of active public life. That will be a good way to go.”
May 2010 release for Sex sequel
April 5, 2009
The sequel to the big-screen version of Sex and the City will be released on 28 May 2010, according to US studio Warner Bros and its subsidiary New Line.
The film, the second to be based on the hit US TV series, will reunite stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon.
Sex and the City: The Movie opened in May 2008 on the same weekend earmarked for its follow-up’s release.
The film went on to make $415m (£281m) worldwide.
Its success continued after its cinema release with the film becoming the fastest-selling DVD of 2008 in the UK.
Michael Patrick King, who wrote and directed the movie, will fulfil the same duties on the sequel.
Meanwhile, US studio Sony has confirmed it is pressing ahead with third instalments in the Ghostbusters and Men in Black franchises.
The announcement was made by Sony distribution president Rory Bruer during a presentation at the annual ShoWest convention in Las Vegas earlier this week.
Obama hails ‘historic’ G20 summit
April 5, 2009
Barack Obama has hailed the G20 summit as a historic turning point in the pursuit of world economic recovery.
Leaders pledged new spending and tougher financial regulations, in what the US leader called an unprecedented set of actions to ease the crisis.
He now heads to Strasbourg for talks with the French and German leaders, before a Nato summit begins.
Security is extremely tight in the city, with tens of thousands of troops and police deployed.
On Thursday police clashed with protesters, firing tear gas and rubber bullets to stop a crowd getting to the city centre.
Masked protesters smashed bus shelters and set fire to rubbish bins. French news agency AFP reported around 100 arrests.
Nato talks
Speaking at a news conference in London late on Thursday, Mr Obama said that the G20 leaders had agreed “unprecedented steps to restore growth and prevent a crisis like this from happening again”.
They pledged a total of $1.1 trillion (£681bn) in funding to tackle the crisis, including $750bn to the International Monetary Fund, $250bn to boost global trade and $100bn for international development banks to lend to the poorest countries.
Leaders also agreed to introduce tougher financial regulations and sanctions against secretive tax havens.
“This was the day the world came together to fight back against global recession,” said Gordon Brown, the host of the summit.
Representatives from the developing world welcomed the outcome.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told the BBC’s Newsnight programme that rich countries had engaged with emerging nations on “equal terms” to achieve a good result.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy – who had threatened to walk out of the meeting if it did not yield concrete gains – said that the conclusions were “more than we could have hoped for”.
He will meet Mr Obama for one-to-one talks on Friday, after which the US leader will cross into Germany for a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Then the focus will turn to Nato and the 60th anniversary summit that is being hosted jointly by France and Germany.
Leaders will gather for a working dinner in the German city of Baden Baden on Friday night before the main talks on Saturday.
The US president is expected to use the opportunity to build support for his new strategy for Afghanistan.
More troops are needed certainly, says the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus, but above all the Americans want to see their allies stumping up a good deal more money and more training teams to build Afghanistan’s own security forces.
The ‘Talebanisation’ of Pakistan
April 5, 2009
On Monday, militants attacked a Pakistani police training school in the eastern city of Lahore. Jill McGivering was near the compound during the attack and spoke to people about how recent attacks are affecting their lives.
The young man had a police crew cut and bulging biceps.
As he came forward to speak to me, he was still trembling. He seemed shocked to be alive.
“We were taking our places on the parade ground for inspection, when there was an explosion. Then gunfire,” he told me.
“It was chaos. Everyone ran. I hid behind a fruit stall for hours before I could escape.”
As he talked to me, a sudden commotion broke out. Nearby a gunman had been arrested.
Minutes later, an explosion deafened us. My translator and I grasped at each other in fear.
The rooftop, where we took cover for eight hours, was across the road from the police training school.
Gunmen had stormed the compound, disguised as police cadets.
The air, swirling with heat and dust, was also thick with noise – shouts, sirens, sustained gunfire, swooping military helicopters and bursting grenades.
Lahore – a city traditionally known for its tolerance and culture – was under siege.
Deepening fear
The next day, as local television showed pictures of the flag-draped coffins of those killed, I went back to thank the Khokhar family who own the rooftop we had used.
The Khokhar females, from babes in arms to an elderly matriarch, gathered round us in their courtyard, perched on stools and laps.
It was only a few weeks since the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, I said – and now this. How did that make them feel?
The men were feisty: “Pakistanis would fight back,” they said. “This was the work of foreigners.”
The women were more sober. “We’re frightened for our children,” they told me, “the violence is growing, day by day.”
That sense of a deepening fear has travelled with me in the last two weeks as I have crossed Pakistan.
The North West, the mountainous tribal region which borders Afghanistan, is the epicentre of the violence.
It is been troubled for decades, barely controlled by the state. But in recent years it has become radicalised, home to al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters and other extremists.
They preach an oppressive brand of Islam which most Muslims here are eager to condemn.
As their influence has grown, the government has fought back.
Open warfare between militants and Pakistan’s army is sending shockwaves throughout the country.
Frontier lives
In Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, I shared a lavish lunch with a wealthy family who have just moved away from the North West.
They had spent all their lives in the main city there, Peshawar. But moved partly to escape the growing threat of kidnap, shooting and bomb attack.
I have reported from Peshawar several times in the last decade. Now it is simply too dangerous for a foreigner to stay overnight there or travel without an armed escort.
I asked the family to describe their daily life in the frontier city.
The glamorous wife waved a manicured hand and laughed. “I was little Miss Heroine,” she told me.
“I always had a gun in my handbag. The children rarely left the house,” she added.
“Sometimes we let them play tennis, but only with armed bodyguards there on the court.”
Tough decisions
Everyone I have met here, from the camps to the cities, speaks of the future with trepidation.
They talk of Talebanisation, of creeping extremism, of spies and of the state loosening its tentative grip on power.
I heard numerous solutions. Education. Development. Sealing the border with Afghanistan. Sending Nato troops home. None of them easy and none of them quick.
Back in the camp, Gulhayat led me through the mud to the family’s plastic shelter. I asked her what she thought the government should do?
She shook her head sadly. “They should bring peace,” she said simply, “so we can go home.”
Migrant bodies found in Pakistan
April 5, 2009
Pakistani police have found 44 bodies inside a shipping container in what appears to have been a failed attempt at human trafficking.
Some 150 people are said to have been inside the container, most of them Afghans. The victims suffocated.
A number of survivors are being treated in hospital in the city of Quetta, in Baluchistan province.
The container reportedly belongs to a firm supplying Nato in Afghanistan and the driver’s whereabouts are unknown.
It is believed that the container was en route to Iran from Afghanistan, via Pakistan.
Rasool Bakhsh, a senior police official in Quetta, said that police had opened the container following a tip-off.
The stench from the container suggested some victims might have been dead for days, he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Traffickers have used south-western Pakistan frequently to smuggle illegal migrants from the region to Europe.
At least 35 illegal migrants were found dead inside a container opened in Quetta in March 2006.
Three officers die in US shooting
April 5, 2009
Three police officers have been killed by a gunman in Pittsburgh – the second mass shooting in the US in 24 hours.
The officers were responding to an emergency call from the house of the gunman, named as Richard Poplawski, 23.
Police said he was waiting, armed with rifles and a bulletproof vest. He shot two officers as they entered the house, and a third who tried to help them.
He then traded gunfire with police for four hours before being injured and giving himself up.
His friends said he had recently lost his job, and was worried that US President Barack Obama was about to ban guns.
The shooting comes a day after a gunman killed 13 people in New York state.
