Friday, August 26, 2011

12 August 2011 Last updated at 09:49 GMT Pakistani soldier faces death sentence for murdering the teenager

A Pakistani paramilitary soldier has been sentenced to death for killing an unarmed man in an incident caught on videotape and broadcast on TV.

Sarfaraz Shah, 18, was shot at point-blank range in Karachi in June.

The anti-terrorism court in Karachi found Shahid Zafar guilty of the killing and sentenced six other men to life imprisonment.

The killing sparked public anger and increased complaints of brutality by the security forces.

Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso also fined Shahid Zafar 200,000 rupees ($2,300).

The judge ordered each of the other defendants - five paramilitaries and a civilian - to pay 100,000 rupees in compensation to Sarfaraz Shah's family.

The Sindh branch of the Pakistan Rangers paramilitary force had argued that he was caught trying to rob someone, a charge his family denied.

Prosecutor Muhammad Khan Buriro said: "We have found justice. The court has given the right decision."

A lawyer for the defendants said there would be an appeal.

Death sentences are rarely carried out in Pakistan.

Sarfaraz Shah's brother, Salik, said: "We are satisfied with the punishment and we hope that the higher courts will also keep them and overturn the appeals of the accused."

Officials removed

The disturbing video shows a young man in a black T-shirt being dragged by his hair in a public park by a man in plain clothes.

Sarfaraz Shah's brother and mother in Karachi, 1 July Sarfaraz Shah's brother consoles his mother at an earlier hearing in Karachi

He is pushed towards a group of Sindh Rangers, who are in uniform and armed. The young man pleads for his life as one of the Rangers points a gun at his neck.

A little later, a Ranger shoots him twice at close range, hitting him in the thigh. The young man is seen writhing on the ground, bleeding heavily and begging for help.

The paramilitaries remain close to the injured man but do nothing to help him. Sarfaraz Shah died from his injuries.

The public outcry led to the removal of the Sindh police chief and the director-general of the Sindh branch of the Rangers.

The Rangers are a paramilitary force under the interior ministry.

There are about 10,000 Rangers in Karachi but rights groups say they are not sufficiently trained to deal with keeping civilian order.



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Sunday, August 21, 2011

12 August 2011 Last updated at 06:11 GMT A billboard for the Bollywood film Aarakshan (Reservation) in Delhi on Thursday, 11 August 2011 The film's posters have been vandalised by protesters Three Indian states have banned a new film on the controversial issue of education quotas for low-caste people.

Aarakshan (Reservation), directed by well-known Bollywood filmmaker Prakash Jha and starring acting legend Amitabh Bachchan, was released on Friday.

The northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh in the south, banned the film due to fears it may cause law and order problems.

Critics say the film uses objectionable terms to describe low-caste Hindus.

Mr Jha, who is known for making films on controversial social issues, denies the charge.

The ban in Uttar Pradesh will last two months, officials have said.

Authorities in Punjab said they would decide whether to show the film after a government panel reviewed it.

Posters of the film have been vandalised by protesters, who allege that the film makes derogatory references to low-caste Dalits (formerly untouchables).

Some Dalit groups have also objected to the casting of actor Saif Ali Khan, a Muslim royal, as a low-caste Hindu.

'Hard-hitting reality'

The film, however, has been passed by India's Censor Board and its director and actors have been defending the movie.

Mr Bachchan used his blog to question the ban on the film.

"Without any knowledge of what the film contains, without any desire to determine the trust and the most basic principles of law of democracy, it has merely strengthened my and many others' fear of the weakness it conveys of our belief in governance and its ethics," he wrote.

Mr Jha said last week: "In India there are people who benefit from this policy [of quotas] and there are those who have missed an opportunity because of the policy. Reservation and the quota system is a hard-hitting reality.

"It is almost an India-versus-India situation and by showing this in my movie, I am trying to bridge the gap."

Under the quota system, seats in colleges and government jobs are reserved for socially disadvantaged groups.

Backers of the affirmative action insist it helps open doors into highly-rated educational institutions to people who have long been denied access.

The system provides equal opportunities to the poorest and most marginalised in India, they say.

But critics of the system say reservation promotes mediocrity and divides people on the basis of caste or region.



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18 August 2011 Last updated at 15:05 GMT A Pakistani relative (2L) comforts a mourner after the killing of a victim of the shooting, inside a morgue at a local hospital in Karachi on August 18, 2011. The killings across Karachi are now increasingly indiscriminate At least 39 people have been killed in two days of political and gang violence in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi.

Following Wednesday's killing of 13 people including ex-MP Waja Karim Dad, violence escalated and officials say more bodies were recovered overnight.

Police say many of those killed were kidnapped first and that some victims appear to have been tortured.

The attacks unfolded as Karachi's main MQM political party announced it will rejoin Pakistan's coalition government.

The party had left the PPP-led coalition after accusing its majority partner of not doing enough to stop the violence.

Police say that 315 people were killed in such attacks in Karachi in July 2011.

'Extreme torture'

The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Karachi says that the bodies are appearing all over the city stuffed in jute bags.

Our correspondent says that while initially politically motivated, the killings are now increasingly indiscriminate. Women, children and teenage footballers are amongst those gunned down.

Police say that the bodies bear the marks of extreme torture: some have even had their eyes gouged out. They said that it appears as if almost all the victims were kidnapped before being tortured only to be shot dead and deposited on the city streets.

Police surgeon Hamid Parihar told the BBC that he "had been collecting bodies since midnight and they are still coming in".

Analysts say that the latest spate of violence appears to have taken place between criminal gangs in the city's deprived Lyari neighbourhood. The area has a reputation of armed gangs dealing in drugs and extortion rackets.

This is where former parliamentarian Waja Karim Dad was gunned down.

Our correspondent reports that a sense of fear prevails throughout the city and that public transport has been suspended.

Killings in Karachi have continued despite efforts to reconcile its warring political factions.

Security officials say this is because the killers are being protected by senior politicians.

They say the violence is being used to stoke recently ignited ethnic passions both for political gains and as a means by criminal gangs to fight turf wars behind the facade of political activism.



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Friday, August 19, 2011

12 August 2011 Last updated at 13:36 GMT By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo An elephant walks past a temple in the Sri Lankan city of Kandy, some 116kms from Colombo, on 8 August 2011 Sri Lanka is home to thousands of elephants Sri Lanka has started the first nationwide survey of its elephant population, aimed at better protecting the animals and their habitat.

The survey, which started late on Thursday, lasts until Saturday evening.

The results will be published in a few weeks.

A government wildlife official has tried to allay concern from conservationists that the census will be used to bring more animals into captivity.

Some 3,500 people are counting the elephants from watchtowers at 1,500 watering holes and ancient irrigation lakes.

They are classifying the animals by age and sex, and trying to get an idea of their movements and distribution.

This is the driest time of year, and animals are at their most thirsty, so come to drink in large numbers. An eyewitness in one of the main parks, Minneriya, said however that Friday was very hot and few showed up early in the day.

The people of this mainly Buddhist country revere elephants as sacred. Since ancient times, captive elephants have fulfilled ceremonial roles for priests and kings.

Yet there is also a modern conflict between farmers and free-ranging wild elephants - a clash that results in dozens of human and elephant deaths each year.

A senior wildlife official, RB Dissanayake, told the BBC they want to use the survey results to minimise these ongoing clashes and declare new protected areas.

The official strongly denied reports that it will also serve to find strong young elephants to be captured and donated to temples.

He said tame elephants would instead be bred from the existing domesticated or captive population.

Earlier this week, environmental groups pulled out of the elephant survey after a minister said it would be used to tame more of the animals.

He is reported to have withdrawn these remarks.



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11 August 2011 Last updated at 08:29 GMT Police at the scene of the Peshawar bombing

At least seven people have been killed in twin bombings in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, police say.

In the first incident, four police officers and a child were killed when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near a police vehicle in the Lahori Gate area.

Later, a woman suicide bomber killed herself and another woman, possibly her companion, by detonating her jacket.

She was trying to target the police checkpoint about 400m from the spot where the police vehicle was hit.

Militant attacks in Pakistan have risen sharply since May, when US commandos killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

Since then, a paramilitary academy, a naval base, government buildings, a police station and a US consulate convoy have been attacked.

In the first attack on Thursday morning, the explosive device was hidden in a handcart parked at the roadside and detonated remotely when police approached, police officer Ijaz Khan told reporters.

Their vehicle was transporting over two dozen policemen from Kotwali police station in the eastern part of the city to the Police Lines near the city centre, he said.

The vehicle was wrecked in the blast and a group of schoolboys were at the site when the bomb exploded.

A 12-year-old boy was among those killed. At least 21 people, including 17 policemen, were injured in the blast.

In the second attack, police said the bomber appeared to be a woman about 16 or 17 years old. Her clothes suggested she could have been from the tribal region.

The other woman appeared to be over 50, they said.

The woman's explosives-laden jacket failed to detonate properly, reports said.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the attacks are the first in Peshawar in recent weeks, and come a day after a deadly drone strike that killed at least 18 fighters of the Haqqani network in North Waziristan.

Our correspondent says that it is only the second known attack to have been carried out by a female suicide bomber in north-western Pakistan.



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11 August 2011 Last updated at 15:53 GMT By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo Protest on 11 August in Sri Lanka The families demanded that more should be done to find their loved ones Weeping parents have been demonstrating in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, asking what has become of close family members who have disappeared.

The protesters gathered on a hot street corner near the town hall.

Most of those grieving were Tamil and from the former war areas of north and east Sri Lanka. They solemnly held pictures of their missing loved ones.

The issue of disappearances still causes agony for many Sri Lankans, who do not know where to get help.

"We want our children," the protesters chanted. "Where are our children? Dear president, please listen."

The war has been over two years, they said, but their children remain missing.

About 100 family members of disappeared people demonstrated, supported by a student organisation.

Many broke down as they spoke.

Weeping

Maneswari Chandrarasa said her 19-year-old son, Prabhakaran, had no political connections but was taken away three years ago by men claiming to be from the Criminal Investigation Department.

But the CID subsequently denied any knowledge of it, she said.

Mayurathan (third from the left in the black and white photo) Missing person Mayurathan is believed to be third from the left

"They came inside the house and took my child who was asleep," she said, weeping. "I'm still looking for him. So far there's no reply from the officials. Please give me my child."

Neranjini Nirmalanathan, who had earlier lost her husband to the Tamil Tigers, said soldiers took her son, Mayurathan, in 2007. He was an altar boy at church in Jaffna.

Her enquiries to the authorities since then had gone unanswered. But in June a Tamil newspaper published a photograph of him and five other youths that it says it found on the internet.

She clutches the photograph, which she thinks shows the six in a prison.

"I want my son," she said, sobbing, in English. "Please try and understand, I want my son, without my son I will commit suicide."

Large numbers flocked to testify before the government's own war inquiry commission during its public hearings late last year, though relatively few could be heard.

During the war many saw their children forcibly conscripted by the Tamil Tigers, only to be later detained by the government side and never seen again.

A recent police announcement that families could now seek news of their loved ones at police stations seems to have made little difference.



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3 August 2011 Last updated at 18:09 GMT Standard Chartered, Shanghai Standard Chartered said trading had made a strong start to the second half of the year London-based, Asia-focused Standard Chartered Bank has reported an increase in half-year profits.

Pre-tax profits for the first six months of the year were $3.6bn (£2.2bn), up 17% from last year.

Operating profits by region rose in all territories except Standard Chartered's biggest market, India, which fell 39%, and Africa, down 6%.

It blamed rising interest rates, growing competition and regulatory changes for falling profits in India.

Profits grew by 55% in Hong Kong, 11% in Singapore, 30% in South Korea, and 98% in the Americas, UK and Europe.

Income from its businesses in the Middle East and South Africa rose 6%, the rest of Africa rose 5%, and in the Americas and Europe it was up 12%.

"The group's strong performance in the first half of 2011 should be seen in the context of the ongoing economic uncertainties, particularly in the West, and the sustained global regulatory upheaval," said Standard Chartered chairman Sir John Peace.

"Standard Chartered has had a strong start to 2011 and this momentum has continued into the second half."



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Sri Lanka

21 January 2011 Last updated at 18:15 GMT Map of Sri Lanka Lying off the southern tip of India, the tropical island of Sri Lanka has beguiled travellers for centuries with its palm-fringed beaches, diverse landscapes and historical monuments.

But the island has been scarred by a long and bitter civil war arising out of ethnic tensions between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority in the northeast.

After more than 25 years of violence, the conflict appeared to be at an end - at least militarily - in May 2009, when government forces seized the last area controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels.

Continue reading the main story Soldier in northern Sri Lanka

Army and Tamil separatists fought a long conflict involving air raids, roadside blasts, suicide bombings, land and sea battles

More than 70,000 killed 1983 - Start of war 2009 - Government forces re-conquer all rebel-held territoryKnown as "Serendip" to Arab geographers, the island fell under Portuguese and Dutch influence and finally came under British rule when it was called Ceylon.

There is a long-established Tamil minority in the north and east. The British also brought in Tamil labourers to work the coffee and tea plantations in the central highlands, making the island a major tea producer.

But the majority Buddhist Sinhalese community resented what they saw as favouritism towards the mainly-Hindu Tamils under British administration.

The growth of a more assertive Sinhala nationalism after independence fanned the flames of ethnic division until civil war erupted in the 1980s between Tamils pressing for self-rule and the government.

Most of the fighting took place in the north. But the conflict also penetrated the heart of Sri Lankan society with Tamil Tiger rebels carrying out devastating suicide bombings in Colombo in the 1990s.

The violence killed more than 70,000 people, damaged the economy and harmed tourism in one of South Asia's potentially prosperous societies.

International concern was raised about the fate of civilians caught up in the conflict zone during the final stages of the war, the confinement of some 250 000 Tamil refugees to camps for months after the war, and allegations that the government had ordered the execution of captured or surrendering rebels.



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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

16 August 2011 Last updated at 06:55 GMT Map of federally administered tribal areas A suspected US drone attack has killed four militants in north-western Pakistan, local intelligence officials said.

The drone fired a missile, destroying a house in a market in Miranshah town in North Waziristan tribal district.

North and South Waziristan are regularly targeted by drone missiles.

The US says the region provides sanctuary to al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents who are involved in attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Last week, a US drone attack killed at least 21 militants in North Waziristan. Among the dead were several foreigners believed to be part of the Haqqani network.

Last month, drone strikes killed at least 30 people in less than 24 hours in the area.

Drone attacks have escalated in the region since President Barack Obama took office in 2008. More than 100 raids were reported in the area last year.

The US does not routinely confirm drone operations, but analysts say only American forces have the capacity to deploy such aircraft in the region.

Pakistan publicly criticises drone attacks, saying they fuel support for militants. But observers say the authorities privately condone the strikes, although there have been recent signs that they want to limit the scope of such attacks.

A number of militants, some of them senior, have been killed in the raids, but many civilians have also died.



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10 August 2011 Last updated at 06:47 GMT SuperHeavy Mick Jagger teams up with AR Rahman on the song Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger has sung in Sanskrit on a new album by a supergroup, which stars Oscar-winning Indian musician AR Rahman.

Jagger sings Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone triumphs), the second single from a supergroup called SuperHeavy which also features Dave Stewart, Joss Stone and Damian Marley.

Satyameva Jayate is the band's second single.

SuperHeavy's album is expected to be released in September.

"Dave said AR [Rahman] we want your voice in this album... we want this to be a great Indian song too. A long dream for me to raise one of the morals of Indian culture which is Satyameva Jayate and make it as a song," Rahman was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

"This is historic... it is iconic in a way. I hope people will like it," he said.

Jagger formed the band in May, saying that he "wanted a convergence of different musical styles".

"It's different from anything else I've ever been involved in," Jagger told Rolling Stone magazine .

"The music is very wide-ranging - from reggae to ballads to Indian songs in Urdu."



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Mother India


The sudden announcement that Sonia Gandhi, the president of India's ruling Congress party and head of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, had left for America to undergo an operation has highlighted the extraordinary powers she enjoys and brought to the fore the question of her successor.

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi shuns the limelight, but still holds great influence in India

Hardened members of parliament in Delhi wept when, after leading the Congress party to a surprise victory in the 2004 general election, Sonia Gandhi announced that she would not become prime minister.

Those tearful MPs need not have worried: Sonia was not about to go away, to leave them leaderless.

And now every member of the ruling party, from the top down, is worried about whether Sonia will recover to continue leading them, and if not, how she will manage the succession.

When Sonia gave up the chance to become prime minister, she made it clear that she would still be the boss by choosing Dr Manmohan Singh to do the job.

He is renowned for his honesty and his knowledge of economics, but has spent most of his life as a bureaucrat and politically he is entirely dependent on Sonia.

Sonia remained President of the Congress party. It is a position without any constitutional authority but she has ensured it makes her more powerful than the prime minister.

In the shadows

Sonia Gandhi's power derives from being the head of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty which has dominated Indian politics since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister after India gained its independence.

Italian by birth, she became a member of the family by marrying the imperious Indira Gandhi's eldest son Rajiv.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi Manmohan Singh has had to find the funds to pay for Sonia Gandhi's policies

Sonia never showed any interest in politics and did not want her husband to go into the family business. So long as he was prime minister, she remained in the background.

For six years after Rajiv's assassination, there was no member of the dynasty in the government or the party, but Sonia refused to fill the vacuum.

It was not until 1997, after the Congress had lost a general election and was falling apart, that Sonia stepped in to hold the party together.

The Congress party has unshakeable faith in the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, but Sonia also owes her immunity from criticism to doing the opposite of what a politician usually does - she avoids the limelight and shuns publicity.

By refusing to become the prime minister, she has left Manmohan Singh to face all the flak that office attracts.

She very rarely gives interviews, she says very little in parliament and she does not intervene publicly when the government faces crises. But Sonia does appeal to the public over the heads of parliament and the press by addressing rallies.

At her rallies, Sonia always puts across the message she learnt from her mother-in-law - the message which says: "I am on the side of the poor".

In order to demonstrate whose side she was on, Indira passed a number of radical socialist measures with unfortunate consequences for the economy.

Sonia has demonstrated her option for the poor by forcing Dr Manmohan Singh to establish schemes to guarantee work for unemployed villagers and subsidised food for a sizeable proportion of the population.

The prime minister has to find the money to pay for Sonia's pro-poor policies. But he is a cautious economist, and someone who has worked closely with him told me one of his favourite maxims is "money does not grow on trees". Yet he still has to find the funds for the pro-poor schemes because Sonia has told him to.

Secrecy and succession

Typically, there was no government announcement about Sonia's departure for America. The Congress party issued a bald statement bereft of any information about her illness or the hospital where she was being treated.

This was justified on the grounds that her health was a personal matter and the people of India were asked to respect her family's request for privacy.

Sonia Gandhi with son Rahul Gandhi Rahul Gandhi (r) is next in line to succeed his mother

But India's two leading business papers did not agree to that request. One of them, the Economic Times, said the secrecy was reminiscent of the days of the Iron Curtain when "doddering old leaders of ruling Communist parties ailed, were hospitalised and died, and their countrymen were kept in the dark".

Once again, Sonia Gandhi has shown that, unlike most politicians in democracies, she does not feel obliged to explain herself.

What is more, she has demonstrated that she alone will nominate her successor, and when the time comes, he will be her 41-year-old son Rahul.

The Congress party has issued a statement saying that, while Sonia is in America, its affairs will be run by a quartet consisting of Rahul and three others whose only obvious qualities are their utter loyalty to his mother.

But there is one question which remains to be answered.

When the time comes for Rahul to succeed, will Sonia hand the party to him so that he can continue to exercise his authority in the way she has done, or will she feel that he should become prime minister?

In which case, he will have to explain himself and take responsibility for his decisions.

Graphic of the Nerhu-Ghandi dynasty

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Taliban badlands

9 August 2011 Last updated at 00:29 GMT By Bilal Sarwary BBC News, Afghan-Pakistan border Boy watches a US patrol in Wazir Bazaar What happens in areas like Wazir Bazaar could shape Afghanistan's future It is a bright summer morning and US soldiers from the 101 Airborne Division along with the Afghan National Army and Afghan border guards are patrolling the picturesque village of Wazir Bazaar in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

The village - on the border with Pakistan - appears deserted and empty as an American helicopter gunship flies low over the snow-capped White Mountains to provide cover from the air.

But the insurgents they are looking for have vanished into the valley, leaving only a roadside bomb behind.

Gen Aminullah Amarkhel, commander of the Afghan border police in the east, is leading the charge.

Eminent credentials

A veteran of the war against the Soviet Red Army, he knows this terrain only too well.

US troops cross a river near Wazir Bazaar The area is constantly switching hands between Nato and Afghan forces

Gen Amarkhel assessed the situation from his armoured vehicle before stepping out to meet local people.

But unlike other areas, there was no warm reception for the highly decorated officer. Only three villagers - one elder and two young men - came forward to talk to him.

"Have you seen the Taliban? Where are the Pakistani, Arab and Chechen fighters?" the general asked the villagers. But they did not respond.

"I fought the Soviets here," he said. But such eminent credentials make no difference.

"We don't know about the Taliban," the elder said. "We work in our farms in the day and during the night, we don't know who is here."

Increasing violence in Nuristan - and in other border provinces of Laghman, Kunar and Nangarhar - poses a significant security threat.

It was not difficult to understand why no-one was keen to talk about the presence of Taliban. This area, like many others, alternates between Taliban and government control.

Stealing money

"I cleared the recruitment test for police, but didn't get the job. They asked for $1,000 in bribe," one of the young men said. "I refused to pay."

Elder in Wazir Bazaar Local people are reticent in front of US and Afghan troops

The general tries to offer reassuring words.

"Come with me and I will make you an officer in the border police," he said.

But his offer is flatly rejected.

"No, we are fine here," the man says.

This enraged the general.

"They are lying that there are no Taliban," Gen Amarkhel said before he was moved out of the area by his bodyguards.

They feared for his safety. Suicide attackers often pose as villagers to attack senior officers.

American forces let the Afghan soldiers do the house searches.

In the past, international forces have been accused of kicking in doors, swearing and sometimes opening fire on civilians.

But villagers say Afghan forces are equally bad. Afghan soldiers have been accused of stealing money and jewellery in the past.

Poor intelligence

As the soldiers looked for a Taliban commander responsible for a series of attacks in the area, the challenge was obvious: the Afghan forces not only have a weak presence in rural areas, they also lack intelligence about the whereabouts of Taliban commanders.

Continue reading the main story
Once the snake recovers from its injuries, it becomes even more dangerous. You need to kill the snake”

End Quote National Directorate of Security officer This was all too apparent when troops apparently found the house they were looking for.

There was one problem, though. It belonged to an Afghan National Army soldier. It was here that the Taliban commander was believed to have taken refuge.

Ten years after the Taliban were toppled from power, poor intelligence such as this has repeatedly failed Afghan and coalition forces in rural Afghanistan.

The villagers do no want to take any chances. They know that the army and police will leave after the operation, but the Taliban will remain.

"The government is here during the day and the Taliban are here during the night," a frustrated villager said.

Among those killed by the insurgents were a well respected local counter-terrorism official and an engineer reconstructing irrigation canals and bridges.

Other targets for the militants have included a headmaster who was severely thrashed because he refused to shut a school for girls and a cleric who received a death threat for failing to stop locals from joining the police and army.

Porous border

"This is the Islamic Emirate of Taliban," an aid worker from the area told me.

Children in Wazir Bazaar The Taliban have repeatedly attacked girls' education in the area

"Music is banned at weddings, clean-shaven men are beaten up, government spies and informers are killed and you are made to pay 'usher' [a 10% tax on income]," the worker said.

So uncertain is life in this part of Afghanistan that he recently had to relocate to the eastern city of Jalalabad after receiving death threats.

An officer with the Afghan spy agency, the National Directorate of Security, says that the insurgents are "not short of money, resources or manpower".

He said things have reached such a low point only because the government has failed to seal the porous border with Pakistan.

"It is easy for foreign fighters - Pakistanis, Arabs and Chechens - to carry out attacks here and then run for shelter in Pakistan," he said.

Afghan intelligence officials say that night operations carried out by the US and Afghan special forces broke the back of the insurgency in the White Mountains area.

But since then, the government has failed to secure gains on the ground.

"You need to have a larger presence in these places," one NDS officer said. "You should help people with water, irrigation canals and prevent the Taliban from taxing and intimidating people. The operations are just wounding the snake. Once the snake recovers from its injuries, it becomes even more dangerous. You need to kill the snake."

A senior Afghan official in the interior ministry in Kabul admits that mistakes had been made.

"Not maintaining enough forces on the ground and the lack of reconstruction have contributed to the problem," he said.

It is rural areas like Wazir Bazaar which will ultimately decide the fate of the military handover from Nato to Afghan forces.

If it is not won soon, the war will be lost.



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Monday, August 15, 2011

Nepal

18 February 2011 Last updated at 17:57 GMT Map of Nepal With its ancient culture and the Himalayas as a backdrop, landlocked Nepal has a romantic image.

It is nonetheless one of the world's poorest countries, and is struggling to overcome the legacy of a 10-year Maoist insurrection.

Until Nepal became a republic in May 2008, it had been ruled by monarchs or a ruling family for most of its modern history in relative isolation.

A brief experiment with multi-party politics in 1959 ended with King Mahendra suspending parliament and taking sole charge in 1962.

Democracy's return

Democratic politics was introduced in 1991 after popular protests, but was marked by frequent changes of government. The last king of Nepal, Gyanendra, twice assumed executive powers - in 2002 and 2005.

Continue reading the main story Communist party supporters celebrate Politics: Historic elections in April 2008 led to abolition of centuries-old monarchy Economy: Civil strife wrecked the economy and Nepal is dependent on aid; tourism is a key foreign exchange earnerMaoist rebels waged a decade-long campaign against the monarchy, leaving more than 12,000 people dead and 100,000 people displaced according to UN figures.

When King Gyanendra's direct rule ended under public pressure in April 2006, the rebels entered talks with the parliamentary government on how to end the civil war.

A peace deal was agreed in November, although the Maoists continued to press for abolition of the monarchy.

Parliament agreed to the condition in December 2007, and the Maoists emerged as the largest parliamentary party after elections in April 2008.

The monarchy was abolished a month later, and a Maoist-dominated government took office in August.

The Maoist-led coalition government disintegrated in May 2009, and was succeeded by another coalition excluding the Maoists.

Nepal has been at odds with neighbouring Bhutan over the repatriation of thousands of Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese descent who fled violence in Bhutan in the early 1990s.

Nepal has a flourishing tourism industry, but faces problems of deforestation and encroachment on animal habitats.

Most of the population depend on agriculture, and the UN estimates that about 40% of Nepalis live in poverty.

Foreign aid is vital to the economy, and Nepal is also heavily dependent on trade with neighbouring India.



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The Maldives

8 April 2011 Last updated at 11:56 GMT Map of Maldives The Maldives is made up of a chain of nearly 1,200 islands, most of them uninhabited, which lie off the Indian sub-continent.

None of the coral islands measures more than 1.8 metres (six feet) above sea level, making the country vulnerable to a rise in sea levels associated with global warming.

With its abundant sealife and sandy beaches, The Maldives is portrayed by travel companies as a tropical paradise.

The economy revolves around tourism, and scores of islands have been developed for the top end of the tourist market.

Maldivian fisherman carrying catch The Maldives' economy is reliant on tourism and fisheries

Aside from the island capital Male, outsiders are only permitted onto inhabited islands for brief visits, thereby limiting their impact on traditional Muslim communities.

Many Maldivians live in poverty. However, the country has developed its infrastructure and industries, including the fisheries sector, and has boosted health care, education and literacy.

The Maldives was hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami. Homes and resorts were devastated by the waves, precipitating a major rebuilding programme.

There is a fear that as sea levels rise, island countries such as the Maldives, and some Pacific territories, will simply be swamped and disappear.



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The Maldives

8 April 2011 Last updated at 11:56 GMT Map of Maldives The Maldives is made up of a chain of nearly 1,200 islands, most of them uninhabited, which lie off the Indian sub-continent.

None of the coral islands measures more than 1.8 metres (six feet) above sea level, making the country vulnerable to a rise in sea levels associated with global warming.

With its abundant sealife and sandy beaches, The Maldives is portrayed by travel companies as a tropical paradise.

The economy revolves around tourism, and scores of islands have been developed for the top end of the tourist market.

Maldivian fisherman carrying catch The Maldives' economy is reliant on tourism and fisheries

Aside from the island capital Male, outsiders are only permitted onto inhabited islands for brief visits, thereby limiting their impact on traditional Muslim communities.

Many Maldivians live in poverty. However, the country has developed its infrastructure and industries, including the fisheries sector, and has boosted health care, education and literacy.

The Maldives was hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami. Homes and resorts were devastated by the waves, precipitating a major rebuilding programme.

There is a fear that as sea levels rise, island countries such as the Maldives, and some Pacific territories, will simply be swamped and disappear.



View the original article here



Peliculas Online

The Maldives

8 April 2011 Last updated at 11:56 GMT Map of Maldives The Maldives is made up of a chain of nearly 1,200 islands, most of them uninhabited, which lie off the Indian sub-continent.

None of the coral islands measures more than 1.8 metres (six feet) above sea level, making the country vulnerable to a rise in sea levels associated with global warming.

With its abundant sealife and sandy beaches, The Maldives is portrayed by travel companies as a tropical paradise.

The economy revolves around tourism, and scores of islands have been developed for the top end of the tourist market.

Maldivian fisherman carrying catch The Maldives' economy is reliant on tourism and fisheries

Aside from the island capital Male, outsiders are only permitted onto inhabited islands for brief visits, thereby limiting their impact on traditional Muslim communities.

Many Maldivians live in poverty. However, the country has developed its infrastructure and industries, including the fisheries sector, and has boosted health care, education and literacy.

The Maldives was hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami. Homes and resorts were devastated by the waves, precipitating a major rebuilding programme.

There is a fear that as sea levels rise, island countries such as the Maldives, and some Pacific territories, will simply be swamped and disappear.



View the original article here



Peliculas Online

Sunday, August 14, 2011

11 August 2011 Last updated at 13:50 GMT By Sanjaya Dhakal BBC Nepali, Kathmandu Student motorcyclists in Pokhara The authorities say that too many teenaged bikers are having accidents The authorities in western Nepalese city of Pokhara have launched a tough campaign to improve student discipline.

In a "three Ms" campaign to make students more presentable, they have banned them from using mobiles, wearing miniskirts and riding motorbikes.

They say that the initiative is designed to bring "order and rectitude" to classrooms and the streets.

Most students - apart from motorcyclists and the more fashion conscious - seemed pleased.

Many told the BBC there had been a decline in standards.

From now, teenage high school students aged between 16 and 18 will no longer be allowed to have mobile phones in classrooms or ride motorbikes.

The decision was made following a meeting in Pokhara between teachers, parents and the local administration.

'Will of the community'

The move follows an earlier government order requesting all students and teachers to refrain from using mobile phones while in the classroom "to preserve the teaching-learning environment".

Guardians Association of Nepal member Hemraj Baral said the aim behind the motorcycle ban was to prevent more students from being killed or injured in an increasing number of traffic accidents.

File photo of Pokhara Pokhara has a reputation as being one of the most beautiful towns in Nepal

The Pokhara authorities say they also want to raise "moral standards" in this picturesque tourist city by disallowing fashion-conscious girls from wearing miniskirts that are too revealing.

They say that from now on, teenagers must either wear trousers or skirts that are at least knee-length.

Pokhara Chief District Officer Shambhu Koirala has vowed to implement the "three Ms" directive, arguing that it represents the "will of the local community".

And most students welcomed the decision.

"There should be a limit to the length of the skirt," said class 12 student Crispy Timilsina.

"And students were also engaged in using mobile phones by going to the back benches of classrooms. I am happy with these decisions."

There are 20,000 high school students in the Pokhara area.



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11 August 2011 Last updated at 15:48 GMT US troops accompanied by Afghan soldiers on patrol in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan There are some 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan Five troops have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the US-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) says.

The Pentagon later confirmed that those who died in Thursday's attack were all US troops.

Another foreign soldier was also killed by a roadside bomb in the south in a separate incident on Wednesday.

More than 50 foreign service personnel have been killed in Afghanistan so far this month.

"We regret this very much, in particular as this came in the holy month of Ramadan and it is another sign of regardless killing and terrorism," Isaf spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobsen was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.

On Saturday, 30 US soldiers died when their helicopter was apparently shot down by Taliban insurgents.

Six Afghan troops and an Afghan civilian interpreter were also killed.

Many of the US soldiers were members of Seal Team Six, the elite special forces unit whose members undertook the May raid into Pakistan in which al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed.

It was the deadliest incident for the coalition in the decade-old US-led Nato war in Afghanistan.

The recent spike in casualties comes as foreign troops begin the first phase of a gradual process to hand over security responsibility to Afghan forces.

There are some 140,000 foreign troops - about 100,000 of them American - in Afghanistan, targeting the Taliban and training local troops to take over security.



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Saturday, August 13, 2011

13 August 2011 Last updated at 13:18 GMT Pakistani troops take up position during shoot-out - photo 10 October The militants seized hostages and held off commandos for several hours A military court in Pakistan has convicted seven people over an attack on army headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi in 2009.

A former soldier was sentenced to death and six other people, five of them civilians, received prison sentences.

Eleven soldiers were killed when a group of militants wearing suicide vests stormed the headquarters.

The incident made international headlines and was hugely embarrassing for Pakistan's security forces.

The military court sentenced a retired army sepoy named as Aqeel, alias Dr Usman, to death, while another former soldier, Imran Siddiq, was given life imprisonment, Pakistani media reported.

Three civilians also received life sentences and two others were jailed for 10 and seven years respectively.

The civilians were convicted for helping the attackers, the Pakistani Express Tribune reported.

In the 2009 attack, militants seized hostages and held off army commandos for several hours.

Troops eventually freed 39 hostages, but 23 people were killed, including 11 troops, three hostages and nine attackers.



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