RAWALPINDI, April 23: The Punjab government on Wednesday lifted ban on appointments across the province after various government departments and municipal services suffered heavily due to the inordinate delay in lifting of the ban.

The new orders have been issued to all the districts, and the concerned administrations have been told to make appointments on the vacant posts.

DCO Rawalpindi Irfan Elahi told Dawn that the ban had been lifted, adding thousands of posts were lying vacant in various government institutions in the city causing multiple problems.

Various educational institutions including colleges, universities, schools and civic agencies like Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), Rawalpindi Environment Improvement Project (REIP) and town municipal administrations are short of about 4,000 staff.—Our Reporter

http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.a...4_2008_002_006

April 27, 2008
LAHORE: The secretary general of PML-Q Mushahid Hussain Syed has said President Musharraf made big mistake by removing of judges of the higher court.

Addressing a press conference in here, PML-Q secretary general asked the present government to fulfill its commitment by restoring judges in 30-days, enforcing 10-year old price list of edibles and by making Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan as President of Pakistan.

Mushahid Hussain said removal of Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan from his post was humiliating and disliked by the whole nation. He said Riaz Muhammad Khan was sacked due to disagreeing with government’s decision to invite UN experts for probing Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.


http://www.apakistannews.com/musharr...-hussain-68511

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Time is the longest distance between two places.

BERLIN: Today marks the 63rd death anniversary of the German Chancellor Adolf Hitler who oversaw the Holocaust in which over six million Jews lost their lives.

Hilter was the founder of the National Socialist or Nazi party, which swept to power in elections held in Germany in 1933.

In 1939, Hilter invaded Poland, marking the start of World War Two in which over sixty million people died and much of Europe was devastated.

Hilter, also oversaw the Holocaust in which over six million Jews were systematically killed by the Nazis.

On April 30th 1945, with Soviet forces just a few miles away from Hitler's bunker in Berlin.the Nazi Leader and his wife Eva Braun comitted suicide.

Their bodies were burnt by Nazis to ensure that they were not desecrated by Allied powers.

Hilter is remembered as one of the most controversial figure in recent memory.




Yousuf Raza Gilani was addressing the joint sitting of AJK Legislative Assembly and AJK Council after his arrival here.

He said his government would hold meaningful talks with India for resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Gilani said Pakistan has always pursued the path of peace and wants opportunities for the Kashmiris on both sides to meet each other. He called for promotion of tourism and trade across the line of control.

He said solution of Kashmir issue was essential for the regional development.

Gilani said that the AJK legislators will be included in Pakistan delegations. In the next federal budges Rs. Five million grant will be allocated for every member of the AJK Assembly, he further said.

He promised to prepare strategy for setting up a women university in Azad Kashmir. He said the earthquake rehabilitation work will be stepped up in the region.



DUBAI: A decisive round of talks between Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif on the issue of restoration of judges being held here.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif reached Dubai for the talks, was received by Co-Chairman of People’s Party Asif Zardari.

Talking to media before leaving for dialogue, Mian Nawaz Sharif said that Muslim League wants restoration of judges by executive order whereas People’s Party through a constitutional package.

Nawaz said that extension in deadline would be considered in case of clear road map adding, “ we are determined for restoration of judges”.



DUBAI: The second round of crucial talks between Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chief Asif Ali Zardari and Chief of Pakistan Muslim League-N, Mian Nawaz Sharif is in progress here.

In the first round both the parties agreed to keep their coalition strong like before. However, no clear outcome came to light on the issue of deadline in connection with the restoration of judiciary.

Prior to leaving for Dubai, Mian Nawaz Sharif talking to media said PML-N wants judges reinstatement through an executive order while the PPP has linked it with the constitutional package.

“Extension in the deadline can be reviewed in case of getting a clear road map,” he further said, adding, “we are determined to restore the deposed judiciary.”



TOKYO: Japan's oldest giant panda, Ling Ling, a longtime star at Tokyo's largest zoo and a symbol of friendship with China, died Wednesday of heart failure, zookeepers said.

Ling Ling was 22 years and seven months old, the Ueno Zoo said. It said he was the fifth-oldest known male panda in the world.

Ling Ling began losing his appetite and strength last August because of his old age, and recently suffered from heart and kidney problems, zoo officials said.

Born at China's Beijing Zoo in 1985, Ling Ling came to Tokyo in1992.

http://www.geo.tv/index.html




LONDON - Prince William, second in line to the British throne, paid a secret visit to Afghanistan to meet frontline British troops, his office said on Wednesday.

A spokesman said the 25-year-old prince, recently awarded his Royal Air Force (RAF) wings after a training course, flew a military transport plane for part of the journey to Kandahar.

He spent three hours with British service personnel at the airfield before returning home, the spokesman said.

The trip made headlines in British newspapers on Wednesday but sparked questions about whether it was simply a public relations exercise. William was criticised recently for flying military Chinook helicopters to a bachelor party for his cousin and to his girlfriend Kate Middleton's family home.

"The cynics amongst us will say it's an attempt to cover up the Chinook jollies," former royal protection officer Ken Wharfe told BBC television.

Publicist Max Clifford agreed. "This was a good public relations exercise," he told the BBC.

Permission for the trip on Monday was given by William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and his father, Prince Charles.

"The purpose of the trip was for the prince to familiarise himself with the operations of the RAF in theatre," a spokesman said, adding that the 30-hour trip had "passed without a hitch".

The prince flew in a C-17 Globemaster military transport plane which left a Royal Air Force base on Sunday, arriving in Afghanistan the next day. He flew back home via Qatar.

William's younger brother Harry served for 10 weeks with British troops in Helmand province earlier this year.

His tour of duty was abruptly cut short when a media blackout was broken and military chiefs began to fear for his safety as a prime target for a Taliban attack.

William's trip came after four months of training with the Royal Air Force that ended at a graduation ceremony where he was presented with his wings by his father.

William and Harry's uncle, Prince Andrew, was a Sea King helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands war.




BAGHDAD - A Sadrist leader said on Wednesday that at least 500 people have been killed, most of them women and children, and 2,000 wounded in the ongoing intense clashes between militants and Iraqi forces in Baghdad's Sadr City since March 25.

Fatah al-Sheikh, a Sadrist leader, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the situation in Sadr City is "dramatic."

He added: "A crisis is widely anticipated in the city amid a governmental total silence".

US air raids on the city continued between late Tuesday and the early hours Wednesday amid intense clashes between militants and Iraqi forces, al-Sheikh said.

The Sadrist leader stressed that the militants engaged in clashes with the Iraqi troops do not belong to the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moqada al-Sadr.

He added that the Sadrist movement plans to issue a statement on Sunday to explain the violent acts taking place in the city.

Al-Sheikh said reports about finding Iranian weapons in the Sadr City were correct, adding that the al-Sadr movement fears that foreign sides could be sponsoring militants in the area.

Sadr City inhabitants were moving from the area due to the continuous clashes and violence, al-Sheikh said.

On Tuesday, at least 28 people were killed during clashes in Sadr City.

Meanwhile, two members of the Awakening Councils were killed and another one was wounded when a road bomb went off in Abasy area in the Northern city of Tikrit, Iraqi police sources told dpa.



BAGHDAD - April proved the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq in half a year, with the reported deaths of two more soldiers on Wedensday bringing the month's toll to 46.

Two hospitals in Sadr City, the Shi'ite slum that has been the focus of fighting in the capital, said 421 Iraqis had been killed and more than 2,400 wounded there since late March.

Thirty-four bodies and 112 wounded victims were brought to the two Sadr City hospitals in the last 24 hours, after battles in the slum that saw fighters attack U.S. forces under the cover of blinding dust storms.

The U.S. death toll is the highest since September, when 65 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq according to figures compiled by icasualties.org, an independent Website that tracks military deaths, but is still far lower than a year ago. In April last year 104 U.S. service members were killed in Iraq.

In a statement, the U.S. military said gunmen killed one soldier in northwestern Baghdad on Tuesday. The second soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack on his vehicle, also in the northwestern part of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday.

Around half the U.S. troop deaths in Iraq this month have been in Baghdad, including several killed by rocket and mortar fire from the eastern Baghdad stronghold of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have been fighting battles against Shi'ite gunmen in and around the Sadr City bastion for weeks.

American forces said they killed 34 militiamen in Sadr City on Tuesday in a series of clashes including one street battle that raged for four hours.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling Shi'ite militiamen in Sadr City and other Shi'ite parts of Baghdad for a month, since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on the militia in the southern city of Basra.

After early setbacks, the Basra offensive appears to have been a success, driving militia members from the streets. But in Baghdad the militia still control Sadr City and other areas.

Sunni Arab areas of Baghdad, where U.S. forces fought their heaviest battles a year ago, remain quieter.

Al Qaeda has largely been pushed out of Baghdad and regrouped in provinces north of the city.


http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Index00.asp

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Regards,
P.R.

Sharif: Ousted Pakistan judges will return

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Judges purged by Pervez Musharraf to protect his disputed presidency will return to their posts "with dignity, respect and honor," a leader of Pakistan's new government said Friday.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's forecast followed two days of talks aimed at settling differences within the ruling coalition over how to bring back the judges.

The issue is critical to the survival of Pakistan's month-old civilian government. It could also determine the ability of its U.S.-backed president to cling to his already diminished powers.

Leaders of the two biggest parties in the coalition emerged from marathon negotiations in the Persian Gulf state of Dubai late Thursday. Both sides insisted they had made progress on the judges issue and that the coalition would survive.

However, they announced no final accord and said Sharif would only disclose details of their discussions after a party meeting in his home city of Lahore on Friday.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry | Elizabeth Colton
"We have decided to restore the judges" through a resolution in Parliament, Sharif told reporters on his arrival early Friday at Lahore airport.

The justices will "go back to the courts with dignity, respect and honor," he said.

Before facing his colleagues, Sharif met with U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton said only that they would discuss "issues of mutual concern."

American officials hail the country's return to democratic government after eight years under Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror who retired as Pakistan army chief in November.

Yet they worry that efforts by the new administration to strike peace deals along the Afghan border in order to curb surging militancy could ease the pressure on Taliban and al-Qaeda and allow them to plan more attacks in Afghanistan and the West.

Musharraf ousted some 60 senior judges — including Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry — when he imposed a state of emergency in November to stop legal challenges to his re-election as president.

But the crackdown only deepened his unpopularity, and his allies were routed in February parliamentary elections which propelled his opponents to power.

Sharif has pushed particularly hard for the reinstatement of the judges, stirring speculation that he sees them as an ally in a drive to oust Musharraf completely. The judges could re-examine complaints that Musharraf was ineligible for another five-year term.

But the party of assassinated ex-leader Benazir Bhutto, which leads the government, has sought to link their return to broader reforms that could crimp Chaudhry's tenure and powers.

There is considerable uncertainty about the legality of their plans — raising the prospect of months of wrangling that could distract the government from tackling serious economic problems as well as Islamic militancy.

Chaudhry had shown an unusual degree of independence, investigating complaints that the country's spy agencies were holding opposition activists secretly under the cover of fighting international terrorism.

Musharraf accused the chief justice of corruption and of conspiring against him and his plans to guide Pakistan back to democracy.

Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and political successor, has said that Chaudhry and other judges were "playing politics" and failed to deliver justice to him during the years he spent in jail on unproven corruption charges.

The coalition was founded on a promise to restore the judges through a parliamentary resolution by the end of April. Its leaders sought Thursday to play down the significance of the missed deadline.

The Dubai talks "sorted out many issues and the alliance partners are on the same wavelength and on the same page," said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Zardari's party.

Reports of a split between Zardari and Sharif "to the point of endangering their alliance are exaggerated and untrue," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...politics_N.htm

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By Amjad Mahmood

By Ahmed Hassan

ISLAMABAD, May 2: President Pervez Musharraf has conveyed to PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, through a messenger, his ascent, in principle, to the removal of president’s powers under Article 58(2)b of the Constitution, DawnNews television channel reported on Friday.

However, the president’s reported readiness to agree to the repeal of the controversial article is said to be conditional because he seeks, in return, a legal cover for all actions he took as army chief after imposing the state of emergency on Nov 3 last year.

The president’s camp sprang into action after Mr Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif agreed in Dubai to reinstate the judges sacked by President Musharraf.

Most of the reports about President Musharraf’s reported message to Mr Zardari cited people in the presidency as the source. However, inexplicably, the sources insisted on remaining anonymous.

The president’s change of heart is believed to be a result of intense consultations that he had been holding with his legal aides over the past two months on the issue of judges’ reinstatement, his own status as president and the fallout of the Nov 3 emergency.

The president also held meetings with his political aides. He met PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, former president Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari, former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Faisal Saleh Hayat and Raza Hayat Hirraj.

Sources said that president’s meeting with three former PPP men was significant and gave credence to reports that the presidential camp had a channel for negotiations with the PPP.

During the meetings, the president summed up his strategy after explaining his position and sought suggestions on how to handle the issue of reinstatement of the judges without disturbing his own position.

Informed sources said that the president’s camp was upbeat about a power-sharing agreement between the PPP and MQM as a result of which the ruling coalition would have an additional support of 29 legislators at the centre.

The president’s aides, the sources said, were convinced that Dubai talks had failed to resolve some contentious issues between the PPP and PML-N. They were also convinced that the judges could not be reinstated through a resolution and that a constitutional amendment would be required and that would need a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament.

According to the sources, the presidential camp was ready to challenge the judges’ reinstatement through a resolution in court.Senior PML-Q leader Tariq Azim confirmed to Dawn that efforts for a quid pro quo were going on and the presidents’ camp was involved in talks with the PPP in order to avoid a clash with the new government.

In return, the sources said, the president wanted the PPP leader to give indemnity through legislation to all his actions taken after Nov 3, except for judges’ reinstatement, and he should be allowed to serve as constitutional head of the state for his full tenure.

President’s legal aides, including Sharifuddin Pirzada and Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum, are reported to have told the president that since the Article 58(2)b was a big threat to the new government it would be fair to make the offer to the ruling coalition to end a political impasse.

Sources at the presidency confirmed that the ANP and JUI-F were on board in the quid pro quo strategy and they would continue to support the PPP.

President’s legal advisers are reported to have prepared a bill to give indemnity to the Nov 3 actions by taking all players in parliament on board.

source : http://www.dawn.com/2008/05/03/index.htm

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You have other skies stretching out before you.

Monday, May 05, 2008

PESHAWAR: Atleast 5,755 families have so far returned to Afghanistan after their 2,808 houses at Jalozai camp, the biggest Afghan refugee camp, were bulldozed.

As per the statistics of the Afghan Commissioner Office, 17,000 families comprising 125,000 registered people were camped, among them, 33,200 families went back to Afghanistan while one thousand unregistered families have crossed the Pak-Afghan border and about 6,000 families are still at the camp who will vacate it by May 15.

The Afghan Commissioner Office sources said that about 4,000 families comprising over 35,000 persons went from the camps to various districts, which is strange, because they succeeded in escaping despite security arrangements by the FC, the police and various check-outs.

On the other hand, the UN organization for Afghan Refugees representative said that this is not their responsibility but the administration is responsible for that

Earthquake at Balochistan’s Awaran district

Monday, May 05, 2008

QUETTA: Tremors felt in Awaran district of Balochistan Monday morning at 9:18 am, sources said. The epicenter of 4.1-magnitude earthquake was 1000 kilometer in northwest of Peshawar.

Accidental explosions kill 6; wound more than 20 in Afghanistan

Monday, May 05, 2008

KABUL: Three accidental explosions in the Afghan capital have left six people dead and more than 20 wounded, including some counter narcotics police, officials said Monday.

A policeman dropped a rocket-propelled grenade that exploded as his unit set off from Kabul on Monday on an opium poppy eradication mission north of the city, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary.

One policeman was killed and at least eight were wounded, said Dr. Ahmad Zia Aftali, chief of the hospital where the injured were taken for treatment.

Also Monday, three children died and two others were wounded when an old artillery shell they were playing with exploded, Bashary said.



Monday, May 05, 2008

MULTAN: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said the PPP would take along all its coalition partners to steer the country out of the challenges it is facing today.

The issues including revival of superior court judges will be taken with consensus of the coalition partners, said Prime Minister Gilani here Monday.

Talking to journalists after inaugurating the bio-technological department at the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) the Prime Minister said Maulana Fazlur Rahman and other allies are members of the committee on independence of the judiciary and any decision would be taken with consensus and there are no differences on the issue.

To a question he said MQM enjoys a substantial political support in Karachi, that is why it has been included in the Sindh cabinet and the PML-N has no reservations on this coalition.

He said to maintain law and order is top priority of his government as without it progress is not possible.

Governor Punjab Lt Gen (R) Khalid Maqbool, Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Zafarullah and secretary higher education Punjab Ms Arifa Saboohi were also present.


http://www.geo.tv/Pakistan.htm

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Time is the longest distance between two places.

Pakistan Agricultural Situation


Report Highlights:
The third WTO Trade Policy Review of Pakistan was held on January 16 and 18, 2008, providing an updated evaluation of Pakistan’s trade regime by sector. This GAIN report outlines highlights of the recently released WTO Secretariat’s report – focusing on Pakistan’s agricultural sector review.

SUMMARY
The third World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Policy Review of Pakistan was held on January 16 and 18, 2008. According to the WTO Secretariat’s report, reforms in key sectors are being introduced but adjustment toward a more diversified and efficient production pattern has not yet occurred. Agriculture remains the economy’s mainstay, despite a fall in GDP share to 20.9%. Productivity is low and food security is a major government priority.

Member countries participating in the review recommended that the GOP continue to work on trade liberalization and other productivity-boosting structural reforms along with reduction in political uncertainty. While significant progress has been made to establish necessary preconditions for trade liberalization, sustained efforts are still needed to reduce downside risks to Pakistan’s growth.

PAKISTAN’S THIRD WTO TRADE POLICY REVIEW
WTO member countries are required to participate in periodic Trade Policy Reviews, whereby other members examine, evaluate and monitor trade and related policies to determine their impact on the global trading system. Pakistan’s third WTO Trade Policy Review was held on January 16 and 18, 2008. Previous reviews took place in January 2002 and February 1995.
The WTO Secretariat reported that Pakistan’s economic growth has been impressive since its previous trade policy review in 2002 as a result of its relatively open trade and investment regimes, sound macroeconomic policies and structural reforms that have also contributed to lower unemployment and reduced poverty. While the overall poverty rate has decreased, income inequality has widened and rural poverty remained high during the period under review. Customs procedures have been greatly improved, overall tariff protection considerably reduced, tariff bindings increased and intellectual property rights strengthened.

GENERAL TRADE ENVIRONMENT
The main change in merchandise trade patterns has been the rising share of mining and agricultural exports. The United States and the EU remained Pakistan’s main export markets. The cost of doing business has grown over the last five years on the back of structural weaknesses, including infrastructural bottlenecks, excessive regulatory controls and labor market rigidities, as well as problems concerning governance.

Trade liberalization has slowed as production and export support has increased. Pakistan has continued to lower its average level of tariff protection. Nonetheless, border protection and domestic support still varies by sector, thus constituting potential impediments to the efficient allocation of resources and its sustainable economic development. Pakistan still lags behind in export diversification depending heavily on textiles and clothing, which account for two-thirds of total exports. This sector now faces stronger competition in major markets.


AGRICULTURAL SECTOR REVIEW
The Secretariat’s report noted that agriculture remains the economy’s mainstay, despite its GCP share declining from 24.1% 2001/02 to 20.9% in 2006/07. It still accounts for more than 4 out of 10 jobs. The sector’s productivity is low by international and domestic standards undermined by inefficient resource use; skewed distribution of farm holdings, accentuated by a thin land market that reflects insecure tenure; inefficient non-price allocation of water and irrigation systems in a drought-prone country; as well as low-quality inputs and infrastructure.

Food security, based on self-sufficiency, is a potentially costly policy and a major Government of Pakistan (GOP) priority. Reforms since 2001/02 have been directed at a greater role for the private sector in marketing and supplying farm inputs. Domestic support measures (price and non-price) hinder diversification. In some cases, these support measures periodically penalize farmers (e.g. recently for wheat and rice) and are biased towards relatively low-value, water-intensive crops such as sugar cane. Sugar seems to be particularly inefficient with domestic prices at times exceeding world levels up to 50-60 percent.

The edible oil manufacturing industry is protected by relatively high specific tariffs. Certain agricultural exports are covered by various controls, restrictions, and support measures, including direct and indirect subsidies, such as on freight, and income tax concessions. The state-owned Trading Corporation of Pakistan still engages in significant trade of several essential commodities, including wheat, sugar, and cotton, as a means of providing subsidized foodstuffs to poor households and to cover emergency situations.

MEMBER COUNTRIES’ RECOMMENDATIONS
Member countries participating in the review recommended that the GOP continue to work on trade liberalization and other productivity-boosting structural reforms along with reduction in political uncertainty. Sustained government efforts in these areas will help to improve Pakistan’s international competitiveness, especially for sensitive sectors like textiles and clothing, and thus improve the prospects for sustained economic growth.

While significant progress has been made to establish necessary pre-conditions for trade liberalization, sustained efforts are still needed to reduce downside risks to Pakistan’s growth. Pakistan stands to gain from international economic performance provided it improves domestic efficiency, and thus its international competitiveness. Improved efficiency depends on domestic policy reforms as well as on Pakistan’s capacity to benefit from market openings and other opportunities abroad.

Approved by:
Margaret E. Thursland
Agricultural Counselor
U.S. Embassy Islamabad
Prepared by:
Asmat Raza
Agricultural Specialist

Most Israeli Jews do not believe in chances of peace: poll


A large majority of Israel's Jews do not believe in the prospects of reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians, in a poll released on Tuesday.

According to the April issue of the War and Peace Index, a survey conducted by Tel Aviv University, 70 percent of the Jewish public do not believe in the chances of reaching a deal with the Palestinians despite renewed peace talks.

On the other hand, 57 percent of the respondents favour holding talks with the Palestinians, while 34 percent oppose such talks.

Seventy percent support the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, as set out in the international roadmap peace plan.

On the thorniest issues at the core of the Middle East conflict, 55 percent said they opposed handing Arab neighbourhoods in occupied east Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty.

A vast majority -- 83 percent -- oppose handing over the Old City to the Palestinians and 60 percent oppose joint administration of Judaism's holiest site, Temple Mount, which also houses Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, making it Islam's third holiest site.

The Palestinians want to make Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel captured and annexed in 1967, the capital of their future state.

Israel and the Palestinians restarted peace talks at a US conference last November after a seven-year hiatus, but little tangible progress has been made since despite a joint commitment to try to ink a deal by the end of the year.

Sixty-six percent of those questioned also said that they did not believe in the chances of reaching a peace agreement with Syria.

Peace talks between Israel and its northern neighbour broke down eight years ago but in recent weeks both sides have sent messages that they were willing to renew talks.

The poll also said that 75 percent of the Israeli Jewish public thinks that in the next five years Israel will find itself at war with "one or more Arab states."

The survey was conducted among 600 men and women with a margin of error of 4.5 percent.

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Devil-may-care

Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable cruise missile 1 day after Indian test

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan said it test-fired a short-range cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead Thursday, one day after archrival India test-fired a long-range missile with nuclear capability.
The 220-mile range Pakistani missile, known as the Ra'ad or Hatf VIII, was developed exclusively for launch from aircraft, a military statement said.

The statement did not disclose the launch site but said the missile "has special stealth capabilities," and is a "low altitude, terrain-following missile with high maneuverability."

The missile "can deliver all types of warheads with great accuracy," the military said.

Pakistan became a declared nuclear power in 1998 by conducting nuclear tests in response to those by India. Since then, the South Asian neighbors have both routinely test-fired missiles.

On Wednesday, India test-fired the Agni III, its longest-range missile designed to reach 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) — putting China's major cities as well some targets deep in the Middle East into range.

India's missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern state of Orissa and is believed to be capable of carrying a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Their relations have improved since 2004 when they began a peace process aimed at resolving their core dispute over the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...-missile_N.htm

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Rival sides exchange gunfire in Lebanon

May 8, 2008

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s international airport was closed on Thursday because of Hezbollah-led anti-government protests, with all flights cancelled and roads to airport closed.

“All flights between midnight and four have been cancelled,” said the official, who did not wish to be named. “Airline employees didn’t come in today. There is no one” at the airport, she said.

The rival sides exchanged gunfire in the village of Saadnayel in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley Thursday. There was no immediate wordon casualties.

On Wednesday demonstrators blocked the road leading to Rafiq Hariri International Airport with burning tyres and mounds of earth, leaving arriving passengers stranded and forcing others to miss their flights.

The protests caused massive disruption to traffic, and many passengers had no choice but to walk along the main airport road and negotiate the obstacles as they sought to make their way home.

The strike was originally called by the country’s main labour union to push the government to raise the monthly minimum wage which has been unchanged since 1996. But it quickly degenerated into violence between supporters of the Western-backed ruling coalition and the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran.

Hezbollah was also infuriated by government allegations it was spying on the airport and by the cabinet’s decision to remove the head of airport security, a figure close to the opposition, from his post.

The violence was a serious escalation of the country’s prolonged political crisis, which has left Lebanon without a president since November.

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Time is the longest distance between two places.