Captain Wasi decides to shift on PNS Babar for safety

KARACHI: The Captain of MV Suez has appealed to the ministry of foreign affairs and the Chief of Pakistan Navy seeking immediate help in view of their vessel being caught in strong winds feared capsizing since its release with 22-member crew of board by the Somalian pirates and series of misfortunes latest among them the break down of the tug towing MV Suez. 

MV Suez Captain Wasi told Geo News on phone that the weather was threatening due to monsoon and their immediate retrieval may be arranged. The Captain said that no law was more important than saving human lives, “We are in the open sea for last three days; owner of the ship has thus far not sent the fuel.”

He said that he was in contact with the PNS Babar officials, they could rescue them. He said 72 hours ago at first he had contacted the owner of the ship and now we are 75 miles away from the Salalah port of Oman.

He has appealed to the Pakistan authorities for saving their lives. He said strong monsoon winds threatening the ship capsizing. Captain Wasi said leaving our vessel, we have decided to move over to PNS Babar, we have save our lives, wherever the PNS Babar takes us, we would be going. 

Chaudhry Bros wanted non-political president after Musharraf: WikiLeaks

KARACHI: A secret cable of 2008 has revealed that at the time when Pervaiz Musharraf’s exit was expected, Chaudhry Brothers had insisted the US that Pakistan should have a non-political president.

Former US Ambassador in Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson wrote to Washington that prior to Pervaiz Musharraf’s resignation as president, Chaudhry brothers had put pressure on the US to ensure that the next president would not be a political figure.

The Americans wanted Musharraf to stay in Pakistan but Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain informed them that the ISI was making arrangements for his stay in the UAE.

A cable from August 16, 2008 released by Wikileaks revealed that on August 15th Chaudhry Brothers met the US ambassador.

Chaudhry Shujaat told the ambassador that it would be beneficial for the US and PML-Q if Musharraf was to defend allegations against him and resign. The ambassador informed him that the US would not get involved in the matter.

Chaudhry Brothers wanted that Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Kiyani guarantee the safety of Musharraf.

Chaudhy Shujaat and Pervez Elahi also told the US ambassador that Nawaz Sharif would never accept Asif Ali Zardari as president and even the army would resist.

The US ambassador informed them that the Americans did not want Musharraf to be embarrassed and flee the country overnight. 

Bollywood couple ‘Saifeena’ splitting up?

MUMBAI: News of Bollywood super couple “Saifeena” splitting up has become common, and now a close confidant of the couple has revealed that Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor are not happy with each other.

Differences between Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor are increasing and according to latest reports the two cannot devote much time to each other due to shooting schedules and have started fighting. Reports also indicate that Saif Ali Khan is fed up with Kareena Kapoors shopping sprees.

Kaeerna is also distressed over reports that Saif Ali Khan is getting close to Deepika Padikone who is starring in upcoming films with him.

Sui, Zamzama gas fields’ faults removed

LAHORE: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) Managing Director, Arif Hameed said that Sui and Zamzama gas fields’ faults have been removed and gas supply to all the powerhouses and fertilizer sector has been restored last night.

 SNGPL MD told that this morning 390 million cubic feet of gas supply was temporarily suspended due to some faults at Sui and Zamzama gas fields, which was removed.

Arif Hameed said that all the industries were now receiving gas supply according to the schedule and the perception of halting supply unnecessary was not correct, while with the restoration of gas supply, the power shortfall in few hours would be reduced by 1000MW.

NATO Tripoli strike kills 7 civilians

TRIPOLI: Libyan officials said some seven civilians were killed in a NATO air strike in eastern Tripoli in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Reporters were taken by Libyan government officials to a residential area in the Arada neighbourhood of Tripoli and saw a body pulled out of the rubble of a destroyed building.

"There was intentional and deliberate targeting of the civilian houses," deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters at the site. "This is another sign of the brutality of the West."

There were heaps of rubble and chunks of shattered concrete at the scene, which a large crowd of what appeared to be local residents helping to clear.

At a local hospital, reporters were shown three bodies, including a child, which government officials said were people killed in the air strike. One of the bodies was covered with debris and dust. Reporters were also shown a wounded child.

"Basically, this is another night of murder, terror and horror in Tripoli caused by NATO," government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters at the hospital.

Media should not criticise intelligence agencies: Malik

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday that security forces were playing a major role in protecting the country from terrorism and crime especially in maintaining law and order in Karachi,

Briefing the media outside Parliament house, the Interior Minister said Sindh Rangers and their former DG had played a vital role in controlling target killing in Karachi and the country’s forces were doing a good job.

A few isolated incidents have taken place and security forces have to work within the limits of the law, Malik said and added that the media should not criticise intelligence agencies.

According to Malik, criminal elements had killed 48 policemen in 5 months, adding that if the ISI and other intelligence agencies did not exist, than there would even more acts of terrorism.

Writer urges Internet junkies to switch off and think

SEOUL: Like tens of millions of others, US technology writer Nicholas Carr found the lure of the worldwide web hard to resist until he noticed it was getting harder and harder to concentrate.

He set out his concerns in a celebrated essay headlined "Is Google making us stupid?"

And his latest book "The Shallows" explores in depth what he fears the Internet is doing to our brains.

"The seductions of technology are hard to resist," Carr acknowledges in that book, which has sold an estimated 50,000 hardback copies in the United States alone. But he thinks it's time to start trying.

In a speech at last week's Seoul Digital Forum and an interview, Carr restated his concerns that IT is affecting the way people think and feel and even the physical make-up of their brains.

Every new technology in history -- like the map and the clock -- changed the way people think but Carr sees special dangers in the Internet.

He got his first PC back in the 1980s and was an avid net user until "a few years ago, I noticed some disturbing changes in the way my mind worked. I was losing the ability to concentrate."

While the Internet has enormous benefits in delivering incredible amounts of information at incredible speed, it's also a distracting and interruption-rich environment.

Carr said it encourages quick shifts in focus -- and discourages sustained attention and the ability to think deeply and creatively about one topic and to challenge conventional wisdom.

Popularity-driven search engines, in one of the ironies of an information-rich Internet, worsen the problem by leading everyone to the same sources, he said.

Social networks, while pleasurable and fun, increase distractedness by bombarding users with brief bits of information.

"We take in so much information so quickly that we are in a constant state of cognitive overload," Carr argued.

"Multitasking erodes cognitive control. We lose our ability to say that this is important, this is unimportant. All we want is new information." In contrast, when readers open a printed book, "there's nothing else going on except words on a page, no distractions. It helps train us to be deep thinkers." Carr, 52, told he's not optimistic society will switch off en masse but it's important to look clearly at what it might be losing.

And he doesn't feel quite so lonely now that some other authors and TV programme-makers have tackled the same subject. "There are signs, still sporadic and small, that people are beginning to question the effects of technology."

Since the book came out, he said, he had heard from several companies struggling with otherwise intelligent employees who were unable to focus and concentrate on problem-solving.

Carr admitted he himself has not had great success in limiting the time he spends online. But the biggest change he made as a writer and researcher was to use the web only to track down source material.


Then I'd make an effort to actually read those things in print. I did find that made a big difference in my ability to be attentive and a thorough reader and hopefully a deeper thinker."

But Carr said it was not just a matter of individual choice. If friends, colleagues and employers were constantly on line, "then you feel in many ways compelled to do so even if you don't want to, because you don't want to damage your career or your social life".

The author said he had no simple formula for change. But companies could "start sending a signal that's it's OK to be disconnected sometimes, it's OK if you don't respond to every email within 45 seconds or whatever".

Employers, governments and schools could also start rewarding and encouraging people to switch off.

But Carr said there is little evidence so far of pressure for change.

"I think as a society we're choosing information overload: we're choosing to sacrifice the more meditative and contemplative aspects of our minds.

Facebook users on the decline in some regions: report

KARACHI: Social networking site Facebook has seen a decline in users from US and Canada according to data released by monitoring site Inside Facebbok, Geo News reported.

According to a June 12 report by Inside Facebook, the social network is continuing to grow, reaching around 687 million monthly active users by the start of June. The majority of new users are late adopters and come from countries such as India, the Philippines and Indonesia, for example.

However in terms of users, the site has experienced lower than normal monthly growth over April and May. Whereas over the past 12 months Facebook grew at a rate of around 20 million new active users per month, in April that number was reduced to 13.9 million, and in May it fell to 11.8 million.

The reasons for this decline in growth can be, at least in part, attributed to decline in actual user numbers throughout North America and parts of Europe.

We will kill Zawahiri just like Osama: US

WASHINGTON: The United States Thursday dismissed new al Qaeda supremo Ayman al-Zawahiri as a pale imitation of Osama bin Laden and warned the Egyptian to expect a similar fate to his slain predecessor.

US officials painted the 59-year-old long-time number two as an "armchair general" with no combat experience, saying he not only lacked charisma and leadership skills but was also a divisive figure who could fracture al Qaeda.

Top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen told Zawahiri to expect the same treatment meted out to bin Laden, who was killed by US commandos in the dead of night in a May 2 raid on his hideout in Pakistan.

"As we did both seek to capture and kill -- and succeed in killing -- bin Laden, we certainly will do the same thing with Zawahiri," said Mullen, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, giving his valedictory press briefing at the Pentagon, could barely disguise his scorn, but warned that the announcement should serve as a reminder of the continuing al Qaeda threat.

"First of all I think we should be mindful that this announcement by al Qaeda reminds us that despite having suffered a huge loss... al Qaeda seeks to perpetuate itself, seeks to find replacements for those who have been killed, and remains committed to the agenda that bin Laden put before them."

But Gates, who joked that it was "probably tough to count votes when you're in a cave," said Zawahiri faced "some challenges."

"Bin Laden has been the leader of al Qaeda essentially since its inception," he said. "In that particular context he had a peculiar charisma that I think Zawahiri does not have. I think he was much more operationally engaged than we have the sense Zawahiri has been."



Gates also alluded to possible suspicion within al Qaeda because of Zawahiri's Egyptian nationality, a point taken up earlier by a senior administration official.

"He hasn't demonstrated strong leadership or organizational skills during his time in AQ (al Qaeda) or previously while in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad," the official said, asking to remain anonymous.

"His ascension to the top leadership spot will likely generate criticism if not alienation and dissension with al Qaeda."

The official stressed that Zawahiri had not had any actual combat experience, and had opted instead "to be an armchair general with a 'soft' image."

"The bottom line is that Zawahiri has nowhere near the credentials that (bin Laden) had," he added.

"No matter who is in charge, he will have a difficult time leading AQ while focusing on his own survival as the group continues to hemorrhage key members responsible for planning and training operatives for terrorist attacks.

Somali pirates attack PNS Babur

KARACHI: Somali pirates launched a fresh attack on PNS Babur, however, in retaliation from Pak Navy commandos former fled away, CPLC chief said.

Talking to Geo News, CPLC Chief Ahmed Chennai said that incident took place at 8 pm local time.

On the other hand, Naval Chief Admiral Noman Bashir denied any attack on PNS Babur by Somali pirates.

PNS Babur was sent to escort MV Suez.

Somali pirates had freed 22 crew members, including Pakistanis, Indians, Sri Lankan and Egyptian of the hijacked vessel after a ransom of $2.1 million was paid to them.

Rebels dismiss election offer, NATO pounds Tripoli

TRIPOLI  

– NATO planes resumed bombardments of Tripoli after Muammar Gaddafi's son said the Libyan leader was willing to hold elections and step aside if he lost, an offer rejected by rebels and the United States.

Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam told an Italian newspaper that the elections could be held within three months and transparency could be guaranteed through international observers.

He said his father would be ready to cede power if he lost the election, though he would not go into exile.

But Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi appeared to throw the potential concession into question, saying on Thursday that the leader of the revolution was not concerned by "any referendum."

A visiting Russian envoy said the Libyan leadership had reiterated that Gaddafi's departure was a "red line."

The rebel leadership in the eastern stronghold of Benghazi rejected Gaddafi's son's election offer.

"We tell him (Saif al-Islam) that the time has passed because our rebels are at the outskirts of Tripoli, and they will join our people and rebels there to uproot the symbol of corruption and tyranny in Libya," rebel spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told Al Jazeera television.

A U.S. State Department official also dismissed the election idea, saying it was "a little late for that."

The proposal -- which follows a series of moves the Libyan leader's officials portray as concessions but Western powers dismiss as ploys -- comes at a time when frustration is mounting in some NATO states at slow military progress.

Rebel advances toward Tripoli have been slow, while weeks of NATO strikes pounding Gaddafi's compound and other targets have failed to end his 41-year-old rule.

In the latest raids, eight loud explosions were heard in southeast and southwest Tripoli late on Thursday and planes could be heard overhead. Libyan state television said NATO had hit targets in the Al-Ferjan district of the city.

REBEL ADVANCE

The NATO intervention in Libya has been going on for nearly 13 weeks -- longer than many of its backers anticipated -- and the strains are beginning to show within the alliance.

NATO officials have said they may not have the resources for a sustained campaign, and Republicans in the U.S. Congress have questioned the legal grounds for continued U.S. involvement.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said lawmakers had options for dealing with the conflict, including "the power of the purse" -- an implicit threat to cut off funding.

Libya-watchers say Gaddafi is using his political skills, honed during decades when he was able to survive despite being an international pariah, to try to exploit divisions.

Adding to the pressure on NATO, Russia and China issued a declaration underlining their concerns about the air strikes.

Russia and China decided in March not to use their veto power at the United Nations to block intervention on Libya, but have said NATO risks going beyond the U.N.-authorised mandate to protect civilians.

Rebel forces are now fighting Gaddafi's troops on three fronts: in the east of the country around the oil town of Brega, on the road to Tripoli from the rebel-held port of Misrata, and in the Western Mountains southwest of Tripoli.

They have made slow but important gains in the past few weeks in the mountains and near Misrata, bringing the front closer to Tripoli from the east and southwest.

Gaddafi has called the rebels "rats" and says NATO's campaign is colonial aggression to steal Libya's oil.

In Misrata, the rebels say they are recruiting fighters from the government-held neighboring town of Zlitan before advancing.

Zlitan, just 160 km (100 miles) from Tripoli, is the next major town on the Mediterranean coast road to the capital. Capturing it would be a major victory.

Kalefa Ali, a rebel spokesman in the Western Mountains town of Nalut, told Reuters that despite shelling by Gaddafi forces in Nalut and the Wazin border crossing with Tunisia on Thursday, the rebels would push forward.

"We think we will be able to drive Gaddafi's forces out of the Western Mountains altogether within days," he said.

PCB restores Afridi permission to play abroad

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board reinstated a no-objection certificate Thursday, clearing former captain Shahid Afridi to join Hampshire in England's Twenty20 tournament, a disciplinary committee said.

"The committee unanimously decided to fine him 4.5 million rupees ($53,000) for various breaches of the code of conduct," Pakistan Cricket Board legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi announced on behalf of the committee.

"The committee also recommended his NOCs to play abroad be restored, which the Pakistan Cricket Board has endorsed,

Sanjay goes bald for role in Agnnepath

MUMBAI: Bollywood’s Munna Bhai, Sanjay Dutt has shaved his head to appear as a villain in the remake of Agnnepath.

Initially Sanjay was using make-up to create shaved look but the extreme temperatures started melting his make-up making it impossible for him to shoot. He also had to wake-up at 5am and it took almost four hours for his makeup to be completed.

This led to Dutt shaving his head off to avoid any further hiccups

Youth only hope of Pakistan’s future: Nawaz

KOTLI: Pakistan Muslim League-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has stated that war is not the way out of problems and that dialogues can resolve all such issues, Geo News reported.

Addressing the party workers during election campaign of PML-N candidate Malik Muhammad Saleem in Kotli, AJK on Thursday, Nawaz Sharif said during his tenure the situation in the country was much better.

The Indian Prime Minister during his visit to Pakistan had promised to resolve Kashmir issue till 1999, Nawaz said and added that a group of conspirators had damaged all that process by raising Kargil issue.

He said our army personnel are rendering sacrifice of their lives and that in this era issues could be resolved through dialogues rather than war.

PML-N leader was optimistic that youth are the only hope of future of Pakistan, adding that alongwith this youth he would rebuild the country.

First pre-monsoon showers during next 48 hours

KARACHI: The Met office has predicted that the first pre-monsoon showers over the North-Eastern parts of the country (Islamabad, Hazara, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha division and Kashmir) will take place during the next 48 hours. 

According to the Met office, some pre-monsoon currents have started to penetrate the upper parts of Pakistan. These are likely to produce the first pre-monsoon showers. The expected showers will lead to a decline in temperatures in Punjab, KPK and Kashmir from Saturday.

The second spells of pre-monsoon showers are expected from 20th June and the third spell will be in the last week of June.

Regular monsoon rains are likely to start from the first week of July

Japan to launch record breaking roller coaster

TOKYO: A Japanese theme park has made a roller coaster with the world’s steepest vertical drop.

The roller coaster launched on July 16 features seven major twists over its 1,000 meter length, a sharp rise to a peak of 43 meters. The height triggers a moment of weightlessness before riders take a nosedive.

The ride lasts less than two minutes, 121 seconds to be exact and cost over $ 30 million.

Rising mercury dampens zeal of Zoo enthusiasts

LAHORE: Increasingly hot weather has desisted animal lovers from visiting Lahore Zoo lately as nearly 60% of the visitorship has declined.

Zoo authorities said that during congenial weather around 10000 to 12000 visitors from the city and other towns turned up but now due to hot weather this figure has come down to 4000.

Ms Zaib medical officer at the Zoo said in order to save the animals from heat precautionary measures were taken. Ice blocks were supplied in the cages of tigers, lions and other animals; air coolers were working round the clock to keep the cages cool; multivitamin supplements were being given; bamboo screens were hung to protect birds from scorching sun, sources explained.

The doctor said a premature female Mufflen sheep was born in the Zoo on Wednesday raising the number of this specie to 21.It is European breed sheep, it was learnt.

Prince Philip celebrates 90th birthday

LONDON: Prince Philip, the husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, turns 90 on Friday but will keep the celebrations at a minimum in keeping with the no-nonsense style that has defined a life behind the throne.

The gruff patriarch, the longest-serving consort in British history, will spend his birthday at work, hosting a charity reception and chairing a conference for military colonels.

Although still sprightly and remarkably fit, the Duke of Edinburgh is bowing to his age and intends to slow his hectic schedule of engagements.

But he is as quick as ever when making quips -- some of which have famously landed him in trouble -- and after a lifetime of getting on with it, he showed typical impatience when asked to analyse the past 90 years.

He admitted in a batkhela-movies  interview that he had worked out his role by "trial and error", but when asked if he thought he had been successful, he replied: "I couldn't care less. Who cares what I think about it? I mean it's ridiculous."

However, in a sign of the public affection for him, the palace revealed that almost 2,000 birthday cards had been sent to the duke from across the globe, including New Zealand and Australia, Italy, Poland, France and Germany.

Expenditure on Indian forces in IoK reaches Rs.24bn

ISLAMABAD: Expenditure on Indian forces in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), barring army, has gone up to almost Rs 24 billion in the last fiscal from below Rs 700 million in 1989-90.

Indian Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Planning and Science and Technology, Ashwani Kumar, while talking to mediamen said, "The expenditure on Indian agencies has gone up to Rs 23.95 billion in 2010-11", Kashmir Media Service reported.

In 1989, they had 28,782 armed personnel and the wage bill was Rs 670 million only. Now the number of personnel has increased to 86,260 and the wage bill has gone to Rs 23.95 billion.

"One of the demands that has been made by the Chief Minister is that the expenditure on maintenance of forces has gone up manifold and that is causing unbearable financial problems", he maintained

Afghan VP unhurt in rocket attack

KABUL: Afghan Vice President Karim Khalili and Interior Minister Besmullah Mohammadi escaped unhurt after a rocket attack targeted a police centre in central Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said.

Provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the attack happened in the Chaki Wardak district of Wardak province, a restive area west of Kabul.

"There was a security meeting in the police training centre at which the interior minister and second vice president were present," he said. "After the meeting was over and we were leaving, a rocket landed within a few hundred metres of the centre but nobody was injured," he added.

Deputy interior ministry spokesman Najib Nikzad added: "One mortar rocket fired by the enemies of Afghanistan landed where the interior minister, second vice president and provincial officials had gathered to inaugurate the new police training centre."

Khalili, one of President Hamid Karzai's two vice presidents, was born in Wardak province. 

Indonesian court jails radical cleric for terrorism

JAKARTA: An Indonesian court on Thursday jailed radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for 15 years for funding a terrorist group that was planning attacks against Westerners and political leaders.

The 72-year-old preacher showed little emotion as judge Herri Swantoro read out the guilty verdict and sentence at the end of a four-month trial in the
South Jakarta district court.

"Abu Bakar Bashir has been proven guilty of planning and misleading other people to fund terror activities ... and is sentenced to 15 years in jail," the judge said, triggering a gasp from the cleric's supporters in the court.

Bashir immediately promised to appeal the sentence, which he called the work of the devil.

"This is haram (forbidden in Islam). I reject this because it is cruel and disregards Islamic sharia. This ruling is by the friends of the devil and it is haram for me to accept it," he said in response to the judge.

About 500 radicals erupted into shots of "Allahu akbar" (God is great) outside the court as the verdict was read.

Prosecutors had demanded a 20-year life sentence for Bashir, who was found guilty of providing thousands of dollars to a terror cell operating in Aceh province.

He had been facing the death penalty for providing illegal weapons to the group but authorities dropped those charges early in the proceedings.

Bashir is seen as a spiritual leader of Islamist militants including regional terror network Jemaahh Islamiyah, blamed for the 2002 bombings of tourist areas on Bali island which killed 202 people.

Pakistan’s Taliban backs Zawahri as al Qaeda chief

ERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistan’s Taliban movement, regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous militant groups, said on Thursday it backed Ayman al-Zawahri as al Qaeda’s new leader and vowed to carry out attacks against Western targets.
A militant website said Zawahri has taken command of al Qaeda, after the killing of Osama bin Laden in a secret US raid in Pakistan last month.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan described Zawahri as an “capable person” and said the former Egyptian doctor would inspire the group to take on the West.
“We have been carrying out our activities which, inshallah (God willing), will gather more momentum. We will get revenge for the oppression by the West,” he told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
The Pakistani Taliban, which has close links with al Qaeda and other anti-Western militant organisations, has been blamed for many of the suicide bombings across Pakistan, a US ally seen as critical to American efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.
It has bigger ambitions but has not proven capable of carrying out sophisticated attacks in the West. It claimed responsibility for a botched bombing in New York’s Times Square.
Last year, the United States added the Tehrik-i-Taliban (Taliban Movement of Pakistan) to its list of foreign terrorist organisations.
US prosecutors charged TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud over a plot that killed seven CIA employees at a US base in Afghanistan in 2009.
Zawahri’s relationship with groups like the TTP could determine whether the man regarded as the operational brains behind al Qaeda can strengthen an organisation that has lost steam since the Sept. 11 attacks a decade ago.
Omar Khalid Khorasani, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander, recently said in response to questions posed by Reuters that Zawahri was the group’s “chief and supreme leader”.
Zawahri has expressed contempt for the US-backed Pakistani government. In recordings posted on the Internet he has urged Pakistanis to revolt against their government and army. Like other militants, he sees Pakistan as a US puppet.
In an audio recording, released in September last year, he accused the Pakistani government of responding too slowly to floods that devastated the country.
“The primary concern of the ruling class in the government and army of Pakistan is filling their domestic and foreign bank accounts with dollars, and as far as they are concerned, Pakistan and its people can go to hell,” he said.
Zawahri has tried to settle scores with the Egyptian government on Pakistani soil. He was seen as the mastermind of the suicide bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad in 1995 that killed 16 people.

Pakistan: doctors' strike, the government's insensitivity to thank the patient

QUETTA: Quetta, Balochistan government and private hospitals and doctors 'strike is continuing and close the CD, including emergency operation theaters are open, but doctors there do not exist due to the insensitivity of the doctors' strike and the patient is suffering from problems of Quetta. Young Doctors Association during the strike, nearly three-month CD OP, wards and operating theaters in general is completely closed. Association sources said the government if the demands were not accepted in hospitals strikeIn case of serious illness in their search for Christ's srgrdan. Quetta patients from remote areas of the province said the strike in public hospitals without a doctor's absence, and other problems due to lack of medical facilitiesKhuzdar, Mastung and other remote areas of the city in every thousand krayyy s Hospital, where doctors could not be started while Clinton was still in private hospitals which is the concern of doctors to solve problems strike called off in order to minimize public inconvenience.

Most governments are lying to each other, Robert Gates

Washington ... U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that several close allies in the U.S. has sent spies to spy, angel aypru Association Committee on Senate and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said the harsh rhetoric utyz questions. Admiral Mikebecome as dangerous as he is today. And then Americans will have to go there again. Senator Patrick lyhy gained media attention in the reports according to which Pakistan has arrested the five informants who Osama bin Laden U.S. CIA had provided the information. When the United States will continue to support countries which lie to her. thakh U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the CIA 27 years and four and a halfWe help people who are arrested. uzyrdfaa the U.S. said that sometimes, and sometimes even our closest ally to have our spy, the real world in which we live Osama bin Laden against gukhmay occur.

Karachi: The tension in different areas, killing five people before shooting

Karachi ... Karachi opened fire resulting in 5afradkumut Wharf atardyagyahy the four days, killing the number of 39 has. According to the police in Karachi in the violence-torn las found thatdid not recognize the President of the Empreesmarket close two people were killed in firing byunidentified persons which could not identify thePIB Colony one killed in firing by unidentifiedadded. M. PR colony near a firing by unidentifiedperson was killed. Lyari area Niazi square, aperson's violence-hit nas got. Karachi last fourdays, the death toll at 39, became the Orangi townand Qasba Colony, most dead, where conditionsremain tense for the police to control the situationwill take some time.

Brought sit-color press in Islamabad

Islamabad ... Investigate the murder of journalistSaleem Shahzad Supreme Court judge declaredto journalists after the announced end to picketing.Saleem Shahzad Supreme Court judgesinvestigating the murder of journalists not totrample on Constitution Avenue in Islamabad lastRose was released. PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, including the main political leaders attended thesit-in and expressed solidarity with journalists. fouro'clock on Thursday morning near Firdous AshiqAwan, Federal Minister for Information andbetween participants of the sit-Prime MinisterYousuf Raza Gilani announced that the SupremeCourt, Justice Saqib Nisar Saleem Shahzadkasrbrah case for the Commission to determinethe summary is approved. sit-in was announced by the media after the Friday evening There also will be home, but obliged by the Government after theFederal Union of journalists President PervezShaukat journalist today announced its picketing toend.

Syria crisis: UN report condemns crackdown on protests

Syrian troops trying to quash three months of protests are committing "alleged breaches of the most fundamental rights", says a UN report.

The use of live ammunition against mostly unarmed civilians has killed around 1,100 people, says the report.

It also documents arrests on a massive scale. Investigators believe as many as 10,000 people have been detained.

Investigators used evidence from rights groups and people who had fled Syria, but were denied entry to the country.

President Bashar al-Assad is facing the gravest threat to his family's 40-year ruling dynasty, as unrest that first erupted in the south of the country has now engulfed the north - near the border with Turkey - and is threatening to spread eastwards towards its border with Iraq.

As anti-regime demonstrations continued in many parts of the country, the government on Wednesday mobilised its own demonstration of popular support as thousands of people turned out in a Damascus suburb to wave a giant Syrian flag 2.4 km (1.4 miles) long.

Laying siege to towns

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has repeatedly appealed to Syria to let in a humanitarian team make a proper assessment, but the Syrian authorities have refused.

But despite being denied access by the Syrian government, the new UN report documents reliable evidence of widespread violations, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.

"The most egregious reports concern the use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians, including from snipers positioned on rooftops of public buildings and the deployment of tanks in areas densely populated by civilians,"

It cites "the excessive use of force in quelling demonstrators, arbitrary detentions, summary executions, torture".

The authorities appear to have denied civilians the right to food and medical care by laying siege to towns and preventing supply deliveries, it adds.

The preliminary report was commissioned by the UN human rights council in April, adds our correspondent. A more definitive account will have to wait until the Syrian government allows UN investigators in to see the situation for themselves.

Tanks in towns

Meanwhile, Syria has called on the people of Jisr al-Shughour to return, three days after an army attack restored government control there.

More than 8,000 Syrians have fled from the north-western town into Turkey in the past week to escape military operations, which the government says are aimed at tackling "terrorist organisations".

Officials said the city of around 100,000 people - which has been the focus of large anti-regime demonstrations - was returning to normal, but that army units were still pursuing "militants" through the hills around the town.

Damascus says some 120 security personnel were killed by "armed gangs" in the town on 6 June, and on Wednesday state TV said a "mass grave" containing three bodies had been found.

At the same time, troops and tanks are reported to be massing for an attack on Maarat al-Numan, 25 miles (40km) south-east of Jisr al-Shughour. One eye-witness told BBC Arabic there were "no more than 7,000 people" left in the city, which has a population of some 90,000.

Syrian state media have reported attacks on government buildings and security headquarters in the town, which straddles the main highway between Syria's two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Jordan said it had reopened a border crossing 10km from the southern Syrian city of Deraa, where the current unrest started in March.

'Unbalanced' position?

Although it has not yet responded to the UN report, Syria has expressed "surprise" at Arab League Chief Amr Moussa's position that the situation there was "dangerous and worrying".

Refugees arriving in Turkey describe the regime's operation in the northern mountains as a "scorched-earth" campaign, and Syrian soldiers who deserted have said they were forced to commit atrocities.

Syrian rights groups put the overall death toll in Syria at 1,297 civilians and 340 security force members.

Syria has prevented foreign journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the country, making it difficult to independently verify reports from there.

European powers are campaigning for a draft UN Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown, but they face opposition from Russia and China, both of whom wield veto powers and object to UN action against President Assad.

Pakistan arrests CIA informants in Bin Laden raid

Pakistan has arrested five alleged CIA informants who helped the US plan the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in northern Pakistan in May.

Among those held by the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, was the owner of a safe house rented to the CIA to watch Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, the New York Times wrote.

The Bin Laden raid strained ties between the US and Pakistan.

US President Barack Obama said "someone" was protecting Bin Laden.

And US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on a recent visit to Pakistan that there was "absolutely no evidence that anyone at the highest level of the Pakistani government" knew where Bin Laden was.

Pakistan has denied knowing Bin Laden's whereabouts and denied claims that a Pakistani army major was among those arrested.

'Interrogated'

In Pakistan, Inter Services Public Relations spokesman Brigadier Azmat Abbas told the no Pakistani soldier had been arrested, but the agency was questioning "several people whom we suspect of having been working for American intelligence services".

He said that among those arrested were people "captured during a raid at a house located close to the Bin Laden compound".

"We suspect them of having been working for CIA," he said.

"Others being interrogated include people who used to visit the compound."

Brig Abbas said that two categories of people were among those arrested - those who threw flares into the Bin Laden compound to guide approaching US helicopters and those who helped the helicopters refuel within Pakistani territory.

In Washington, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was asked indirectly about the arrests during a Senate hearing.

"Do they [foreign governments] also arrest the people that help us, when they say they're allies?" Senator Patrick Leahy asked.

"Sometimes," Me Gates replied, adding, "and sometimes they send people to spy on us, and they're our close allies. That's the real world that we deal with."

Bin Laden courier

In the wake of Bin Laden's death many American agents have been forced to leave Pakistan, while Pakistani officials and civilians suspected of helping the CIA may soon appear in court.

M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says dozens of people have been arrested and released by the security agencies since the death of the al-Qaeda leader - and at least five of them have not yet been released.

Our correspondent says that the Pakistani authorities appear to be making every effort to unearth CIA informants while showing little interest in arresting Taliban and al-Qaeda sympathisers.

Soon after the killing on 2 May, witnesses told  that two brothers - both cousins of Bin Laden's courier - were picked up from their village in the north-western Shangla district.

A member of the security forces was also picked up from the Ilyasi Masjid area near the Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, according to witnesses. It is not known whether he belonged to the intelligence wing of the police or the army. He remains unaccounted for to date.

The contractor who built the Bin Laden compound, Noor Mohammad alias Gul Madah, a property dealer identified by witnesses as Kaleem, Bin Laden's neighbour Shamrez and his father Zain Mohammad were arrested in the weeks following the killing.

All of them - apart from Kaleem - were later released although they have subsequently gone missing, our correspondent adds.

It is not clear whether these men were among the alleged CIA informants arrested.

The New York Times said those held included a major believed to have logged the number plates of cars visiting Bin Laden's compound in the weeks before the raid.

The US has sharply reduced its troop presence in Pakistan at Islamabad's request.

Washington has provided Pakistan with billions of dollars of aid in recent years, much of it military assistance.

Islamabad has also been angered by US drone raids on tribal regions bordering Afghanistan in which civilians, as well as militants, have been killed.