Rapper Rick Ross crashes Rolls Royce into a Fort Lauderdale building following shooting incident

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Rapper Rick Ross might be the target of an investigation involving a shooting incident and car crash in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Police are looking into what caused a Rolls Royce, driven by Ross, to go crashing into a building early Monday morning.
According to NBC Miami, Ross sped away as another vehicle opened fire at his car, sending it off the road.
Authorities confirmed that neither Ross, 37, whose real name is William L. Roberts, nor his passenger Shateria L. Moragne-el, 28, was injured. Initially Ross and his companion were not named because they were "fearful for their lives," police said.
Several witnesses claimed they saw Ross driving the silver 2011 Rolls Royce, but police are still looking for the shooter and driver in the other car, which they say fled the area before officers arrived.

Smokers’ Corner When in Canada

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Speaking near the Canadian Parliament Hall, Pinto told the mega-ultra-epic-mammoth crowd that he had returned to Canada to get rid of its corrupt politicians, parties and political system and impose true democracy with the help of the country’s armed forces, judiciary and ice hockey team.


‘I won’t move from here until I achieve my goal,’ he promised. ‘I will turn Ottawa into Nazareth and send Creaser and his evil men home even if they feed me to the lions!’

Most Canadian politicians in the government and opposition have been critical of Pinto. They have accused him of staying in Pakistan as a Pakistani only to return to Canada on the instructions of those who want to derail Canada’s democracy, topple an elected parliament and replace it with a technocratic set-up backed by the military, judiciary and the country’s ice hockey squad.

‘Pinto is a former failed politician and a spiritual fraud,’ a government spokesman claimed. ‘We know who he is working for, and believe me, it’s not John the Baptist.’

Pinto refuted the claim: ‘I don’t want power,’ he shouted from behind his bullet-proof, water-proof, sound-proof, smoke-free, digital, 60-inch flat-screen altar. ‘I am ready to give my life for my country!’
This created some confusion as many were not quite sure whether he meant giving his life for Pakistan or Canada.
‘For Canada!’ He clarified.
‘Does that mean you are ready to renounce your Pakistani citizenship?’ A nosy journalist asked him.
‘I’m a citizen of the world. Of Christendom. Of true democracy. What’s in a passport? Repent, fool!’ Pinto replied.

As he was saying this, he began to weep: ‘I had a dream last night. It was a most glorious dream. I saw a light descending from the blue skies of Ottawa. The light hit the ground and on the ground emerged tanks and soldiers marching towards victory and then snow began to fall. I looked closely and realised the big snow flakes were actually white curly wigs — the sort judges wear. Hallelujah!’

‘Hallelujah!’ The crowd chanted back. ‘Change! Change! Change!’ They began to shout, even though most of them were women who were basically demanding that they be allowed to change their babies’ diapers in peace.

‘I’ve been here for hours,’ one such woman who was with a shell-shocked baby told journalists. ‘The government is not allowing us to change our babies’ diapers. This is an outrage! We want change.’

And then it happened. While Pinto was speaking, an aide of his whispered something into his ears. Pinto stopped for a while, threw up his arms and began to shout out loud: ‘Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice! The Supreme Court of Canada has just ordered the arrest of the Prime Minister! Rejoice! Throw your children in the air and then catch them after they perform two somersaults and you perform four cartwheels. I hear the tanks coming. I hear the judiciary puffing its chest. I see an elected government collapsing. A glorious day for democracy!’

The Canadian media went into overdrive. Why did the SC decide to choose this very moment to deliver its verdict in an old case filed against the PM? Was it in on Pinto’s agenda and game? Would the military or a technocratic set-up follow?

A spokesperson of Canada’s Chief Justice (who also doubles as a TV anchor) denied the allegation: ‘The CJ doesn’t even know who Pinto is,’ he said.

The Canadian Supreme Court is situated only a few kilometres away from where Pinto was holding his rally.

‘Oh, that,’ the spokesperson replied. ‘The CJ thought there was a huge baby diaper sale taking place there.’

But as SC supporters continued to insist on the diaper sale theory, detractors warned that the SC’s decision was part of the Canadian establishment’s plan to derail democracy.

Canada’s leading political parties agreed, but were still cautious. However, everyone now looked towards what the party headed by the former captain of the Canadian ice hockey team, Jim Kant, would do.

Jim’s party has no representation in the parliament but does have street power.

During a press conference he put forward seven demands to the government: ‘We have taken a wait and see approach,’ Jim told reporters. ‘But we are putting out a list of seven demands to the government. 1: Hold elections ASAP, that is As Soon As Possible and not America Speaks Armenian Punk, okay? 2: Change some fishy personnel in the Election Commission of Canada; 3: The President of the country should resign. Just for the heck of it. 4: A truly neutral caretaker government should be formed, preferably in Zurich, Switzerland. 5: Five. 6: Seven. 7: One, Two, Three, Four and Five. Dig?’

At the time this report was filed by this correspondent, Pinto was still holding fort and sharing his latest dreams that now included visions of fairies and angels descending from the skies and rewriting the Canadian Constitution according to the dictates of the Bible (King James edition); Jim’s musclemen were trying to convince him to let them storm the Bastille in Paris; the SC was running out of prime ministers to fire; and the media was loudly gazing at its navel and calling it ‘Breaking News!’

Altaf likens his British nationality to Quaid-i-Azam’s

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MQM chief Altaf Hussain on Thursday laid the foundation of a new controversy in the country by equating his 22-year stay in Britain and acquisition of the nationality of that country to that of Quaid-i-Azam who not only carried the same document but as the governor general of Pakistan had also taken the oath of allegiance to British King George VI.In his 90-minute address to a gathering of his supporters at the Lal Qila Ground, telecast live by almost all channels, he said Quaid-i-Azam’s successors Khwaja Nazimuddin and Ghulam Muhammad had also taken the same oath.Before his speech the media came up with a variety of speculations about the possible ‘drone attack’ that the MQM leader could come up with. However, none had the wildest idea that it would be this.Reading out the wording of the governor general’s oath, the MQM chief also defended the Quaid’s act as an unavoidable legal requirement.It is unfair to infer that allegiance to another country taken just to meet a legal formality dilutes the maker’s patriotism, the MQM leader argued. “If the Quaid could do so, why Pakistanis living in other countries could not do the same?” he asked.Then he cited the examples of the PPP and the PML-N leaders to support his argument. He said PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, along with his family, stayed in Saudi Arabia for some eight years and various PPP leaders spent some 10 years out of Pakistan. But, he wondered, nobody questioned their patriotism. He said even such religious parties as had opposed the very creation of Pakistan were now regarded as patriotic.Altaf Hussain asked if the Saudi monarch would have offered him a ‘palace’ when he had left Pakistan in 1992, he would not have taken the British citizenship.Nobody, he said, would like to stay out of his country by choice. He asked his supporters if they would like him to take the first available flight back to Pakistan. In response, they said he shouldn’t. They said the reasons on the basis of which the Quaid-i-Azam had stayed in Britain were also applicable to him. The MQM chief used the same arguments to defend Tehrik Minhajul Quran Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri, who is a Canadian national. He said dual nationality did not make anyone’s loyalty to his parent country suspect. The MQM chief reiterated that his party would take an active part in the long march to be led by Dr Qadri from Lahore to Islamabad to mount pressure on the government to accept his demands.He said if in reaction to this decision the government removed the Sindh governor, who is an MQM nominee, he would not care.“We are not power hungry”.Altaf Hussain said in a coalition the partners had to digest even such decisions as were unacceptable to them. The MQM had acquiesced to many such decisions taken by the PPP leadership, and now it’s the PPP’s turn to stomach the one taken by its partner.This clearly meant that he wanted the PPP to accept the MQM’s decision to take part in the long march.Alleging that all parties talking of democracy were not democratic in their attitudes and the MQM was the only exception. This, he said, was the only party that brought educated middle class people to the assemblies in large numbers.He said feudals were part of every system, no matter what it was.The MQM believed in real democracy which started with the local bodies system. In the absence of this lowest tier of government, the system could not be called democratic.He said in case the government did not take steps for the local government system in Sindh, Urdu-speaking population would be constrained to seek the creation of a separate province. But he hastened to add that the MQM did not support the division of Sindh and the PPP should not push it to the wall.

Qadri calls for formation of ‘impartial’ election commission

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Tahirul Qadri, chief of the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran (TMQ), has called for the Election Commission of Pakistan to be dissolved and a new “impartial commission” to be formed, two days before his party marches on Islamabad for electoral reforms in Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, Qadri announced his charter of demands before the upcoming general elections. Qadri said that the charter consists of seven points out of which one will be announced today and the rest will be revealed in Islamabad.

Among his demands, Qadri called for the formation of an impartial election commission to be formed in place of the current ECP.

Qadri said that, apart from the chairman of the ECP, all four heads of the provincial commissions were politically appointed by the provincial administrations.

Qadri said that the CEC Fakhruddin G Ebrahim was an honest man, however, he would not be able to conduct impartial elections due to his old age.

The TMQ chief further demanded that polls be held according to Articles 62, 63 and 218 of the Constitution.

He said that the people will not accept elections if they are not held under these constitutional articles.

Qadri added that the door for negotiations was never closed, however, final negotiations will only be held in front of millions of people in Islamabad.

Teen shooter targeted two classmates he believed bullied him at Taft Union High School in California; heroic teacher helps disarm the gunman

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A student who believed he was the victim of bullying opened fire with a shotgun in a central California high school on Thursday, critically wounding one student and narrowly missing another before being talked down by a “heroic” teacher, law enforcement said.

The teacher suffered a pellet to the head and is expected to recover, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said during a news conference. At least two other students were lightly hurt in the panic after shots erupted around 9:30 a.m. inside Taft Union High School, in Taft, Calif., about 40 miles south of Bakersfield.
Youngblood told reporters that he could not confirm whether the suspect had indeed been bullied at the school.
"But certainly he believed that the two people he had targeted had bullied him," Youngblood said.

The 16-year-old male shooter was in custody, and a shotgun was removed from campus. The wounded student, also 16, was airlifted to a hospital in Bakersfield in critical condition after suffering a bullet to the upper right chest, Kern County Deputy Ryan Dunbier told the Daily News.

The gunman apparently had intended his targets and had planned his assault the night before, authorities said.
He walked in late to his first-period class armed with a shotgun and “multiple rounds,” aiming and firing at the first student, Youngblood said. Approximately 28 students inside the class scurried for cover.

The teen then “named a second (student)...he tried to shoot but missed,” the sheriff said.

The teacher, Ryan Heber, engaged the student in conversation, and a campus supervisor, Kim Lee Fields, rushed into the room, urging the teen to lay down his weapon.
They talked him into putting that shotgun down. He in fact told the teacher ‘I don’t want to shoot you,’” Youngblood said.
“The heroics of these two people (the teacher and campus supervisor) goes without saying," he said. "They could have just as easily tried to get out of the classroom and left students, and they didn't. They knew not to let him leave the classroom with that shotgun."
The shooter and his first victim reportedly had a “dialogue” before Thursday’s incident, but the details were not known.
Terrified students were evacuated, and worried parents gathered to pick their kids up in a nearby football field.
The mother of one student told KERO-TV her daughter called 911 and then called home. "There's just blood everywhere," she said. "My friend's been shot; my teacher has been shot," the frantic student told her mom.
The school shooting came as Vice President Joe Biden meets with victims of gun violence and gun rights groups to try and hammer out legislation to curb gun violence in the U.S. He is due to give recommendations to President Barack Obama next Tuesday.
The president put Biden in charge of a task force to examine gun control laws following the massacre of 20 small children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown Conn., on Dec. 14.

The FBI was also on scene to assist local authorities in Taft, a mostly agricultural town of about 10,000 people in Kern County, 125 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Local officers went room-to-room to clear the school, Dunbier told the News.

Law enforcement said the situation could have been worse.
“This is a tragedy,” Youngblood said. “But not as bad as it could have been.”

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Karzai in Washington

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BY the time this article appears President Karzai will have arrived in Washington and possibly have had his first round of talks with President Obama and with a now recovered Secretary Hilary Clinton. What are the expectations from the visit that Karzai entertains and what are the contentious subjects that will dominate the discussions?

The most important point to my mind is that Karzai is convinced that only reconciliation with the Afghan Taliban can bring peace to Afghanistan. This will be the prism, which will determine his position on every issue to be discussed with Obama

Karzai knows that the 2014 date for withdrawal of all Nato troops is set in concrete and that long before December 2014 most Nato troops would have gone. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) alone will then be required to maintain security even though the American training mission estimates that only one out of 23 Afghan Army brigades is classified as capable of operating without external assistance.

He believes that Nato’s departure will facilitate an acceptable reconciliation. The government may then be seen to be negotiating from a position of comparative weakness, but all Afghans know that Najibullah’s forces were able to hold their own against the Mujahideen after the Soviet withdrawal for as long as the Afghan national forces continued to be financed by the Soviets, even though their level of preparedness was worse than that of the current ANSF

The financing of ANSF, due to reach its full strength of 352,000 by the first quarter of 2013, will need $6.5 billion annually and the Afghan exchequer will be able to contribute only $500 million a year towards this. The international community promised at the Chicago conference to provide some $3.6bn ($2bn of this from the US) towards this cost. But this will be enough only to maintain a force of 230,000 and that number will only be reached through attrition by 2017. So in addition to the pledges made in Chicago the US will be required to pay an additional $2.5bn annually for the 2015-2017 period.

Karzai has said that much of the corruption in Afghanistan has been fuelled by the manner in which Nato and America in particular have awarded contracts. He has a case to make. But he also knows that he has done little so far to meet the reform conditions laid down in the Tokyo Conference for providing economic assistance at $4bn a year for four years. This $4bn annually, even if it is all forthcoming, will not prevent a considerable economic slump in Afghanistan. But without it there would be a total collapse.

In these circumstances, Karzai’s criticism of the US notwithstanding, he will recognise that to maintain the level of aid he needs he must be prepared to accommodate American demands on immunity for the American troops that remain in Afghanistan after 2014 and to allow them the freedom of action that they will need for counterterrorism operations. This would mean free use of Afghan airspace to carry out drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas and special operations forces in Afghanistan against the remaining Al Qaeda operatives in that country.

He will probably welcome the movement of the Obama administration towards restricting this presence to 3,000-6,000 troops despite the US military’s demand for more because this may well be the sort of figure and the sort of mission that the Taliban would not regard as a bar to negotiation aimed at reconciliation. The Taliban know that there will be no meaningful negotiations at all unless they publicly renounce ties with the Al Qaeda and that Pakistan too will push them to make such a declaration. After that a minimal US presence aimed at the Al Qaeda and probably at the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan would perhaps be acceptable to the less hard-line members of the Taliban Shura and to Mullah Omar.

Within Afghanistan, the loyal opposition, whose support is essential for reconciliation, has also made it clear that they do want a residual American presence. Additionally, Karzai knows that in the absence of such a presence he will be hard put to prevent the growth of the sort of private militias that Commander Ismail, who used to style himself as the amir of Herat, is putting together.

Before leaving for Washington, Karzai organised a well-publicised release of prisoners whose custody had been transferred in accordance with the US-Afghan agreement to Afghanistan. Further releases are planned all with the objective of promoting prospects for reconciliation. Karzai will demand and the US will probably agree that all remaining Afghans currently held by the Americans also be handed over and released if Afghan law so requires.

Perhaps the most important demand from Karzai will be that President Obama should find a way to exercise his presidential power to overrule the provision in the defence authorisation bill passed by Congress, that prohibits the transfer of prisoners held in Guantanamo to another country. Despite Karzai’s reservations about talks with the Taliban by anyone other than the Karzai administration he knows that for the Taliban the proposed exchange of five Taliban, currently held in Guantanamo, for an American soldier the Taliban are holding is a prerequisite for serious negotiations on reconciliation.

Karzai is understandably anxious that the 2014 election to select his successor brings to the presidential office a man he can trust and a man who will not hound him and his family for the many misdoings (real and imagined) during his years in office. He has proposed fundamental changes in the election law that would make many potential candidates ineligible to contest the elections.

In brief this law if passed would disqualify anyone who has a disability, physical or psychological, anyone who can’t speak and write in Dari and Pushto, anyone who doesn’t have 10 years of work experience in the administration, anyone who doesn’t have a university degree, anyone who can’t pay one million Afghanis (the equivalent of $20,000), and anyone who can’t come up with 100,000 signatures cumulatively from at least 20 different provinces.

He has further proposed that there be no elections complaint commission to adjudicate election disputes this task being left to the Supreme Court, which comprises all Karzai nominees. The opposition is understandably opposed to these proposals Karzai believes that Nato members worked against him in the last election and probably fears they will do so again in 2014. But he cannot afford to antagonise them if he is genuinely for reconciliation and wants their support or at least neutral posture on his election law proposals. He will therefore have to adopt a more conciliatory approach not only on the residual military presence issue but also on other matters of interest to the Obama administration.

Islamabad braces itself for Qadri’s march

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ISLAMABAD: Although the capital administration and police have started acquiring containers to seal the red zone on Jan 14, they are in a quandary over whether to let Dr Tahirul Qadri’s march proceed to the city or counter it in the absence of a clear directive from the government.

Sources said the administration was waiting for the interior ministry’s advice about ways of handling the march, but there was a complete silence.

The administration and police expect a large number of people to turn up and feel that there is need to make proper arrangement so that residents are not inconvenienced, chalk out plans for blocking roads and diverting traffic and, if necessary, declare a holiday in the city. The deployment of police and personnel of other departments is yet to be finalised.

A senior police officer told Dawn on Tuesday that Punjab and Kashmir police had been requested to keep 5,000 and 3000 personnel, respectively, on standby and send them immediately when asked for. Rangers have been requested for 5,000 personnel.

The officer said Punjab and Kashmir police had been asked to arrange 10 armed personnel carriers, 1,000 rings of barbed wire, long- and short-range teargas shells, guns and rubber bullets. He said the capital police were arranging 40 containers to seal the Grand Trunk Road and Motorway if the government denied permission to the long march.

He said Interior Minister Rehman Malik was likely to convene a meeting on Wednesday to decide whether to allow the march or counter it.

All entry points from Margalla, Ataturk and Suharwardi roads would have to be sealed by containers if the government decided to block the march, another police officer said, adding that the containers had been placed on the roadside as a precautionary measure.

CONFISCATION: Over 25 containers were confiscated by police from GT Road on Tuesday and taken to different areas in Islamabad.

Dil Afser Khan, owner of the Lahore-Hazara Goods Transport Company, said Tarnol police had confiscated their containers.

“Police have confiscated three containers of my company. But after a request and payment of some money, two containers loaded with goods were released,” he said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Yaseen Farooq did not receive calls despite repeated attempts.

SHO of Tarnol police station Fazalur Rehman confirmed the confiscation of containers, but did not say who had ordered them to do so.

The capital police had confiscated 17 private containers to block the red zone during a protest against an anti-Islam film in September last year and the containers were not returned to the owners even after a fortnight. In a report sent to the inspector general, the special branch of capital police said the strength of police was inadequate to tackle a large number of marchers and called for seeking help from police of other provinces. The report said the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran had assigned the task of bringing people to the march to its office-bearers in the capital.

Sources said officers of the administration and police were of the opinion that the government should not allow the march.

In a letter to the interior secretary, the administration called for seeking necessary manpower and logistics from other provinces to maintain law and order and avert any untoward incident. It has also sought permission for making arrangements and facilitating the marchers in case the government intends to allow the march and sit-in.

The letter written on Jan 5 by Islamabad Chief Commissioner Tariq Mehmood Pirzada said there were reports that Dr Tahirul Qadri also planned to hold a sit-in outside the Parliament House till the acceptance of his demands.

The interior secretary was informed that officers of the capital administration and police said at a meeting that the government should not allow the march because Islamabad was a city of diplomats. Any rally held in the city will inconvenience the diplomatic community.

Besides, Islamabad is a city of 0.831 million people and a gathering of one or two million would adversely affect its civic life.

“The weather is extremely cold and serious health-related issues can arise.

Health institutions are not in a position to cater for the medical requirement of a huge crowd,” the letter said, adding that the TMQ rally might also attract terrorists who had already placed Dr Tahirul Qadri on their hit list. MEETING WITH TMQ: Meanwhile, a meeting was held between the capital administration and a delegation of the TMQ. It was attended by the interior secretary, chief commissioner, IG and director general of the National Crisis Management Cell.

The TMQ delegation sought permission for a sit-in in the Parade Ground and parking facility in F-9 Park.

IGP Bani Amin Khan said the Parade Ground could not accommodate four million people and suggested that the sit-in should be held in a segregated place like F-9 Park which could be cordoned off effectively by law-enforcement agencies. The interior secretary said that because of severe cold weather the marchers would wear warm cloths and it would be difficult for security personnel to carry out adequate body search. He suggested that the march should be postponed to mid-February. The TMQ delegation assured the meeting that matchers would remain peaceful and would not go to parliament or Diplomatic Enclave.

India says Pakistan army killed 2 Indian soldiers in Kashmir

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SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Pakistani soldiers crossed the cease-fire line in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir on Tuesday and attacked an army patrol, killing two Indian soldiers before retreating back into Pakistani-controlled territory, an Indian army official said.
The outbreak of violence was the second in three days in Kashmir, where a cease-fire between the two wary, nuclear-armed rivals has largely held for a decade. Deaths in military exchanges are now uncommon compared to earlier years. But while diplomatic nervousness over the disputed region is never far from the surface, the earlier incident created no signs of escalating tensions in either New Delhi or Islamabad, and received relatively little media attention in either country.
The countries have fought two full-scale wars over Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority state in largely Hindu India.
Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for India's foreign ministry, said in a statement that military commanders from the two countries had been in contact since the violence. Such contacts normally occur to make sure confrontations do not escalate.
Brig. S. Chawla, a senior Indian army officer, said the Pakistani soldiers crossed into Indian-controlled Kashmir near the town of Mendhar, about 110 miles (175 kilometers) from Srinagar, the region's main city, taking advantage of thick fog. The Pakistani soldiers retreated after a brief gunbattle with Indian forces, he said.
He said one of the Indian bodies had been mutilated, but provided no more details.
"They not only violated the cease-fire, but also the sanctity of the line of control" that divides Kashmir, Chawla said.
A Pakistan army spokesman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, denied that Pakistani soldiers had been involved in an unprovoked shooting.
Kashmir is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan but divided between them.
While the two nations remain rivals, relations between them have improved dramatically since the 2008 Mumbai siege, in which 10 Pakistani gunmen killed 166 people and effectively shut down the city for days. India claims the terrorists had ties to Pakistani intelligence officials — an accusation Islamabad denies.
Signs of their improving ties include new visa rules announced in December designed to make cross-border travel easier. They have also been taking steps to improve cross-border trade.
A 2003 cease-fire ended the most recent round of Kashmir fighting, although each side occasionally accuses the other of violating it by firing mortars or gunshots across the line of control.
While deaths are now relatively rare, a number of Pakistani civilians were wounded by Indian shelling in November. In October, the Indian army said Pakistani troops killed three civilians when they fired across the frontier.

Claiming 2 troops dead, Indian FM threatens ‘action

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SRINAGAR  - India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of killing two of its soldiers in an attack and mutilating one of the bodies along the tense disputed border between the nuclear-armed neighbours. In his remarks that may harm an already fragile peace process, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid bluntly said India would deliver a “proportionate response” to the killings in Kashmir. The Pakistan Army denied launching an unprovoked attack as claimed by India. A Pakistan Army spokesman, in a message, said, “Pakistan military officials deny Indian allegation of unprovoked firing.” He said the Indian account was propaganda to divert the attention of the world from Sunday’s raid on a Pakistani post. One Pakistani soldier was killed in the attack. India said its two soldiers died after a firefight broke out around noon as a patrol moving in foggy conditions discovered Pakistani troops about half a kilometre inside Indian territory, an Indian army spokesman said. “There was a firefight with Pakistani troops,” army spokesman Rajesh Kalia told a news agency from the mountainous Himalayan region, confirming the names of the men as sergeants Hemraj Singh and Sudhakar Singh. “We lost two soldiers and one of them has been badly mutilated,” he added, declining to give more details on the injuries.“The intruders were regular (Pakistani) soldiers and they were 400-500 metres inside our territory,” he said of the clash in Mendhar sector, 173 kilometres west by road from the city of Jammu. Speaking on Indian television, Indian Foreign Minister Khurshid described the killings as “inhumane” and “not the way civilised people deal with each other”. “We need to do something about this and we will, but it has to be done after careful consideration of all the details in consultation with the defence ministry,” Khurshid told the NDTV news channel.“It is absolutely unacceptable, ghastly, and really, really terrible and extremely short-sighted by their part,” he added, promising that the response would be “proportionate”.“This seems like a clear attempt to derail the dialogue,” he added. “We have to find ways in which the dialogue is not sabotaged or destroyed.” Relations between the neighbours had been slowly improving over the last few years following a rupture in their slow-moving peace process after the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, which were blamed by India on Pakistan-based militants.The Pakistan Army says Indian troops crossed the Line of Control on Sunday and stormed a military post in an attack that left one Pakistani soldier dead and another injured. It lodged a formal protest with India on Monday. India denied crossing the line, but a foreign ministry spokesman said Indian troops had undertaken “controlled retaliation” on Sunday after “unprovoked firing” that damaged a civilian home. The deaths deal a serious blow to efforts to ease tension in South Asia and improve diplomatic relations. Steps such as opening up trade and offering more lenient visa regimes have been a feature of recent high-level talks.India’s cable news channels widely reported the latest deaths and alleged mutilation under headlines reading “Pak’s Open Aggression”, “Pakistan’s Barbarism”, and “Kargil-type stunt”.The last major mobilisation of Indian troops to its border with Pakistan took place in 2001 after an attack on the parliament in New Delhi by five militants.Rajesh K Kalia, spokesman for the Indian army, claimed Tuesday’s ‘intrusion’ was “a significant escalation ... of ceasefire violations and infiltration attempts supported by Pakistan Army”.“Pakistan army troops, having taken advantage of thick fog and mist in the forested area, were moving towards (their) own posts when an alert area domination patrol spotted and engaged them,” he alleged.“The firefight between Pakistan and own troops continued for approximately half an hour, after which the intruders retreated back towards their side of Line of Control.”The firefight broke out at about noon on Tuesday (0630 GMT), Indian army spokesman said declining to give more details on the injuries.The Indian army spokesman in Kashmir, RK Palta, declined to comment on the incident.In yet another account, some Indian officials claimed that Pakistani soldiers crossed the LoC Tuesday and slit the throats of two Indian soldiers at a post in Held Kashmir.Poonch Deputy Commissioner AK Sahu asserted that “Pakistanis raided a post in Sona Gali area. They (Pakistani soldiers) slit the throats of two army soldiers”. In his view the 29 Baloch regiment was involved in the attack.Going further, the Indian army sources alleged that the raiding Pakistani troops took away weapons of the dead Indian soldiers from 13 Rajputana Rifles.The US has voiced concern after Sunday’s clash across the Line of Control and urged the two countries to end exchange of fire. “We have supported attempts between India and Pakistan to find a positive way forward between them and to work on the issue of Kashmir,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland had said.

Women will be punished like Sita's 'haran' by Ravan if they cross 'maryada' (moral) limits: Senior BJP minister Kailash Vijayvargiya quotes Ramayana

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Indore BJP govt's Madhya Pradesh Industry Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya statement that women, who breach their moral limits deserve punishment, has caused a major embarrassment for the main Opposition party BJP.
Vijayvargiya joins the growing list of politicians who have made derogatory remarks against women.

Recently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, one of her party colleagues Kakoli Ghosh, and President Pranab Mukherjee’s son had joined the list of politicians who had cast aspersions on the character of victims of sexual harassment.

Senior Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Vijayvargiya said quoting Ramayana, “Ek hi shabd hai – Maryada. Maryada ka ulanghan hota hai, toh Sita-haran ho jata hai. Laxman-rekha har vyakti ki khichi gayi hai. Us Laxman-rekha ko koi bhi par karega, toh Rawan samne baitha hai, woh Sita-haran karke le jayega.”

He further said that if a woman crosses her limits she will be punished, just like Sita was abducted by Ravana.

Vijayvargiya explained that everyone is worried and society has to think why such incidents are happening, and added not only political parties but also people who lead the society have to think over it seriously.

He said just making tough laws cannot control such incidents and “we need to think seriously upon it. I think these incidents are happening where the dignity is being breached.”

What is making American youth violent and trigger happy

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Just one day after a twenty year old American male killed twenty children and seven adults in Connecticut, police in Oklahoma arrested a teenager for allegedly plotting to attack his high school and trying to recruit classmates to help him.

It is the American way of life that is making these male youth of America crazy and trigger happy. The country has indulged in helping the failed big banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions but never cared to understand the social problems within the society where divorce rate is skyrocketing, guns are easily available, and youth are bored and frustrated.

Obama Administration must understand student loans are not the solution to a major psychotic problem within the American culture. America can be in a state of denial but the fact is more than hundred people have died in school shooting this year alone.

So what are the problems?

First, the families are disjointed and parents are selfish to their children after they reach sixteen years old. That is not the case in other countries. When you give birth, you need to take care of your children.

Famous Indian philosopher who was able to defeat Alexander the Great 1700 years beck, said, “Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends.”

Youth in any society need care and love. That is what is missing in America in general.

Two attacks leave 12 dead ‘Good Taliban’ Maulvi Nazir killed by drone

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According to a security official, Maulvi Nazir, 39, perceived to be pro-government because he had signed a peace deal with the authorities in 2007, was killed along with his five guards when a missile hit his vehicle while he was going to Wana from Birmal in South Waziristan on Wednesday night.

Maulvi Nazir’s key aide Rata Khan was among the other militants killed when the vehicle was attacked near Angoor Adda on the Afghan border, the official said.

In North Waziristan, six militants, a close associate of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s chief Hakimullah Mehsud among them, were killed in a drone attack in Mirali tehsil on Thursday.

According to sources, unmanned aircraft fired two missiles at about 9am on a car carrying Shah Faisal and other militants in Mubarak Shahi, some 20km east of Miramshah. Two others killed in the attack were identified as Israr and Lateef.

Maulvi Nazir had survived a suicide bombing in November. The TTP, the umbrella organisation of Pakistani militant groups, denied its involvement, but Nazir, under pressure from the government, ordered the expulsion of Mehsud tribesmen from Wana. The TTP leadership comes from the Mehsud tribe.

He had entered into a peace agreement with the government after his group expelled militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, led then by Tahir Uldashev, in 2007 from the area.

Nazir’s fighters avoided attacking government and security forces’ installations in the tribal region and cooperated with the local administration, an official said.

He had survived two drone strikes in the past and two attempts to assassinate him through roadside bombings by local militant leaders who wanted to settle score with him for expelling them for their support to Uzbek militants. His younger brother, Hazrat Omar, had also been killed in a drone attack.

His death will certainly not please the authorities who have been relying on pro-government militant leaders to keep anti-state elements at bay and it could also spell trouble for the government if the TTP or affiliated militants try to return to the region.

But the militant leader from Ahmadzai Wazir tribe regularly sent out fighters to fight the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

SHELLING: Helicopter gunships pounded several areas in North Waziristan tribal agency on Thursday, killing three people and injuring four others.

Dozens of families fled the area after several houses were damaged by shelling on Machas camp.

The administration imposed a curfew in the region for the second day and launched a search operation after a security man and a civilian were killed and four personnel injured in a roadside bomb attack on a vehicle of the Frontier Works Organisation.

Several houses were destroyed in the shelling by helicopters in areas where militants were suspected to be hiding. The victims included a woman.

Local tribal elders tried to negotiate with the authorities but the administration rejected their move.

Agencies add: The funeral of Nazir and his associates was held in Angoor Adda and markets and shops remained closed.

Residents in Angoor Adda and Wana said mosque loudspeakers were used to announce Nazir’s death. A local man, Ajaz Khan, said over 5,000 people attended the funeral. Ahmed Yar, who attended the funeral, said Nazir’s body was badly burnt and his face unrecognisable.

Officials said an unmanned US aircraft fired two missiles at his vehicle in the Sar Kanda area and his two senior deputies were among those killed along with him.

The attack took place at about 10.35pm on Wednesday, an official said.

Another official said Nazir was attacked as he prepared to swap vehicles after his pick-up developed a mechanical fault.

Maulvi Nazir was understood to be close to the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, a faction of the Afghan Taliban.He was injured in the suicide attack in South Waziristan on Nov 29 when he was arriving at an office where he used to meet local people and hear their complaints.

Security officials were locked in talks to assess the impact of Nazir’s death. “There will be a setback in a way. He was one of those who were keeping his area under effective control and preventing the TTP from operating there,” an official said.

Some officials said eight people had been killed along with Nazir.

The military is believed to have struck a non-aggression pact with Nazir ahead of its 2009 operation against militants in South Waziristan.

He outraged many Pakistanis in June when he announced that he would not allow any polio vaccinations in territory under his control until the US stopped drone attacks in the region.

Nazir had property in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. He earlier used to be a member of the Hizb-i-Islami, an Afghan militant group.

Nazir’s group quickly appointed his close aide Bawal Khan as a replacement, according to one of his aides. But a Reuters report named the successor as Salahuddin Ayubi.

No fear of accountability

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THE Victorian chimney sweep in Britain, the first industrial nation, was once an even bigger symbol of inhumanity than the bonded child labourer and sex-trafficked women of Pakistan and India today.

Conventionally, the Third World has been labelled as perpetuating the inhumane concept of human trafficking. However, contrary to this misconception, working children and trafficked women are a global phenomenon and have long been viewed as cheap resources that are exploited by several developed countries as well.

Human trafficking is the second most lucrative source of organised crime revenue in the world after the arms and drugs trade. Pakistan in particular has been described as “one of the key sources of women trafficking” in the world.

In Pakistan this issue is multi-dimensional (consisting of both bonded labour and sex trafficking) and stems from the fact that Pakistan is an origin, transit and destination country.

The source countries from where Pakistan receives trafficked individuals include but are not limited to Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Central Asia.
Women being trafficked from the Middle East and Bangladesh transit through Pakistan before reaching their final destinations. Women and children are also trafficked from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, India and sometimes onwards to Eastern Europe as well.

Additionally, young boys have been trafficked from Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates to work as camel jockeys. Children as young as four and five have been uprooted from their families and sent to nurture the camels and participate in the races, often leading to serious injuries and death.

The key logic underlying trafficking is the profitability and the transactionalist nature of the business: it is a lucrative industry that has become a convenient method of trading and earning money, based on the rules of demand and supply.

The economics of market exchange can be applied to this field: there is a considerably high demand for trafficked individuals both internally and by host countries.
Therefore those who wish to become agents/traffickers are presented with a profitable market at a relatively non-hassle cost.

Moreover, individuals can be ‘sold’ more than once, unlike the drugs or arms trade, which makes the trade more profitable. However in Pakistan the market for
trafficking is not restricted to mere profit and loss: this means that notions of personhood, shame (izzat) and honour are closely intertwined with sex and labour trafficking.

Ironically, the red light areas of Pakistan, specifically the Shahi Mohalla of Lahore, the bazar-i-husn of Multan, and those of Rahim Yar Khan, Kasur, Layyah and Hyderabad are administered through stringent regulations and are the hub of ‘gundaism’. To cite a case in point, the legacy of the ‘red-light’ district of Lahore originates from the ‘dancing girl’ culture prevalent amongst the courtesans of the Mughal era. However, Louise Brown’s intermittent seven-year research in the red light area of Lahore documented in her book, Sex Slaves: The Trafficking of Women in Asia shows how this cultural tradition has in fact transformed into a chiefly commercial trade today.

The clients now are usually wealthy, often educated upper class men, and the cultural elements of the dance have been far removed. According to one of Brown’s informants during her fieldwork in Heera Mandi, “It was good in those days, but all that has changed; nobody bothers with singing and dancing anymore. We were trained for years, but today nobody does that.”

In another instance, Parveen, a 20-year-old woman, was a victim of sex trafficking. As a 14-year-old Pakhtun girl, Parveen was living in northwest Pakistan when one day while she was walking to school she was hit on the head.

According to her, the next time she woke up she found herself imprisoned in a brothel in the town of Khanpur. “I didn’t know what had happened to me or where I was,” she said. “Then, when the drugs wore off, they told me I was to be a prostitute.”

There is no single group to be blamed for human trafficking; however in Pakistan’s particular case one major factor exacerbating trafficking is that the official authorities and legislation/ courts are often negligent if not complicit in cases of human trafficking.

As a consequence, trafficking agents are not deterred by fear of accountability. Moreover, at present the structure of Pakistani society is such that it reinforces the hegemonic patriarchal system, within which women and children have limited operational capacity. Due to the fact that this system serves social functions, the comprador elite responsible for policymaking do not place a high priority on trafficking. The role of the government has to be clearer on the issue of trafficking. Internal laws should be introduced within Pakistan by emulating international trafficking laws.

Civil society including the media and human rights groups should make an added effort to ensure widespread awareness of this issue, as the majority of trafficking victims remain oblivious to their subjugation.

The most challenging element is tackling the taboo associated with trafficking, especially sex trafficking; as a result of this social stigma women are often fearful of allowing their experiences of victimisation and torture to surface in the wider society and cases are underreported.

Moreover, victims of trafficking should be provided with proper legal and financial aid as well as social welfare. In short, transformation will have to be led from the front and the top — otherwise as Audrey Lorde put it, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never allow us to bring about genuine change”.

Hillary Clinton released from hospital with Bill at her side after being treated for blood clot near her brain, after day of mystery surrounding her status

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Hillary Clinton released from hospital, leaves with former President Bill Clinton

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was released from a Manhattan hospital Wednesday evening after doctors said she was making “good progress” in her recovery from a blood clot near her brain.
Clinton, 65, left New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia at about 6:30 p.m., accompanied by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and a security detail.
She appeared pale and stoic with her hair pulled back and a gray scarf around her neck as she headed to her Westchester County home in the back seat of a black van — one of three in her motorcade.
“Her medical team advised her that she is making good progress on all fronts, and they are confident she will make a full recovery,” said Philippe Reines, Clinton’s deputy assistant secretary of state.
Reines said Clinton appreciated the “excellent care” she received from the doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital.
“She’s eager to get back to the office,” said Reines, who did not elaborate on Clinton’s schedule.
Earlier Wednesday, Clinton emerged from a hospital side entrance in a van, only to reenter a different part of the same facility just 20 minutes later. Bill Clinton, sporting a smile, and daughter Chelsea, holding her mom’s hand, were spotted exiting with her and a security detail.
Both the hospital and the State Department declined comment on the member’s strange and short trip. The Associated Press reported she was simply moved from one part of the large facility to another.
Clinton was admitted Sunday with the potentially dangerous blood clot, with her nervous family keeping a vigil at the hospital.
State Department officials said she remained in contact with staffers in Washington while recovering from her health woes.
“She’s been quite active on the phone with all of us,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, declining to provide any update on her condition.
Clinton was treated with blood thinners to help dissolve the clot, doctors said. An MRI revealed the problem after Clinton suffered a concussion in a fall last month.
The clot was located in a vein behind her right ear that runs between the brain and skull. Doctors said there was no neurological damage.
Doctors previously said Clinton would leave the hospital once the proper dosage of blood thinners was in place.
Clinton, who was already planning to step down from her position as Secretary of State later this month, is among likely Democratic hopefuls for president in 2016. President Obama has nominated Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to succeed her as Secretary of State.
The one-time New York senator’s last official public appearance was Dec. 7 in Belfast before her unexpected rash of health woes.
She was battling a stomach virus when she became woozy and took a tumble in her Washington home, forcing her to curtail her typically hectic schedule.
If not found and treated, the rare type of clot was possibly life-threatening, according to medical experts.
The illness forced Clinton to cancel her scheduled appearance before Congress about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.
U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in the attack on the 11th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks in lower Manhattan and Washington.
Clinton was treated in 1998 for a clot behind her right knee while her husband was still in the White House.
Before her admission to New York-Presbyterian, she was easing her way back into work with phone calls to her counterparts in Syria and paperwork delivered to her hospital room.

PICTURED MUMBLING PSYCHO suspect in fatal subway shove allegedly tells cops 'I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims'

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A deranged woman who told cops she detests Muslims broke into a maniacal fit of laughter as she was charged with a hate crime Saturday, three days after she allegedly shoved an Indian immigrant to his death in front of a Queens train.
Erika Menendez, 31, confessed to the savage act after she was nabbed on a Brooklyn street about 5 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.
“I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims — ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers, I’ve been beating them up,” cops said Menendez told detectives..”
At her arraignment late Saturday night, Menendez started cackling as prosecutors read aloud her bizarre and contradictory statements to detectives:
“I spent time in Times Square. You will find me on the video. I wasn’t in Queens,” she said. But at another point, she claimed “I pushed a Muslim on the tracks.”.
Menendez’s laughter accompanying the recitation of her statements infuriated the judge.
“Tell your client this is not funny,” Queens Criminal Court Judge Gia Morris thundered, speaking to defense lawyer Dietrich Epperson. “This is not appropriate.”
Menendez was charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime in connection with the gruesome death of Sunando Sen, 46, who was raised a Hindu.
Before she was ordered held without bail, prosecutors revealed Menendez has expressed no remorse — and even bragged about smoking pot and having sex with her “man in Brooklyn” after the murderous deed.
The demented drifter will undergo a psychiatric exam to determine whether she is mentally competent..
Cops say Menendez, without warning, pushed Sen in front of an oncoming No. 7 train at the 40th St./Lowery stop in Sunnyside about 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The deranged drifter - who witnesses said was mumbling to herself but never said a word to Sen before the fatal shove - ran downstairs from the elevated tracks after the attack.
A flood of tips came in, including one from the suspect's brother, after police released a grainy video showing a woman in a puffy jacket sprinting from the station.
The pudgy Menendez was captured near Bedford Ave. and Empire Blvd. in Crown Heights after she was spotted by an eagle-eyed passer-by, who recognized her from the video and called 911. Wearing the same jacket, Menendez appeared disoriented and was asking for directions to the subway, sources said.
She was hauled off to the 112th Precinct stationhouse in Forest Hills. A witness who had been sitting next to her on the subway platform picked her out of a line-up, cops said..
Three other witnesses identified Menendez in the video, said Prosecutor Michelle Kaszuba, who acknowledged there was only one positive identification from four line-ups.
A wild-eyed Menendez seemed startled as she was led out of the stationhouse in handcuffs, en route to her arraignment, about 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Whoa,” Menendez shouted as she was led past a horde of photographers, refusing to answer reporters’ questions.
In Rego Park, a doorman at the building where Menendez’s mother and stepfather live said she visited regularly.
“I know her. ... You could tell that something was not right, like she needed medication or something,” said the doorman, who didn't want to give his name. “It’s just very sad what happened.”
Angel Luis Santiago, who worked in the building as a doorman for 40 years, said Menendez spent time in rehab and hospitals.
“When she didn't take her medication, she got wacko,” said Santiago on Saturday.
Another building resident said she never thought Menendez was capable of killing anyone.
“I didn't see any anger in her, or any violent tendencies,” said Janet Heene.
Sen's roommate, Ar Suman, said he’s glad police made an arrest.
“This is good news,” said the 33-year-old Suman. “They need to keep her locked up. After that, it’s for God to decide.”5.