China paper blasts Middle East protest movements

BEIJING: A Chinese Communist Party-run newspaper on Saturday attacked anti-government protest movements in the Middle East and dismissed the possibility of something similar happening in China.

Such movements have brought nothing but chaos and misery to their countries’ citizens and are engineered by a small number of people using the Internet to organize illegal meetings, the Beijing Daily, published by the city’s party committee, said in a front-page editorial.

“The vast majority of the people are strongly dissatisfied (with the protests), so the performance by the minority becomes a self-delusional ruckus,” the newspaper said.

The editorial appeared amid anonymous calls posted on the Internet for Middle East-inspired protests in dozens of Chinese cities the past two Sunday afternoons.

While drawing few outright demonstrators, the appeals have deeply unnerved authorities constantly on guard for any sign of challenges to Communist rule. Police and security agents shooed away onlookers and assaulted and detained journalists who turned up at the designated protest sites in Beijing and Shanghai.

Foreign reporters have been repeatedly warned to stay away from the sites this weekend and threatened with unspecified consequences if they disobey.

China’s censors have carefully shaped local coverage of the protests in the Middle East to discourage Chinese citizens from drawing inspiration from them. State media emphasize the protests’ negative effects on the societies and economies of the countries involved and give prominent coverage to the woes of Chinese workers evacuated from Libya and elsewhere.

In its editorial, the Beijing Daily attempted to draw a sharp distinction between China and the Middle Eastern countries roiled by unrest, where disdain for long-serving autocratic rulers has frequently been fueled by high unemployment and economic woes.

Chinese people, it said, support their nation’s political stability, economic development, and favorable government policies. Those looking to create or discover news of Middle East-style protests in China will come up empty, it said.

“However, we must clearly recognize that there are always people inside and outside the country with ulterior motives who want to seize on the problems we have encountered over the course of development in order to incite unrest,” the newspaper said. AGENCIES

Salman And Asif Will Face Life-Time Ban: British newspaper

ICC Anti-turbional will give its final verdict against three Pakistani players Muhammad Aamir, Muhammad Asif and Salman Butt on 5 February but British newspaper “The Sun” claims that ICC anti-corruption unit decided to give big punishment to trio players due to this Salman and Asif will have to face life-time ban while Muhammad Aamir will face a 5 year ban.

Before this, the English media also claims that former captain will face life time ban while other two players have to face a ban of 2, 2 years. To know about their fates, Salman and Aamir will depart today to Doha while Muhammad will reach Qatar directly from London.

The hearing of spot-fixing case was started on in Doha, Qatar on 6 January and completed on 11 January; one the unanimous decision was to delay the announcement of final verdict to 5 February. During the hearing lawyers of former Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and the concluded the defense and completed
their statements. Rest of the hearing, was delivered behind the closed doors.
During the hearing former captain, Salman Butt, told to the tribunal that he had no idea how bookie Mazhar Majeed had predicted when the no-balls would be bowled. Muhammad Asif, who was represented by Alexander Cameroon, the brother of Britain Prime Minister, claimed that he had unintentionally recorded one of the no-balls after being told by the captain, to bowl a faster delivery. Muhammad Amir’s lawyer was hinted that he will use Amir’s age and previous good character as mitigating factor.

British Michael Beloff, is heading the three-man commission, other two tribunal members are Justice Albie Sachs and Sharad Rao. The commission has already reserved the decision and fates of trio players will be decided after two days now. The eyes of entire Pakistani nation and all cricket lovers are looking towards Doha where Beloff is going to give the verdict of the case.

Saudi urged China to be tougher on Iran -WikiLeaks

RIYADH: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has offered to promote energy ties with China if Beijing backed sanctions against Iran, according to diplomatic cables leaked by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, the New York Times reported.

The kingdom is the top crude oil supplier for China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer.

“(Saudi) Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Prince Torki … explained that Saudi Arabia understood China was concerned about having access to energy supplies, which could be cut off by Iran, and wanted to attract more trade and investment,” a diplomatic dispatch said, the newspaper reported on its website.

“Saudi Arabia was willing to provide assurances on those scores to China, but only in exchange for tangible Chinese actions to restrain Iran’s drive for nuclear weapons.”

Iran has been hit by international, U.S. and European Union

Saudi urged China to be tougher on Iran -WikiLeaks

RIYADH: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has offered to promote energy ties with China if Beijing backed sanctions against Iran, according to diplomatic cables leaked by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, the New York Times reported.

The kingdom is the top crude oil supplier for China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer.

“(Saudi) Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Prince Torki … explained that Saudi Arabia understood China was concerned about having access to energy supplies, which could be cut off by Iran, and wanted to attract more trade and investment,” a diplomatic dispatch said, the newspaper reported on its website.

“Saudi Arabia was willing to provide assurances on those scores to China, but only in exchange for tangible Chinese actions to restrain Iran’s drive for nuclear weapons.”

Iran has been hit by international, U.S. and European Union

Afghan Taliban "leader" in reports a fake: report

KABUL: The New York Times said on Tuesday that a man it had described as a “Taliban leader” who had taken part in “secret peace talks” with the Afghan government was in fact an impostor.

The newspaper said the man had held three meetings with NATO and Afghan officials but that U.S. officials had confirmed on Monday “they had given up hope” he was the leader identified as Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour.

“The fake Taliban leader even met with President Hamid Karzai, having been flown to Kabul on a NATO aircraft and ushered into the presidential palace,” the newspaper said, again citing unidentified officials.

On October 20, The New York Times quoted an unidentified source as saying talks to end the war involved “extensive, face-to-face discussions with Taliban commanders.”

On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported two senior Afghan officials believed the

Pakistan Rejects US Demand to Expand Drone Operations

News Trends: The United States is seeking to expand the areas inside Pakistan where Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) drones can operate.

Pakistan, however, rejected the request and instead agreed to more modest measures, including an expanded CIA presence in Quetta. You expect us to open the skies for anything that you can fly, the paper quotes a high-ranking Pakistani intelligence official as saying. In which country can you do that?Citing unnamed US and Pakistani officials, the newspaper said US officials were eyeing areas surrounding the Pakistani city of Quetta, where the Taliban leadership is believed to be hiding. But the request also seeks to expand the boundaries for drone strikes in the tribal areas, the report said. On Friday, a US drone attack destroyed a vehicle in Pakistan’s tribal district of North Waziristan, killing at least three suspected militants, Pakistani security officials said. The United States considers Pakistan’s tribal belt an Al-Qaeda headquarters and the most dangerous place on Earth, and has reportedly criticised Pakistan’s failure so far to launch a major ground offensive in North Waziristan. Friday’s drone strike comes three days after a similar attack killed at least 15 militants and destroyed a training centre north of Miranshah.More than 220 people have been killed in Pakistan in over 40 strikes since September 3.

US commander in Afghanistan draws up transition timetable

LONDON: The US commander in Afghanistan has drafted a timetable for the handing over of control of its provinces to local security forces, The Times newspaper reported Monday.

US General David Petraeus’s colour-coded map, which will be presented to NATO leaders at a summit in Lisbon on November 19, contains a small number of “green” areas which are designated for handover within six months.

The plan indicates that the western province of Herat is due for an early handover, while NATO forces are expected to remain in the violence-torn southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand for at least two more years.

Alliance diplomatic sources told the newspaper that Petraeus did not want the map to be published, fearing certain provinces and districts would become “bull’s-eye” targets for the Taliban.

The sources added that Petraeus will use the Lisbon summit to

Iran bankrolling Karzai govt: NYT

Afghan President Hamid Karzais chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, has been receiving regular cash payment from Iran, which is trying to expand its interests in the Afghan presidential palace, The New York Times reported.
Citing unnamed Afghan and Western officials in Kabul, the newspaper said Iran had been using its influence to help drive a wedge between the Afghans and their US and NATO allies. The payments, which officials say total millions of dollars, go into a secret fund that Daudzai and Karzai have used to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty, the report said. The Times cites unnamed officials as saying that the Iranian payments are intended to secure the allegiance of Daudzai, a former ambassador to Iran who consistently advocates an anti-Western line to Karzai and briefs Karzai every morning. Last August, when President Karzai wrapped up an official visit to Iran, Maliki brought to the presidential plane a large plastic bag filled with wads of euro bills and handed it to Daudzai, according to the report.

US seeks to boost CIA presence in Pakistan: report

WASHINGTON: The United States is trying to expand a secret CIA operation designed to eliminate radical Islamic militants’ havens located in Pakistan near the Afghan border, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Citing unnamed senior officials, the newspaper said that in recent weeks the administration of President Barack Obama had asked Pakistan to allow additional Central Intelligence Agency officers and special operations military trainers to enter the country to intensify pressure on militants.

The requests have so far been rebuffed by Islamabad, which remains extremely reluctant to allow a larger US ground presence in Pakistan, the report said.

On Friday, the United States made a new bid to improve its uneasy war partnership with Pakistan by offering a two-billion-dollar arms package but warned it will not tolerate human rights abuses.

The five-year

Man who doesn’t bathe loses his wife in Egypt

CAIRO: An Egyptian woman was forced to go to court to complain about her husband who has been refusing to take a shower for a month. It ruled in the woman’s favour and granted a divorce only after a few weeks of their marriage.

The woman, a petroleum engineer, told the court that she was “surprised” that her husband refused to bathe because of a certain kind of “allergy from water”, according to Egyptian Arabic-language newspaper Al Masri Al Yaum.

She was not convinced and went to see his doctor, who confirmed to her the man’s allergy, but added the disease doesn’t stop him from cleaning up, the newspaper added. When the wife confronted the man with this fact, he became angry.

“This is my habit,” she quoted him saying, the newspaper said. After he refused to divorce her, she went to the court, which gave her the kholou right.

Kholou in Islam is given

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