Holbrooke passes away

Richard Holbrooke, who was President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, died on Monday, an administration official confirmed. He was 69 years old.

The veteran US diplomat, who brokered the 1995 peace agreement that ended the Balkans war, had been a key player in Obama’s efforts to turn around the faltering 9-year-old war in Afghanistan. Holbrooke, who also served as the US ambassador to the United Nations and to Germany and twice was assistant secretary of state, died after surgery on Saturday to repair a tear in his aorta. He fell ill at the State Department on Friday. His portfolio included serving as the US ambassador to the United Nations and Germany and he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize seven times. Holbrooke joined Obama’s administration in 2009 as special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, a tough job co-ordinating the approach to trouble spots that are key foreign policy priorities for Obama. Holbrooke had been very critical of President George W. Bush’s Afghanistan policy. His position in the Obama administration was considered critical as the new president sought to crackdown on Al-Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban in the region.

18 countries, including China, boycott Nobel Prize ceremony

Several governments have declined invitations to attend Friday’s ceremony to award imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Commission said Tuesday.Several governments have declined invitations to attend Friday’s ceremony to award imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Commission said Tuesday.

The committee said China and 18 other countries have decided not to be represented for various reasons. It noted that number has tripled from six weeks ago. The countries joining China in its boycott include Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Tunisia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco and the Philippines. The 58 countries who have embassies in Oslo were invited to attend. China strongly objected to Liu’s win last October and levelled more criticism Tuesday, calling members of the Nobel committee clowns who are interfering in China’s judicial affairs.

The 54-year-old writer and academic was jailed in December 2009 to serve an 11-year term for subversion. He was detained just days before the publication of what has turned out to be an explosive political document, Charter 8, which he co-wrote. Charter 08 calls for an end to one-party rule and the introduction of democratic reforms in China. It was signed, via the internet, by thousands of people, some of them Communist Party officials. No one is expected to be on hand to accept the award on behalf on Liu. Geir Lundestad, the committee’s secretary, said there will be an empty chair and a portrait of Liu on the podium during the ceremony in Oslo.

China condemns Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo

China has condemned the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Beijing has summoned the Norwegian ambassador in protest and warned that it could damage relations with Norway.
China called Mr. Liu a criminal, saying the award violated Nobel principles. The Norwegian Nobel committee said Mr Liu was the foremost symbol of the struggle for human rights in China.
On the other hand, the last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner and US President, Barack Obama in a statement called on the Chinese government to release Mr Liu as soon as possible.
Over the last 30 years, China has made dramatic progress in economic reform and improving the lives of its people, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty he said. But this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected.
Other Western countries have also urged China to release Mr Liu.

Mr Liu, 54, was a key leader in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Last year he received an 11-year sentence for inciting subversion after drafting Charter 08 – which called for multi-party democracy and respect for human rights in China.

Obama calls on China to free Nobel prize winner Liu

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama called on China on Friday to release imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo as soon as possible.

“Over the last 30 years, China has made dramatic progress in economic reform and improving the lives of its people, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty,” Obama, last year’s Nobel peace laureate, said in a statement.

“But this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected,” he said. AGENCIES

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize

Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been awarded Nobel Peace Prize for 2010.
Making the announcement in Oslo, Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland said Mr Liu was the foremost symbol of the wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China.Mr Liu’s wife hailed the award, calling on Beijing to release her husband. China said the award was contrary to Nobel principles and could damage relations with Norway. The Nobel Foundation citation read: Liu has consistently maintained that the sentence violates both China’s own constitution and fundamental human rights.
Ending the citation, Mr Jagland said: The campaign to establish universal human rights in China is being waged by many Chinese, both in China itself and abroad. Through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China.
Meanwhile, Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa has won Nobel Prize in literature.Previously, Vargas had written much acclaimed novels like The Green House and Conversation in the Cathedral and also many essays and plays. He was awarded the biggest literary honor for contribution in Spanish language Cervantes prize in 1995. He also contested in elections of Peru previously for the post of president.
After the announcement of the prize, congratulations started flowing to Vargas. Vargas himself described this as one of the most wonderful moments in his life and something he has been dreamt of since his childhood days. Nobel in literature was criticized to be much more Europe centric, but with a Peruvian writer getting the writer, the criticism should be put to rest.

Jailed Chinese dissident Liu wins Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO: Jailed Chinese pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for decades of non-violent struggle for human rights, infuriating China, which called the award “an obscenity”.

The prize puts China’s human rights record in the spotlight at a time when it is starting to play a bigger role on the global stage as a result of its growing economic might.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Liu for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China” and reiterated its belief in a “close connection between human rights and peace.”

Liu is serving an 11-year jail term for helping to draw up a manifesto calling for free speech and multi-party elections.

China said the award went against the aims of Alfred Nobel and would hurt ties between China and Norway, which are currently negotiating a bilateral trade

South African wins Australian literary prize

SYDNEY: A South African-born crime writer has won one of Australia”s most prestigious literary prizes, the Miles Franklin, for a novel set during the devastating 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.

Peter Temple”s complex crime story “Truth” beat five other short listed books to take the 42,000 dollar (36,000 US) award for a literary work portraying Australian life.

“It”s unusual for a crime writer to receive such a prestigious award,” Temple told Australian news agency after receiving the prize at a ceremony late Tuesday.

Temple likened the award, first won by Patrick White in 1957 for his novel “Voss”, to winning the Nobel Prize.

Obama To Donate Peace Prize Money Among Charities

President Barack Obama announced that he plans to spread the money that accompanies his Nobel Peace Prize among 10 different charities.
Obama was awarded the prize based on the hope that his presidency would bring about a change in American foreign policy, had decided soon after being notified of the award that he would donate the $1.4 million award to charity.
The prize money would be distributed amongst non-profit organization which include organization that provides housing for families of those receiving medical care at major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers. Obama will also give to an organization dedicated to the long term relief and rebuilding of Haiti massive earthquake that devastated the country. Much of the rest of the award will go to boosting college education scholarship funds. Obama also awarded $100,000 each to two charities working in Africa and Central.
The other, the Central Asia Institute, promotes literacy and education, primarily for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. One of the institute’s co-founders was also a nominee for the Nobel Prize that Obama won.

Barack Obama Vows Continued Cooperation With Pakistan

OSLO: President Barack Obama has said United States cooperation with Pakistan will be continued to curb the activities of the terrorists.

Pakistan and Afghanistan would not let alone in the fight against terrorism and militancy, the US President reiterated in his press conference and television interview after accepting the Nobel Prize in a ceremony here.

He said he has set the deadline of troops pullout from Afghanistan to inform the Afghan government the United States would not take responsibility of their security forever. Afghan security forces have to take responsibility of their national security.

Obama said the allied forces could stay in Afghanistan for several years.

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Barack Obama Vows Continued Cooperation With Pakistan was first posted on December 11, 2009 at 10:52 am.

Carlos Monasterios,2009 Rule 5 Draft Results

TrendPK.com Carlos Monasterios,2009 Rule 5 Draft Results:Big news this morning: the Mets took pitcher Carlos Monasterios in the Rule 5 draft. Don’t worry, you’re not supposed to have heard of him. The fun part is they plucked him from the Philadelphia Phillies organization

TrendPK.com Carlos Monasterios,2009 Rule 5 Draft Results:Big news this morning: the Mets took pitcher Carlos Monasterios in the Rule 5 draft.
Don’t worry, you’re not supposed to have heard of him. The fun part is they plucked him from the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Monasterios is a 23-year-old righthander (will be 24 in March) from [...]

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