Man arrested at Heathrow over Pakistani politician's Imran Farooq murder

British police investigating the killing of a Pakistani politician in London have arrested a 52-year-old man on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.Imran Farooq, a founding member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was stabbed and beaten to death outside his home in September 2010.On Monday, the Metropolitan Police announced that counter-terrorism detectives had arrested a man at Heathrow Airport as he returned from Canada. 

"He has been taken to a west London police station where he remains in custody," said a statement.

Last week police searched two houses in connection with the investigation.

The murder has raised fears that the brutal politics of Karachi, where the MQM is the dominant party, may have reached London, home to several of its senior leaders.

Dr Farooq, who was 50 when he died, had lived in the city since the 1990s after fleeing Pakistan during a deadly military operation.

After his death, party members said he had fallen out with the leadership but had been planning to relaunch his political career.

Police have appealed for more information and are offering a £20,000 reward for information that helps lead to a prosecution.

In a statement they said the attack "would have required careful planning and would have required help from other people, some of whom may have provided assistance or information unwittingly".

The MQM is led by Altaf Hussain, a reclusive figure who refuses interview requests but conducts political rallies by telephone from his offices in Edgware. Thousands of people gather at loudspeakers 5000 miles away in Karachi to hear him speak.

Last month, the Metropolitan Police were inundated with phone calls from Pakistan accusing Mr Hussain of inciting violence and threatening protesters demonstrating at what they believed were rigged elections. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/10139242/Man-arrested-at-Heathrow-over-Pakistani-politicians-murder.html

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Surge in 'digital dementia' - South Korea is one of the most digitally connected nations in the world

Surge in 'digital dementia'

Doctors in South Korea are reporting a surge in "digital dementia" among young people who have become so reliant on electronic devices that they can no longer remember everyday details like their phone numbers.


South Korea is one of the most digitally connected nations in the world and the problem of internet addiction among both adults and children was recognised as far back as the late 1990s.


That is now developing into the early onset of digital dementia – a term coined in South Korea – meaning a deterioration in cognitive abilities that is more commonly seen in people who have suffered a head injury or psychiatric illness.


"Over-use of smartphones and game devices hampers the balanced development of the brain," Byun Gi-won, a doctor at the Balance Brain Centre in Seoul, told the JoongAng Daily newspaper.


"Heavy users are likely to develop the left side of their brains, leaving the right side untapped or underdeveloped," he said.


The right side of the brain is linked with concentration and its failure to develop will affect attention and memory span, which could in as many as 15 per cent of cases lead to the early onset of dementia.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/10138403/Surge-in-digital-dementia.html

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Agar Main Mar Gai, Agar Main Mar Gai - Column by Ali Moeen Nawazish 25 June 2013

Agar Main Mar Gai, Agar Main Mar Gai - Column by Ali Moeen Nawazish 25 June 2013

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CHINESE WORKERS HOLDING US BOSS SAY WAGES UNPAID

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese workers keeping an American executive confined in his Beijing medical supply plant said Tuesday that they had not been paid in two months in a compensation dispute that highlights tensions in China's labor market.

The executive, Chip Starnes of Specialty Medical Supplies, denied the workers' allegations of unpaid wages as he endured a fifth day of captivity at the plant in the capital's northeastern suburbs, peering out from behind the bars of his office window.

About 100 workers are demanding generous severance packages identical to those offered 30 workers being laid off from the Coral Springs, Florida-based company's plastics division. The demands followed rumors that the entire plant was being closed, despite Starnes' assertion that the company doesn't plan to fire the others.

A worker, Gao Ping, told reporters inside an administrative office in the plant that she wanted to quit because she hadn't been paid for two months.

Dressed in blue overalls and sitting at a desk, Gao said that her division — which makes alcohol prep pads, used for cleaning skin before injections — had not been doing well and that she wanted her salary and compensation.

Workers in other divisions saw how badly her division was doing, thought the whole company was faring poorly and also wanted to quit and get compensation, said Gao, who had been working for the company for six years.

Starnes denied that they were owed unpaid salary.

"They are demanding full severance pay, but they still have a job. That's the problem," he said, still in the clothes he wore when he went to work Friday morning.

Chu Lixiang, a local union official representing the workers in talks with Starnes, said the workers were demanding the portion of their salaries yet to be paid and a "reasonable" level of compensation before leaving their jobs. Neither gave details on the amounts demanded.

Chu said Starnes hadn't paid the workers for two months. She said they feared the plant was closing and that he would run away without paying severance.

Starnes' attorney arrived Tuesday afternoon. Chu later told reporters that there would be no negotiations for the rest of the day.

Starnes said that since Saturday morning, about 80 workers had been blocking every exit around the clock and depriving him of sleep by shining bright lights and banging on windows of his office.

The standoff points to long-ingrained habits among Chinese workers who are sometimes left unprotected when factories close without severance or wages owed.

Such incidents have been rarer as labor protections improve, although disputes still occur and local governments have at times barred foreign executives from leaving until they are resolved.

Starnes, 42, previously said he'd been coerced into agreeing to meet workers' demands by Tuesday.

Starnes said the company had gradually been winding down its plastics division, planning to move it to Mumbai, India. He arrived in Beijing a week ago to lay off the last 30 people. Some had been working there for up to nine years, so their compensation packages were "pretty nice," he said.

Some of the workers in the other divisions got wind of this, and, coupled with rumors that the whole plant was moving to India, started demanding similar severance packages on Friday, Starnes said.

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South Africa: Nelson Mandela in critical condition

South Africa: Nelson Mandela in critical condition
June 23, 2013 4:10 PM

The South African president said anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela's condition has worsened and moved up to critical. Mark Phillips reports.

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Secretary of State John Kerry warns Russia on Snowden: "Respect the relationship"

(CBS News) NEW DELHI, India -- The global manhunt for Edward Snowden has turned into a diplomatic standoff between the U.S. and Russia, with the Departments of Justice and State -- along with the FBI and White House -- all pushing the Russian government to hand over the NSA leaker.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the U.S. is doing everything it can do to apprehend him, describing the effort to persuade Russia that it is important to uphold the rule of law and to respect the relationship between the two nations.

"I hope our friends in Russia will do what is necessary," Kerry said in an interview with CBS News.

"Our country is doing everything that's possible," he said. "We have a coordinated effort between the State Department and Justice Department, the FBI, the White House in an effort to try to persuade our Russians colleagues that this is important, important to the US, important to them, in terms of upholding rule of law and we have returned 7 prisoners to them in the last two years that they requested; I think its very important to them to adhere to the rule of law and respect the relationship."

In a press conference in New Delhi earlier in the day, Kerry suggested that Snowden was in transit and seeking refuge in a third country. Hours later, Kerry told CBS News that "all the countries in Latin America, a lot of countries have been notified about the U.S. interest in this individual."

When pressed, Kerry refused to discuss the exact whereabouts of Snowden -- describing him as "on the lam" -- but said that his last known whereabouts were in Moscow.

"I simply want to say that this is a man who is accused of three charges of espionage against his country," Kerry said. "He is a fugitive from his own acts, ironically using countries that don't have internet freedom to help him."

The secretary avoided defining what the consequences would be for Russia if it continued to harbor Snowden, who was indicted on charges of espionage last week. He also avoided directly commenting on the Chinese government's decision to allow Snowden to travel. The U.S. has requested that the Hong Kong government help arrest Snowden.

Kerry admitted to CBS News that the U.S. knew very little about Snowden's escape from Hong Kong, acknowledging that "we don't know how he got on a plane or how he traveled."

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National Assembly ma awam ke paisoon say 7 lakh rozana ka khana khaya jata hi...

جنگل میں آگ کی طرح پھیلا دو اس ویڈیو کو

 جانتے ہوں۔۔ آپ کے خون پسینے کا پیسہ، جو آپ ٹیکس کی صورت میں دیتے ہو، کہاں کہاں غیاشیوں میں خرچ ہوتا ہے۔۔۔۔ یوں تو ہر جگہ ہوتا ہے مگر ایک ایسی جگہ بھی ہے جہاں آپ کے ووٹوں سے منتخب نمائندے جاتے ہیں قانون سازی کے لئے مگر وہاں تو قانون ہی الٹا چلتاہے۔۔۔۔ 7 لاکھ روپے روزنہ کھانے پر خرچ کرتے ہیں۔۔۔۔ خود تو کھاتے ہیں اور دوستوں کو بھی ساتھ لے جاتے ہیں۔۔۔۔ کھانا الائونس علاوہ لیتے ہیں۔

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Politicians have told me to return to ‘original homeland’: Shah Rukh Khan

Desk Report :: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan bares it all on what it means to be a Muslim in the Post-9/11 world and how he became an “inadvertent object of political leaders” in first person account for Outlook Turning Points magazine, published in association with The New York Times newspaper. He also features on the cover of the publication. 

Titled “Being a Khan”, the write-up appears in the current issue of the magazine and the 47-year-old actor, one of the few Indian actors with international recognition, writes:

“I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India.”

“There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighbouring nation rather than my own country – this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for the freedom of India. Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return what they refer to my original homeland,” added the superstar of Hindi cinema.

SRK is married to Gauri, a Hindu, and has two children – Aryan and Suhana.

“I gave my son and daughter names that could pass for generic (pan-India and pan-religious) ones – Aryan and Suhana. The Khan has been bequeathed by me so they can’t really escape it.”

“I pronounce it with my epiglottis when asked by Muslims and throw the Aryan as evidence of their race when non-Muslims enquire. I imagine this will prevent my offspring from receiving unwarranted eviction orders or random fatwas in the future,” he wrote.

He said he became so sick of being mistaken for some crazed terrorist, “who co-incidentally carries the same name as mine that I made a film subtly titled My Name Is Khan (and I am not a terrorist) to prove a point.”

Set in the post 9/11 US, My Name Is Khan focuses on religious and national identities through Rizwan (SRK), who has Asperger’s Syndrome, and how his Khan identity becomes all important in a suspicious America.

“Ironically, I was interrogated at the airport for hours about my last name when I was going to promote the film in America for the first time,” said SRK.

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Takrar on Capital TV - Musharraf Case - 24th June 2013

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Aap Sab Ko Mubarak Ho by Hassan Nisar – 18 June 2013

Aap Sab Ko Mubarak Ho by Hassan Nisar – 18 June 2013  #Pakistan #India #HassanNisar #Karachi +PAKISTAN 

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Qatari Amir set to hand over power to son

(Reuters) / 24 June 2013

The Amir of Qatar, His Highness Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, 61, informed members of the ruling family on Monday of his decision to hand over power to Crown Prince Shaikh Tamim after a meeting in Doha, the Qatari-owned television channel Al Jazeera said.


A Gulf official told Reuters the announcement of the transfer of power would be made later on Monday. The royal court said in a statement that the Amir would make a speech later and Tuesday would be a national holiday.

Qatari political analyst Mohammed Al Misfer told Al Jazeera that he did not expect major changes in the event of a handover, adding that Shaikh Tamim was already involved in running the country under his father’s direction.

Diplomats said earlier this month that the Amir was considering an orderly transfer of power that would probably begin with the departure of the powerful Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Shaikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, 53.

Arab and Western diplomats said they understood the motive was the Amir’s desire to have a smooth transition to a younger generation.

Shaikh Tamim is 33, young compared to other Gulf rulers. Shaikh Hamad bin Jassim has been Prime Minister since 2007 and has played a central role in positioning Qatar as a regional power broker. He is also vice-chairman of the board of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a position he is expected to retain.

The Amir has elevated Qatar’s international profile in recent years through the launch and development of the Al Jazeera television network, as well as its successful bid to host the 2022 soccer World Cup tournament.

Qatar has played a substantial role in promoting Arab Spring protests, lending significant support to rebels who toppled and killed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and to a continuing uprising against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

It has also played host to a delegation of the Afghan Taleban, which opened an office in Doha last week in preparation for expected talks with the United States about how to end a 12-year-old conflict in Afghanistan.

Eman Ebed Alkadi of the Eurasia Group consultants wrote that she did not expect Qatari domestic priorities or its foreign policies to change significantly with a change of ruler.

“Tamim has controlled key policies in Qatar for some time, and shares his father’s views on political development in Qatar and economic diversification,” Alkadi wrote.

National budgets had been agreed up until 2016-2017, Alkadi said, and with preparations for the World Cup in full swing, much change in domestic momentum was unlikely.

When he took power at age 44, the Amir was among the youngest leaders in the region.

Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of LNG, an achievement that set the country on a track to achieve double-digit economic growth for several consecutive years, during a time when many Western nations were mired in recession.



This spurred a population boom, with inhabitants surging from 500,000 to 1.9 million in the last decade.

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Double Game Band Honi Chahiay Column by Hamid Mir

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