Rehman Hints at Action Against LeT, TTP and SSP in Balochistan

Latest News Updates in World: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has vowed to take action wherever the writ of state is challenged, adding that the terrorists wanted to destabilize the country.

Talking to media in Quetta on Wednesday, Rehman said that the Frontier Constabulary has been given police powers for three months.

He, however, added that the action would be taken on the orders of the provincial government. “I am here only to assist the Balochistan government”.

“As many as five outfits including Balochistan Republican Army, Balochistan Liberation Front and Balochistan Armed Defence have been banned for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities”, Malik maintained. “Their bank accounts have also been seized and they could not set up offices”, Rehman added.

Rehman assured that the federal government would provide the Baloch government with whatever it wants. “We will do away with the sense of insecurity among the Baloch people by rooting out the religious organizations from the province”, Malik pledged.

He said that action would be taken against Lashkar-e-Jahngvi, Taliban and Sipah-e-Sahaba present in the province. “I never hinted at operation in Balochistan on the lines of Swat and Malakand”, the minister said while replying to a question in this regard.

James Seeks Greater Pakistan Action On Terror War

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama’s national security adviser on Monday called for Pakistan to see greater urgency in the fight against extremism and pledged that Washington was committed for the long haul.

Retired general James Jones said that the role of Pakistan was critical for the future of the region, where the United States is pouring thousands more troops into Afghanistan to fight Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists.

“It is beyond question that the speed with which we’re able to achieve our goals in Afghanistan has a relationship to the willingness of Pakistan to take on the fact that safe havens exist in the border region,” Jones said at the Center for American Progress, a think-tank.

Jones said the Obama administration would “make sure we do everything we can to… convince them of the urgency of the moment, not just for Afghanistan, but for Pakistan and the region itself.”

US officials have long been concerned that elements in the Pakistani establishment support extremists, despite the nation’s offensives against Taliban strongholds in border areas.

Jones paid a quiet visit to Islamabad in November in which he was widely reported to be disappointed about Pakistani leaders’ commitment to targeting Al-Qaeda extremists on their soil.

But Jones said that the United States understood Pakistani concerns and sought a longer-term relationship, pointing to a giant new US aid package aimed at boosting infrastructure and democratic institutions.

“We are entering a new strategic relationship,” Jones said, in which the United States is “not just interested in a short-term relationship but a long-term relationship that will affect beneficially the future of Pakistan as a democracy in areas far beyond security.”

During a visit to Islamabad last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates promised to rebuild trust with Pakistan and said the United States had committed a “grave” mistake by scaling back ties with Pakistan after both countries worked to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 1980s.

US officials have urged Pakistan to expand its offensive against militants to North Waziristan, a stronghold for Al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network, known for attacking US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan military said last week no new operations would be launched until the current push into South Waziristan was complete, which would take “between six months to a year.”

A senior US military officer meanwhile said Pakistan, at the moment, had to focus on holding areas where militants had been pushed out and restoring Islamabad’s authority.

He said Pakistani officials were “trying to point out… how much they have taken on in… the past eight, nine months since the Swat operation started,” the military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

“The key right now is to hold those areas that they have cleared, to rebuild damaged infrastructure, reestablish basic services; in Northwest frontier province, in particular, to get the writ of governance back in there,” the officer said.

The US military officer confirmed Islamabad’s operations on the outskirts of North Waziristan’s main town Miranshah, saying Cobra attack helicopters were employed against the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“These (operations) were targeting individuals and leaders from TTP who apparently eluded the offensive in South Waziristan,” he said.

Tom Cruise in Austria To Make The Film

VIENNA: Tom Cruise has arrived in the Austrian city of Salzburg to shoot scenes for the new action comedy “Knight & Day.”

Cruise, wearing sunglasses and a casual shirt, waved as he got off a private jet at the local airport Thursday afternoon.

Austrian broadcaster ORF reports that Cameron Diaz, Cruise’s co-star, has been in Salzburg since Tuesday.

“Knight & Day” is directed by James Mangold and is due to be released next summer.

The Salzburg film shoot is expected to last less than a week. Earlier this month, hundreds of locals tried to snag spots as extras.

Security Forces Kill 11 Militants in S-Waziristan, Swat

SWAT: Security forces continue operation in Swat and Southern Waziristan and at least 11 extremists have collectively been killed in both the areas.

According to sources, security forces carried out action against extremists in Gurrai area of Tehsil Barikot of Swat the previous night killing four extremists.

It may be mentioned that security forces had to face stiff resistance during Operation Rah-e-Rast in Gurrai area, and they succeeded in taking control of Gurrai after 15 days of fierce clashes, sources said.

On the other hand, security forces killed seven extremists and wounded nine others destroying two of their strongholds in Marobi area of Makeen and Ahmed Wam Area of Sararogha in Southern Waziristan.

Meanwhile, three dead bodies of extremists have also been found in Janadhar Latka area.

Black Face on 3 November 2007, the Action Today

KARACHI: The lawyers and civil society observing black day today against former President Pervez Musharraf’s unconstitutional measures taken on November 3, 2007.

Newly elected President of Supreme Court Bar Association Qazi Muhammad Anwer announced to observe black day. Black flags will be hoisted at the offices of Bar Councils and Bar Associations. Lawyer will wear black bands and will not appear in the courts.

Protest gatherings will be organized in Bar Associations and protest rallies will be taken out. In Karachi, a meeting of general body of Bar Association will be held followed by sit-in protest at MA Jinnah Road.

Chan Ho Park

Chan Ho Park has been activated for the NLCS baseball playoffs and he may see action against his former team the LA Dodgers.  He’s a middle inning relief pitcher for the defending world champions Philadelphia Phillies.   He was injured during the month of September and after a rehabbing for the past few weeks, he’s being thrust into the heat of the baseball playoffs.

Park said yesterday he felt healthy enough to return to the active roster.

“I’m ready,” said Park, who went 2-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 38 relief appearances during the regular season. “I’d be glad if I had more time to face hitters.”

Park spent the NLDS working out in Clearwater, Fla., where he threw two bullpen sessions.

“From everything that they say and the way that he was throwing the ball in Florida, he’s ready to go,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He’s ready to pitch. They felt like he is 100 percent.”
Source: koreanbeacon.com

Maria Shriver, Maria Shriver Cell Phone

Now playing in California – “The Terminator vs. His Wife.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed Tuesday to take “swift action” against First Lady Maria Shriver after she was exposed as a habitual violator of the law against using a cell phone while driving.
Shriver was caught redhanded – and with only one of them on the wheel – in photos and a video TMZ.com posted on its Web site. The shots clearly show Shriver – unless she has an evil identical twin – breaking the law prohibiting driving under the influence of a cell phone. Her hubby signed that into law last year.

A video shot Sunday shows her taking her black SUV around a sharp right turn at a city intersection that way. An earlier photo was dated July 12, 2009.

TMZ founder Harvey Levin blew the whistle on Shriver, and Schwarzenegger responded by Tweeting, “Thanks for bringing her violations to my attention. … There’s going to be swift action.”

The state ban on handheld cell phone use while driving went into effect July 1, 2008. It carries a fine of $20 on the first conviction and $50 on the second, not including penalties. Arnold’s spokesman Aaron McLear says that by “swift action,” the governor means he’ll ask his wife not to hold the phone while driving.
Source: nydailynews.com

California Governor Signs Bill On Gay Marriage

CALIFORNIA: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill recognising gay marriages sanctioned in other states during the nearly five months such unions were legal in California.
Schwarzenegger said the action is consistent with a state Supreme Court ruling upholding the marriages of same-sex couples who tied the knot in California before voters approved Proposition 8.

Proposition 8 is a state constitutional amendment passed in November that limits marriage to a man and a woman.

The bill signed by the governor late on Sunday also said gay and lesbian couples who were married in other states after Proposition 8′s passage have the same rights and benefits that California grants domestic partners.

Madonna accepts damages over wedding pics

Madonna has accepted damages from the Mail on Sunday over ”purloined” photographs of her wedding to Guy Ritchie.

The paper had admitted privacy and infringement of copyright after publishing 10 pictures from her wedding in the Scottish Highlands in December 2000, reports The Daily Star.

The singer was not present at London’’s High Court for the settlement of her action against Associated Newspapers.

Madonna would be donating the damages to her Raising Malawi charity, her solicitor, John Kelly, told Justice Peter Smith.

Madonna accepts damages over wedding pics

Madonna has accepted damages from the Mail on Sunday over ”purloined” photographs of her wedding to Guy Ritchie.

The paper had admitted privacy and infringement of copyright after publishing 10 pictures from her wedding in the Scottish Highlands in December 2000, reports The Daily Star.

The singer was not present at London’’s High Court for the settlement of her action against Associated Newspapers.

Madonna would be donating the damages to her Raising Malawi charity, her solicitor, John Kelly, told Justice Peter Smith.

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