Euro zone launches $650 billion rescue fund

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Euro zone finance ministers activated a $650 billion firewall fund Monday, then promptly concurred that the country seen as the mostly likely candidate for a rescue didn't need the bailout money.

"The Spanish don't need an assistance program,” said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble on arriving for the meeting in Luxembourg. “That is what the government says over and over again and we should just trust the Spanish government."


Spain's borrowing costs have come down from their dangerous pre-summer high, prompting ministers to suggest the government's budget cuts and market reforms have reduced the risk that it will need to call on the new European Stability Fund.

"Spain is taking important steps that are going in the right direction," Italian Finance Minister Vittorio Grilli said.

"Spain doesn't at this moment need any help," Luxembourg's minister Luc Frieden echoed. "The Spanish government is undertaking reforms that go in the right direction."

Spain will get money from the new fund for its banking sector, which has been hobbled by a crisis in the real estate market. It's expected to request around $50 billion.

But the government has resisted making a request for help to further bring down its borrowing costs. Madrid fears its euro zone partners could insist on yet more austerity measures as a condition.

"Spain has to do its part and we will do everything about the public deficits and the economic reforms," Spanish Finance Minister Luis de Guindos said.

However, many believe deepening recession, record unemployment and mounting public discontent will eventually force Madrid to seek help.

Tens of thousands of people marched over the weekend to protest tough government spending cuts they say will only increase unemployment and deepen the country’s second recession in three years.

Trade unions have threatened to call a general strike, possibly in November, unless Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s center-right government holds a referendum on the unpopular austerity measures.

The ESM’s launch is several months late, largely due to a legal challenge in Germany, Europe’s largest economy that will have to chip in more than a quarter of the funds.

The German parliament's long-delayed approval of the fund, along with the European Central Bank's commitment to back it up with purchases of troubled countries' bonds, have been major factors for calming markets in recent weeks.

All euro zone countries will begin paying into the fund this week. The ESM will have an initial firepower of $260 billion that will rise to its full $650 billion strength over the next 18 months, the fund's managing director Klaus Regling told a news conference in Luxembourg.

"The start of the European Stability Mechanism marks a historic milestone for the European monetary union," declared Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the ESM board of governors. "The euro area is now equipped with an effective firewall."

The ratings agencies Moody's and Fitch gave the ESM their top AAA rating, although Moody's saw the risk of a "negative outlook."

The ministers also discussed Greece. The government in Athens is hoping they will endorse its new $17 billion package of budget cuts.

Juncker said the country had made "admirable" efforts, but still needed to implement a raft of reforms in the coming weeks to free up the next $41 billion slice of bailout funding the country needs to keep its banking sector operative.

Euro zone officials are skeptical the money can be cleared in time for an EU summit next week, as Greece hopes.

"There is progress on the ground, [but] more needs to be done, on all fronts," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in Luxembourg.

Meanwhile, the Greek authorities are launching a massive security operation in Athens ahead of a rare visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday.

Some 7,000 police will be deployed to shut down much of the city center and enforce a ban on demonstrations. Many Greeks blame Merkel for prolonging Greece's economic misery.

Greece, along with Portugal and Ireland, receives bailout money from an earlier euro zone firewall fund that was designed to be temporary and which the ESM will replace.

Juncker praised Portugal's reform efforts, which have paved the way for it to receive its next $5.6 billion tranche of bailout funding.

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Chavez re-elected to 6-year term in Venezuela

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was re-elected on October 7 to a fourth term, which would bring his total years in office to 20, according to preliminary official results made public by the National Electoral Council.

Mr. Chavez received 54.42 per cent of the votes with about 90 per cent of the ballots counted while Henrique Capriles, the unified opposition candidate, received 44.97 per cent.

The results would secure Mr. Chavez another six-year mandate, taking his term of office through 2019.

Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council, said the turnout stood at 81 per cent in an election that was “calm without disturbances.” If the final results confirm his win, Mr. Chavez, 58 is set to be inaugurated again on January 10. 

Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles acknowledged the election win of Mr. Chavez.

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NASA's Curiosity rover finds 'bright object' on Mars

‘Curiosity’ finds bright object on Mars

Washington: NASA's Curiosity rover has spotted a bright object in the red soil of Mars which could have a possible impact on its sampling activity.

The object was spotted just as Curiosity was using its scoop to pick up Martian soil from a sandy site known as "Rocknest".

"The rover team decided to refrain from using the rover's robotic arm on Oct 8 due to the detection of a bright object on the ground that might be a piece from the rover," NASA said in a statement.

The best hypothesis till now is that it's a bit of plastic that fell off the rover, 'NBC News.com' reported.

The plan was to shovel and shake the light soil to clear out the sample collection system mounted on the end of Curiosity's 7-foot-long robotic arm.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) reported that Curiosity's team refrained from using the robotic arm in order to check out the weird object.

"Curiosity is acquiring additional imaging of the object to aid the team in identifying the object and assessing possible impact, if any, to sampling activities," JPL said in its mission status report.

"These cases have generally been explained as bits of fabric or metal left behind by the rover, and it seems likely that the same will be said of Curiosity's "cigarette butt," said Sarah Milkovich, a member of the Curiosity team.

Such debris is harmless — but if even a bit of it happened to get into the rover's sensitive chemistry labs that could ruin the scientific readings, the report said

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Romney leads in national polls as presidential race gets close

Romney ahead of Obama in Prez race: Poll

Washington: With his impressive performance during the last week's debates, the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has taken a lead of less than a per cent over US President Barack Obama, major national surveys have said.

Real Clear Politics, the website which maintains a track of all the major national polling, yesterday reported for the first time that Romney leads by a margin of 0.7 percentage points over Obama if the averages of all the recent polls are taken.   

While Rasmussen Tracking puts both the leaders at a virtual tie (with 48 per cent), Romney has a lead of two per cent over Obama in two polls Gallup polls and IBD / TIPP Tracking gives.

The lead increases to four per cent in the Pew Research poll. However, the margins of all these polls come within the range of statistical error. As such experts are now saying this as a very close race. Whereas, the Obama Camp brushed off the poll results in the aftermath of the last week's debate.   

"The one thing I will say is that we've always felt this race would be close. That's not a new approach from our end," the Obama Campaign spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, told reporters travelling with Obama on Air Force One.

"We feel that the race and the states in play have been entirely consistent. They were a couple of weeks ago; they still are today. This is a race that is being competed every day -- about seven to nine states. That's where we're up on the air. That's where our focus is. And so I don't have any changes or updates on the strategy beyond that," Psaki said.

Meanwhile, some regional polls suggested that Romney has started narrowing the lead in some of the key battle ground States. One of them being the key battle ground State according to the latest CNN poll.

Obama now has an advantage over Romney by four percentage point, which comes within the sampling error. Before the debate Obama had a lead of 7-10 point advantage over the former governor of Massachusetts.

American Research Group poll for Ohio released on Tuesday gave Romney (48 per cent) a one per cent lead over Obama (47 per cent) among likely voters.

"Independent voters, suburban voters, and older voters are all evenly divided, indicating a close race right now," says CNN Polling director Keating Holland.

"But that's not a prediction of what will happen in November. With one in eight likely voters saying that they could change their minds between now and November, and several crucial debates still to come, there is every reason to expect the race to change in Ohio," Holland said

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Pakistani singer Abida Parveen recieves lifetime achievement award

Sufi legend Abida Parveen was honoured with a lifetime achievement award by Kaladharmi Begum Akhtar Academy of Ghazal.

Abida is an internationally acclaimed Pakistani singer of Sindhi descent and one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music.


Her songs include mainly ghazals, Urdu love tracks and her forte, Kafis, a classical form of Sufi poetry. Some of her hits are 'Duma Dum Mast Qalandar', 'Teray Ishaq Nachaya', 'Latthe Di Chadar', 'Kuch Is Ada Se Aaj' and 'Kafian Bulleh Shah'.

During her career, Abida has been awarded both the 'Pride of Performance' and the 'Sitara-e-Imtiaz' by the Government of Pakistan.

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US, Pak discuss steps to deal with IED threats

Washington, Oct 6 (PTI) The US and Pakistan have agreed to work together for improving their efforts to combat the threat posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Af-Pak region.


During a meeting of the US and Pakistan Convene Law Enforcement and Counter-terrorism Working Group yesterday, the two countries discussed means to disrupt illicit networks that supply the components and financing for IEDs in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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Pakistani politician plans CIA drone attacks protest in off-limits tribal area

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In his upstart campaign to become Pakistan’s next prime minister, Imran Khan, a magnetic ex-cricket star and ardent foe of U.S. policy, draws delirious crowds by the tens of thousands who seemingly would follow him anywhere. But this weekend, Khan, who wants to lead his supporters into the dangerous tribal region to protest CIA drone attacks, appears to be headed for a roadblock: Pakistan’s formidable military.

Khan has promised to stage a massive rally Sunday in South Waziristan, where the Pakistani army has tamped down but not defeated a fierce Islamist insurgency. Khan picked the location partly for political stagecraft: For years, he has called for an end to the drone campaign, which rains missiles on al-Qaeda and other militant groups in Pakistan’s tribal areas, including South Waziristan.



Khan, who has polled for two successive years as the nation’s most popular politician, this week assembled about 35 drone opponents, principally from the Washington antiwar group Codepink, to join what he calls his “tsunami” for change. Now the question dominating the political dialogue is whether that wave will be allowed to crash into Taliban territory.

The military insists that the decision rests with the civilian leadership, but, in fact, the army controls access to the restive tribal belt, which borders Afghanistan. The debate highlights tensions inherent in Pakistan’s governance: Although the politicians in Parliament and the executive branch have a vote on domestic and foreign policy, the army and its spy services essentially hold veto power.

“This is a peace march. We are not there to pick a fight with anyone,” Khan said in an interview Thursday. “The army, if they think they can’t provide protection beyond a certain point, they’ll tell us that.”

In the past, some analysts have portrayed Khan as a military-backed candidate because of his support for some right-wing Islamists who are considered proxies for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the chief spy agency. But as his party, Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Justice Movement), has gained significant popular support, he now has been talking more forcefully about reining in the security establishment to make it bow before the constitution.

In the interview at his spacious but simply appointed home outside the capital, he described major political party leaders as “nurtured by military dictators.” Referring to the generals, he said, “They don’t allow natural leadership to come up because they want controllables.”

100,000 expected

Khan’s plan is to depart Saturday from Islamabad with a convoy, including foreigners and journalists, to reach the South Waziristan border by nightfall, then head to the rally site about 30 miles farther west.

Local authorities have voiced concern about the march, which Khan’s party predicts will draw 100,000 people. (Previous rallies in Lahore and Karachi drew double that or more.) Pakistan’s seven Federally Administered Tribal Areas are generally off-limits to anyone except the people who live there.

“The situation in FATA is improving but cannot be considered as conducive to holding public meetings,” Tashfeen Khan, an official with the tribal areas’ secretariat, told reporters earlier this week.

The rally-goers also risk attack by the Pakistani Taliban, an insurgent branch that has been particularly ruthless in its war against Pakistan’s government, beheading army soldiers and releasing videos of the slaughter. 

Earlier this summer, the Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the group as warning that Khan would be killed if he entered their territory.

“We will not accept help or sympathy from any infidel,” the spokesman said of Khan, although he later backed off on the fatwa and said the Taliban would decide before the march.

Khan said he has secured pledges of protection from some tribal elders in South Waziristan. But the Taliban is still mulling over whether to provide safe passage.

One concern within the army is that a bombing or other attack against the marchers would highlight that South Waziristan is still not pacified even though military operations began there three years ago — a case likely to be made by the media if such an incident were to occur.

“We’re not going to risk our foreign guests in any sort of incident,” Khan said. If Taliban leaders “tell us we don’t want you come there, or just come to the border, we’ll do that.”

A pamphlet circulated by one regional militant faction “humbly requested” that residents not attend the rally and contained an ominous warning. “If something unpleasant happened — if property and human losses took place — Imran Khan would be responsible both in this world and also in hereafter,” the pamphlet said.

The Pakistani Parliament has three times in recent years passed resolutions demanding an end to CIA drone attacks, which began in 2004 and have markedly increased under President Obama’s administration – estimated to number nearly 200.

U.S. officials have no intention of stopping their use: The military sees the remotely piloted armed craft as an efficient, effective weapon to eliminate hard-core Islamic militants that plague both the U.S. and Pakistani armies, and say that targeting is far more surgically precise than at the beginning of the program.

Despite overwhelming public opposition, drone attacks have continued — with the tacit approval, some analysts say, of the Pakistani army, intelligence service and government leaders.

Khan said the point of the march is publicizing the strikes' civilian casualties, or as he put it in a newspaper op-ed Thursday, “a trail of dead women, dead children and dead old people with no one held accountable.”

Some of Khan’s critics say the march is nothing more than a dangerous publicity stunt to play to the anti-Americanism rampant in Pakistan.

“Imran is an ignorant man and likes to live in his dreams, but the government is fully cognizant of its responsibilities and cannot allow any adventurism in the tribal areas where the situation is already fragile,” Masood Kousar, the governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, which adjoins the tribal belt, told the Express Tribune, an English-language daily.

In the interview Khan retorted: “The whole idea is the draw attention to this plight. It is not meant to show some bravado.”

Cricket hero

Twenty years ago, Khan gained the undying affection of many of his countrymen as the first (and so far only) cricket team captain to lead Pakistan to a World Cup victory. He turned politician in the mid-’90s, forming his own party, and has been running relentlessly in hopes of capturing a significant bloc of seats in parliamentary elections expected to be held in March.

On Thursday, he talked politics into the evening as many Pakistanis had their radios and TV sets fixed on an International Cricket Council World Twenty20 semi-finals match, in which Pakistan fell to Sri Lanka.

Instead his mind was on his past forays into the tribal region to research a book, “Warrior Race,” his 1993 account of his travels throughout the area where his own Pashtun family tree has roots.

“I don’t know where they will stop us,” he said of the weekend caravan. “If they allow us to go where we want to hold the rally, it will be fascinating. You will actually see this stark country. It’s wild and actually quite striking.”

Michele Langevine Leiby contributed to this report.

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India, Australia look to sign civil nuclear pact

India, Australia may sign nuclear pact

New Delhi: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, whose bold move overturned a longstanding ban on uranium sale to India, comes October 15 on a three-day visit that could see India and Australia sign a landmark civil nuclear pact.

Gillard's visit takes place months after a reversal of Canberra's long-standing policy by the ruling Labour Party on supply of uranium to India, paving the way for the sealing of a civil nuclear deal that could have a force-multiplier effect on broader ties both bilaterally and regionally. The agreement on civil nuclear cooperation is likely to be signed during the visit, well-placed sources told.

The negotiations are, however, set to go down the wire as Australia will be insisting on a stringent uranium safeguards agreement and greater access to Indian nuclear facilities to inspect safe use of uranium supplied to India.

Australia will be looking to optimise the bargain as the leadership will have to sell the deal to the non-proliferation hawks who are firmly opposed to any uranium deal with a country which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

If the negotiations succeed, the India deal will be the first country-to-country agreement by Australia to sell the yellow cake to a country outside the ambit of the NPT.A host of factors, including the state of cash-strapped Australian uranium mining industry, has, however, brightened the chances of such a nuclear pact.

With the global slowdown set to be prolonged, Australian uranium companies like Paladin, Toro and Energy Resources of Australia are pitching for the nuclear deal with India as it will bring them millions of dollars in business.

Australia has the world's largest deposits of uranium, but it is only the third-largest supplier at about 7,000 tonnes per year due to high operational costs. The India deal could, therefore, prove a godsend for uranium mining companies in Australia, specially as India, unfazed by scepticism about nuclear energy following the Fukushima disaster, is set to ramp up the share of atomic power in the country's overall energy mix.

Intensifying trade and investment will be another key theme of Gillard's India visit. The talks are expected to give a fresh thrust to negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement which will provide greater market access to Indian exporters of goods and services.

Bilateral trade grew to $20 billion last year. Besides nuclear deal and trade, an array of regional and global issues will also be on the table when Gillard holds talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Gillard will be seeking India's support for her country's bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Amid competing ambitions of the US and China in the Asia-Pacific region, the two sides will be looking to ramp up their cooperation in the 16-nation East Asia summit which the leaders of the two countries will be attending in Cambodia in November.

Hard diplomacy apart, there will be a  spot of soft power diplomacy as well, with the two countries launching a three-month long 'Oz Fest' during Gillard's visit which is expected to create new cultural synergy in bilateral ties.

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Mike Tyson barred from entering New Zealand

WELLINGTON — The New Zealand government on Wednesday blocked former heavyweight boxing champion and convicted rapist Mike Tyson from entering the country.

Tyson had originally been granted a visa, despite opposition from Prime Minister John Key, to visit in November for a charity event.

But associate Immigration Minister Kate Wilkinson said the visa has now been cancelled after the show sponsor, the Life Education Trust, made clear it "no longer wants to have any involvement" with Tyson's visit.


"Given that the Trust is no longer supporting the event, on balance, I have made the decision to cancel his visa to enter New Zealand for the Day of the Champions event," the minister said.

Wilkinson said the original decision to grant Tyson a visa was "a finely balanced call" and the letter of support from the Trust was a significant factor in approving the application.

Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison in 1992 for raping an 18-year-old woman and under New Zealand law anyone sentenced to more than five years in jail is denied a visa, although this can be waived in certain circumstances.

Key had described the Tyson visa decision as "a line ball call".

He said he did not understand the rationale behind allowing Tyson into the country and said he would never approve a visa being granted to someone with a serious conviction such as violence against a woman.

"I can see it from both sides, maybe it was a long time ago, but in my view they are very, very serious issues," he said.

Life Education Trust chief executive John O'Connell told Fairfax Media his board had initially turned Tyson down and the letter of support was written by a well-meaning volunteer.

"We are a charity that works with children and their self-esteem and relationships with others. Clearly there is a brand values disconnect, we believed, between being involved with Mr Tyson," O'Connell said.

"Certainly the rape conviction was the key thing."

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Mob torches ten vehicles in violence against US anti-Islam film

Protest in Gujarat over anti-Islam film

Ahmedabad: A huge mob of more than 2000 people torched ten vehicles, including two police vehicles today, after a protest against an anti-Islam film made in the USA, turned violent in the old city area, police officials said.
  
Ten policemen were also injured due to stone-pelting, while one police vehicle and a motorcycle were torched in the incident, as the mob went berserk, they said. Police fired more than 20 rounds of tear gas shells and resorted to a lathi charge to quell the mob.
  
The mob had gathered at 2 pm in Sardarbaug to protest against the film, reached the Juma Masjid, which is a few kilometres away from Sardarbaug and met Mufti Shabbir Alam Siddiqi who advised them against taking out the rally, Joint Commissioner of Police Ajay Tomar said.
  
Those who wished to organise the rally went berserk and torched Khaas Bazar Chowky near Karanj Mahila Police station, he said. "I strongly believe that this was just venting of anger and not planned violence at all," he said.
  
The police arrested more than 90 people to control the situation. Reinforcements from six police stations like Dariapur, Kalupur, Shahpur, Karanj, Gaekwad Haveli and Crime Branch had to be called in to control the situation.

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Manisha Koirala hints at the possibility of entering Nepal politics

Manisha Koirala may enter Nepal politics

Mumbai: A lot of yesteryear Bollywood actors have dabbled in politics. No wonder then that Manisha Koirala, who is all set to make her Bollywood comeback, is not ruling out entering politics in Nepal sometime in the future.

After initiating her acting career in Hindi films, Manisha eventually juggled movies in other languages as well, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali and Nepali. However the actress, who is starring in Ram Gopal Varma’s upcoming horror film, says she is in no mood to quit acting anytime soon. “I can’t predict tomorrow but politics could be my option. At least as of now, I won’t say no to it but I can’t be certain what’s going to happen in the future,” she sums up.

Interestingly, the Kathmandu-born actress is no stranger to the world of power as she comes from a political family. Her grandfather Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala and two of her late great-uncles, Girija Prasad Koirala and Matrika Prasad Koirala, all have had been Prime Ministers of Nepal. Her father Prakash Koirala is a prominent politician too. Manisha makes sure she visits her home country at least twice or thrice in a year.

From the Himalayan kingdom!

Before Manisha Koirala ruled the roost, the last actress of Nepali origin to make it in Bollywood was Mala Sinha. On being asked why no one else from Nepal followed in her footsteps, Manisha states, “Nepali women are inherently beautiful. But since the local film industry there is flourishing on its own, the younger lot may not want to travel far and wide.

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The secrets of Hina Rabbani-Bilawal’s romantic saga

Secrets of Hina-Bilawal’s romantic saga

New Delhi: Pakistan has been the talk of the town these days. But it’s not reports of a terrorist attack that’s hogging the limelight. It’s the rumoured romance between the glamorous Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and President Asif Ali Zardari’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The talk of the town has given way to another speculation that the ‘oh-so-perfect love story’ may not have the ‘perfect ending’.

The Bangladeshi weekly tabloid has been updating the media and people with ‘episodes’ of the love-tale and revealed many unheard stories; however it did not mention any concrete source from where the information was gathered in the Hina-Bilawal saga.

Not surprisingly, the initial reports spread like wildfire in the media and the sensational love story ruled the cyber-world as well.

Excerpts of the Hina-Bilawal romance are as follows:

• The weekly Blitz breaks the news that Bilawal Bhutto is in love with the 11 years older Hina Rabbani Khar.

• President Zardari is miffed and strongly opposed to his son’s entering into marital relations with Khar.

• Hina discovers that her multi-millionaire husband Firoze Gulzar is having an affair with one of his staffers.

• Firoze Gulzar officially moves an application seeking details of two ‘suspected’ numbers.

• Islamist groups in Pakistan are likely to issue fatwa (religious decree) against Khar and Bilawal Bhutto over their illicit romantic affair.

• Blitz also reported that 24-year-old Bhutto had a ‘knack’ for romance since he was a mere 19 year old student.

The weekly Blitz reported that that Bilawal Bhutto is in love with the 11 years older Hina Rabbani Khar. Also, President Zardari is miffed and strongly opposed to his son’s entering into marital relations with Khar — who is already married and a mother of two. Meanwhile, Khar is said to have flayed Zardari for his ‘meanness’ and advised him to stay away from her personal affairs.

Referring to the Bangladeshi tabloid, Hina Rabbani Khar discovered that her multi-millionaire husband Firoze Gulzar is having an affair with one of his staffers, before moving on to find love in the arms of Bilawal Bhutto.

If reports are to be believed, Khar is alleged to have attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills, when she discovered her husband Firoze Gulzar in a relationship with a staffer.

Reports said that Khar’s multi-millionaire husband Firoze Gulzar has officially moved an application seeking details of two ‘suspected’ numbers; however Pakistani officials completely brushed off the alleged affair.

Referring to a prestigious national daily — the Ittefaq, the tabloid said that Islamist groups in Pakistan are likely to issue fatwa (religious decree) against Khar and Bilawal Bhutto over their illicit romantic affair, which is said to be a punishable crime under the existing law of Pakistan.

The romance has also drawn the ire of self-declared custodians of religion from Bangladesh and Barelvi sect of Uttar Pradesh, who claim that the relationship is illegal, adding that stones should be pelted at the duo.

Apparently the young politician of Pakistan’s ruling PPP, Bilawal Bhutto has another undiscovered trait to him. The weekly Blitz reported that the 24-year-old had a ‘knack’ for romance since he was a mere 19 year old student.

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No change in policy on Jammu & Kashmir, says US

No change in policy on Kashmir: US

Washington: The US on Wednesday said there is no change in its stated policy that Kashmir is a bilateral issue that needs to be resolved between India and Pakistan, and would like to see the recent economic warming between the two sides translate into a better conversation on that issue.

"With regard to our own policy on Kashmir, it hasn't changed. It's been the same for a very long time," State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, told reporters when asked about the sharp exchange of words between India and Pakistan during the ongoing UN general Assembly session in New York.

For the past several decades, the US has maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and the two countries need to resolve it peacefully through dialogue.

"On the broader issue of Kashmir, as I said, we want to see this economic warming now translate into a better conversation on that issue as well," Nuland said in response to a question.

The US official was highly appreciative of the ongoing peace process between the two nations especially in the economic field.

"We have said for some time that we applaud the progress that India and Pakistan have made in their dialogue, particularly on the economic side.

"We are encouraged that they've taken some concrete steps to normalise trade relations, including the recently signed agreement on visa liberalisation. We want to see this economic warming extend to other areas," Nuland said.

Responding to a question, Nuland said the issue of Kashmir did not come up during the meeting between Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York late last month.

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Indian students affected as Oz shuts 3 vocational institutes

Indian students affected in Australia

Melbourne/New Delhi: Australia has decided to close down three vocational colleges for non-compliance of training standards, a move that will impact more than 500 Indian students enrolled in these institutes.
  
However, Australian High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese today assured that Indian students affected by college closures will be protected.
  
He was commenting on the move by Australia's vocational education regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), to shut down two non-compliant vocational education and training colleges in Victoria and one in New South Wales (NSW).
  
Following comprehensive compliance assessments, including multiple site visits by ASQA officers, the ASQA audits concluded that the colleges were non-compliant with the standards that providers are required to meet in the delivery of training to domestic and international students.
  
"The decision to reject a training organisation's registration is not one we take lightly but the interests of students and the integrity of training standards across the VET sector have to be upheld," said ASQA Chief Commissioner Chris Robinson.
  
"The institutions have the right to have ASQA's decision reviewed which may delay or change the decision," he said.
   
Depending on the outcome of any appeals, the decisions take effect from October 30 and apply to all courses offered by The Ashmark Group Pty Ltd and G Plus G Global Trading Pty Ltd. Both colleges have campuses in Melbourne, Victoria. ASQA also served notice last month on the Ivy Group in NSW.   

There are over 400 Indian students enrolled at the Ashmark Group college, over 100 Indian students enrolled at G Plus G Global and a further 30 Indian students enrolled at the Ivy Group.
  
Varghese said in New Delhi that Indian students affected by the foreshadowed closure of three colleges in Australia will be covered by a legislated safety net. 

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Obama,Romney join Presidential debate over US economy

Obama-Romney face off over US economy

Washington: US President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Thursday exchanged sharp barbs over major domestic policies ranging from economy, taxation, jobs and healthcare to education during the first of the three high-stake presidential debates.

Aiming to lead the country for next four years, incumbent Obama and his rival Romney during the debate held in Denver presented before their countrymen their vision of America and how they intend to govern for the next four years.

A CNN/ORC poll released just after the 90-minute presidential debate moderated by Jim Lehrer of the PBS news showed that 65-year-old Romney was way ahead of 51-year-old Obama in impressing the voters.

Romney was voted by 67 percent of the registered voters, while Obama was supported by just 25 percent. The results gave a big boost to the Romney campaign given that all the national polls show that it is a tight race between the two.

The debates, a regular feature of American presidential campaigns since 1960, allow a chance to measure up the leaders who would be president as they stand side-by-side.

"I'm concerned about America. I'm concerned about the direction America has been taking over the last four years. I know this is bigger than election about the two of us as individuals. It's bigger than our respective parties. It's an election about the course of America - what kind of America do you want to have for yourself and for your children," Romney said.

Noting that he and Obama present two very different paths for the US, the Republican nominee said they lead in very different directions. "It is not just looking to our words that you have to take in evidence of where they go; you can look at the record," he said.

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US look to boost defence ties with both India and China

US wants defence ties with India, China

Washington: The US wants to work with both India and China to advance peace and stability in the region and is working to boost defence relationships with both countries, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
  
"We look forward to growing the defence relationship with both countries, and where it's possible, all three of us will work together to try to advance peace and stability in this very important part of the world," Pentagon Press Secretary, George Little, told reporters at a news conference.
  
India, he said, is a "very important player" in the region, which is reflected in the recent visit of Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta.
  
"China we believe is a very important partner in terms of our defence relationship. And as the secretary articulated in the region and has articulated since, China has a very constructive role to play, and we encourage them to do so," Little told Pentagon reporters

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Will Bilawal-Khar romance have a perfect ending?

A vague riddle of the ridiculed romance

New Delhi: The talk of the town these days — the rumoured romance between Pakistani Foreign Affairs Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and President Asif Ali Zardari’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has given way to another speculation that the ‘oh-so-perfect love story’ may not have the ‘perfect ending’.

The Bangladeshi weekly tabloid has been updating the media and people with ‘episodes’ of the love-tale and revealed many unheard stories; however it did not mention any concrete source from where the information was gathered in the Hina-Bilawal saga.

Not surprisingly, the initial reports spread like wildfire in the media and the sensational love story ruled the cyber-world as well.

Excerpts of the Hina-Bilawal romance are as follows:

The weekly Blitz reported that that Bilawal Bhutto is in love with the 11 years older Hina Rabbani Khar. Also, President Zardari is miffed and strongly opposed to his son’s entering into marital relations with Khar — who is already married and a mother of two. Meanwhile, Khar is said to have flayed Zardari for his ‘meanness’ and advised him to stay away from her personal affairs.

Reports said that Khar’s multi-millionaire husband Firoze Gulzar has officially moved an application seeking details of two ‘suspected’ numbers; however Pakistani officials completely brushed off the alleged affair.

Referring to a prestigious national daily — the Ittefaq, the tabloid said that Islamist groups in Pakistan are likely to issue fatwa (religious decree) against Khar and Bilawal Bhutto over their illicit romantic affair, which is said to be a punishable crime under the existing law of Pakistan.

If reports are to be believed, Khar is alleged to have attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills, when she discovered her husband Firoze Gulzar in a relationship with a staffer.
The romance has also drawn the ire of self-declared custodians of religion from Bangladesh and Barelvi sect of Uttar Pradesh, who claim that the relationship is illegal, adding that stones should be pelted at the duo

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Israel finance minister says Iran economy "on verge of collapse"

JERUSALEM: Iran's economy is edging towards collapse due to international sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme, Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Sunday.

Israel regards the prospect of its arch enemy developing nuclear weapons as a threat to its existence, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that, although sanctions are taking their toll, they are not yet forcing Iran to abandon work that could soon lead to a nuclear warhead.

However, Israeli officials appear increasingly ready to acknowledge the effect of recent American and European sanctions designed to restrict Iran's lifeline oil exports.


"The sanctions on Iran in the past year jumped a level," Steinitz told Israel Radio, noting that as finance minister, he follows Iran's economy.

"It is not collapsing, but it is on the verge of collapse. The loss of income from oil there is approaching $45-50 billion by the year's end," Steinitz said.

The United States, Israel's main ally, says it will not allow Tehran to produce the bomb, but sanctions should be given more time to work before force is considered.

American and Israeli commentators say a military strike to destroy Iran's nuclear plants, which Iran says are designed only to develop a nuclear generating capacity, could trigger a regional war with unforeseeable consequences.

In Israel too, some prominent political and military figures question Netanyahu's warning that Iran is so close to the threshold of nuclear capability that military action will soon be the only way to stop it.

But there has been no open split in his coalition over the issue. Steinitz praised the prime minister's speech to the U.N. General Assembly last week in which he used graphics to underscore the perceived Iranian threat.

SOARING INFLATION

An Israeli Foreign Ministry document leaked last week said sanctions had caused more damage to Iran's economy than at first thought and ordinary Iranians were suffering under soaring inflation, although this did not appear to be changing policy.

On Saturday, the Iranian currency slumped to an historic low of about 28,400 rials to the dollar, a fall of about 57 percent since June 2011, meaning a sharp rise in the price of imports.

"The Iranians are in great economic difficulties as a result of the sanctions," Steinitz said.

Parliamentary opponents of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad say sanctions are not a major cause of Iran's economic problems and accuse his government of mismanaging the economy.

"The first approach today is that authorities accept their mistakes and failures, second, that they not blame their mistakes on others, and third, that they invite all the pundits and experts to find a way to solve the problems of the economy," Iranian legislator Ezzatollah Yousefian was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Saturday's Haaretz daily that he believed Iran's Islamic theocracy would be toppled in a revolt like the one that toppled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak last year.

"The opposition demonstrations that took place in Iran in June 2009 will come back in even greater force," he told the paper. "In my view, there's going to be an Iranian-style Tahrir revolution. The young generation are sick of being held hostage and sacrificing their future."

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19 people killed as private aircraft crashes in Nepal

 All 19 people, mostly foreigners, aboard a Dornier aircraft of a private airlines were killed on Friday as the plane crashed minutes after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport here.

Sixteen passengers and three crew members who were heading towards Lukla, gateway to Mt Everest, were killed when the small aircraft belonging to Sita Airways crashed two minutes after it took off at 6:15 am (local time), airport officials said.


The plane had caught fire as soon as it took off and it crashed in the Manahara river in Koteshwor region, near a slum area, just 2-3 km south of the airport, the officials said.

All the passengers are said to be foreigners and most of them are Italian tourists, according to preliminary reports.

The crew members are identified as Captain Bijaya Tandukar, co-Pilot Takeshi Thapa and airhostess Ruja Shakya.

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Hina Rabbani faces fatwa threat over alleged romance with Bilawal Bhutto

Hina Rabbani Khar faces fatwa threat

New Delhi: If recent reports are to be believed then Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is likely to face the ire of fundamentalists over her alleged affair with President Asif Ali Zardari’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Referring to a prestigious national daily — the Ittefaq, the Bangladeshi tabloid said that Islamist groups in Pakistan are likely to issue fatwa (religious decree) now, against Hina Rabbani Khar and Chairman of ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto over their illicit romantic affair, which is said to be a punishable crime under the existing law of Pakistan.

Reports also say that Khar would be expelled from her current foreign ministry post following reports of secret affair with Bilawal. Apparently, President Zardari is afraid that the disclosure of her extra-marital affairs with Bilawal Bhutto, may earn bad name for the nation and the ruling PPP.

Earlier on Thursday the media was abuzz with reports, which claimed Khar’s multi-millionaire husband Firoze Gulzar has officially moved an application seeking details of her phone calls. However officials in Pakistan completely brushed off the claimed affair.

Surprising three days after the Bangladeshi media tossed reports of the high-profile romance between Hina Rabbani and Bilawal Bhutto, both the duo and Pakistani press have remained tight-lipped on the issue.

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