Syrian security forces storm towns, witnesses say
BEIRUT: Witnesses say Syrian security forces are opening fire in the suburbs of Damascus and in the southern town of Daraa.
Both areas have become flashpoints for violence since the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began five weeks ago. The witness accounts could not immediately be confirmed.
In Daraa, one witness said Syrian army tanks and soldiers rolled into the city on Monday and gunfire was heard. In the Damascus suburb of Douma, security forces sealed the town before opening fire, witnesses said.
More than 300 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad’s regime began in mid-March, according to rights groups.
Friday was the deadliest day to date with 112 killed. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Unchanged Pakistan put West Indies in to bat in second ODI
GROS ISLET: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to field against West Indies in the second One-day International on Monday at Beausejour Cricket Ground here.
Pakistan are unchanged, but West Indies have brought leg-spinner Anthony Martin in for his international debut to replace fast bowler Andre Russell.
Pakistan lead the five-match series 1-0, after winning the first ODI by eight wickets last Saturday at the same ground.
The third and fourth ODIs will be played this coming Thursday and next Monday at Kensington Oval in Barbados, with the final match of the series three days later at the Guyana National Stadium.
Pakistan have won their last six ODIs against West Indies spread over the last four years, with the hosts previous victory a 54-run triumph in the opening match of the 2007 World Cup staged in the Caribbean at Sabina Park in Jamaica.
Teams
West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Devon Smith, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Kirk Edwards, Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh Jr (wicketkeeper), Anthony Martin, Kemar Roach, Devendra Bishoo
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Salman (wicketkeeper), Hammad Azam, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan
Umpires: Asoka De Silva (SRI), Norman Malcolm (WIS)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
TV umpire: Peter Nero (WIS)
Reserve umpire: Gregory Brathwaite (WIS)
Guantanamo files show ISI listed as ‘terror organisation’
ISLAMABAD: The US military classified Pakistan’s top spy agency as a terrorist support entity in 2007 and used association with it as a justification to detain prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, according to leaked documents published on Sunday that are sure to further alienate Pakistan.
One document (http://link.reuters.com/tyn29r), given to The New York Times, say detainees who associated with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate “may have provided support to al-Qaeda or the Taliban, or engaged in hostilities against US or Coalition forces”.
The ISI, along with al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah and Iranian intelligence, are among 32 groups on the list of “associated forces”, which also includes Egypt’s Islamic Jihad, headed by al Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The document defines an “associate force” as “militant forces and organisations with which al-Qaeda, the al-Qaeda network, or the Taliban has an established working, supportive, or beneficiary relationship for the achievement of common goals.”
The ISI said it had no comment.
The “JTF-GTMO Matrix of Threat Indicators for Enemy Combatants” likely dates from 2007 according to its classification code, and is part of a trove of 759 files on detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, the US military prison in Cuba.
The secret documents were obtained by WikiLeaks and date from between 2002 and 2009, but they were made available to The New York Times from a separate source, the paper said.
They reveal that most of the 172 remaining prisoners have been rated as a “high risk” of posing a threat to the United States and its allies if released without adequate rehabilitation and supervision, the newspaper said.
The documents also show about a third of the 600 detainees already sent to other countries were also designated “high risk” before they were freed or passed to the custody of other governments, the Times said in its report late on Sunday.
SEAT-OF-THE-PANTS INTELLIGENCE GATHERING
The dossiers, prepared under the Bush administration, also show the seat-of-the-pants intelligence gathering in war zones that led to the incarcerations of innocent men for years in cases of mistaken identity or simple misfortune, the Times said.
The documents are largely silent about the use of the harsh interrogation tactics at Guantanamo that drew global condemnation, the newspaper reported.
The Times also said an Obama administration task force set up in January 2009 had reviewed the assessments and, in some cases, come to different conclusions. “Thus… the documents published by The Times may not represent the government’s current views of detainees at Guantanamo.”
WikiLeaks previously released classified Pentagon reports on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and 250,000 State Department cables. Bradley Manning, a 23-year-old US soldier accused of leaking secret documents to WikiLeaks has been detained since May of last year.
Last week, the Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pakistani media that the ISI had a “longstanding” relationship with the Haqqani Network which is allied to al Qaeda.
“Haqqani is supporting, funding, training fighters that are killing Americans and killing coalition partners. And I have a sacred obligation to do all I can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Mullen told Pakistan’s daily Dawn newspaper.
“So that’s at the core – it’s not the only thing – but that’s at the core that I think is the most difficult part of the relationship,” Mullen said.
Pakistan’s powerful ISI has long been suspected of maintaining ties to the Haqqani network, cultivated during the 1980s when Jalaluddin Haqqani was a feared battlefield commander against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
US-Pakistan ties have been strained this year by the case of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, who shot dead two Pakistanis in Lahore on January 27, as well as by tensions in Pakistan over US drone strikes that have fanned anti-American sentiment.
Renowned sports writer, historian Syed Akber Ali Wahidi dies
Legendary sports writer, journalist, statistician, enthusiast, promoter, and PFF Media Manager, Syed Akber Ali Wahidi was found dead in his hotel room in Faisalabad this morning on Monday, 25 April 2011 at 9am. He was 53 years old and the cause of his death was declared as cardiac arrest suffered during his sleep.
The late Wahidi was in Faisalabad to cover the final games of the 21st NBP National Football Challenge Cup 2011 on special invite of tournament organiser Rai Saif ur Rehman Bhatti. He had just enjoyed the nail-biting semi-final between KRL and Army at Bohranwali Ground on 24 April 2011 and was in good spirits. But his passing away just 8 hours after the end of the game in his hotel room has broken many hearts across Pakistan.
His body will be shifted by air from Faisalabad to his native city of Karachi for burial later today. He leaves behind a widow, young son as mourners.
Wahidi was famed for his sharp memory and enthusiasm for compiling statistics, records, history, and trivia related to both football and field hockey. He was often called the ‘Walking Encyclopedia of Football’. So much was his knowledge about the beautiful game, that even the football authorities around the world had to stand up and notice his remarkable memory and enthusiasm for the game.
In 2003 he achieved considerable fame when he wrote to FIFA and asked them to correct their record books for fastest goals scored from kick-off in a FIFA World Cup match. He pointed out that Václav Mašek of Czechoslovakia should be in second place for fastest goalscorer after he scored just 16 seconds from kick-off against Mexico at the 1962 World Cup, rather than FIFA’s then second-placed record holder Bryan Robson of England who scored after 27 seconds against France at the 1982 World Cup. The fastest goal scored was by Turkey’s legendary captain Hakan Şükür after just 11 seconds against hosts South Korea in 3rd/4th place play-off at 2002 World Cup.
FIFA was surprised at this information and immediately acknowledged their mistake and sent Akber Wahidi an honorary letter thanking for his contribution and knowledge. In 2010, he was sent a special ticket by FIFA to vist and cover a match in the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa on FIFA’s own expenses. He stated later that visiting and watching a FIFA World Cup game inside a stadium live was his ‘dream come true’.
Born on 7 August 1957, the late Wahidi completed his BA in Civil Engineering from Karachi’s renowned NED University of Engineering & Technology, but decided not to pursue a career in Civil Engineering and instead focused on writing about his one true love: football.
From 1974, he was involved in football and sports journalism and wrote fluently in both Urdu and English. He first attained fame as a writer for Urdu magazine ‘Khel ki Dunya’ that was owned by late sports journalist and Wahidi’s mentor Alauddin Ghauri. He went on to interview and profile various football players and teams across Karachi and Pakistan, and showed immense dedication to his passion that won him many fans across country’s football fraternity and sports journalism circles.
In 1992, he became affiliated with the National Football Championship which was sponsored by Lifebuoy Soap for the first time in Pakistan’s football history. As media in-charge for the tournament, the man’s unprecedented coverage of the event brought the national media to take strong notice of almost every game and every result that was witnessed throughout country.
Eventually, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) took notice of Wahidi’s tremendous knowledge, writing skills, and experience and made him Media Manager in 2004. This was a post he kept with full honour and committment until his shocking demise.
A simple man, he did not let his fame as a sports journalist affect his humbleness and modesty throughout his life. He was offered a better pay to become Media Manager of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) many times but he flatly refused to give up his love and loyalty towards football.
He also won many admirers across the South Asian region with many sports journalists from Nepal, India and Bangladesh regarding him as one of their own. Wahidi was also Executive Editor of the now defunct Karachi-based Urdu-language football gazette ‘Monthly Football Magazine’ where he worked with his close friend and protégé Riaz Ahmed
He also had a very close and personal friendship with footballpakistan.com (FPDC) since 2001. He got in touch with a young Malik Riaz Hai Naveed and supported the fellow’s dream of giving Pakistani football a voice on the internet which would evolve into FPDC in 2003.
His death has come as a big blow for football in Pakistan and sports journalism in particular. His enthusiasm, knowledge, and eloquence will not doubt be impossible to match.
PFF officials have also expressed immense sadness and shock at Wahidi’s sudden demise.
May the departed hero of Pakistani football rest in peace, and may the grieving family have the patience and resolve to overcome the passing away of their beloved one.
This report was compiled by footballpakistan.com’s Chief Editor Ali Ahsan with files from sports journalist Riaz Ahmed.
IAEA declares Pakistan nuclear program safe
ISLAMABAD: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Monday declared the nuclear program of Pakistan as safe and secure and appreciated the obvious dedication to the safety and security of the regulators as well of operators.
Talking exclusively to APP on the sidelines of “International seminar on nuclear safety and security”, held here from 21-23 April, Deputy Director General IAEA Denis Flory said the IAEA emphasizes the importance of national responsibility for security, which Pakistan takes seriously. In fact, Pakistan has had an Action Plan in place to strengthen nuclear security since 2006, he added.
Giving details he said this plan covers such items as Management of Radioactive Sources; Nuclear Security Emergency Co-ordination Center (NuSECC); Locating and Securing Orphan Radioactive Sources.
Pakistan has worked with the agency to implement that plan and to provide resources for its implementation, he maintained.
For example, he said, Pakistan is the 10th largest contributor to the Nuclear Security Fund, contributing $1.16 million. This is an example of their strong leadership and commitment as well as their serious approach to nuclear security in the course of implementing its action plan.
Additionally, over 200 people from Pakistan have attended IAEA training courses, he went on to add.
Organizer of India’s Commonwealth Games arrested
NEW DELHI: Indian investigators say they have arrested the chief organizer of last year’s scandal-plagued Commonwealth Games as part of a corruption probe.
The Central Bureau of Investigation said Monday that Suresh Kalmadi has been charged with conspiracy to favor a Swiss company in the purchase of equipment for timing and scoring events. It also says the prices were inflated.
Two other officials on the Games’ organizing committee were arrested earlier for involvement in the same case.
The bureau, the Indian equivalent of the FBI, accuses Lalit Bhanot and V.K. Verma of causing a huge loss to the Indian government by paying 1.41 billion rupees ($31 million) to Swiss Timings Ltd. for equipment available from another company for much less.
‘Toilet gas’ blast damages Peshawar police station
PESHAWAR: A seemingly accidental blast that Pakistani police blamed on “toilet gases” damaged a police station in the city of Peshawar on Monday, injuring at least five people.
A police official initially said the blast occurred in a room used to store ammunition in the station in the neighbourhood of Gulbahar in the main city in Pakistan’s Taliban-infested northwest.
But the Peshawar police chief later told incredulous reporters on television that dodgy sewers were responsible for the collapse of one room and the partial damage of two others.
Television footage showed civilians and policemen carrying injured people out on stretchers and ambulances rushing to the scene.
Northwestern Pakistan is frequently hit by bomb attacks blamed on Islamist militants opposed to the government’s alliance with the United States that have killed more than 4,200 people across the country since July 2007.
But Peshawar city police chief Liaqat Ali blamed Monday’s blast on “gases in the toilets”.
Asked if gases could be strong enough to demolish two rooms of a police station, he insisted: “It happens in many cases.”
Local administration official Muhammad Siraj Khan told AFP that a natural gas leak in the sewars within the police station caused the blast.
“The blast triggered a fire in a nearby room which had electricity controls,” he said.
“Five people, including four policemen and one prisoner, were injured,” he added.
General Kayani did not contact Singh: ISPR
RAWALPINDI: A spokesman of Pakistan’s military, on Monday, denied a British newspaper’s report that Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has been communicating with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through a secret envoy.
Denying the report published in The Times of London on Saturday, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) official termed the news “unfounded and completely baseless.”
According to the report, the secret envoy has been the link between Kayani and Singh for 10 months.
Earlier, the office of the Indian PM also denied the report.
“We have seen media reports quoting a British newspaper saying that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh contacted Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani before the Mohali meeting between the two prime ministers. The report is false,” prime minister’s media adviser Harish Khare said in a statement.
Supreme Court directs NADRA to issue ID cards for eunuchs
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to issue identity cards for eunuchs, DawnNews reported.
During proceedings in the rights for eunuchs’ case, the Chief Justice remarked that eunuchs are Pakistani citizens and they are deprived of their rights because they do not have identity cards.
The eunuchs informed the court that NADRA is asking for documentation to confirm their gender before they issue the identity cards.
The Chief Justice asked the lawyer for NADRA whether such documentation was also required to issue identity cards to men and women. The hearing of the case has been adjourned for three weeks.
SC hears contempt of court case against PPP leaders
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday heard the contempt of court case against PPP leaders, DawnNews reported.
During proceedings, PPP leader Taj Haider presented his written answer to the court.
PPP leader Sharjeel Memon told the court he was busy in budget preparations and his lawyer was out of the country, thus the court should grant him one month’s time.
The Chief Justice remarked that he should find another lawyer and that he became a minister after fighting with the court.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned until May 27.
The Supreme Court issued contempt of court notices to the PPP leaders after they called for a strike in Sindh against the apex court’s decision regarding the appointment of Deedar Hussain Shah as Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Hafiz Saeed condemns US drone attacks, defends JuD
KARACHI: The chief of banned organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has challenged India to prove his organisation’s link to the Mumbai attacks, claiming India would never be able to substantiate this allegation.
Speaking to DawnNews, Saeed said that India had sent a 400-page report to the Pakistani government in an attempt to substantiate its claims but had failed miserable.
He accused the government of being spineless and succumbing to the pressure from India and the United States.
“Pakistan’s Interior Ministry tried hard to defend the Indian stance but failed. Pakistan is confronted with internal and external challenges and India is benefiting from that. Even the US is now talking India’s talk,” said Saeed.
He disclosed that he had written two letters to UN Chief Ban Ki Moon to clarify his position and the workings of his organisation.
“We had asked Ban Ki Moon to bring our case in an international court and we had stressed that we are ready to appear before the court. The only response we had from him was informing us that he had received our letters,” said the JuD chief.
Saeed strongly condemned US activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan and said the suicide bombings were a response to the drone attacks.
“When you spill innocent blood and the people you kill are not even technologically advanced like you – then such suicide bombings should be expected as a natural reaction,” argued Saeed.
He also stressed that his organisation had nothing to do with Lashkar-e-Taiba.
“Lashkar-e-Taiba operates in the occupied Kashmir while we are based in Pakistan. There are many other freedom movements operating in occupied Kashmir,” said Saeed while calling for the formation of a Muslim version of the United Nations.
“The UN has shown disregard for Muslim issues. The Muslim nations need to end their ties with the United States and struggle for their rights,” he said.
Как определить, что ваш компьютер заражен вирусом?
В сети существует великое множество разного рода вредоносных программ, которые могут влиять на работу компьютера самыми разнообразными способами. Какие-то из них уничтожают ваши данные, другие используют ваш компьютер в качестве «раба», используя его для заражения других систем, третьи начинают активно сливать ваши персональные данные в интернет. Все эти паразиты в той или иной степени влияют на работу компьютера. Антивирусные программы не всегда могут справиться с новыми проблемами в силу того, что могут о них просто не знать. В таком случае происходит заражение системы. И сегодня я расскажу о том, по каким признакам можно определить заражение компьютера.
Вот несколько признаков того, что ваш компьютер заражен:
- Снижение производительности. Если компьютер стал тормозить (до этого компьютер работал быстро и хорошо), интернет стал работать значительно медленнее, программы открываться дольше обычного, то вероятно, вы заражены.
- Перестают работать приложения. Если у вас перестали работать приложения, не запускаются, выдают ошибки (а до этого все работало отлично), то есть вероятность, что ваш компьютер поражен вирусом.
- Большая сетевая активность. Если вы ничего не делаете и видите, что ваш компьютер активно обменивается трафиком, то велика вероятность, что вы заражены. Особенно в том случае, если трафик исходящий. В случае с входящим трафиком есть вероятность того, что какая-то программа просто скачивает обновление. В любом случае, следует обратить внимание на потребление трафика (даже если он не лимитирован). Если в течение длительного времени происходит активный обмен данными, то (скорее всего) ваш компьютер заражен.
- Появление всплывающих панелей, которые вы не устанавливали. Если на вашем компьютере появилась какая-то лента новостей (или порнография), то к вам на компьютер попала вредоносная программа. Скорее всего, она будет предлагать отправить смс для деактивации себя, но в реальности этого не происходит (т.е. не надо отправлять им смс, они этого и ждут). Такие программы следует удалять либо вручную, либо с помощью специальных программных продуктов (например, AVZ).
- Пропадают деньги со счетов в банках и интернет-системах. Если вы обнаружили, что ваши интернет-кошельки пусты, а с банковских счетов пропадают средства, то велика вероятность, что ваш компьютер заражен, злоумышленники получили доступ к вашему банку и интернет-системам, результатом чего и стали списания денежных средств со счетов.
- Появление ваших личных данных на сайтах, которые вы ранее не посещали. Если вы обнаружили, что где-то на сайтах появились записи о вас или от вас, с использованием ваших фотографий, которые не были доступны в сети, то велика вероятность, что эти данные были украдены с вашего компьютера, и он нуждается в тщательной проверке на предмет троянских программ.
Можно привести ряд других признаков, которые явно указывают на наличие вредоносных программ на компьютере. Я перечислил, вроде, все основные. Если что-то забыл, то с удовольствием выслушаю вас в комментариях.
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