Ohio woman who unknowingly married her father says learning the secret was ‘devastating’

"It is devastating. It can destroy you," Valerie Spruill, 60, said of learning eight years ago that she had been married to her father.

Valerie Spruill hopes talking publicly about her ordeal will help others in similar circumstances.

An Ohio woman who unknowingly married her father says she is unsure whether he knew he was wed to his biological daughter before his death in 1998.

"It is devastating. It can destroy you," Valerie Spruill, 60, told CNN of learning eight years ago that she had been married to her father. A DNA test using hair from the late Percy Spruill's brush confirmed the shocking news.

Valerie Spruill lived silently with the secret until this month, when she gave an interview to the Akron Beacon Journal to try and help others dealing with similar circumstances.

"I want this to be more of an inspirational story," the 60-year-old told the newspaper. "If I've come through this, anyone can come through anything through the help of the Lord."

Spruill, who lives in Doylestown, Ohio, says other members of her family knew the dark secret long before the news was revealed to her.

Whether her husband ever knew “I don’t know,” she told CNN. “That conversation didn’t come up ... I think if he did know, there is no way he could have told me.”

Percy Spruill died in 1998 at the age of 60. The pair had been married for several years.

It was Valerie Spruill’s second marriage. She had three children with her first husband when she met Percy in Akron, Ohio, she told CNN.

They did not have children.

"We had a good life," she said.

Family members had long figured out the ordeal. After years of enduring silent whispers, it was Spruill’s uncle who finally told her.

Since then, she’s suffered numerous health problems, including two strokes and diabetes. She believes they were linked to living with the dark secret.

"Pain and stress will kill, and I had to release my stress," Spruill said. "I'm just telling the story to release my pain."

Spruill told the paper that her mother was just 15 when she first met Percy.

It remains unclear how many children they had or how long they were together, though Valerie says she is aware of six brothers.

Spruill’s family had a history of keeping secrets.

At only 3 months old, Valerie Spruill was given to her maternal grandparents, but knew them as her parents until she was 8 or 9 years old, according to the paper.

That's when she learned that the woman who frequently stopped by the house wasn't just a family friend, but her mother, Christine.

Her mother, a “lady of the night,” died in 1984.

Spruill, who is now retired with eight grandchildren, thinks all people should know the truth about their families.

“"It needs to be told, because children need to know where they come from," Valerie Spruill told th Beacon—Journal. "And I know it hurts, because I have been devastated by this.”

Thousands descend on tiny Dutch town after Facebook invitation goes viral

AMSTERDAM -- Riot police broke up crowds of youths who turned violent in a tiny Dutch town late on Friday after several thousand people descended on the community after a schoolgirl's Facebook invitation to her sixteenth birthday party went viral.

Media reports said six people were hurt, including three seriously, after disturbances broke out in the quiet northern Dutch town of Haren. Reports said shops were vandalized and looted, a car set on fire and street signs and lampposts damaged before police broke up the crowds.

Hundreds of youths gather in Haren, northern Netherlands, on Friday. Dutch mass-market daily De Telegraaf reported that tens of thousands of people received a Facebook invitation to a schoolgirl's birthday party.

Up to 600 riot police were on the scene during the disturbances, according to one media report. There were at least 20 arrests, media said.

Pictures from the scene showed party-goers wearing T-shirts with "Project X" written on them -- apparently a reference to the movie "Project X", in which three high school seniors throw a party that gets out of control as word spreads.

Some 30,000 people received the invitation from a girl announcing her birthday party on Facebook, according to media reports. The party was intended to be a small-scale celebration, but the girl did not set her Facebook event to private and the invitation went viral.

Chairs burn in the northern Dutch town of Haren late on Friday after thousands of party-goers showed up to a teenager's birthday party.

"She posted the invitation on Facebook and sent it to friends, who then sent it to other friends and soon it spread like wildfire across the Internet," Melanie Zwama, Groningen police spokeswoman told the AFP news agency according to the BBC.

A Twitter account was set up to promote the event, and the Dutch Daily News identified a video posted on YouTube that also promoted the party.

Dutch DJs Yellow Claw and Afrojack -- who each have thousands of Twitter followers -- posted messages about the party on their accounts (in Dutch).

Church admits Australia abuse

The Catholic Church in one Australian state has revealed that at least 620 children have been abused by its clergy since the 1930s, sparking a fresh call Saturday for an independent inquiry into sex abuse.

The Catholic Church in Victoria revealed the number in a submission to a state parliamentary hearing on Friday but said the instances of abuse reported had fallen dramatically from the "appalling" numbers of the 1960s and 1970s.

"It is shameful and shocking that this abuse, with its dramatic impact on those who were abused and their families, was committed by Catholic priests, religious and church workers," Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said.

Last year Pope Benedict XVI told Australian bishops that their work had been made more difficult by the clerical sex abuse scandal which has rocked the church as he exhorted them to "repair the errors of the past with honesty".

The full submission was not released publicly but the church said most of the 620 criminal abuse claims it had upheld over the last 16 years related to incidents 30 to 80 years ago, with very few related to abuse that has taken place since 1990.

Hart said the church had taken steps to redress the issue, including a programme implemented in the 1990s involving an independent investigation, an ongoing programme of counselling and support, and compensation.
"This submission shows how the church of today is committed to facing up to the truth and to not disguising, diminishing or avoiding the actions of those who have betrayed a sacred trust," he said.

"We acknowledge the suffering and trauma endured by children who have been in the Church's care, and the effect on their families. We renew our apology to them," he said in a statement in which he spoke for church leaders in Victoria.

But victims' supporters say the number of children abused was likely much higher than that confirmed by the church in its own inquiries.

Chrissie Foster, whose two daughters were raped by their parish priest from the mid-1980s, said the church had had decades to address the issue but had only revealed the figure to the Victorian inquiry on Friday.

"It's only been victims coming out and going to the police that has stopped all of this," she told the ABC.
"The church has never lifted a finger to stop their paedophile priests," added Foster, who said one of her daughters had ultimately taken her own life.

President of the Law Institute of Victoria, Michael Holcroft, said there was a need for more independent investigations.

"Obviously there's a public perception that the church investigating the church is Caesar judging Caesar and I think that the community is now looking for somebody external, someone independent to get to the bottom of what's obviously been a big problem for a long, long time," he told the ABC.

The Victorian state government announced the inquiry into the handling of child abuse cases by religious and non-government bodies after the suicides of dozens of people abused by clergy.

The church in Australia, as in other parts of the world, has endured a long-running controversy over its response to past abuses.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited Sydney in 2008 he met victims and offered a historic full apology for child sex abuse by predatory priests, saying he was "deeply sorry" and calling for those guilty of the "evil" to be punished.

The Mideast Protests, Social Networks & the Global Brain

The future of the Middle East looks like a race between the mullahs and the iPad—and despite recent setbacks, social networks are rewiring our brains to topple traditional barriers, says Deepak Chopra, author of God: A Story of Revelation.

 

There’s a fascinating connection between the social network and where the human brain is going. For a long time, neuroscience held a wrong belief—several, actually—about the brain. The number of brain cells we have was seen as a fixed number that declined over time. No one realized that stem cells in the brain can renew lost neurons at any time of life. But the most exciting discovery was that everyday experience rewires the brain.

Even though it looks like a thing, your brain is a process. It is always in a state of dynamic flux. New connections and new cells are being born, and as the rewiring occurs, something astonishing happens. Your personal reality changes. The brain processes reality, and when new pathways are formed, the world becomes different.

We are witnessing a global test of this thesis in the Middle East. The future there seems to be a race between the mullahs and the iPad, between sermons in the mosque and tweets on a smartphone. After the Bush administration’s disastrous invasion of Iraq, the number of cellphones in that country exploded, even amid social collapse. Young people desperate to be part of the wider world started expressing their yearning through social networks. Tweets and texts were critical during the Arab Spring, especially in getting large numbers of protesters to gather in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

When the moderate, progressive elements in Egypt lost to the Muslim Brotherhood, it seemed like a huge setback for social networks and a massive victory for the mullahs. Yet the long view is far more hopeful. Millions of tweets, texts, emails, and phone calls have one thing in common: they are neural signals in the global brain. A cabdriver talking all day on his cellphone in Manhattan is weaving himself into the society back home, and the more he communicates, the stronger the neural pathway he is creating.

Silent opposition brought down the Berlin Wall because consciousness, although invisible, is incredibly powerful. Social networks have the capacity to swiftly alter the global brain. On the surface, most tweets are small passing events. But stand back a bit, and you see that a new identity is being formed, a global “we” that anyone can participate in. This newly shaped global brain can topple the traditional barriers of religion, tribalism, nationalism, and political oppression.

Before the social network, think of what it took to escape the mindset of a repressed culture. You had to physically move away, plant yourself in a foreign country, and probably continue to fear for your relatives stuck back home. Now, in the darkest hours of Syrian resistance, as in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt, anyone can send and receive messages from the global brain. As this stream of messages continues, it reshapes the individual brain, too.

What I’m saying isn’t mystical or hypothetical. The destiny of the whole planet depends on reaching beyond the narrow interests of rich nations and multinational corporations. A community of humanity needs to be formed. It’s completely possible for that to happen. In fragile, hopeful ways, it already has.

Pakistan test fires Hatf-VII Babur cruise missile

Babur cruise missile is low-flying, terrain-hugging missile, which can strike targets at land and sea.

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan conducted a successful test fire of the indigenously developed multi-tube cruise missile Hatf-VII (Babur), having a range of 700 kilometers, Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement on Monday.

Babur cruise missile is a low-flying, terrain-hugging missile, which can strike targets both at land and sea with pin-point accuracy, the statement added.

According to ISPR, the missile carries stealth features – equipped with modern cruise missile technology of Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) and Digital Scene Matching and Area Co-relation (DSMAC). It can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads.

The missile was launched from a state-of-the-art Multi Tube Missile Launch Vehicle (MLV), which enhances the targeting and deployment options of Babur Weapon system.

The test was witnessed by Director-General Strategic Plans Division Lieutunent General (retd) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, Chairman National Engineering and Scientific Commission (Nescom) Muhammad Irfan Burney, senior officers from the armed forces and strategic organisations.

In today’s test, National Command Authority’s fully automated Strategic Command and Control Support System (SCCSS) was once again employed. It enables robust command and control capability of all strategic assets with round the clock situational awareness in a digitised network centric environment to decision makers at National Command Centre (NCC).

The system has the added capability of real-time remote monitoring of missile flight path. The test consolidates and strengthens Pakistan’s deterrence capability and national security.

The successful test has also been appreciated by the President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, who congratulated the scientists and engineers on their success.

Indian ministries at odds on Pakistan ties

NEW DELHI  - Indian National Security Adviser (NSA) Shivshankar Menon has briefed Indian diplomats that India may have a record number of terrorist infiltrations from Pakistan.

Briefing Indian Heads of Missions (HoMs) here, Menon told them that terrorism from Pakistan was a never-ending affair, but despite this, India needed to engage with different quarters in that country, even as New Delhi enhances its own security proactively.

The NSA’s assessment of Pakistan matched the Home Ministry’s briefing to Indian diplomats. But these were at variance with the Ministry of External Affairs take on India’s ties with Pakistan.  Foreign Minister SM Krishna gave a fairly positive spin to the Pakistan relationship, describing it as a “democracy”.

Giving an account of his recent visit to Islamabad for talks with his counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar, Krishna felt a new atmosphere in Pakistan and is confident that the relationship was on the upswing. Pakistan, he said, wanted to take steps forward.

On the question of whether the powerful ISI and Pakistani Army was on the same page as the civilian government there, Krishna said, he believed that if the civilians were moving forward with India it would have the “blessings” of the military.

But these were very different from Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s assessment. In his speech to the diplomats, Shinde explained the different ways in which Pakistan continued to foment terrorism inside India.

Analysts said the diplomats listening to the top levels of policymaking in the government would be forgiven for believing that the establishment was speaking in different voices.

But though there is almost no one willing to bet that Pakistan had given up terrorism against India, there is an understanding that India needed to engage with some of the main players in Pakistan.

Malaysia, Pakistan discuss ways to enhance trade

"Bilateral trade volumes between Pakistan and Malaysia could be increased by exploring new avenues of cooperation," says Malaysian high commissioner ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID 

ISLAMABAD: “Pakistan was the second-largest trading partner of Malaysia in South East Asia last year. Therefore, both countries should make efforts to take these relations to a new level by aggressively exploring opportunities for joint ventures in various sectors,” Malaysian High Commissioner Dr Hasrul Sani Bin Mujtabar has said. He made these remarks in a meeting with the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Yassar Sakhi Butt.

Mujtabar said that Pakistan produces good quality and affordable agricultural products. Pakistani rice and mangoes have especially great demand in Malaysian markets, while Malaysia complements this with its expertise and access to ASEAN free trade agreements, he remarked.

The Malaysian high commissioner was optimistic that bilateral trade volumes between Pakistan and Malaysia could be increased by exploring new avenues of cooperation. He also assured that his country would increase the volume of imports of Pakistani agricultural products, which he said would also improve bilateral trade relations further between the two countries.

While speaking on the occasion, ICCI President Yassar Sakhi Butt said that the current increase in bilateral trade between Pakistan and Malaysia followed the signing of a Free Trade Agreemeent between the two countries in 2007. But, he continued, Pakistan’s share in bilateral trade is only $257 million, which has tilted the balance of trade heavily in favour of Malaysia. He stressed that there is a dire need to address this imbalance through increasing export of Pakistani products to Malaysia.

Butt called on the Malaysian business community to take advantage of the vast Pakistani market and explore investment opportunities in agriculture, construction, livestock and dairy, energy, education, IT and the Halal industry sectors.

Butt was of the view that organising joint cultural events was an option which could be used to bring the people of both nations closer to each other, as well as exploit untapped bilateral trade and investment potential in both countries.

Pakistan, US ready to resume strategic dialogue

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss revival of strategic dialogue and mutual understanding on drone attacks, during a meeting in Washington this week.

Official sources told Daily Times on Sunday that the two issues – resumption of the stalled strategic dialogue between the two countries and the drone strikes – were important for the two countries and would certainly be discussed.

Sources in the Pakistani Foreign Office said the issue of drone strikes would be discussed at the highest level with the US officials, adding that some understanding on the issue was also likely.

The US Embassy in Islamabad confirmed that talks on resumption of strategic dialogue would be held between Pakistani and US officials when Khar would be in Washington this week. The embassy’s spokeswoman Rian Harris told Daily Times, “Yes a group is already working on that and the discussions would be held in this connection with Pakistani officials in Washington.”

Diplomatic sources said that work on resumption of the dialogue was almost complete but certain details are awaited.

The Foreign Office has already officially announced that Khar will pay an official visit to the United States from September 18-22.

She will later proceed to New York to join a delegation led by President Asif Ali Zardari to participate in the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly session.

In the Washington leg of the visit, the foreign minister will hold bilateral meetings with the US secretary of state, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Trade Representative Ron Krik and other senior officials.

The last round of the strategic dialogue between the two countries was held in October 2010 in Washington. But after that a number of incidents like the Raymond Davis issue, raid in Abbottabad, Salala attack, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, caused deterioration in the ties between the two countries.

This year after resumption of NATO supply, which was suspended after the Salala incident in November last year, there were rumours that the dialogue would resume soon.

Officials on both sides say the stalled process of dialogue would be restarted to make development on important civil and security areas, including economy and trade, energy, defence, security, strategic stability and non-proliferation, with law enforcement and counter-terrorism being on the top.

Thousands rally in Pakistan against anti-Islam film

Pakistani police fire tear gas shells toward the Shia Muslim protesters during a rally against an anti-Islam movie in Karachi on September 16, 2012. 

KARACHI: Thousands of people rallied across Pakistan on Sunday to denounce an anti-Islam film with protestors burning US flags and effigies of President Barack Obama, and calling to sever ties with Washington.

At least eight people were injured when protestors clashed with police outside the US consulate in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, officials said.

Police fired bullets in the air and used tear gas and water cannon to disperse some 1,000 people at the rally organised by a Shia religious organisation, according to an AFP photographer.

At one stage protestors broke through security cordons and got close to the heavily guarded US consulate, pelting the building with stones.

They chanted “Down with America”, “We will sacrifice our lives to safeguard the honour of the Prophet” and “Hang the film maker.” City police Chief Iqbal Mehmood told AFP at least 20 people were arrested.

Richard Silver, a spokesman for the US consulate, said there had been no damage or injury to any personnel at the mission.

Also in Karachi some 1,500 people joined a rally organised by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).

Elsewhere in Pakistan, more than 6,000 people gathered in the eastern city of Lahore to condemn the movie, according to local police estimates.

Organised by the banned charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is seen as a front for the Lashkar-i-Taiba terror group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the protest remained peaceful.

Addressing the rally, Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Hafiz Saeed demanded US diplomats be expelled from Pakistan and accused the US of conspiring against Muslims.

He also announced plans to hold a long march towards Islamabad on the issue but did not give any date.
In the southwestern city of Quetta, the JUI and pro-government Balochistan Muttahida Mahaz (BMM) party held separate demonstrations, in total attended by over 1,000 people.

In the central city of Multan, more than 600 local traders held a rally and burnt effigies of the film-maker and controversial US pastor Terry Jones, who has promoted the film.

Some 500 protestors also rallied in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where the local chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi, described the movie as “shameful”.

The low-budget movie, entitled “Innocence of Muslims”, has sparked fury across the Islamic world for mocking the Prophet Mohammed, and for portraying Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent.

Police have beefed up security around US missions in Pakistan after violent attacks on American consulates and embassies in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

Mahindra Satyam poised to treble employee strength in China by 2015

Mahindra Satyam plans to treble its employees strength in China to 1,500 by 2015 as part of strategic focus on engineering, manufacturing and telecom sectors.

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IT services provider Mahindra Satyam, a leading global consulting and IT services provider, will treble its employee strength in China to 1,500 by 2015 as part of strategic focus on few verticals. The company aims to team up with Chinese IT firms and provide services in the engineering, manufacturing and telecom sectors.

China will be used as a global base to serve clients in the Asia Pacific region, a statement by the company said. MahindraSatyam and its parent Tech Mahindra together have Global Delivery Centres in Shanghai and Nanjing. Mahindra Satyam had set up operations in China in 2002.

"China will be a critical pillar of our regional and global strategy. The region will increase its revenue contribution from 24% currently in view of the size of Chinese economy and specific opportunities which we have identified," Rohit Gandhi, Senior Vice President - Asia-Pacific, India, Middle East and Africa, Mahindra Satyam announced at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin.

Mahindra Satyam's move to expand workforce and operations in China come on the back of IT majors Infosys and Wipro expanding their footprint a couple of years ago. While Infosys has about 3,000 people Wipro has more than 2,000 employees in China.

China's telecom sector, the company said, has yet to experience the transformation which unifies fixed-line, mobile and data services into a seamless offering. Mahindra Satyam/Tech Mahindra have helped global and regional telecom giants such as British Telecom achieve this transformation in front-end customer interface and back-end integration and billing, and are keen to help Chinese telecom companies in this aspect.

MSat expects to hire local talent to serve customers. "Chinese universities are producing a high number of quality engineers each year. We are impressed by the level of skills, expertise and the willingness to learn - qualities we will build upon as we expand our operations in China," said Amitava Ghosh, Vice President and Head, North Asia. Mahindra Satyam.

For Mahindra Satyam, partnerships with Chinese companies will also help leapfrog its growth within China and to increase its near-shoring support of Japanese clients, Gandhi said.

China Slowdown Starts to Show in Labor Market

TIANJIN, China—Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered reassurance about China's economy at a big international gathering, saying the country is on track for its target of 7.5% growth this year.

His comments, at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, came after a raft of weak data and as a Manpower survey suggested the slowdown is beginning to take a toll on the job market.

Mr. Wen, who is set to retire following a leadership transition this fall, also defended his record as premier since 2003, and was particularly forceful in defending China's hefty stimulus campaign during the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, which he said helped prevent job losses.

Acknowledging that the Chinese economy is under "notable downward pressure," Mr. Wen said the government has introduced several measures since May to support growth, including interest-rate cuts, reductions in the required reserves for banks and tax reforms.

He also hinted that Beijing may unleash massive fiscal spending to support the economy, saying China has a budget surplus so far this year of around 1 trillion yuan ($158 billion), and around 100 billion yuan in a special reserve fund, "which we will not hesitate to use for the fine tuning of the economy."

Meanwhile, a survey of more than 4,000 Chinese businesses by staffing company Manpower Group points to weaker employment growth at China's manufacturers.

Most of the businesses in the survey, released Tuesday, said they plan to maintain or increase their workforce in the final quarter of the year. But the number saying they plan to reduce headcount or are undecided crept up. Hiring intentions were particularly weak in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and in the export-heavy city of Shenzhen.

Manpower Chief Executive Jeff Joerres said the slowdown in hiring merited close attention, though not panic. "If we see more firms reducing their headcount, that could be a problem," he said.
China's economic growth has slipped to its slowest rate since 2009. But the labor market has proved mostly resilient, with few of the factory closures and mass layoffs that marked the previous slowdown. Analysts say that relatively robust labor markets so far this year are one reason the government has not done more to support growth.

The downturn in hiring reflects a slowdown in both exports and construction, two main pillars of China's economy. August exports were up just 2.7% from a year earlier, and exports from labor-intensive manufacturing hubs Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces are falling. The area of new residential property area under construction in the first eight months of 2012 was down from a year earlier, denting demand for construction workers.

China's recent Purchasing Managers' Index surveys of employment also point to weaker labor markets, with some manufacturing businesses starting to let workers go. The official PMI survey employment index came in at 49.1 in August; a number below 50 indicates net firing, while above 50 indicates net hiring. Income-tax receipts are also down, likely reflecting a combination of a change to the tax rates and weaker employment.
Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Xin Changxing sounded a note of caution on employment in remarks quoted in the People's Daily newspaper on Tuesday, saying the impact of the economic slowdown can be seen in a deceleration in new job creation starting in April.

Official data on China's labor markets is published infrequently and is widely regarded as unreliable.
Even as manufacturing slows, there are signs that China's service sector is taking up some of the slack. The Manpower survey shows a strong increase in hiring intentions in the services sector. The nonmanufacturing PMI also shows service-sector businesses still hiring.

In other indications government efforts to rekindle growth are beginning to have an impact, new loan data show signs of a recovery in credit demand. New loans rose to 703.9 billion yuan ($110.9 billion) in August from 540.1 billion yuan in July.

Many analysts give China great credit for its package of stimulus policies a few years ago, which arrested a sharp slowdown. But the stimulus plan also had many long-term costs, including inflation, soaring property prices that threatened to form a bubble, and a build-up of questionable loans at state banks.

At the World Economic Forum, Mr. Wen defended the policies.

"Some people made accusations about China's plan...and even said that we paid an undue price," Mr. Wen said Tuesday. "It was exactly due to our resolve and scientific response that China was able to prevent factory closures and job losses."

The stimulus was initially billed by the central government as being worth 4 trillion yuan, but was in fact significantly larger as local governments spent liberally on infrastructure projects and banks went on an unprecedented lending binge.

Mr. Wen, who is expected to be succeeded by Vice Premier Li Keqiang, touted progress made under his watch on various fronts. China has introduced measures to narrow its massive income gap, ameliorate regional disparities in development, improve environmental regulation, and lay out a basic system of social benefits, he said.

"We maintained social stability and prevented a disruption to the process of modernization," he said.

Chinese people, gov't together on Diaoyu Islands

BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Angered by Japan's so-called "purchase" of some of the Diaoyu Islands, a Chinese territory, people in China of various walks of life have expressed support for the Chinese government in introducing countermeasures.

Despite strong warnings and opposition voiced by top Chinese leaders, the Japanese government on Tuesday signed a contract with the Kurihara family, which Japan claims is the "private owner" of the Diaoyu Islands.

"Our tolerance should not be met with cruelty. And we should call stridently for the Diaoyu Islands and must not allow any country to forcibly occupy our territory," said a netizen nicknamed "Dingxinran" in a webpost.
Some people also posted online a Japanese map drawn by the Japanese military in 1876 to prove that the Diaoyu Islands don't belong to Japan.

"As a member of the Chinese nation, I resolutely and unconditionally support the Chinese government's stance and countermeasures that aim to safeguard national dignity and sovereignty," said another netizen.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Monday that China urges Japan to immediately revoke its wrong decision to "buy" the Diaoyu Islands and stop all actions that undermine China's territorial sovereignty.
Otherwise, all consequences should be borne only by the Japanese side, according to Yang.

On the same day, the Chinese government announced the base points and baselines of the territorial waters of Diaoyu Islands, a move that further demonstrates China's sovereignty.

China's oceanic authority has recently improved its monitoring over far-sea territory including the Diaoyu Islands.

Gao Hong, an expert on Japan studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday that China can use all necessary means to monitor the islands regularly, conduct patrols and offer protection to fishermen.

China assures Pakistan of ‘complete support’ on regional, int’l issues

China on Tuesday said it completely supports Pakistan on all its regional and international issues. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated the stance of his government of supporting the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan when he met Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf here on the sidelines of World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of New Champions 2012. The two leaders reaffirmed their governments’ resolve to further strengthen ties in diverse fields particularly trade and defence. The first official meeting between the two leaders that was scheduled for 25 minutes lasted for 40 minutes.

The two sides noted that Pakistan and China share similar views on important regional and global issues and would continue to extend support to each other at all levels.

Prime Minister Raja Ashraf and the Chinese premier discussed a whole gamut of issues ranging from bilateral ties, defence cooperation, infrastructure development, energy, agriculture and banking.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan attaches great importance to enhancing economic and trade links with China which include promoting closer collaboration in projects on energy, telecommunication and railways.

Chinese Premier Wen welcomed the Prime Minister on undertaking his first official visit to China and said it reflected the level of Pak-China friendship and the importance Pakistan gives to China. He conveyed best wishes for President Asif Ali Zardari and for the Pakistani people.

He said China considers Pakistan its friend and underscored the importance of time-tested strategic partnership between the two countries.

He expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s role in fight against terrorism and extremism and called for greater international recognition of its efforts and sacrifices in this regard.

Both the leaders were of the view that the two nations were opposed to terrorism and would continue to cooperate with each other to eliminate this threat.

Prime Minister Raja Ashraf sought investment by Chinese companies in Pakistan’s various areas and stressed the need for making efforts to realize full potential of bilateral trade. He termed the Chinese assistance in carrying out mega projects in Pakistan as significant. He said it was high time to address the global economic crisis and find ways to counter its impact on growing economies.

The Chinese Premier stressed upon regional approach for resolving regional issues and said it was in the benefit of the people of all countries.

The two sides agreed on exploiting full potential of the two business communities to boost their economy and trade. They renewed their focus on achieving the target of 15 billion dollar bilateral trade.

It was agreed that China would support the National Bank of Pakistan to launch the financial bonds worth 6.5 billion Renminbi in China.

Prime Minister Ashraf was told that the machinery from China to carry out work at Ata Abad Lake would reach Pakistan in October.

Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani assisted the Prime Minister. China’s Vice Foreign minister, Trade Minister and Tianjin’s mayor were present.

Earlier on his arrival at the State Guest House, Prime Minister Raja Ashraf was warmly received by Premier Wen Jiabao. Both the leaders shook hands and exchanged greetings. Prime Minister Ashraf introduced to Premier Wen the members of his delegation including Finance minister and senior officials.

Pakistan seek Miandad’s expertise before World T20

Javed Miandad speaks to Shoaib Malik at a training session in September 2009. The PCB has sought Miandad’s services as batting consultant before the World T20 in Sri Lanka starting next week.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s former Test captain and prolific batsman Javed Miandad will join the national team in Sri Lanka to give batting tips ahead of the World Twenty20 this month.

Miandad will not interfere with the work of current boss Dav Whatmore for the September 18-October 7 tournament but will instead concentrate on any individual batting niggles following a series of recent collapses. He will be with the team in Sri Lanka during their warm-up matches and practice sessions until the start of the tournament.

“He has been given a special assignment for a short period before the start of the World Cup,” a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman said.

Miandad has previously acted as head coach of the Pakistan cricket team and is currently employed by the PCB as its director general.

“My main priority is to have pep talks with the players, to raise their spirits and confidence, and work with the batsmen in the nets, advise them on batting issues, keeping in mind the requirements of the World Cup and conditions in Sri Lanka,” the Test great was quoted as saying by cricket website ESPNCricinfo

Which is the real Pakistan?

The writer is a consultant and a freelance writer based in New Delhi, where she writes for Business Standard and blogs for The Times of India.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar stole the show last week as she stood next to India’s Foreign Minister SM Krishna at a press briefing towards the end of Krishna’s visit to Pakistan. Never has the transformation from a glamorous ‘goongi gudiya’ — as she was widely described during her visit to New Delhi last year — to a woman and leader of passion and conviction been more surprising or creditable in the recent history of India-Pakistan relations.

Khar’s main argument during that press briefing was about the need for India and Pakistan to move on from the past and forge a brand new future, and was clearly meant to send the message that India should not link progress on the rest of the relationship to progress on investigating and finding the culprits responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

So here’s the counterargument: if both countries should, indeed, move on, does this mean that Pakistan is willing to forget the Kashmir dispute and accept that the Line of Control is really an international border? That India and Pakistan must keep their respective parts of the states that they control and not yearn for the other? That Pakistan must accept the current status quo on Siachen and Sir Creek? If that is what Khar was trying to say, then it is truly a spectacular turnaround from the Pakistani establishment.

But, of course, we all know that Khar’s “moving on” was really limited to India dropping its insistence on movement on the Mumbai attacks. In what may account for one of the more insensitive moments of the recent Krishna visit, Khar is believed to have told an Indian TV channel the following: if you can’t forget Mumbai, Pakistan can’t forget its 1971 humiliation at the hands of India.

Pakistanis have often argued that Indians don’t understand the enormity of their own war against terrorists and ongoing ethnic conflict — the war against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in the northwest, Shia-Sunni killings, as well as those between political parties in Karachi in particular — and that Indians must stop harping about their pain of the one attack in Mumbai.

There is a clear answer to this: the terror inside Pakistan is not sponsored by India. Nobody in Mumbai asked anyone in Karachi or elsewhere to climb into a boat and set sail for Mumbai with sten guns.
My friend and fellow The Express Tribune columnist Ejaz Haider had another interesting thesis that I hadn’t heard before or — more to the point — hadn’t wanted to hear before. According to him, the Indian army was known to conduct false flag marches in (Indian) Kashmir, meaning they had killed scores of Indian — read, Muslim — civilians in Kashmir under the guise of offering protection to them.

What did this have to do with Mumbai, I asked Mr Haider? Was he implying that the Indian security forces — the army, paramilitary or the police — could have turned upon its own people in Mumbai? That could be one possibility in a range of several possibilities, he replied.

Khar’s forceful passion at the press briefing notwithstanding, the penny seems to have finally dropped in my own head: a section of the Pakistani intelligentsia believes the terror attack against Mumbai was just retribution — for 1971, for Balochistan, for Karachi, and anything else it believes India is responsible for.
That is why the opening up of the visa regime is so important: ordinary Indians and ordinary Pakistanis will get a chance to meet each other and discuss what their relationship is really about and whether they really want to forge one. Indians visiting Pakistan are more than often accosted with the unimaginable generosity of ordinary Pakistanis: aap hamaare mehmaan hain, hum dil ki gehraai se kehna chaahte hain hum kitne khush hain aap logon ko yahan dekh kar.

See how this contrasts with the state’s commentary? The question is, which is the real Pakistan?

China steps up campaign against Ramadan in Xinjiang

Beijing accused of misguided attempt to secularise minority Uighurs by banning or discouraging civil servants, students and others from fasting

Muslims in Xinjiang offer Friday prayers near a no-stopping sign on the first day of Ramadan. Beijing says its attempts to restrict participation come out of health concerns.

China is discouraging some Muslims in Xinjiang from fasting duringRamadan. The government says the move is motivated by health concerns.

Several city, county and village governments in the far-western region have posted notices on their websites banning or discouraging Communist party members, civil servants, students and teachers from fasting during the religious holiday.

A regional spokeswoman, Hou Hanmin, was quoted in the state-runGlobal Times on Friday as saying authorities encourage people to "eat properly for study and work" but would not force anyone to eat during Ramadan.

Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur ethnic group. Long-simmering resentment over the rule by China's Han majority and an influx of Han migrants has sporadically erupted into deadly violence.

Those familiar with the region say attempts to restrict participation in Ramadan are not new, but this year's campaign is more intense.

There is "a much more public and concerted effort" than in previous years and in some cases Communist party leaders are delivering food to village elders to try to get them to break their fast, according to Dru Gladney, a professor of anthropology at Pomona College in California and an expert on China's Muslim minorities.

"I think it is a misguided effort to try to secularise the Uighurs and my feeling is it will backfire," said Gladney. "It makes the Uighurs even more angry at the party for not honouring their religious customs."

Separatist sentiment is rife in Xinjiang, with some Uighurs advocating armed rebellion. A smaller fringe has been radicalised and trained in camps across the border in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In July 2009, almost 200 people were killed during rioting between Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi. Uighur activists say the riots were the result of decades of pent-up frustration with Chinese rule.

China has responded by boosting police presence and restricting the practice of Islam – moves that have increased tensions.

Over the last few months, authorities in Xinjiang have stepped up a campaign against illegal religious schools, which they believe are fomenting extremism and separatist thought.

Hou said battling religious extremism and terror in the region remained a priority.

"Religious extremism is closely related to violence and terrorism, and cracking down on these is one of our top priorities," the regional spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

Ilham Tohti, a Beijing-based Uighur economist, said this year's campaign against participation in Ramadan was being more strictly enforced, with officials in some areas requiring people to sign pledges that they will not take part in religious activities.

Tohti said the campaign appeared to be aimed solely at Uighurs in Xinjiang, noting that Kazakh and Hui Muslims in Xinjiang, as well as Uighurs outside the region, face no such restrictions.

At the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, where he teaches, there have been no warnings against taking part in Ramadan and up to 70 Muslim students, including about 10 Uighurs, gather nightly at a local restaurant next to campus to break their fast, he said.

He said officials may be particularly nervous about potential unrest in Xinjiang in the lead up to a once-a-decade leadership transition in Beijing in the autumn.

"As a result they are tightening control measures in many areas, not just religion, but this could give rise to new problems and they may end up with an outcome that is the opposite of what they were seeking," he said.

On Monday, the US state department released a global report on religious freedom that criticized the authorities in Xinjiang for their "repressive restrictions on religious practices" and failure to "distinguish between peaceful religious practice and criminal or terrorist activities".

China's foreign ministry dismissed the report as biased and called it interference in Chinese affairs.

US warns China on South China Sea moves

The Obama administration has warned China against further moves to tighten control over a disputed section of the South China Sea, as tensions rose in the flashpoint region.

In a statement, the US State Department cautioned China about its addition of a military garrison and civilian officials near the contested Scarborough Reef and its use of barriers to deny access to foreign ships.

These moves "run counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region", said the statement, issued early on Friday morning and attributed to Patrick Ventrell, the acting deputy spokesman.

Six countries have complex competing claims to the region's water and islands, which are rich in fish, oil and gas and other resources.

China's recent moves over the Scarborough Reef have ruffled feathers in several nations, including Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines. There also have been reports that China is preparing to invite oil company bids for energy exploration in the area.

Countries in the region have been trying to work out a method for peacefully arbitrating their claims through a leading regional body, the Association of South-East Asian Nations, and have urged states not to take any provocative actions.

The US statement appeared to be a sign to South-East Asian countries that the administration continues its close watch on developments in the region. But one analyst cautioned that by singling out China at a time when several nations have been pushing claims, the Obama administration may confirm Chinese fears that it is strengthening security ties in South-East Asia to limit the expansion of Chinese power.

"It's very likely that China will read this as unnecessary, and confirming its concerns that the US is actively seeking to line up with South-East Asia against it," said Kenneth Lieberthal, a China specialist at the Brookings Institution and a former Clinton administration official.

Administration officials said last year they were shifting their foreign policy attention more to East Asia and have announced a series of steps to reinforce security ties with Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia and other countries.

China hits back at Clinton’s Africa comments

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, accompanied by Senegal’s Foreign Minister Alioune Badara Cisse, speaks at the Presidential Palace in Dakar, Senegal on Aug. 1, 2012. Click through for more photos of Clinton in Africa.

NAIROBI — Chinese state media lashed out Friday at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton after she warned African leaders about cooperating with countries that want to exploit the continent’s resources.

On a tour of Sub-Saharan Africa to promote political stability, Clinton this week said the United States will stand up for democracy and universal human rights “even when it might be easier or more profitable to look the other way, to keep the resources flowing.”

“Not every partner makes that choice, but we do and we will,” she said, without naming China, in a speech delivered in Senegal.

The “implication that China has been extracting Africa’s wealth for itself is utterly wide of the truth,” said an English-language commentary from China’s official Xinhua News Agency on Friday, referencing Clinton’s comment that the United States is committed to a model that “adds value rather than extracts it.”

Clinton’s words constitute “cheap shots” and are part of “a plot to sow discord between China [and] Africa” for the United States’ “selfish gain,” Xinhua said, adding that her trip was part of a hidden agenda “aimed at least partly at discrediting China’s engagement with the continent and curbing China’s influence there.”

Clinton’s 11-day trip to Africa comes as China continues to gain influence in markets across the continent, which is home to vast and lucrative reserves of natural resources and some of the world’s fastest-growing countries.

While President Obama unveiled a new Africa strategy in June that focuses on democracy, economic growth, security and development, last month China promised Africa $20 billion in loans during the next three years. China, which put Africa-China trade at $166 billion last year, overtook the United States as Africa’s largest partner three years ago.

“There is a general sense that China appears to be eclipsing America in Africa,” said Comfort Ero, Africa program director at International Crisis Group.

Ero added of Clinton, referring to a visit she made to Africa last year: “This is her second big pitch to try to sell the differences between the U.S. and China in a positive way, suggesting the U.S. has Africa’s interests at heart and is genuinely concerned with progress around democracy, and that China is only interested in grabbing resources.”

Clinton, whose trip includes stops in Senegal, Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa and Ghana, is accompanied by a large U.S. business delegation and has stressed Africa’s economic potential.

“We believe that if you want to make a good investment in the midst of what is still a very difficult global economy, go to Africa,” she said during her speech in Senegal.

She voiced fears the continent was “backsliding” on democracy. But her close relationship with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, whose army makes up the bulk of a heavily U.S.-funded African Union force that fights Islamist militants in Somalia but who has refused to step down, has attracted criticism.

The U.S. focus on governance is “inconsistent and shifts with its interests,” said Daniel Kalinaki, managing editor of Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper. After bombings in Uganda in 2010 that were carried out by al-Qaeda-linked, Somalia-based militants, “all the talk of democracy was suddenly replaced by talk about regional security and Somalia.”

Clinton met with Museveni and South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, on Friday, stressing the need for strong institutions and adherence to the constitution. She is due to meet Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Saturday before travelling on to Malawi and then South Africa.

Pakistan jails officers for links to banned group

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has jailed five military officers, convicting them of links to a banned Muslim political group at a court martial, the army said Friday.

It is the first time that senior army officers have been convicted and jailed over associations with banned organisations in the country on the frontline of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda and fighting its own Taliban insurgency.

The army did not name the organisation in a statement announcing the sentences, but officials have in the past identified it as Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The group, which is headquartered Britain, does not outwardly advocate violence, but has been accused of links to violent extremist groups.

The army said the most senior officer to be convicted, Brigadier Ali Khan, had been sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment.

The other four, all ranked major, were sentenced to three years, two years, and two each to one year and six months, the military said.

The army said the convicts have the right to appeal, but provided no further details.

Khan was detained days after US Navy SEALs found and killed Osama bin Laden in the military town of Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, reviving disturbing questions about ignorance or complicity within Pakistan's powerful military.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is not banned in Britain, but has been outlawed in Pakistan and lies on the fringes of Western concerns about links between the military and terror groups.

According to its website, it aims to resume the Islamic way of life by establishing an Islamic state that executes the systems of Islam and carries its call to the world.

Since bin Laden was killed, Pakistan has been under increasing pressure from the United States to crack down on militant sanctuaries in its northwestern border areas with Afghanistan and cut all ties with extremist Islamist networks.

Pakistan court strikes down contempt law

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's top court on Friday struck down a new law that sought to exempt members of the government from contempt trials, clearing the way for legal proceedings against the prime minister.

Parliament passed the bill last month after the Supreme Court dismissed Yousuf Raza Gilani as premier and convicted him for refusing to reopen multi-million-dollar corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

But on Friday, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry declared the law "unconstitutional".

It was the latest episode in a two-and-a-half-year saga in which the government has resisted demands to investigate Zardari, arguing he enjoys immunity as head of state.

The showdown could force elections before February 2013 when the government would become the first in Pakistan's history to complete an elected, full five-year mandate.

The Supreme Court has now given the new prime minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf, until August 8 to indicate whether he will follow a court order to write to authorities in Switzerland, asking them to reopen the cases against Zardari.

Last month, it suggested that Ashraf could suffer the same fate as Gilani -- being dismissed for contempt -- if he refuses to do so.

Critics of the judiciary and members of Zardari's main ruling Pakistan People's Party have accused the court of waging a personal vendetta against the president.

It was not immediately clear how far the government would resist Friday's order. State television quoted the attorney general as saying that he was "stunned" by the court decision that "went beyond its jurisdiction".

"Parliament is supreme and has the authority of legislation. The judiciary should not interfere in legislative affairs," Irfan Qadir told the channel, PTV.

But the petitioners who challenged the law, welcomed the move.

"We are thankful to the Supreme Court of Pakistan which has protected our rights through this decision. This act was formulated in a bid to quash the fundamental rights of the common citizen," barrister Zafarullah Khan told AFP.

The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his wife, late premier Benazir Bhutto, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.

The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president and the government insists the president has full immunity as head of state.

But in 2009 the Supreme Court overturned a political amnesty that had frozen investigations into the president and other politicians, ordering that the cases be reopened.

Zardari had already signed the contempt law, which sought to exempt government figures, including the president, prime minister and cabinet ministers from contempt for acts performed as part of their job.

Revamping the Pakistan-US alliance

The war against terrorism will be fought in Pakistan whether we like it or not. And Pakistan cannot fight it alone. DESIGN: JAMAL KHURSHID

Before sending his ISI chief General Zaheerul Islam to Washington to meet the CIA Director David Petraeus, Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani set the tone after meeting the top US commander in Afghanistan General John Allen: “The meeting helped towards improving strategic and operational understanding between the Pakistan military and ISAF”.

In Washington, General Islam expressed Pakistan’s desire to move to ‘new beginnings’, resetting cooperation in the two countries’ strategic projections. The ‘new beginnings’ indicate progress from where it was disrupted when the former ISI chief General Ahmad Shuja Pasha broke off talks with his counterpart in high dudgeon several months ago. Pakistan follows policy cues of its army with public opinion swinging along as moulded by the media and a divided political community competing in keeping the army on its right side.

Pakistan’s defiance did not last long because a voluble parliament and such ‘civil society’ organisations as the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) hammed it up and destroyed the fine nuances of the strategy adopted by the army when it closed Nato supply routes after the November 2011 Salala incident. The upshot of this overkill was that in July, Pakistan was politically cornered with its frayed economy sending out distress signals to an international community that was not willing to listen. The drop scene was that Pakistan reopened the supply route ‘for free’ but got $1.1 billion from the Coalition Support Fund that its policy had put in abeyance.

The Allen-Kayani meeting was obviously significant, possibly achieving some kind of agreement on how to handle the Haqqani network on the Pakistani side attacking Afghanistan and the terrorist Maulana Fazlullah’s gang in Nuristan and Kunar in Afghanistan attacking Malakand in Pakistan. The foreign office in Islamabad seems to have found its voice — with a go-ahead from the GHQ — when it declared dead the policy of strategic depth for which Pakistan had sacrificed more than it should have. If the army was once wedded to it, it may have backed off after seeing the dire straits that the Pakistan economy was in and the changing mood of the captains of the national economy who were in favour of opening up the occluded trade with India.

The new voice in the foreign office was expressed through Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar who defied the much dreaded DPC and opportunistic politician by saying that the ‘I am sorry’ type of apology from America was enough for Pakistan to forgive and forget, emphasising that Pakistan could not afford to be isolated. The phase in which the foreign office put its shoulder to the strategic depth obsession of the army was put aside at the risk of offending the non-state actors of the DPC. Pakistan is, therefore, well on its way to ridding itself of the international pariah status and thinking straight about confronting its internal weaknesses.

The theme of opposition to drones developed by Pakistan and its media will not be easily suppressed. To get Washington to stop them will depend on how honest Pakistan is in pledging to get after the terrorist outfits on its side and admitting its limitations in this regard. The other side will have to mount new operations in Kunar, a Wahabi stronghold, and in Nuristan, a province with little or no ISAF presence, to stop the Fazlullah gang from carrying out attacks inside Pakistan.

Though Nato’s ability of precisely targeting enemies through drones might achieve results, Pakistan may have problems coping with the Haqqani network whose outreach in Pakistan is considerable outside North Waziristan. Pakistan has to overcome its passion with sovereignty and nationalism. Both concepts are unrealistic and have come to be associated with victimhood and an inclination to promote suicidal policies. The only viable strategy is one geared to promote Pakistan’s economy.

There are signs that the GHQ is now desirous of this change. The war against terrorism will be fought in Pakistan whether we like it or not. And Pakistan cannot fight it alone.

Pakistan-born parents guilty of murdering ‘westernised’ British daughter

FILE – This is a June 19, 2012 file photo of Iftikhar Ahmed, the father of murdered teen-ager Shafilea Ahmed. A British court on Friday Aug. 3, 2012 found a mother and father guilty of murdering their teen-age daughter Shafilea Ahmed in a so-called honor killing. The Chester Crown Court found that Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed, both originally from Pakistan, suffocated their 17-year-old daughter, Shafilea, in 2003. During the trial, Shafilea’s sister Alesha told the jury that her parents pushed Shafilea onto the couch and she heard her mother say “just finish it here” as they forced a plastic bag into the girl’s mouth.

LONDON:A jury found the Pakistani parents of a teenage girl guilty of murder Friday, a conviction that came after the girl’s sister turned against her parents, telling a jury how her mother and father suffocated 17-year-old Shafilea with a plastic bag in a so-called honor killing.

Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed face life in prison for killing their daughter in 2003.

The Chester Crown Court found that Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed killed her daughter in 2003 and dumped her body.

Shafilea’s sister Alesha told the jury that her parents pushed Shafilea and then she heard her mother say, ”just finish it here.”

British authorities investigated hundreds of cases of forced marriages last year.

Some of the cases have ended up in so-called honor killings where relatives believe girls have brought shame on their families, sometimes for refusing marriage, other times for becoming too westernized.

Shafilea was only 10 when she began to rebel against her parents’ strict rules, according to prosecutor Andrew Edis.

Schoolmates described how she would wear western clothes and change before her parents picked her up.

Those same schoolmates also reported that Shafilea often went to school crying, describing how her mother would slap her and throw things at her.

But it was the last year of her life that was to be the most traumatic, the court heard. Shafilea began seeing boys, which prompted her parents to keep her at home more.

Despite multiple reports to social services, Shafilea’s file was closed in 2002.

Between November 2002 and January 2003, Shafilea told friends and teachers there had been an increase of assaults.

In February 2003, she ran away with her boyfriend Mushtaq Bagas and told council officers she needed emergency accommodation as her parents were trying to force her into an arranged marriage with her cousin.

In the same month, her parents took her to Pakistan where she drank bleach in protest against the arranged marriage. When she returned to Britain in May 2003, she was admitted to a hospital because of damage done to her throat. She was eventually released, but rows over her clothing continued.

Eventually, her parents beat her, stuffed a thin white plastic bag into her mouth and held their hands over her mouth and nose until she ”was gone,” her sister testified. The highest incidence of reported forced marriages is in Muslim communities

Britain is home to more than 1.8 million Muslims.

Burma: Government Forces Targeting Rohingya Muslims

Burmese security forces committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims after failing to protect both them and Arakan Buddhists during deadly sectarian violence in western Burma in June 2012. Government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community have left many of the over 100,000 people displaced and in dire need of food, shelter, and medical care.

The 56-page report, “‘The Government Could Have Stopped This’: Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses in Burma’s Arakan State,” describes how the Burmese authorities failed to take adequate measures to stem rising tensions and the outbreak of sectarian violence in Arakan State. Though the army eventually contained the mob violence in the state capital, Sittwe, both Arakan and Rohingya witnesses told Human Rights Watch that government forces stood by while members from each community attacked the other, razing villages and committing an unknown number of killings.



“Burmese security forces failed to protect the Arakan and Rohingya from each other and then unleashed a campaign of violence and mass roundups against the Rohingya,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government claims it is committed to ending ethnic strife and abuse, but recent events in Arakan State demonstrate that state-sponsored persecution and discrimination persist.”

The Burmese government should take urgent measures to end abuses by their forces, ensure humanitarian access, and permit independent international monitors to visit affected areas and investigate abuses, Human Rights Watch said.

The “Government Could Have Stopped This,” is based on 57 interviews conducted in June and July with affected Arakan, Rohingya, and others in Burma and in Bangladesh, where Rohingya have sought refuge from the violence and abuses.

The violence erupted in early June after reports circulated that on May 28 an Arakan Buddhist woman was raped and killed in the town of Ramri by three Muslim men. Details of the crime were circulated locally in an incendiary pamphlet, and on June 3 a large group of Arakan villagers in Toungop stopped a bus and brutally killed 10 Muslims on board. Human Rights Watch confirmed that nearby local police and army stood by and watched but did not intervene. In retaliation, on June 8 thousands of Rohingya rioted in Maungdaw town after Friday prayers, killed an unknown number of Arakan, and destroyed considerable Arakan property. Violence between Rohingya and Arakan then swept through Sittwe and surrounding areas.

Marauding mobs from both Arakan and Rohingya communities stormed unsuspecting villages and neighborhoods, brutally killed residents, and destroyed and burned homes, shops, and houses of worship. With little to no government security present to stop the violence, people armed themselves with swords, spears, sticks, iron rods, knives, and other basic weaponry. Inflammatory anti-Muslim media accounts and local propaganda fanned the violence. Numerous Arakan and Rohingya who spoke to Human Rights Watch reached the conclusion that the authorities could have prevented the violence and the ensuing abuses could have been avoided.<

The Burmese army’s presence in Sittwe eventually stemmed the violence. However, on June 12, Arakan mobs burned down the homes of up to 10,000 Rohingya and non-Rohingya Muslims in the city’s largest Muslim neighborhood while the police and paramilitary Lon Thein forces opened fire on Rohingya with live ammunition.

A Rohingya man in Sittwe, 36, told Human Rights Watch that an Arakan mob “started torching the houses. When the people tried to put out the fires, the paramilitary shot at us. And the group beat people with big sticks.” Another Rohingya man from the same neighborhood said, “I was just a few feet away. I was on the road. I saw them shoot at least six people – one woman, two children, and three men. The police took their bodies away.”

In Sittwe, where the population was about half Arakan and half Muslim, most Muslims have fled the city or were forcibly relocated, raising questions about whether the government will respect their right to return home. Human Rights Watch found the center of the once diverse capital now largely segregated and devoid of Muslims.

In northern Arakan State, the army, police, Nasaka border guard forces, and Lon Thein paramilitaries have committed killings, mass arrests, and other abuses against Rohingya. They have operated in concert with local Arakan residents to loot food stocks and valuables from Rohingya homes. Nasaka and soldiers have fired upon crowds of Rohingya villagers as they attempted to escape the violence, leaving many dead and wounded.

“If the atrocities in Arakan had happened before the government’s reform process started, the international reaction would have been swift and strong,” said Adams. “But the international community appears to be blinded by a romantic narrative of sweeping change in Burma, signing new trade deals and lifting sanctions even while the abuses continue.”

Since June, the government has detained hundreds of Rohingya men and boys, who remain incommunicado. The authorities in northern Arakan State have a long history of torture and mistreatment of Rohingya detainees, Human Rights Watch said. In the southern coastal town of Moulmein, 82 fleeing Rohingya were reportedly arrested in late June and sentenced to one year in prison for violating immigration laws.

“The Burmese authorities should immediately release details of detained Rohingya, allow access to family members and humanitarian agencies, and release anyone not charged with a crime recognized under international law in which there is credible evidence,” Adams said. “This is a test case of the government’s stated commitment to reform and protecting basic rights.”

Burma’s 1982 Citizenship Law effectively denies Burmese citizenship to the Rohingya population, estimated at 800,000 to 1 million people. On July 12, Burmese President Thein Sein said the “only solution” to the sectarian strife was to expel the Rohingya to other countries or to camps overseen by the United Nations refugee agency.

“We will send them away if any third country would accept them,” he said.

Burmese law and policy discriminate against Rohingya, infringing on their rights to freedom of movement, education, and employment. Burmese government officials typically refer to the Rohingya as “Bengali,” “so-called Rohingya,” or the pejorative “Kalar,” and Rohingya face considerable prejudice from Burmese society generally, including from longtime democracy advocates and ethnic minorities who themselves have long faced oppression from the Burmese state.

Burma’s new human rights commission – led by chairman Win Mra, an ethnic Arakan – has not played an effective role in monitoring abuses in Arakan State, Human Rights Watch said. In a July 11 assessment of the sectarian violence, the commission reported on no government abuses, claimed all humanitarian needs were being met, and failed to address Rohingya citizenship and persecution.

“The Burmese government needs to urgently amend its citizenship law to end official discrimination against the Rohingya,” Adams said. “President Thein Sein cannot credibly claim to be promoting human rights while calling for the expulsion of people because of their ethnicity and religion.”

The sectarian violence has created urgent humanitarian needs for both Arakan and Rohingya communities, Human Rights Watch said. Local Arakan organizations, largely supported by domestic contributions, have provided food, clothing, medicine, and shelter to displaced Arakan. By contrast, the Rohingya population’s access to markets, food, and work remains dangerous or blocked, and many have been in hiding for weeks.<

The government has restricted access to affected areas, particularly Rohingya areas, crippling the humanitarian response. United Nations and humanitarian aid workers have faced arrest as well as threats and intimidation from the local Arakan population, which perceives the aid agencies as biased toward the Rohingya. Government restrictions have made some areas, such as villages south of Maungdaw, inaccessible to humanitarian agencies.

“The authorities should immediately grant unfettered humanitarian access to all affected populations and begin work to prevent future violence between the communities,” Adams said. “The government should assist both communities with property restitution and ensure all of the displaced can return home and live in safety.”

Since the June violence, thousands of Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh where they have faced pushbacks from the Bangladeshi government in violation of international law. Human Rights Watch witnessed Rohingya men, women, and children who arrived onshore and pleaded for mercy from Bangladesh authorities, only to be pushed back to sea in barely seaworthy wooden boats during rough monsoon rains, putting them at grave risk of drowning or starvation at sea or persecution in Burma. It is unknown how many died in these pushbacks. Those who were able to make it into Bangladesh live in hiding, with no access to food, shelter, or protection.

Bangladesh is obligated to open its borders and provide the Rohingya at least temporary refuge until it is safe for them to return, in accordance with international human rights norms. Human Rights Watch called on concerned governments to assist Bangladesh in doing so and press both Burma and Bangladesh to end abuses and ensure the safety of Rohingyas.

“Bangladesh is violating its international legal obligations by callously pushing asylum seekers in rickety boats back into the open sea,” Adams said.

US: AGOA, DR-CAFTA fixes and Burma bill finally passed

Legislation that will help provide stability for apparel and textile firms sourcing from sub-Saharan Africa and Central America, and also renews trade sanctions on Burma, was finally passed yesterday (2 August) by the US Senate and the House of Representatives.

Their passage follows a row over funding for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which temporarily halted the bills' progress last week.

It also puts an end to uncertainties over the third-country fabric provision under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which had been set to expire in September 2012.

It is estimated that almost 95% of apparel imported from AGOA nations is made with third-country fabric, and the provision's extension to September 2015 now means apparel produced in sub-Saharan African countries made from third-country fabric, or fabric originally produced anywhere in the world, will continue to enjoy duty-free access to the US.

The Republic of South Sudan has also been added to the list of countries eligible for AGOA duty-free benefits on products including apparel, footwear and textiles

As far the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), is concerned, the fixes apply to rules of origin for textile products from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

In particular, the modifications provide certainty of duty-free treatment for women's and girls' woven pyjama bottoms and clarify how certain items will be treated on the textiles "short supply" list of the FTA. Another change would be to fix a long-standing loophole under the trade pact by requiring all sewing thread, monofilament and plied, to originate in the US/DR-CAFTA region in order for products to qualify for preferential tariff treatment.

The bill also renews for another three years an import ban that has been in place since 2003 to prevent goods from Burma entering the US market. But it also leaves the Administration with the authority to waive or terminate the import sanctions.

The legislation must now be signed by President Barack Obama before being implemented.

Burmese Vice President Visits Arakan State

Protesters hold banners outside the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Rangoon on Aug 3, 2012.

Burmese Vice-President Sai Mauk Kham traveled to the predominantly Muslim township of Maungdaw in northern Arakan State on Friday amid growing international criticism of the government’s handling of recent communal conflicts between Arakanese Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas.

The purpose of the trip is to assess the situation in the area two months after the worst violence in decades broke out there in early June, according to Win Myaing, a spokesperson for the Arakan State government.

During the two-day trip, the vice-president and government ministers will observe conditions at camps set up for the tens of thousands of people from both communities who were displaced by the riots. In addition to Maungdaw, they are expected to visited Kyaukphyu and the state capital Sittwe.

The visit comes as international rights groups and foreign governments, especially in Muslim countries, have accused the government of siding with Buddhists in the clashes. Earlier this week, US-based Human Rights Watch released a report alleging that government troops targeted Rohingyas during the crackdown on the violence.

In a statement released on July 27, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also claimed that Muslim communities in Arakan State were being targeted by security forces.

However, the state government denied these charges, insisting that there was no discrimination against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority of about 800,000 people living mostly in townships near the Bangladeshi border.

“If they [foreign critics] come here, they will see that we have treated everyone equally,” said Win Myaing, adding that the state government plans to propose “security measures” to address the accusations during the vice-president’s visit.

While groups such as Amnesty International have said that hundreds of Rohingyas have been killed, raped, beaten and arbitrarily arrested since Burma declared a state of emergency in Arakan State in June, official figures put the number of casualties on both sides at 77 dead and 109 injured.

In addition, 4,822 houses, 17 mosques, 15 monasteries and three schools were destroyed, according to figures released by the government. In a report on Monday, the state-run New Light of Myanmarsaid that some 14,328 Arakanese Buddhists and 30,740 Rohingya Muslims have been affected and are currently living in 89 temporary camps.

Meanwhile, some Arakanese have complained that the international community has been one-sided in its expressions of concern. They noted, for instance, that during his visit to Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships on Tuesday, UN human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana spoke only to Rohingyas who had been displaced by the conflict.

“It isn’t fair to focus only on the suffering of one side,” said Ven Manisara, a Buddhist abbot who heads a local aid group in Maungdaw. “Our people have also suffered a lot.”

This perceived imbalance—and deep-seated resentment of the Rohingya, who are seen by many in Arakan State as interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh—has been a boon to the government of President Thein Sein, who last month rejected international calls to accept the Rohingya as citizens.

At a protest in front of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Rangoon on Friday, demonstrators held banners supporting Thein Sein’s refusal to recognize the Rohingya as one of the country’s ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, Sai Mauk Kham’s visit to Arakan State comes as Bangladesh, which has refused to allow a fresh influx of Rohingyas into the country in the wake of the recent violence, has ordered international charities to stop providing aid to those who make it across the border.

Three aid groups—France’s Medecins sans Frontieres and Action Contre la Faim and Britain’s Muslim Aid UK—have been told to suspend their services in Cox’s Bazar District bordering Burma.

Burma on the move

Seven years ago, the government of Burma (Myanmar) started to move the main offices of the civil and military bureaucracy from Yangon north to Nay Pyi Taw. Travelers can take a morning return flight from Yangon. During the rainy season, when flight schedules become unpredictable, the safer recourse is the road.

A 201-mile, four-lane divided tollway connects the two cities. At Mile 115, a rest camp offers travelers a choice among several shops serving food and selling staple provisions—and access to the only bathroom facilities between the two points. Business on a Sunday mid-afternoon was brisk, with buses unloading passengers bound for Nay Pyi Taw or the nearby town of Pyinmana.

Traffic is still relatively light. On a weekday morning drive back to Yangon, we overtook about a dozen 4-wheeled vehicles during the entire stretch of the 4-hour tollway trip. The traffic is bound to increase. The government remains highly centralized. Nay Pyi Taw (“site of the royal country”) is the indispensable stop for diplomats and any organization whose business requires government authorization.

On my first trip to Nay Pyi Taw in 2007, the relocation, officially announced in July 2006, had only started. The government had built staff housing, appropriately differentiated to reflect rank, but many officials had not yet moved their families from Yangon. Five years later, all of the ministries had constructed their own monumental buildings and the infrastructure of shops and schools supported a new community.

Nay Pyi Taw now has its own mall, with a supermarket, restaurants and movie theaters. A number of hotels have opened for business and a couple are still under construction. Residences rival those in Manila’s gated communities. The government had also built a slightly smaller version of the Shwedagon Temple in Yangon, affirming the capital’s connection to the country’s precolonial history and traditions.

More impressive than infrastructure as a sign of the changes taking place in Burma is the emergence of young leaders at the highest level of government. Those whom I met struck me as competent, committed, and confident. They recognized that their country still faced many serious problems. They also knew that they had a narrow window of opportunity to undertake fundamental changes and appeared determined to seize the moment, and they were willing to learn from the experience of others.

Last week, Burma convened a meeting on the mining industry. Some 300 participants reportedly showed up, among them foreigners and Filipinos engaged in the extractive-industries sector in the Philippines. While known to be rich in mineral resources, the Philippines is not the only deal on offer, and Burma clearly intends to join the game.

Our Burmese colleagues were aware of the discussions in the Philippines on a regulatory framework that would promote the sustainable development of the mining industry. We talked about the research that the Asian Institute of Management’s Policy Center is conducting on the sharing of benefits from mining operations between the state and private investors.

For President Aquino’s recent State of the Nation Address, the research staff had supplied the note that the government received only 9 percent of the P145 billion generated by mining activities. The bulk of government collections comes from income taxes, more easily collected from the corporate, large-scale mining sector. The government would receive more if it could more effectively collect taxes from the small-scale mining sector.

The Policy Center’s research is also looking at firm-level costs and benefits. Corporate financial results—and company contributions to government—can differ because of many factors: the kind and quality of their mineral deposits; the scale and efficiency of their operations; the stage of their life cycle. A company could be paying as much as 20 percent of its revenues to the state.

As it is opening up its own mining industry to private investors, the issue of benefit-sharing is also crucial for Burma. Those I talked to seemed to appreciate the need for the equitable sharing of mining benefits between the state and private capital, between the national government and local government units, and between the current and the future generations of citizens.

They acknowledged that the benefits from mining did not come only from the direct company payments to the state. The funds companies pay their suppliers and employees and their corporate social responsibility expenditures also boost the economy of mining communities. But they were also concerned about the environmental costs that come with mining operations. As mines have a finite, productive life span, they realized that the state must try to maximize their share of the benefits they bring.

Throughout its history, Burma has suffered its share of natural and political calamities, and survived. It now values and wants foreign investments, but not at any cost. Potential investors now lining up to enter Burma should be prepared for some tough negotiations.

Edilberto C. de Jesus is president of the Asian Institute of Management.