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?