Oct 15 - CSS A&N

Analysis & News Summary – Oct 15

Report Urges Obama to Freeze Pakistan Aid

WASHINGTON: An influential US think-tank urged the Obama administration on Friday to freeze its aid to Pakistan until the country took actions against perpetrators of the US Embassy attack in Kabul and helped shut down the Haqqani network. (More)

Draft of New Visa Accord with India Finalised

NEW DELHI: The Joint Working Group of Pakistan and India finalised a draft of a new visa agreement after examining modalities for streamlining visa procedures at a two-day meeting that concluded here on Friday.(More)

British Defense Chief Liam Fox Resigns- Washington Post

LONDON — Britain’s hawkish defense minister, Liam Fox, resigned Friday amid a mounting conflict-of-interest scandal, vacating his job at a critical juncture in British military planning and dealing a blow to Prime Minister David Cameron’s government. (More)

BBC: Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi wins confidence vote

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a key confidence vote in parliament, sparked by questions over his handling of the economy and personal scandals. (More)

United Nations Rights Head Warns Of 'Civil War' In Syria – Al-Jazeera Intl

International community urged to take immediate action as UN's estimated death toll since protests began exceeds 3,000. (More)

US to send troops to Uganda to help fight LRA rebels

US President Barack Obama has said he is sending about 100 US soldiers to Uganda to help regional forces battle the notorious Lord's Resistance Army. (More)

British unemployment rockets to 17-year high

LONDON: Britain's jobless total has hit a 17 year-high, data showed Wednesday, stoking fears of a new recession and denting government hopes that the private sector can compensate for massive cuts in state jobs. (More)

============  ============  **** ANALYSIS **** ============  ============

The war that established no new doctrine By Simon Tisdall 

THE Libyan war, which began in earnest in February and edged towards a ragged conclusion on Thursday in the dusty, blood-specked alleyways of Sirte, was, in its most hyperbolic aspect, a victory for democracy, freedom, and the Arab spring. (More)

Fighting the dengue epidemic By Prof Dr Arif Nawaz

Dengue fever has continued to haunt mankind for the last several centuries with historical accounts of this disease from Africa which are between five to six hundred years old. The first outbreaks of dengue fever reached Asia, South America and Africa concurrently in the 1780s. Now this disease (More)

Dawn Editorial - Crime and terrorism + Polio Cases

MILITANCY and terrorism in Pakistan is a hydra-headed monster. Experience has shown that even when the security forces achieve success in one area, their efforts do not succeed in killing the monster (More)

Looking for heroes By Shada Islam

GROWING up, there was no dearth of heroes. My father was certainly one. Even now, 11 years after his death, I still marvel at his intellect, admire his vision and chuckle at his jokes. My quest for other heroes — and heroines — has been less successful, however. (More)

Power politics Irfan Husain

YOU may not win an election by providing regular electricity, but you can easily lose one by failing to.

At the last general elections in 2008, the ruling PML-Q got hammered because of its failure to add to the national grid (More)

The making of the modern maulvi By Ajmal Kamal Tribune Opinion & Analysis

Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi opposed the Khilafat movement so fiercely that he was willing to sacrifice his life for the cause of opposing it. His Malfoozat have the following entry concerning the events. “During the peak days of the Tehreek-e-Khilafat, fiery people were in a state of great rage. There was fire all around. Matters came to such a pass (More)

What America needs to do By Ali Ezzatyar / Shahpur Kabraji

When its highest ranking military officer declares a major ally to be the potential sponsor of multiple terrorist attacks, including a 20-hour-long assault on a US embassy, the US has a problem. When it turns out that the same (More)

Some suggest staying away from Obama’s Wars by Imran Ali Teepu

Gazetted officers of the federal government receive a book from the Cabinet Division’s Services Club every  year – for a price – to stimulate their minds. (More)

Imp: Turkey’s renewal By A.G. Noorani - Analysis

NEARLY nine years in office as prime minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has already carved his name in history by his domestic and foreign policies. (More)

News and Analysis

Daily Summary News & Analysis              (Details also available on www.cssnewspaper2.blogspot.com)

US urged to avoid verbal assaults, finger-pointing

ISLAMABAD: In what is seen here as a serious attempt to repair the dent in relations caused by serious allegations emanating from Washington, America’s special envoy Marc Grossman said here after wide-ranging talks. (Details)

US to continue pressure on Pakistan for positive role: Clinton

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reiterated that US would continue to mount heavy pressure on Pakistan for positive role in war on terror, Geo News reported. (Details)
Govt announces relaxation in CNG loadshedding

ISLAMABAD: While warning the country that the shortage of gas would get severe this summer, the government on Friday announced reduction in the loadshedding of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). (Details)

Hina Khar to represent Pakistan at world’s biggest business forum

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will be among the handful of those distinguished women participants, who will speak at one of the world's biggest meeting of the private sector and heads of the government scheduled in Perth, Australia later (Details)

Judiciary checks arbitrary exercise of power, says CJ

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said on Thursday that judiciary as an institution could never be independent unless individual judges remained impartial. (Details)

Only religious parties can stop America, says Fazl

QUETTA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday said the coalition of religious parties was the need of the hour and its only them that can stop US from its ‘nefarious designs’ (Details)

Reuters: US not sincere about Afghan peace: Haqqanis

ISLAMABAD: The United States was not sincere about peace in Afghanistan when it signalled it would remain open to exploring a settlement that includes the Haqqani (Details)

Business- Guardian: BP to expand North Shttp://cssnewspaper2.blogspot.com/2011/10/very-important-guardian-how-barack.htmlea oilfields

• Cameron backs £4bn plan for 'new Atlantic frontier'  • Greenpeace warns of oil spills and rising emissions.      BP faced fresh condemnation from environmentalists on Thursday after it got the go- (Details)

AlJazeera: Gaddafi 'being tracked by satellite'

Libya's National Transitional Council says that Muammar Gaddafi, the country's toppled leader, is in the southern desert region of the country, and that it is only a matter of time before he is captured. (Details)

The Guardian: Dominique Strauss-Kahn attempted rape inquiry dropped

Prosecutors say they have evidence ex-IMF chief sexually assaulted young French writer, but he will not face charges (Details)

UK’s Liam Fox faces fresh questions on Sri Lanka links

Defence secretary, UK,  accused of running 'maverick foreign policy' in Sri Lankan Development Trust dealings involving Adam Werritty (Details)

 ----------------------------------   *** ANALYSIS ***    --------------------------------

IMP- Guardian: How Barack Obama went from cool to cold

Barack Obama's measured approach won him the White House. So why do supporters think he lacks the 'fierce urgency of now'? (Details)

The selfish state By Cyril Almeida

CRISES erupt, the government fire-fights, things settle back down: we’ve seen it a million times before, right? At least that’s what logic traced on the historical record suggests. It’s always been the same, always will be the same. The unofficial motto of Pakistan is, onwards to the next crisis. And yet, it’s hard to shake off the feeling that maybe, just maybe, something different is (Details)

Aiders and abettors by Kamran Shafi

The Deep State is not alone in its enterprise of trying to fool all of the people all of the time for its own ends: it is aided and abetted by various and varied ‘elites’, most of whom have either occupied positions of high authority in government; are media ‘stars’ (Details)

The pact of Hudaibya By Nilofar Ahmed

SOME time after the migration of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his followers to Madina, the Makkans banned the entry of the believers in Makkah, even for the purposes of Haj or umrah. (Details)

IMP: Democracy’s failure? By S. Akbar Zaidi

THE new conventional wisdom is that democracy has failed in Pakistan. Yet again. It seems so obvious to everyone that this is now the overwhelming, unquestioned, uncontested consensus. (Details)

IMP: Crisis in ties with Afghanistan By Khalid Aziz 

RECENTLY, President Hamid Karzai signed a strategic partnership agreement with India in New Delhi. Among other things, it provides for the training of Afghan army officers in India.  (Details)

The Economist: A Swedish October surprise

LIBERIANS have voted in the first domestically run poll since the end of a bloody civil war in 2003. Queues snaked around schools and churches converted into polling  (Details)

Punjab most violent province for women: Report - Tribune

Punjab is the most violent province in Pakistan, or so the data collected by Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in 70 districts across the country suggests.(Details)

13 October Daily News & Analysis

Daily Summary News and Analysis               Details on www.cssnewspaper2.blogspot.com

US cannot abandon Pakistan relationship: Clinton
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday the United States cannot abandon Pakistan but that the South Asian nation must help solve Afghanistan’s difficulties or it will “continue to be part of the problem.” (Details)

With new threats, US Army must reinvent itself: Panetta

The US Army won’t be fighting conventional wars against columns of tanks in the future and will have to prepare for new threats from cheaper high-tech weaponry, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday. (Details)

Cabinet comes up with old formula to cope with power crisis
The federal cabinet again approved on Wednesday a formula to resolve the energy crisis that has failed earlier — two weekly days off, business closure at sunset and staggering of industrial holidays — to overcome increasing electricity shortfall during peak hours. Details)
Pakistan faces threat of water scarcity

By Amin Ahmed: ISLAMABAD: The United Nations has placed Pakistan among the ‘water hotspots’ of Asia-Pacific region, saying that the country is facing major threats of increasing water scarcity, high water utilisation, deteriorating water quality and climate change risk. (Details)

Ban on fissile material production opposed

UNITED NATIONS: Some powerful states had changed the strategic environment of the South Asian region, Pakistan complained to the world body on Tuesday and said it opposed banning production of fissile material used as fuel for nuclear weapons. (Details)

Ten killed in slew of attacks targeting Iraq police

BAGHDAD: Iraqi officials say 10 people have been killed in a string of attacks targeting security forces in Baghdad. Two police officials say a suicide attacker blew himself (Details)

Alleged plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador: Biden warns Iran of ‘serious consequences’

WASHINGTON, Oct 12: US Vice President Joe Biden warned Iran on Wednesday that it would have to face ‘serious consequences’ for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. US President Barack Obama called the plot a “flagrant violation” of US and international law but allowed his deputies to do most of the talking. (Details)

Clinton calls Iran plot ‘dangerous escalation’

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday denounced an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington as a ‘dangerous escalation’ by Tehran and called for international condemnation. (Details)

Millions suffer as BlackBerry disruptions enter third day

NEW YORK, Oct 12: A three-day disruption to BlackBerry services spread to North America on Wednesday, frustrating millions of users of the Research In Motion (RIM) devices just two days before rival Apple’s new iPhone 4S goes on sale. (Details)

‘He gave joy and pleasure to millions of music lovers in India and abroad’ 
MUMBAI: The Indian singer and composer Jagjit Singh, who won generations of fans by reviving the traditional genre of “ghazal”music, died on Monday in a Mumbai hospital at the age of 70. (Details)

Kidnapped journalist returns

MIRAMSHAH, Oct 12: A journalist kidnapped by suspected militants about two months ago reached home here on Wednesday, after a deal was struck between the kidnappers and a jirga, sources said. (Details)
------------------------ **** ------------------------      ***ANALYSIS***        ------------------------ **** ------------------------
Civil war in Syria? By Gwynne Dyer
BACK in 1989, when the communist regimes of Europe were tottering towards their end, almost every day somebody would say `There`s going to be a civil war.` And our job, as foreign journalists who allegedly had their finger on the pulse of events, was to say: `No, there won`t be.` (Details)
Drainage crisis in Indus basin By Azhar Lashari
THE recent floods in Sindh have triggered a debate in the media about the role of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) in exacerbating the disaster in the south-eastern districts of the province. Much has been said and written about how the LBOD, meant for the drainage of excessive irrigation water from Nawabshah, Sanghar and Mirpurkhas districts into the Arabian Sea, has turned out to be a recurring cause of flood disaster since the 1999 cyclone in (Details)
After the SC verdict BY I.A Rehman

AS expected the Supreme Court decision on the killings and disorder in Karachi has had a mixed reception. While most commentators have welcomed the court`s (Details)
Movement in the making By Hina Mahmood

Approaching Zuccotti Park, the sound of drumbeats in the air, I could see hundreds of protesters, picketing on its lawns, a few blocks from Ground Zero in New York. (Details)

THE INDEPENDENT : Robert Fisk: Democratic governments don't deal with terrorists – until they do

In three decades, the Israelis have freed 7,000 prisoners in return for 19 Israeli prisoners (Details)

12 Oct 2011 Top News and Analysis- CSS Newspaper

12 Oct Daily Summary News and Analysis             Details on www.cssnewspaper.blogspot.com

US open to Afghan peace deal including Haqqani: Clinton

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday signalled that the United States remains open to exploring a peace deal including the Haqqani network (Details)

Guardian UK: Pakistan's madrasa reform 'stalls'

A majority of Pakistanis are in favour of English language teaching being introduced into the country's madrasa schools, according to a recent survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan. (Details)

US making strategic bet on India

WASHINGTON, Oct 11: The future of world politics will be decided in the Asia-Pacific region, not Afghanistan or Iraq, and the United States will be right at the centre of the action, (Details)

CNN: Syria opposition gains regional backers

(CNN) -- International powers put more heat on Syria's government Tuesday, as a new umbrella opposition group gained key backers(Details)

BBC: Ukraine ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko jailed over gas deal

David Stern in Kiev says the verdict has been criticised by the EU and Russia. A judge ruled the ex-prime minister had criminally exceeded her powers when she signed a gas deal with Russia in 2009. (Details)

Gulf News: Netanyahu seeks to legalize outposts built on private Palestinian land

Instruction issued under pressure from the right in response to state's decision to demolish several outposts built on private Palestinian land. (Details)

Guardian UK: Iranians charged in US over plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador

US claims elements of Iranian government directed bomb plot with alleged involvement of Mexican drug cartel (Details)

CNN: U.N. peacekeepers killed in Darfur

(CNN) -- Three United Nations peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in a camp for displaced people in Sudan's Darfur region, the global body said Tuesday. (Details)

CNN: Myanmar begins prisoner release

 (CNN) -- Myanmar has begun the release of what it said will eventually be more than 6,300 prisoners under a mass amnesty. Among the inmates freed by noon Wednesday, 70 were political detainees, (Details)

US ‘fighting a war’ in Pakistan: Panetta

WASHINGTON: Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday the United States is waging “war” in Pakistan against militants, referring to a covert campaign the CIA steadfastly refuses to publicly confirm. (Details)

14-year jail proposed for damaging oil, gas pipelines

ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The National Assembly`s Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources approved on Tuesday amendments to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2011, making oil and gas theft a non-bailable offence (Details)

Zaka appointed PCB chairman

ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The government appointed on Tuesday Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. (Details)

-----------------------------------------------------         *****      -------------------------------------------------

The burden of bans by Rafia Zakaria

AS September gasped its last, something unprecedented happened in the French town of Meaux, located about 25km from the heart of Paris. (Details)

Repairing frayed ties By Michael O’Hanlon

AFTER a year of calamitous turns in the relationship between Washington and Islamabad, many Americans are wondering how this troubled alliance can possibly be repaired. Even more may be wondering how we can (Details)

The burka debate by Zubeida Mustafa

IT is a debate that is unending and can go on ad infinitum. The object of this global controversy is the contentious hijab that has had as many supporters as detractors. The arguments draw references from religion, culture, social norms, human rights and (Details)

CNN Article: Zakaria: How Obama can overcome the down economy

I talked to John King the other day about President Obama's reelection strategy in this down economy. Take a look at the video above and/or the transcript below: (Details)