Awaz Apni WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama spoke with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday about the violence in Gaza, which has left as many as 228 people dead, two transition aides told media."The president-elect appreciated the call and the information from Secretary Rice," one aide said, adding that Obama initiated the eight-minute phone call. "He will continue to closely monitor these and other global events."Israeli airstrikes pounded targets in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday and continued into the night, retaliating against Palestinian militants who have been escalating rocket attacks against southern Israel. The fighting sparked eight days after a six-month Egypt-brokered cease-fire between Hamas and Israel expired.Obama has pledged to make Middle East peace a priority from the beginning of his presidency. Arabs are calling for a more even-handed approach than the Bush administration, but Israel is expecting Obama to stay true to the pro-Israel posture he showed during the campaign.But one analyst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cautioned against putting "dangerously high" expectations on the incoming administration."I think the tone of American politics will change: You're going to get a serious effort on behalf of the new administration," said Aaron David Miller, a public policy scholar at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center and a former adviser to six secretaries of state on Arab-Israeli relations.But, he told, "the fact is that unless the Israelis and Palestinians are prepared -- which they're not right now -- to take the political decisions required to overcome the gaps and to sell an agreement to their respective constituents, there's not much a new president, no matter how bold or charismatic he may be, is going to be able to do about that."
CNews Karachi. July 05: A Pakistani Scientist in Britain has invented a new chemical for processing plastic (polythene) bags which has the quality of dissolution after its use in 105 days.A manufacturing unit for these plastic bags was being set up in Turkey while interest has been shown in the setting up of a big unit and manufacturing firm’s head quarter in Karachi which will be used to supply such dissolvable polythene bags to Asian countries. The Director of UK based firm Bio Plast Biodegradable Plastics GL Punn while leading a 15 member delegation called on EDO Municipal Services City Government Masood Alam. The Executive Director of Bio Plast Pakistan Muhammad Hanif Awan and M. Sultan Mehmood Awan was also present on this occasion. The Director of Bio Plast informed the EDO Municipal Services about the characteristics of new chemical. He said that the firm was going to set up its first plant in Turkey which will be operative in next two months. The delegation also praised the vi