Awaz Apni

Breaking News Washington (CNews) -- In advance of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday, President Barack Obama said Wednesday evening that "this moment of opportunity may not soon come again." "The hard work is only beginning--neither success nor failure is inevitable," Obama said in remarks from the White House Rose Garden. "But this much we know: If we do not make the attempt, then failure is guaranteed." With the U.S. war in Iraq drawing to a close, the Middle East moved front and center for administration officials Wednesday as President Barack Obama held a series of high-stakes meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders. Obama huddled behind closed doors at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. On Wednesday night, Obama called the talks "very productive." But he also pointe...

A massive manhunt was under way on Sunday for two US sailors missing in eastern Afghanistan, as a Taliban spokesman claimed the insurgents had killed one and captured the other. Two days after the US Navy sailors went missing in Logar province, just south of Kabul, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it had no fresh information on their whereabouts. After denying for 24 hours that they were involved, a Taliban spokesman Sunday claimed the insurgents had ambushed the pair, killing one and taking the other captive. "One of the two was killed in the exchange of fire and we arrested the second alive," said Zabihullah Mujahid, speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location. "We have taken both the body and the captured soldier with us and they have been carried to a safe location. We claim responsibility for it now," he told Awaz Apni. The men went missing around 8:00pm (1530 GMT) on Friday in an area of Logar known to be dominate...

Awaz Apni WASHINGTON: Angelina Jolie is considering quitting acting for good because she's much happier in her role as a mother and a humanitarian. The Hollywood star recently completed filming of her latest movie, The Tourist with Johnny Depp, and has several projects lined up including a big-screen adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's popular Kay Scarpetta novels. But Jolie, who has six kids with her partner Brad Pitt, reveals she's growing tired of acting and might not "do it much longer". She tells Vanity Fair magazine, "It's (acting) not the most important thing in my life. Acting helped me as I was growing up. It helped me learn about myself, helped me travel, helped me understand life, express myself, all those wonderful things. So I'm very, very grateful, it's a fun job. It's a luxury... But I don't think I'll do it much longer. Because I have a happy home... I got back from work last night, and everybody was pl...

Awaz Apni WASHINGTON: Further information on the nuclear cooperation with Pakistan has been demanded from China, said the U.S. State Department spokesman P J Crowley in a press briefing at Washington Tuesday. “Pakistan and China would require the consent of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group for nuclear cooperation,” said Crowley. He said that China is being consulted for the said matter, so that it can be investigated. “The US also raised the issue at the NSG meeting last week,” he added.

Awaz Apni Washington -- Ten individuals have been arrested in the United States for spying for Russia, the Justice Department announced Monday. The 10 were "trained Russian intelligence operatives," a Justice Department spokesman said. All 10 suspects are charged with acting as agents of a foreign government, and nine are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Among the phony identities taken by the alleged spies are those of dead Americans, officials said. All are scheduled to appear in court Monday in New York, Boston, Massachusetts, and Alexandria, Virginia. A total of 11 defendants -- including the 10 arrested -- have been charged in two separate criminal complaints. One defendant is still at large, according to the Justice Department. The defendants have been charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison,...

Awaz Apni WASHINGTON: The United States wants to make sure Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for Al Qaeda and does not destabilise its nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan, US President Barack Obama here said.In an interview, the US President said his administration would have clear objectives in Afghanistan and wanted to fix the drift that occurred there over the last two years. “What we can do is make sure that Afghanistan is not a safe haven for Al Qaeda. What we can do is make sure that it is not destabilising neighbouring Pakistan,” he told a television.Obama also said he feared the detainees freed from Guantanamo would resume attacks on the United States.“Can we guarantee that they’re not going to try to participate in another attack? No,” Obama said.“But what I can guarantee is that if we don’t uphold our constitution and our values, over time that will make us less safe. And that will be a recruitment tool for organisations like Al Qaeda,” he said.

Awaz Apni WASHINGTON (CNewsworld.co.cc) -- Barack Obama delivered a sobering assessment of where America stands and a hopeful vision of what it can become during his inaugural address as the nation's 44th president."Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time," Obama told those gathered on the National Mall -- a crowd estimated at about 2 million -- and millions more watching on television and the Internet. "But know this, America -- they will be met," he said. Obama acknowledged the "nagging fear" of an imminent decline of the U.S. He firmly asserted that Americans were up to reversing the trends spawning that fear, whether they be social, economic or political. "Greatness is never a given. It must be earned," he said, further proclaiming that people who question the scale of U.S. ambitions "have forgotten what this country has alread...

Awaz Apni WASHINGTON: Obama-fever swept the globe Tuesday carrying widespread public hopes that the incoming US president would lead the world into a new crisis-free era.In the hours before Barack Obama took the oath of office in Washington, foreign governments and new polls all showed huge support for the Democratic president even though many analysts have warned that expectations for his rule are unrealistic.Pictures of Obama dominated front pages and television news programmes around the world. A Spain's newspaper published a photo of Obama and his wife Michelle above the headline: "The American Dream Comes to Power"Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero said an "Obama effect" could shorten the global recession."We could see a rebound faster than expected, it is a question of confidence because the fundamentals of the global economy are good enough," added the socialist premier.German Chancellor Angela Merkel was looking forward to working close...

Awaz Apni WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers.It's unlikely the detention facility at the Navy base in Cuba will be closed anytime soon. In an interview last weekend, Obama said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.But the order, which one adviser said could be issued as early as Jan. 20, would start the process of deciding what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held there. Most have not been charged with a crime.The Guantanamo directive would be one of a series of executive orders Obama is planning to issue shortly after he takes office next Tuesday, according to the two advisers. Also expected is an executive order about certain interrogation methods...

Awaz Apni WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama has introduced his choices for CIA chief — Leon Panetta — and national intelligence director — retired Adm. Dennis Blair. Obama described them as men of "unquestioned integrity" and "broad experience" who are "uniquely qualified" for the posts. He said they will help the nation stay ahead of emerging threats. The introduction of Panetta and Blair comes four days after their names were leaked to reporters. There was surprise in Washington over the choice of Panetta for the CIA post. The former White House chief of staff has no direct intelligence experience. Blair is a former head of U.S. Pacific Command who was credited with fighting terrorism in southeast Asia after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

AMagazine WASHINGTON: Unprecedented intelligence cooperation involving investigating agencies and spy outfits of India, United States, United Kingdom and Israel has got underway to crack the method and motive behind the Mumbai terrorist massacre, now widely blamed on Islamist radicals who appeared to have all four countries on their hit list when they arrived on the shores of India. Investigators, forensic analysts, counter-terrorism experts and spymasters from agencies the four countries are converging in New Delhi and Mumbai to put their heads, resources, and skills together to understand the evolving nature of the beast. The spy chief of the Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) is also being summoned to India to help with the investigations because of the widely-held view that the terrorists' footprints go back to Pakistan. The Bush administration has taken the lead to forge cooperation, partly out of concern that charges by India that the terror plot has Pakistani f...

AMagazine WASHINGTON/LONDON: President-elect Barack Obama and UN chief Ban ki-moon led the global community condemnation of the terror attacks in Mumbai and called on the nations of the world to work together to "root out and destroy terrorist networks". At least 100 people, including Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, were killed when terrorists struck with impunity in Mumbai in coordinated multiple blasts and gunfire in a dozen areas across the city. "These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism," Obama's Chief National security Spokesperson Brooke Anderson said in a statement. "The United States must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks," he said. "We stand with the people of India, whose democracy will prove far more resilient than the hateful ideology that led to these attacks," Anderson ad...

CNews WASHINGTON: It's not just families that are getting together this Thanksgiving week. The three brightest objects in the night sky — Venus, Jupiter and a crescent moon — will crowd around each other for an unusual group shot.Starting Thanksgiving evening, Jupiter and Venus will begin moving closer so that by Sunday and Monday, they will appear 2 degrees apart, which is about a finger width held out at arm's length, said Alan MacRobert, senior editor at a science magazine. Then on Monday night, they will be joined by a crescent moon right next to them, he said.Look in the southwestern sky around twilight — no telescope or binoculars needed. The show will even be visible in cities if it's a clear night."It'll be a head-turner," MacRobert said. "This certainly is an unusual coincidence for the crescent moon to be right there in the days when they are going to be closest together."The moon is the brightest, closest and smallest of the three and is 2...

CNews WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said its executive board approved a credit of 7 billion and 600 million dollars for Pakistan, the Fund's first rescue in Asia since the global financial crisis began.The credit will "support the country's economic stabilization program," the IMF said in a brief statement.The Fund and Pakistan had already announced an agreement in principle earlier this month on the key elements of an economic program to be supported by an SDR 5.17 billion (about US$7.6 billion) 23-month Stand-By Arrangement, seeking approval by the IMF Executive Board.The agreement was aimed at staving off a balance of payments crisis that has raised the prospect of the nation defaulting on its foreign debts.With today’s approval Pakistan is likely to receive between $3.5 billion and $4 billion initially, while the rest will be distributed in six equal installments.The official signing ceremony of the loan agreement between Pakistan and the I...

CNews WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush on Tuesday called President Asif Ali Zardari to greet him on his election and vowed Washington’s full support for the elected government’s efforts to defeat violent extremism. “This morning I called Pakistan’s newly elected leader President Zardari. I pledged the full support of America’s government as Pakistan takes the fight to the terrorists and extremists in the (Pakistan-Afghan) border region,” Bush said at the National Defense University, where he announced additional deployments for Pakistan’s insurgency-hit neighbor Afghanistan. The United States, he underscored “must also help the government of Pakistan defeat Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters hiding in the remote border regions of their country” as they pose threat to democracy in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the past year, the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other extremist groups hiding in these regions stepped up their attacks against the Pakistani government to stop the democratic progr...

CNews DENVER: Surrounded by an enormous, adoring crowd, Barack Obama promised a clean break from the "broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W Bush" Thursday as he embarked on the final lap of his audacious bid to become the nation's first black president."America, now is not the time for small plans," the 47-year-old Democratic Illinois senator told an estimated 84,000 people packed into Invesco Field, a huge football stadium at the base of the Rocky Mountains.He vowed to cut taxes for nearly all working-class families, end the war in Iraq and break America's dependence on Mideast oil within a decade.By contrast, he said, "John McCain has voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time," a scathing indictment of his Republican rival — on health care, education, the economy and more.Polls indicate a close race between Obama and McCain, the Arizona senator who stands between him and a place in history. On a night 45 years a...

CNews WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday granting asylum to embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was not currently under consideration by the United States."That's not an issue on the table, and I just want to keep our focus on what we must do with the democratic government of Pakistan," Rice told foreign news channel on Sunday when asked if Washington would give the Pakistan president asylum.She spoke as Pakistan's ruling coalition readied impeachment charges against Musharraf and gave him two days to step down.Asked if it would be in the best interest of Pakistan to have Musharraf resign, Rice said: "This is a matter for the Pakistanis to resolve."We have been supportive of democratic elections that took place in Pakistan. In fact, advocated for them."She said the United States had showed its support for the new government, citing President George W. Bush's recent meeting with Pakistani premier Yousuf Raza ...

CNews LONDON: The plane crash in Bahawalpur desert twenty years ago which killed former Pakistan President General Zia-ul-Haq along with the US Ambassador Arnold Raphael and spawned several conspiracies theories has now been blamed on the mechanical problem, says a report in a foreign newspaper. According to the daily, American, Soviet, Indian and even Israeli intelligence agents were among those blamed for sabotaging the PAF C-130 Hercules plane. The daily has uncovered a far less complicated explanation. According to US investigators, a mechanical problem, known to be relatively common with the C-130 military transport aircraft, was to blame. “There were a lot of conspiracy theories and there still are, understandably in that part of the world,” Robert Oakley, who took over as US Ambassador to Pakistan after the crash and helped to handle the politically fraught investigation, told newspaper. “ Washington sent a team of US Air Force officers to assist the Pakistanis in the investigat...

CNews ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who is detained in US jail for terror charges, would be brought back to Pakistan along with her children.Addressing media, he said Pakistan has formally contacted US authorities for the repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, adding the human rights organizations and women rights organizations would also be contacted in this regard.Pakistani diplomats in this connection, have formally submitted an application to US authorities to hand over Dr Aafia. The Pakistani embassy in Washington conveyed the demand to the State Department, saying if the children of the 36-year old Pakistani scientist are in the US custody, they be handed over immediately for their return to homeland.The embassy once again urged the US authorities to ensure that Ms Siddiqui does not have to go through any humiliation or degradation under the pretext of body searches before and after visits by her attorneys.It also raised the issue of avail...

CNews WASHINGTON: Pakistan has officially demanded U.S that Pakistani detainee Dr. Aafia Siddiqui be provided under Pakistan’s custody here on late Tuesday, sources said.Pakistan ambassador to United States Hussain Haqqani has forwarded a letter to U.S State Department demanding sue motto custody of Aafia Siddiqui to Pakistan, it added.Letter reveals Pakistan’s demand to U.S to immediately entrust Dr. Aafia and her three children to Pakistan custody. Pakistan embassy sources said.Dr. Aafia Siddiqui matter has been politicized in Pakistan and the people want her immediate release, it further added.