Awaz Apni

Google announced on Friday that it has seen its Internet Content Provider (ICP license renewed by Beijing. In late June, the company made changes to its Chinese search page, no longer automatically redirecting users to Hong Kong (and uncensored search results) in a move to appease Chinese authorities. Google had added the redirection feature to its Chinese site in March , after saying it no longer wanted to censor results in China. The change, however, really stemmed from a hacking incident against the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. On Friday, Google told Reuters that "China has renewed our license. We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China." China, of course, is the largest market in the world. However, in that region, Google doesn't own the search market. Rather, its the Chinese search engine Baidu that is the China search m...

Google announced on Friday that it has seen its Internet Content Provider (ICP license renewed by Beijing. In late June, the company made changes to its Chinese search page, no longer automatically redirecting users to Hong Kong (and uncensored search results) in a move to appease Chinese authorities. Google had added the redirection feature to its Chinese site in March , after saying it no longer wanted to censor results in China. The change, however, really stemmed from a hacking incident against the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. On Friday, Google told Reuters that "China has renewed our license. We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China." China, of course, is the largest market in the world. However, in that region, Google doesn't own the search market. Rather, its the Chinese search engine Baidu that is the China search m...

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 PARIS: When French shoppers start cutting back on buying champagne, oysters and foie gras for New Year's, it's been a rough year.As Europe prepared to ring in 2009, many revelers said belt-tightening was their top New Year's resolution. The vow followed the most volatile financial year in decades, a time that saw stock markets melt around the world and hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs.Even shoppers in the affluent area west of Paris were scaling back purchases for the traditional New Year's Eve feast."We're not going to celebrate in a big way — we're being careful," said architect Moussa Siham, 24. "We will be eating fish for New Year's dinner."Sydney was the world's first major city to ring in 2009, showering its shimmering harbor with a kaleidoscope of light that drew cheers from more than a million people.Spectator Randolph King, 63, of York, England, whose retirement fund was gutted in the global financi...

Awaz Apni ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday said Pakistan wants peace and stability in the region and wants to promote friendly ties with all its neighbours including India. The President was talking to the visiting Special Envoy and Vice Foreign Minister of China, Mr. He Yafei, who called on him here and exchanged views on the current situation in the region. President Zardari said Pakistan wishes to resolve all its disputes with India in a peaceful manner. “Pakistan offered assistance and cooperation to India to investigate the Mumbai incident and displayed restraint and conciliation. Our constructive proposals were aimed at sustained and pragmatic cooperation to deal with the problem of terrorism”, he added. The President agreed on the need to avoid further vitiation of the atmosphere, adding, Pakistan and India need to engage in dialogue to address their differences. He, regretted that instead of responding to Pakistan’s positive gestures, India had engaged in a blame...

Awaz Apni ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday reiterated Pakistan's firm resolve for maintaining good relations with all its neighbours. He, however, regretted the fact that only elements inimical to cordial Pakistan-India ties and terrorists had benefited from the situation which revolved in the aftermath of Mumbai tragedy. The Prime Minister was talking to He Yafie, Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs who called on him here at the PM House today. The Prime Minister termed the menace of terrorism as a global phenomenon with Pakistan being its worst affectee. He reaffirmed his government's determination to persist in its efforts to eradicate this menace and called for collective actions by all the countries in the region. The Prime Minister stated that Pakistan desired de-escalation of tension with India and hoped that these sentiments would be reciprocated by the Indian leadership, as well. Dilating upon the Pakistan-China bilateral relations, the...

CNews BEIJING: China would work with Pakistan to push forward the bilateral strategic and cooperative partnership, said Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping here on Tuesday. Xi made the remarks in a meeting with General Tariq Majid, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Hailing the relations between China and Pakistan, Xi said the two nations enjoyed profound friendship, which had stood the test of time and international changes. China valued the traditional friendship with Pakistan, and was ready to advance relations with the south Asia country, he noted. Echoing Xi's remarks, Majid said Pakistan attached great importance to the relations with China, and would join in China to promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation. Later this day, Majid also met with the Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie. Liang applauded that the two countries have witnessed satisfactory achievement on military cooperation, in accordance with the sound development of bilateral relations. China ...

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 GUWAHATI: Eleven bomb blasts in quick succession ripped through the main city of India's troubled northeastern Assam state and three other towns on Thursday, killing at least 58 people and wounding 342, police said. No one has claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts. Assam has been a focus of a separatist insurgency for decades, but it has also recently suffered bomb attacks blamed on Islamist militants from neighboring Bangladesh. Many of Thursday's blasts were in crowded markets in the state and many bombs were hidden in motorcycles or scooters. Firefighters doused the smoldering remains of cars and motorcycles at one of the blast sites in Guwahati. One of the blasts targeted a high-security zone with a court as well as offices and the homes of senior police officials. Television channels showed some people lying on the streets, their clothes soaked in blood. Some of the walking wounded were helped into ambulances by local people and police. "Immediately after t...

Cnews BEIJING: China has assured Pakistan that it would extend its full support to bring it out from prevalent economic crisis. President Asif Ali Zardari and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Thursday held formal talks here focusing on further cementing strategic partnership between the two countries. The Chinese Premier warmly received President Zardari at his residence where the two leaders shook hands and exchanged broad grins reflecting warmth and strength of friendly bond between the times tested friends. Later, talking to media here, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Pakistan and China enjoy time tested friendly bond and share commonalities on regional and global issues. The spokesman said China was well aware of Pakistan’s economic woes and would extend its full support to bring it out from prevalent crisis.However, the spokesman did not comment on the issue of Pak-China civil nuclear agreement.

CNews VIENNA: The Chinese government on Saturday not only nearly toppled India's Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) bid in Vienna, but went a step further by advocating a similar nuclear deal for Pakistan.China made the case for Pakistan in a veiled statement, saying it hoped the NSG would ‘equally address the aspirations of all parties.’ A number of analysts have taken the phrase ‘of all parties’ to mean a reference to its ally Pakistan.Chinese Foreign Minister, Cheng Jingye, head of Chinese delegation scheduled to visit on Sunday said, “It is also China's hope that the NSG would equally address the aspirations of all parties for the peaceful use of nuclear power while adhering to the nuclear non-proliferation mechanism.”

CNews  BEIJING: The Beijing Olympics 2008, the biggest show on earth in the real sense of the world, is going to end today. Host China has completed its half-century of the gold medals at the Olympics but the Pakistan contingent could not win any medal at this mega event. The Olympic Games, the first ever to be hosted by the People’s Republic of China, started on Augusts 8 with an spectacular colourful opening ceremony to stir the imgination of viewers world-wide. In between, China displayed its sporting prowess to lead the medal table, another first in the history of the Olympics for the hosts. The scene now shifts from Bird’s Nest, Water Cube and Tiananmen Square to Wembley, Wimbeldon and Trafalgar Square in London which first hosted the Olympics way back in 1908. In all contests held so far, China has obtained fifty gold medals to lead the medals table at the Olympics 2008. China won its 50th gold in light-flyweight category of boxing when Zou Shiming defeated Mongolia's Serdamb...

CNews DUBAI: Advisor to Prime Minister for Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik has arrived in Dubai from where he would leave for China to attend the inaugural ceremony of Beijing Olympics.Talking to CNews upon his arrival here, Rehman Malik said he was taking along with him Pakistan’s message of peace, friendship and best wishes for successful holding of Olympics for the Chinese government.

CNews TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that Iran would not retreat in the face of demands by world powers for Tehran to halt sensitive nuclear work. "Taking one step back against arrogant (powers) will lead to them to take one step forward," Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television in a sermon. His comments come ahead of a Saturday deadline for Iran to respond to a package of incentives aimed at persuading it to freeze uranium enrichment, a process that makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb. Iran on July 19 held talks with representatives of major powers including EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and for the first time an official from Tehran's arch-foe the United States, William Burns. Iran was given until Saturday to give its final answer. But Iran has rejected any deadline, saying it was agreed in Geneva that it would during a two-week period examine the proposal put forward by permanent UN Security Counci...

CNews KARACHI: Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics, Karachi University said that only partial eclipse shall be seen in the north western part of Pakistan on August 1. The people of Peshawar shall have first glimpse of partial eclipse at around 16:18 Pakistan Summer Time and the partial eclipse shall be longest (2 hours) in Peshawar and its vicinity.The partial eclipse shall begin at 16:20 in Islamabad, 16:25 in Lahore and Quetta, 16:39 in Hyderabad and 16:40 in Karachi (all times according to summer time).The partial eclipse shall end in Karachi at 18:26. The magnitude of eclipse shall remain less than 50% with maximum in Peshawar, Islamabad and Lahore.The total eclipse of the sun would be visible from a narrow corridor that traverses half the earth.The path of the Moon's Umbral shadow begins in Canada and extends across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mangolia and China where it will end at sunset, says Pakistan Met. office on Saturday.The partial eclipse...

CNews BEIJING: An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck China's Sichuan province on Monday, less than 100 km (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Chengdu, the U.S.Geological Survey said on its Web site. The tremor, centered 92 km northwest of Chengdu, was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, where office buildings swayed with the impact.

I know I haven't posted for a long time, but I wanted to make my opinion known about the political controversy surrounding the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Firstly, concerning the calls for a straight out boycott. I am extremely opposed to such a boycott, as it is completely unfair to the atheletes (who, by the way, are actually the focal point of the Olympics) and it wouldn't actually accomplish anything. The former is quite obvious but the latter is unfortunately not. I first learned about this in a recent edition of Maclean's magazine which contained an article by John Fraser. Basically he said that the Chinese government will not be budged by any outside power concerning it's policies towards non-Communist groups that pose a threat to the government or its vision of China. They know how a group can pounce up and take over a country, as that's what the Communists did themselves in China, and they have decided that they must exterminate any threat to the Communist Pa...

I know I haven't posted for a long time, but I wanted to make my opinion known about the political controversy surrounding the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Firstly, concerning the calls for a straight out boycott. I am extremely opposed to such a boycott, as it is completely unfair to the atheletes (who, by the way, are actually the focal point of the Olympics) and it wouldn't actually accomplish anything. The former is quite obvious but the latter is unfortunately not. I first learned about this in a recent edition of Maclean's magazine which contained an article by John Fraser. Basically he said that the Chinese government will not be budged by any outside power concerning it's policies towards non-Communist groups that pose a threat to the government or its vision of China. They know how a group can pounce up and take over a country, as that's what the Communists did themselves in China, and they have decided that they must exterminate any threat to the Communist Pa...

CNews BOAO: President Pervez Musharraf called on Saturday for strengthening concerted international and regional co-operation, protect the environment, strive for conservation and improvement of energy efficiency and free transfer of technology to cut environmental hazards.In a keynote address here at the Boao Forum for Asia on "Green Asia: Moving towards win-win through changes" the president said "the challenge of sustaining economic development and ensuring environmental protection is overwhelming and beyond the capacity of most individual countries in Asia."He said environmental issues will assume increasing gravity for the world and especially for Asia as it advances in economic and technology."This poses inescapable challenge for the present and the future of our continent demanding responses at individual and collective levels," the President said.More than 1,700 influential politicians, business leaders, intellectuals and journalists from all over ...