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Pakistan Tells U.S. It Must Sharply Cut C.I.A. Activities
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan has demanded that the United States steeply reduce the number of Central Intelligence Agency operatives and Special Operations forces working in Pakistan, and that it halt C.I.A. drone strikes aimed at militants in northwest Pakistan. The request was a sign of the near collapse of cooperation between the two testy allies.
When it ends, this alliance will not end well..
Breaking:Pakistan minorities minister shot dead in Islamabad Excerpts:
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, who had called for changes in the country's controversial blasphemy law, was killed in a gun attack in Islamabad on Wednesday, officials said.
Police said the shooting took place near an Islamabad market. Bhatti was the only Christian in the Pakistani cabinet.
"The initial reports are that there were three men who attacked him. He was probably shot using a Kalashnikov, but we are trying to ascertain what exactly happened," said Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani.
Also:
On Jan 4 the governor of the most populous province of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who had strongly opposed the law and sought presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was gunned down by one of his bodyguards.
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The anti-blasphemy law has its roots in 19th-century colonial legislation to protect places of worship, but it was during the military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s that it acquired teeth as part of a drive to Islamise the state.
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Blasphemy convictions are common, although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but angry mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
U.S., Pakistan could use a Muslim ritual to resolve Raymond Davis case Excerpts:
One way out of the mess surrounding the Jan. 27 arrest in Lahore of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, say senior U.S. and Pakistani officials, is a Muslim ritual for resolving disputes known as "blood money."
This approach would require a prominent Islamic intermediary - perhaps from Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates - who would invite relatives of the two men Davis killed to the Gulf. Payment to the victims' families could then be negotiated quietly. Once the next of kin had agreed to this settlement, the legal case against Davis for murder might be moot in a Pakistani court.
And:
Asked about such a third-party mediation to free Davis, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday: "The United States is open to exploring any and all options that could resolve this matter. . . . It's in our mutual interest to move beyond the Davis issue, and we believe the Pakistanis understand the stakes involved."
Pakistan also wants a pledge by the CIA that it will not conduct "unilateral" operations within its borders, like those in which Davis was allegedly involved. The Pakistanis say they want to be treated in intelligence matters like other allies of the United States, such as Britain and France, or, closer to home, Egypt, Israel and Jordan. (Uh-huh..)
Also:
The Davis case remains mysterious more than a month after it surfaced. He was arrested after shooting two Pakistanis following him, who, according to the official U.S. version, he thought were thieves. But an unnamed ISI official cited in a Feb. 23 Associated Press story from Islamabad said that Davis "knew both the men he shot." This suggests the two might have been operatives from the ISI or even a terrorist group who were assigned to tail or harass him.
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The paperwork for Davis's visa and work assignment is fuzzy, at best. He was carrying three different ID cards when he was arrested. He wasn't included on a Jan. 25 U.S. list of people needing to be registered with the Foreign Office; his name is said to have been added within a day or two after his arrest. It's still not clear just what he was doing in Lahore, or whether he may have worked as a Defense Department contractor before shifting to the CIA.
For now, the one certainty is that the CIA and ISI would like to resolve this issue quietly, with outside help, if necessary - before it gets any worse. If mediation fails and the case goes to court, says one Pakistani, it will be an "atomic bomb."
Man, that's an ominous choice of words..
Double volcanic eruption in Kamchatka
Markets get jitters as oil price heads for the sky
Fears that the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East could seriously disrupt oil supplies and throttle the world economy turned to reality yesterday and propelled the price of oil to more than $108 a barrel during trading, the highest since September 2008. It was $85 at the start of the year. The region supplies a third of the world's oil needs.
Analysts said that if the unrest in Libya, a major oil exporter, spread to more important powers such as Iran and Saudi Arabia then "the sky's the limit" for oil prices and $150 a barrel could be reached "without breaking a sweat", with grim implications for economic recovery, inflation and living standards worldwide.
Supposedly quake-proof buildings collapsed
Technically any new structure built in New Zealand has to be able to withstand intense quakes but footage has shown that, although older buildings in Christchurch seem to have been hit the hardest, plenty of newer ones that should have been able to survive a 6.3 quake have also collapsed.
Earthquake Shakes Up Suez Canal as Iran Warships Approach
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale shook up residents at the entrance to the Suez Canal early Monday morning, 48 hours before two Iranian ships, a frigate and a supply vessel, are expected to enter the canal.
The National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research reported that tremors from the 3 a.m. quake lasted for 27 minutes, but caused no damage.
The ships had originally been expected to enter the Suez today (Monday), but Egyptian officials announced the delay this morning, without explanation.
And:
Egypt’s agreeing to allow Iranian ships to pass through the Suez is seen by many analysts as a signal that the new regime in Egypt is leaning towards ties with Iran, but Suez Canal officials have pointed out that an international convention requires it allow passage to all ships. Egypt has reportedly agreed to allow the Iranian boats to pass through the canal en route to Syria. The Obama administration is concerned about “what’s the cargo on board, where is it going, to whom, for what benefit," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. Iran has said that the ships are headed for Syria for training, Crowley commented, as laughter was heard in the audience: “My initial response to that would be that we’re highly skeptical of that claim.”
Does a cat's purr hold holistic powers?
Which brings me back to that mystical side of a cat’s purr: it’s been suggested that one of the function of the purr is to enable natural healing of the cat’s own body. Cats purr during both inhalation and exhalation with a consistent pattern and frequency between 25 and 150 Hertz. Various investigators have suggested that sound frequencies in this range can improve bone density and promote healing.
THE DUBAI WASTELAND: 40% Of Buildings Are Vacant And Prices Keep Falling
Forty percent of the buildings in Dubai are vacant, according to Arabian Business.
For comparison only 28 percent of homes are vacant in America's ghost town, Detroit.
Now here's the scary part. Dubai hasn't stopped building:
And:
Real estate values have already fallen by over 60 percent
10 American Cities That Are Dead Forever
A city does not die when its last resident moves away. Death happens when municipalities lose the industries and vital populations that made them important cities.
The economy has evolved so much since the middle of the 20th Century that many cities that were among the largest and most vibrant in America have collapsed. Some have lost more than half of their residents. Others have lost the businesses that made them important centers of finance, manufacturing, and commerce.
Global community isolates Gaddafi
EU calls for investigation into possible crimes against humanity while US says "all options" are on the table.
Police, protesters clash again in Greece amid budget strike
Police fired tear gas near the Greek parliament on Wednesday as clashes broke out with protesters throwing stones and firebombs during a demonstration against austerity measures, an AFP reporter said.
The confrontation occurred near the finance ministry on central Syntagma Square with police seeking to block protesters from approaching the building as thousands marched in Athens and other major cities in this year's first general strike against wage and pension cuts.
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At least 36,000 people according to police demonstrated on Wednesday in Athens, Thessaloniki and the port of Piraeus .. Union sources put the Athens turnout at over 60,000 people.
Baby dolphins dying along oil-soaked US Gulf Coast
GULFPORT, Mississippi – Baby dolphins are washing up dead along the oil-soaked US Gulf Coast at more than 10 times the normal rate in the first birthing season since the BP disaster, researchers said.
Some 17 baby dolphin corpses have been found along the shorelines of Alabama and Mississippi in the past two weeks, The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies said.
"The average is one or two a month. This year we have 17, and February isn't even over yet," said Moby Solangi, director of the Gulfport, Mississippi-based institute.
"For some reason, they've started aborting or they were dead before they were born."
And:
Adult dolphin deaths tripled last year to 89 from a norm of about 30.
CIA Agent Caught Red-Handed Aiding Pakistani Terrorism?
The U.S. at first falsely claimed that Davis was a diplomat with the State Department and should therefore be granted diplomatic immunity:
But the deeper story is that Davis allegedly actively aided and abetted terrorism.
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