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US approves weight-loss pill
Yahoos profit dips by four percent
Syrian opposition warns UN council ahead of sanction votes
US to honour Aung San Suu Kyi
Pakistan, US to resume talks on drone strikes
PPP core committee discuss important issues
US eyes new phase of relationship with Pakistan
US Congress approves Bill against Haqqani network
Obama appoints Richard Olson as envoy to Pakistan
Brazil: 500 penguins found dead on beaches
PML-N, Sindh United Party make coalition
Law is equal to all: Justice Shakirullah Jan
UK HC lauds Nato supply restoration
Two terrorists arrested in Lahore
The Sandcastle Girls relives Armenian genocide

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The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a new weight loss drug from Vivus Inc. that many doctors consider the most effective therapy in a new generation of anti-obesity pills designed to help patients safely shed pounds.   The agency cleared the pill Qsymia for adults who are obese or overweight and have at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol.   Patients taking Qsymia for a year lost 6.7 percent of their body weight in one study and 8.9 percent in another study, the FDA said. That was more than two other weight loss pill recently reviewed by the FDA.   Despite its impressive performance in clinical trials, Qsymia is not exactly a scientific breakthrough, and its development underscores the slow pace of research for obesity treatments.   The drug is actually a combination of two older drugs that have long been known to help with weight loss: phentermine and topirimate.   Phentermine is a stimulant that suppresses the appetite, and has long been used for short-term weight loss. Topiramate is an anticonvulsant, sold by Johnson & Johnson as Topamax, that makes people feel more satiated after eating.   Researchers say the innovation of Qsymia lies in targeting multiple brain signals that drive people to overeat.   "We now know there are multiple pathways that determine how much energy we take in every day," said Dr. Tim Garvey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "If you intervene on one pathway it s hard to make much of a difference, you really need to attack multiple mechanisms to get a pronounced effect."   Garvey helped conduct several pivotal trials of the drug. Qsymia is the second weight loss drug approved by the FDA in less than a month, following Arena Pharmaceutical s pill Belviq in late June. Previously the agency had not approved a new drug for long-term weight loss since 1999.   With U.S. obesity rates nearing 35 percent of the adult population, many doctors have called on the FDA to approve new weight loss treatments. But a long line of prescription diet pills have been associated with dangerous side effects, particularly heart problems.

Yahoos profit dips by four percent

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Yahoo said Tuesday its profit in the past quarter fell modestly in results reflecting upheaval at the struggling Internet pioneer, which named a new top executive this week. The company, which appointed Marissa Mayer of Google as its new chief executive on Monday, said profit fell four percent to $226.6 million, in a report that was better than expected. That translated to 27 cents per share excluding special items, ahead of analyst expectations of 23 cents a share. Revenues excluding traffic acquisition costs, the key barometer for the Web giant, were flat at $1.08 billion, below most forecasts. Total revenues were virtually unchanged at $1.2 billion. The results underscored the turmoil at the California tech firm, which is undergoing major restructuring and forced out its top executive in May over an inflated resume. Chief financial officer Tim Morse said the results beat consensus forecasts in areas including display and search advertising, where Yahoo has been pounded by Google. Over the past quarter, Yahoo "moved aggressively with new strategic agreements" and unveiled new partnerships, he said, as the pioneering Internet search firm continued a quest to re-invent itself. Yahoo shares dropped 0.32 percent in after-hours trade to $15.55 after a small drop during the regular session on Wall Street. Douglas McIntyre at 24/7 Wall Street said Yahoo s results were "within expectations." Many analysts were focused on the new CEO and future strategy instead of the past quarter. "Her background should certainly benefit Yahoo s mobile strategy in addition to news and search verticals," said Susquehanna Financial Group s Herman Leung. "Three CEOs in less than a year does not spell confidence for investors despite a strong hire, but the good news is that she will likely have a few quarters of runway before investors gauge progress."

Syrian opposition warns UN council ahead of sanction votes

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Syrians will seek new ways to confront President Bashar al-Assad if the UN Security Council fails to threaten sanctions, the main Syrian opposition group said ahead of a vote showdown Wednesday between the major powers. Russia, which has threatened to veto a proposed western resolution calling for sanctions, proposed a new draft on Tuesday which was rejected by Britain, France, United States, Germany and Portugal, diplomats said. "Barring a last minute surprise, we should now go for a vote on Wednesday and we expect a veto by Russia and China," said the UN envoy of a western nation. Representatives of the Syrian National Council (SNC) met ambassadors from the 15-nation Security Council, including Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin, in a bid to persuade them to back sanctions. The group warned that it will seek alternative ways to defend civilians if the UN Security Council does not threaten sanctions over the 16-month-old conflict in which activists say more than 17,000 people have died. Basma Kodmani, the SNC s head of foreign affairs, said the western resolution was "a very last chance for breathing life" into the peace plan of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. "Should the current attempts fail, the Syrian National Council will explore other alternatives with international and regional friends in order to provide humanitarian protection to the Syrian people," Kodmani told a press conference. Russia and China have already vetoed two UN resolutions that hinted at sanctions. A third veto would be "a message of blank cheque to continue the violence, to continue crushing the population," said Kodmani. "I think Russia gets the message very clearly," she said. "We have made clear to our Russian interlocutors, both in Moscow last week and today, that they have every interest in turning the page of the Assad regime with the Syrian people." SNC leaders met top Russian officials in Moscow last week. Security Council envoys were waiting for a sign of a breakthrough from a Moscow meeting between Annan and President Vladimir Putin to end the veto clash. But none came. Russia also proposed a new version of its own rival resolution on the future of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS). Russia was trying to be "accommodating", said its deputy UN ambassador Alexander Pankin. "There is nothing new in it," responded the western envoy, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were still going on. Western nations were insisting that there has to be a threat of sanctions under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Their resolution says that sanctions would be considered if Assad s forces do not withdraw heavy weapons from Syrian cities within 10 days of the resolution being adopted. The UNSMIS mandate ends on Friday and the western allies would only renew the mission for 45 days. The Russian draft would renew the mission for three months, but would not back it up with international action. If Russia pushes its resolution for a vote, the western countries are confident that at least seven of the 15 council members will abstain which would mean the resolution fails. A resolution needs at least nine votes with no veto to pass. Russia s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the west of using "blackmail" by making sanctions a condition of renewing the UNSMIS mission. Special envoy Annan and UN leader Ban Ki-moon have both called for the Security Council to impose "consequences" if Assad and the Syrian opposition fail to carry out Annan s peace plan. Russia insists that diplomatic pressure is enough. According to diplomats, President Putin spoke with China s President Hu Jintao at the weekend and the two agreed to oppose sanctions.

US to honour Aung San Suu Kyi

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The United States will present its highest award to Myanmar s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in September when she makes her first US trip in more than two decades, congressional aides said Tuesday. Suu Kyi, who was elected to parliament this year in a dramatic sign of Myanmar s reforms, will travel to Washington in September to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the aides told AFP. The medal is the top honor bestowed by the US Congress, with the ceremonies often bringing together the president and top lawmakers. Congress voted to give the medal to Suu Kyi in May 2008 when the prospect of her leaving Myanmar looked remote. It will be the 67-year-old Suu Kyi s first visit to the United States since she was put under house arrest following her party s victory in 1990 elections, the results of which the military junta refused to accept. Suu Kyi did not travel abroad again until May this year when she went to Thailand. Last month, she made an extensive tour of Europe, where she belatedly accepted her Nobel Peace Prize, was feted in major capitals and admitted that she was exhausted. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited Suu Kyi to Washington when the top US diplomat paid a landmark visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, in December. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said he had no announcement to make on Suu Kyi s travels but told reporters: "We look forward to, at an appropriate date, welcoming Aung San Suu Kyi here." Suu Kyi will also visit New York on September 21 to accept an award at a dinner of the Atlantic Council, said Taleen Ananian, a spokeswoman for the think-tank. The dinner takes place in New York at the same time as the United Nations General Assembly, which each year brings world leaders to Manhattan. Suu Kyi lived in New York and worked at the UN secretariat from 1969 to 1971. The Atlantic Council said it would present its "Global Citizen" awards to Suu Kyi and Japan s Sadako Ogata, a former UN high commissioner for refugees. "By honoring two such brave women -- one of the most well-known political prisoners of our times and a courageous campaigner for human rights from Bosnia to Rwanda -- we help define the notion of global citizenship even as we honor it," Atlantic Council president and CEO Frederick Kempe said in a statement. The think-tank will also present awards to Henry Kissinger, the 89-year-old former secretary of state and apostle of realpolitik, and music legend and humanitarian Quincy Jones. Since taking office last year, Myanmar s President Thein Sein has surprised even many cynics by reaching out to Suu Kyi and ethnic minorities, and freeing political prisoners. The reforms came after Obama opened talks with Myanmar, offering an easing of sanctions in return for movement toward democracy. Obama had tied his policy closely to Suu Kyi, who enjoys wide respect across the US political spectrum. But Obama last week made a rare break with Suu Kyi by opening Myanmar to US investment -- including in the oil and gas sector. Suu Kyi had urged foreign companies to hold back on partnering with the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise until it undertakes reforms. Rights groups say that Myanmar s energy sector funds the powerful military and fuels abuses, including forced labor by villagers. Suu Kyi played down the decision after it was announced, telling AFP that the move was "nothing significant" but repeating her call for transparency by foreign firms. The US Senate is debating an annual extension of longstanding sanctions on Myanmar, including a ban on all imports of gems and other goods seen as benefiting the military.  Suu Kyi spoke about the legislation by telephone with Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the chamber and a longtime critic of human rights abuses in Myanmar, spokesmen for the two said separately.

Pakistan, US to resume talks on drone strikes

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The United States and Pakistan are resuming high-level counterterrorism talks suspended over a deadly border incident last year, with Pakistan s spy chief set to visit Washington late this month, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials. They start at an impasse, with the U.S. already determined to reject Pakistan s demands to end CIA drone strikes. Pakistani officials will also be pushing a plan to replace the CIA drone campaign with Pakistani F-16 strikes, and eventually its own armed drone fleet a proposal that U.S. officials say they have rejected many times before. The divergent views reflect the deterioration in U.S.-Pakistani ties over the last 18 months, and the hardening of positions on both sides. The clash over CIA drone strikes that the U.S. sees as crucial to routing militants sets a combative tone for the first meeting between Pakistani intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam and CIA Director David Petraeus, at CIA headquarters. Yet each side is also signaling a willingness to improve cooperation. Pakistani officials say they may allow the return of some U.S. military personnel to operate mobile intelligence centers with the Pakistani army in the lawless tribal regions. The presence of U.S. troops on Pakistani soil is an extremely sensitive subject in Pakistan, where anti-American feeling runs high. The U.S. is working to meet Pakistan s new requests for logistical and equipment support to improve the performance and accuracy of the country s F-16 fleet, according to U.S. officials current and former. All officials spoke anonymously to discuss sensitive strategy and negotiations. U.S. officials insisted CIA drone strikes on Pakistani territory must continue, because Pakistan s U.S.-approved F-16 program is still no match for the accuracy of the CIA campaign. They cite a failed experiment in late 2011, where U.S. officials gave the Pakistanis coordinates of a Taliban outpost in the remote tribal areas. The Pakistani F-16s carried out a nighttime bombing raid using night-vision-enabled targeting pods on a squadron of modernized F-16s the U.S. sold them in 2010. Despite the new equipment, the pilots hit "the wrong chain of mountains," said one former U.S. official. The explosion signaled the attack to the militants, who fled. U.S. officials also say the Pakistanis would be reluctant to target U.S. enemies like the Haqqani network, which maintains an informal peace with the Pakistani military while attacking U.S. troops in Afghanistan. U.S. officials cite at least three cases where they believe the Pakistani military or intelligence service tipped off Haqqani militants after the U.S. shared their location. The officials say they would have to see the Pakistani military go after the network in ground operations, before they would consider curtailing any U.S. counterterrorist activity. "There is a lot of skepticism on the Pakistan ability to act on our intelligence and not let the targets get away intentionally or deliberately," says Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat and a member of the House intelligence committee. Pakistan s intelligence chief will come with a list of requests including drone technology, a senior Pakistani security official said Tuesday. Islam will also push for equipment Pakistani officials say will boost the accuracy of their F16 fleet, while laying out a plan to phase out CIA drones altogether, according to three other Pakistani officials. From the Pakistani perspective, that plan would start with joint strikes, combining their F-16s and the CIA s drones. The drones would provide round-the-clock surveillance of the targets for the days and hours leading up to the strike, then Pakistani jets would hit the target. The White House and the CIA declined to comment. Pentagon spokesman George Little would not confirm the Pakistani proposal, but said "we seek to continue our counterterrorism cooperation with the Pakistanis cooperation that goes back years." Last year arguably marked the lowest point in U.S.-Pakistani relations. The Pakistanis were insulted by a series of incidents, especially the U.S. Navy commando raid into Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, and the border skirmish last fall where the U.S. killed 24 Pakistani troops. Pakistan demanded an apology for the deaths, which the U.S. insisted were the result of mistakes on both sides. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized in early July, after months of refusals. The intelligence talks are one of the first signs that the apology unfroze contacts that the U.S. has found helpful in the past. The U.S. also needs Pakistan as a supply route into Afghanistan and to help keep militants at bay. Clinton s apology cleared the way for overland supply routes into Afghanistan to be reopened and for Pakistan to begin to seek more control over counterterrorist activities on its soil. The reopening in turn cleared the way for the release of some $1.1 billion in U.S. funds that have been held up for months, top senators said Tuesday.

PPP core committee discuss important issues

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The meeting was held under the chair of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to discussed the overall political and law and order situation in the country. The meeting held at the Presidency was attended among others by Faryal Talpur, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan, Syed Naveed Qamar, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo, Makhdoom Shahab-ud-Din, Rehman Malik, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, Ch. Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Senator Jahangir Badar, Senator Faisal Raza Abidi, Senator Farhatullah Babar, Rukhsana Bangash and Fouzia Habib. The prime minister also briefed the meeting about his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and his meetings with the Saudi leadership, entrepreneurs and Pakistani community in Saudi Arabia. The overall political situation and energy situation was also discussed during the meeting.

US eyes new phase of relationship with Pakistan

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The US State Department, in response to a question regarding assistance provided to Pakistan in the briefing a day ago, issued a statement Tuesday maintaining that the US remained committed to a strong, mutually respectful relationship with Pakistan.      “We consider bilateral U.S. civilian assistance to be an important component of that relationship and believe it can help Pakistan become a more prosperous, stable, and democratic state, which serves the national interests of both the US and Pakistan”, the spokesperson stated. On the civilian assistance to Pakistan and whether it was affected because of closure of supply routes, the spokesperson pointed out that the “civilian assistance to Pakistan has been ongoing throughout the closure of the NATO supply lines and has continued after their opening”. “While figures for this fiscal year are not yet available, since the passage of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation in October 2009, the U.S. government has disbursed $2.8 billion in civilian assistance, including approximately $1 billion in emergency humanitarian assistance”, the statement explained.  “Our non-humanitarian civilian assistance funds are spent in five priority sectors: energy, economic growth, stabilization of vulnerable areas, education, and health”, the statement said while identifying the main development areas for US in Pakistan.  “In 2011 the people of the United States supported the construction of 210 kilometers of road in FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, funded the world’s largest Fulbright exchange program, and sponsored initiatives promoting private sector growth and civil society development in Pakistan”, it added. The spokesperson’s statement, however, refused to answer the status of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) that the US owed Pakistan and has remained pending for more than a year. “With regard to Coalition Support Funds, we refer you to the Department of Defense”, it stated. In a separate briefing, Pentagon spokesman, George Little expressed pleasure at the reopening of NATO supply routes from Pakistan. “We are pleased that ground supply routes from Pakistan have been re-opened”, he remarked. He, however, believed that the NATO and US forces were not at full capacity yet for shipments through these ground routes. He also expressed ignorance about the US administration pondering over the question of sustainability issues with GLOCs. “We ll address it if something like that comes up”, he argued. Speaking generally on the relationship with Pakistan, the spokesman emphasized that the relationship with Pakistan remained critical for the US. “We are entering a new phase in our relations with Pakistan and getting past the obstacles”, he opined. He also refused to comment on legislation proposed by a US senator for cutting-off aid to Pakistan. “Can’t comment on prospective legislation”, he emphatically said while saying that he was unaware of any issues in continuing with the current aid flow to Pakistan. It may be stated here that Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is pushing for voting on a bill that could potentially cut-off all US assistance to Pakistan until the Pakistani government releases Dr. Shakeel Afridi.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC

US Congress approves Bill against Haqqani network

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Congress is stepping up the pressure on the Obama administration to slap the terrorist label on the Haqqani network, a militant group responsible for plotting and launching attacks from Pakistan against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. By voice vote Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a bill that would require the secretary of state to report to Congress on whether the Haqqani network meets the criteria to be designated a foreign terrorist organization and if not, to explain why. The report is due within 30 days of the president signing the measure. The administration has sanctioned top individuals of the Haqqani network, but it is still reviewing whether to label the entire organization. That delay has frustrated members of Congress. Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, added an amendment to the bill stating that it was the sense of Congress that the Haqqani network meets the definition of a terrorist organization and they should be designated as one. "The Obama administration has been considering formally designating the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization under U.S. law but has yet to act," said Republican Rep. Tim Griffin during a brief House debate. Last week, the State Department defended its effort. "We ve been very aggressive about sanctioning their top individuals, and we ve seen that as the most effective way to go about this. But the review is ongoing, and is actively ongoing," department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters. The measure now heads to the Senate, which approved a similar bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Richard Burr last December. The Haqqani network, largely operating in eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, is affiliated with both the Taliban and al-Qaida. U.S. officials say it represents one of the biggest threats to Afghanistan stability because it is believed to use Pakistan as a rear base for attacks on American and coalition troops in Afghanistan. The House vote comes just weeks after the United States and Pakistan ended a rancorous seven-month standoff with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton apologizing to Pakistan for the killing of 24 Pakistani troops last fall and in return securing the reopening of critical NATO supply lines into Afghanistan. Throughout the uneasy relationship between the United States and Pakistan, American officials have pressed Islamabad to crack down on the extremist Haqqani network. The bill states that "nothing in this act may be construed to infringe upon the sovereignty of Pakistan to combat militant or terrorist groups operating inside its boundaries." In May, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence committees wrote to Clinton asking her to act immediately in labeling the Haqqani network a terrorist group. The four leaders said that based on meetings with U.S. and Afghan officials in Afghanistan, "it was clear that the Haqqani network continues to launch sensational and indiscriminate attacks against U.S. interests in Afghanistan and the group poses a continuing threat to innocent men, women and children in the region." The four noted that it had been six months since the State Department had undertaken its "final formal review" of the Haqqani network. "The Haqqanis have continued to attack U.S. troops and the U.S. embassy in Kabul during that period," the lawmakers said. The letter also noted that the Obama administration may have been reluctant to act while Marc Grossman, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was trying to negotiate a reconciliation agreement with the Taliban that may have included or affected the Haqqani network. Last year, the top U.S. military officer accused Pakistan s powerful intelligence agency of backing extremists in planning and executing the assault on the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan and a truck bomb attack that wounded 77 American soldiers. In his last congressional testimony before retirement, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, insisted that the Haqqani insurgent network "acts as a veritable arm" of Pakistan s Inter-Services Intelligence agency. The House also passed a bill that would strengthen economic and security ties between the United States and Israel. The bipartisan legislation, which was approved by voice vote, would reaffirm the U.S. commitment to Israel and American support for the Mideast ally s right to self-defense. The bill would extend current loan guarantees to Israel that expire later this year and authorizes the transfer of obsolete or surplus defense material from the United States to Israel. The bill reiterates U.S. support for a negotiated two-state solution to resolve the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Obama appoints Richard Olson as envoy to Pakistan

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Obama named veteran diplomats to be the next ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan, two highly sensitive positions vacated when envoys recently resigned. Obama named Richard Olson, a former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, to serve in Pakistan and James Cunningham, the number two at the US embassy in Kabul, to be the ambassador, a White House statement said. The two men will need confirmation by the Senate. They would serve as the United States prepares to withdraw combat forces from Afghanistan in 2014, a transition that profoundly impacts rocky relations with Pakistan. "I am grateful that these talented and dedicated men and women have agreed to take on these important roles and devote their talents to serving the American people," Obama said in a statement announcing several new postings. "I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years," said Obama, who is seeking a second four-year term in November 6 elections. The outgoing US ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, resigned in May after a turbulent tenure in which US forces secretly killed Osama bin Laden near Pakistan s main military academy, humiliating the powerful army. Munter had been an advocate within the Obama administration for reconciliation with Pakistan. People close to him said he was frustrated that the CIA and Pentagon took the lead on Pakistan policy, with Munter s job effectively to contain the fallout. After a half-year standoff, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month said sorry to Pakistan for the deaths of 24 troops in an air raid near the Afghanistan border, leading Islamabad to reopen key supply routes. Just two weeks after Munter s announcement, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, also said he would leave his post early. The State Department said he decided to leave the stressful job for health reasons.

Brazil: 500 penguins found dead on beaches

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The Center of Coastal and Marine Studies (Ceclimar) said veterinarians were investigating the deaths of the 512 marine animals which beached on the coast between the towns of Tramandai and Cidreira, some 100 kilometers from the state capital, Porto Alegre. Some 30 samples from the penguins were being analyzed at Porto Alegre University and results were to be released within a month, it added. Ceclimar officials told Globo s G1 website that veterinarians were puzzled by the large quantity of animals found and by the fact that they appeared well fed, not exhausted and without injuries or oil stains. These Magellenic penguins, named after the Magallenes region in which they breed, mate in large colonies in southern Argentina and Chile. They traditionally migrate north between March and September along the Rio Grande do Sul coast to head up to Sao Paulo. Their diet consists mainly of small fish and marine crustaceans and their chief enemy is the southern sea lion.

PML-N, Sindh United Party make coalition

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An agreement would be signed and permanent announcement would be made on July 19 on the arrival of Nawaz Sharif in Karachi. The PML-N Central Secretary General Iqbal Zafer Jhagra called on Sindh United Party president Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah at his residence in Karachi. Following the meeting, both of them did a joint press conference and said that both of the parties have decided to walk side by side for betterment and development of Sindh. Iqbal Zafer said that the PML-N would like to have a partnership with all the democratic parties for consolidation of democracy and rule of law in the country. Jalal Mehmood Shah said that his party would play its role for progress and prosperity in the country.

Law is equal to all: Justice Shakirullah Jan

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It is demand of justice that every citizen should be treated without any discrimination, he said. Addressing a ceremony pertaining to International Justice Day, he said that shortage of resources and unjust distribution of wealth is a stumbling block in the way of justice. He advocated that societies get weak due to uncertain situation. The endeavours made by the world community for provision of justice to the poor and downtrodden are praiseworthy. “It is dire need of the hour to pay heed to the people who have been neglected and rejected by unjust system. Every citizen should be treated without any discrimination.” He said that number of judges in Pakistani courts is very low; every judge has to conduct hearing of more than 1000 cases.

UK HC lauds Nato supply restoration

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Pakistan and Afghanistan would benefit out of this sustainable situation, he added. While talking to the media in Lahore, Adam Thomson said that it would help fight the Nato forces on front line, adding that Pakistan ties with outer world would also be normal. He said that British government is spending more than 650 million pounds on different projects of primary education.

Two terrorists arrested in Lahore

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According to CIA Police, the suspected terrorists including Tariq and Zia-u-Rehman belong to banned religious outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban. A heavy cache of arms and ammunition including detonators and pistols was recovered from the terrorists’ possession. They were shifted to some undeclared place for interrogation. According to the sources, the terrorists are being investigated about Gujrat and Lahore terror attacks.

The Sandcastle Girls relives Armenian genocide

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Inspired by his grandparents’ background, the author explores the suffering and atrocities of that time with astounding precision, compassion and grace. “How do a million and a half people die with nobody knowing?” ponders Laura Petrosian, the book’s modern-day narrator. The answer, she will discover, is really very simple: “You kill them in the middle of nowhere.” Laura has embarked on a search to find out more about her Boston Brahmin grandmother and her Armenian grandfather, who met during the slaughter about which she knew very little. “To understand my grandparents, some basics would help,” she says. “Imagine an oversized paperback book with a black-and-yellow cover, The Armenian Genocide for Dummies.” This light-hearted tone is in stunning contrast to the next chapter, which flashes back to 1915 to the horrors taking place in Aleppo, Syria. Boston magnate Silas Endicott has brought his daughter Elizabeth with him to Aleppo on “a small philanthropic expedition.” Their mission is to deliver food and supplies to survivors. Elizabeth, a recent graduate of Mount Holyoke College, with a rudimentary knowledge of Armenian, plans “to chronicle what she sees for their organization, the Friends of Armenia.” Having taken a crash course in nursing, she also plans to volunteer at the hospital. But within minutes of arriving and meeting the American consul, they come upon a “staggering column” of women who are all “completely naked, bare from their feet to the long drapes of matted black hair. Their skin has been seared black by the sun or stained by the soil in which they have slept or, in some cases, by great yawning scabs and wounds that are open and festering.” They are being herded through the town by Turkish soldiers before being marched east, supposedly to be placed in “camps,” a word the consul says is a misnomer: “I am told that slaughterhouse is more apt.” Among these desperate deportees, Elizabeth befriends a woman named Nevart and the young orphan she has saved. “This is Hatoun,” says Nevart. “Like me, she is unkillable.” Having witnessed her own mother’s beheading, Hatoun is virtually mute. Nevart’s generosity toward the child is a poignant reminder of kindness and courage set against the inhuman acts being perpetrated around them. A few days after arriving in Aleppo, Elizabeth and her father are in a restaurant with the consul, when an Armenian engineer named Armen enters with two German soldiers. “Germany and Turkey are allies,” one of the trio explains, as they all begin talking. But alarmed by what their ally is doing to the Armenians, these Germans are secretly taking photographs, although they know it’s illegal. “It’s espionage. It’s treasonous.” The consul urges them to get the pictures out or give them to him. “We want to be sure that Americans know how dire the situation here has become,” Elizabeth tells Armen the next day. As their friendship moves quickly toward romance, Elizabeth learns that Armen has lost his wife and baby daughter. “I need to do something,” he tells her. “I can’t be a bystander to all this. I can’t die a sheep.” What he does next will change their lives. Decades later, when Laura sees an exhibit of archival photographs taken in Aleppo in 1915, she discovers a chilling connection to her grandmother during that trying time. Is it possible that Elizabeth carried some terrible secret with her back to America and into her marriage? Bohjalian deftly weaves the many threads of this story back and forth from past to present, from abuse to humanity, from devastation to redemption. His ability to add irony and wit makes the contrasting horrors even more intense. And his unblinking descriptions of atrocities are staggering: Nevart “has heard stories of women who were impaled on sharp stakes and swords, the pommel and grip planted into the ground so the blade rose like an exotic but lethal plant.” Rather than repelling the reader, Bohjalian’s account makes the gruesome truth utterly riveting. April 24, 2015, will mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Yet in some circles, controversy over the nature of this crime still rages. Just this month, relations between France and Turkey were tested again by President Francois Hollande’s commitment to making it illegal to deny that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was genocide. Bohjalian’s “The Sandcastle Girls” may be a novel, but, based on his family history, it is a valuable and powerful piece of evidence pointing to the undeniable.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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