Author Archives: Gunjan Priya

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Libyan rebels: Misrata not under our control

There is a conflicting report over which group is having the control of Libyan city of Misrata which has been besieged for sometimes now. The rebels and the representatives of the Transitional National Council are offering conflicting information as regards the status of Misrata.

The spokesman for the TNC said on Thursday that the town had been liberated from the government control but this was countered by the rebel which said that the government is still having the control of the eastern gate of the town.

However it does appear that the rebels and the goverenment are sharing the control of the city with the government control some portions while some parts is under the control of the government of Moamar Gadhaffi.

As the war in Libya intensifies it was reported that not less than 4 people were killed in the country’s capital Tripoli by bomb that was directed at the compound of Moamar Gadhaffi. Libyan government officials took some journalists to the scene of the attack which was smoking with fire. The government official also reported that about 27 civilians who were affected by the attack were receiving treatment in a hospital somewhere in the town. The building was the one that was attacked by NATO last month.

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Historic flooding threatens Mississippi Delta

The expected happened as the Mississippi River flooded the whole Delta area. The water destroyed mansions, farmlands as well as shotgun shacks in what was described as a historic flooding yesterday.

The flooding which was done in the poorest part of the US was almost as deadly as the flooding that was recorded in 1937. The flood affected the neighborhood while the parts of the city were not affected because of the levees which were built to offer some protections.

The signals of what will befall the city was live throughout the past weeks as the flood waters had been encroaching to the neighborhood which forced many of the Delta residents to move to the higher grounds. This has affected the economy of the state because the dockside casinos were closed down. This is the main stay of the economy of the state.

What has just happened is a sign of the major disaster that is about to come as more flooding is expected along the Delta area of the state. However people in the south of the Delta were not affected as the other parts of the Delta although some homes were damaged by the flood but it cannot be compared to what is happening in the other part of the Delta.

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Obama says US immigrations policies yielding positive results

President Obama has said that his border policy is yielding positive results. But the people who are living near the border areas especially the border with Mexico is not sure of what the president is saying. The US border with Mexico has become a militarized zone with heavy security presence in both sides of the border and surveillance equipments as well as thousands of policemen manning the borders.

President Obama believed that his government has proved his adversaries wrong adding that the border security policy is working. The president noted that it was the government policy of border patrol, border fencing and surveillance technology that did the magic about border security. President Obama maintained that since the change in border policy the security agents have sized 31 percent of drugs as well as 75 percent of currency including the seizure of 64 percent of weapons. He said these seizures were never done before and attributed it to the border policy in place.

President Obama attributed the level of success to operational control that is put in place by the government. However not many people believe the government success story some said that the government border policy is not coordinated. He said that the problem of the border had remained the same since the time of President George W Bush.

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US releases Laden’s video to prove terror leader’s death

The United States government has released the video of the capture of Osama Bin Laden by the US Navy Seals after raiding his compound. The video released is the first photographic evidence of the end of the late terror leader in Pakistan. The total number of videos so far released is 5 in number.

Part of the video featured the al Qaeda leader scrolling his image on television when the seal busted to him. The image was shown by the United States of America News core.

The video which was believed to have been made by Osama last year and which was parts of the items that were seized in his compound contained what was described as message to the American people. Bin Laden condemned the United States of America and the capitalist economic system according to the US government news core which has privy to the videos.

The US has described that video as the single biggest collection ever to be made by the US intelligence in history of the country. The video showed the live picture of Bin Laden up to November last year. The video clearly showed that Osama Bin Laden is the active leader of al Qaeda and not passive leader as some people were thinking. He was actively in charge of all the operations that were carried out by the group.

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Yemen police use force as students protest

It is estimated that at least ten students were in Yemen when the police use excessive force against students who were protesting in campus. The protesting students were of Al-Hodayda campus which is located at the Hodayda province near the Red Sea. The police opened fire on the protesting students.

According to an eye witness the police entered the campus and started shooting indiscriminately against the students wounding at least ten of the students in the process. Sources from the hospitals where the students were rushed disclosed that the conditions of the students were in critical.

The cause of the unrest by the students is there demand for the closure of the school indefinitely until there is a regime change in the country. This is part of the widespread unrest that is going on the country for months now. Tension has been high in the country since the organized protest against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Few days ago the opposition gave two days ultimatum to the president to step down from power. The opposition vowed to move to the government house and other government buildings if the president failed to step down in two days. The police are prepared to deal with protesters with ruthless force.

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Syrian govt boasts of controlling uprising

The government in Syria has proclaimed that it has taken control after seven weeks of uprising which seek to topple the government of president Bashar al-Assad.

This statement is a clear indication that the authority in Damascus is committed to using brute force to intimidate its citizen to back out of the revolution which is flushing out the old order in many Arabic states. The crackdown on pro democracy movements in the country has led to the death of hundreds if not thousands of people in the country.

The spokeswoman for the government Bouthaina Shaaban who also doubled as adviser to President Assad said that the government is taking control of the situation in the country and maintained they are prepared to whether the storm that is being generated by the international community over the excessive use of force against the citizens of the country by the government. She said that the uprising is coming to an end saying that they have passed the worst stage of the crises.

Her utterances have not being independently confirmed since the Syrian government has banned foreign journalists from the country since the crises started. It would be recalled the Assad family had been in power in Syria for more than four decades and they appeared to stick to power at all costs.

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Fatah-Hamas sign peace deal

The rifts between two leading Palestine political organization Fatah and Hamas have come to an end following a peace deal entered between the rivalry Palestinian organizations.

In a swift reaction to the peace deal Israeli government rejected it. United States of America is still studying the peace deal to know whether it will accept it or not.  Part of the deal is that the two bodies are to share political offices between themselves pending the general election which will be due by next year.

To ensure that the western world particularly United States of America welcome the peace deal the Palestinian Authority president Mahmood Abbas has reassured that he is still in charge of the Palestinian state and that he is unequivocally committed to peace noting that there is nothing in the peace deal that his allies in the West should be skeptical about.

However it appears that the international community is waiting for the deal to be worked out to know which side of the swing they will take to. They are waiting to know who is going to occupy which position in the transitional government. They are waiting to know which ministerial portfolio that Hamas is going to occupy.

The problem the international community had with Hamas is that it is not recognizing the state of Israel and has still not denounced violence. The international community would not have anything to do with Hamas until it renounces violence and recognize the state of Israel. The consortium of concerned Palestinians who worked out the peace is optimistic that Hamas will opt for peace.

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US ask Pak to allow interviewing Bin Laden’s widows

United States of America is pilling pressure on Pakistan to allow its security agencies interview the widows of late terror leader Osama Bin Laden. The national security adviser made the request. The killing of Bin Laden in Pakistan has sparked off a cold relationship between the two countries.

In their taped interviews president Obama and national security adviser Thomas Donilon were very selective in their choice of words not to openly accuse Pakistan of hiding Osama Bin Laden. The Americans believe since Osama is living in Islamabad it is difficult for Pakistan to exonerate itself of the knowledge of where about of Bin Laden.

The national security adviser is believed to have a tape which the naval seal has recovered from the premises of Osama Bin Laden. The content of the tape is believed to have some sensitive information which might link the authorities of Pakistan of having deals and discussions with Osama Bin Laden.

The government of the United States is seeking to know to what extent the political and security authorities in Pakistan are privy of the stay of Osama Bin Laden in the country for almost 10 years of his manhunt. The relationship between America and Pakistan has never being all that straight since 9-11 attack. America has always believed that Pakistan is not doing enough in the fight against global terror. The killing of Bin Laden inside Pakistan seemed to have reinforced that assumption.

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Electorates in Singapore force their leader to change style

The Singapore Prime minister Hsien Loong has acknowledged that his party has no other choice but to change its style of leadership after its worst political outing since independence in 1965. The power has returned into power with the narrowest majority in its political history. The prime minister responded by saying that the party will reconsider its style of governance.

Singapore has almost operated as single party state with the People’s Action Party always having almost all the seats in the country’s parliament. The recent election has opened the door for opposition in the country’s parliament. The ruling party sees the outcome of the election which was conducted last Saturday as call by the citizens for a change in the country’s leadership style. It is expected that one would continue to see the opening up of the door for the opposition with the outcome of the last election.

The PAP has been in power since the independence of the country in 1965. Until recently the country’s parliament is not used to opposition. The largest opposition member of parliament has never been more than 2 seats. The recent election has shown that the opposition party has won up to 40 percents of the seats in the parliament.

Electorates in Singapore force their leader to Change style

The Singapore Prime minister Hsien Loong has acknowledged that his party has no other choice but to change its style of leadership after its worst political outing since independence in 1965. The power has returned into power with the narrowest majority in its political history. The prime minister responded by saying that the party will reconsider its style of governance.

Singapore has almost operated as single party state with the People’s Action Party always having almost all the seats in the country’s parliament. The recent election has opened the door for opposition in the country’s parliament. The ruling party sees the outcome of the election which was conducted last Saturday as call by the citizens for a change in the country’s leadership style. It is expected that one would continue to see the opening up of the door for the opposition with the outcome of the last election.

The PAP has been in power since the independence of the country in 1965. Until recently the country’s parliament is not used to opposition. The largest opposition member of parliament has never been more than 2 seats. The recent election has shown that the opposition party has won up to 40 percents of the seats in the parliament.

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Bloody day in Egypt as Christians clash with Muslims

At least 12 people are reported dead in a bloody clash between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Cairo the capital of Egypt. Casualties include dozens of people; Coptic Church was attacked. This incident is one of the bloodiest clashes since the ousting of President Mubarak February this year.

The ugly incident occurred on Saturday at Imbaba in Cairo. It started when hard line Muslims mostly youths launched an attack at Virgin Mary church. The attacks were carried out to several buildings that were located not far away from the location.

This is the outcome of the long standing grievances among the Muslims who believed that the Copts are preventing Egyptian women who had wanted to convert to Islamic religion from doing so.

The attack also continued on Sunday during a rally attended by both religious groups which was aimed at unifying the state and pressing for protection from the government.

The violence has taken the military government who are in interim control of the country by surprise as they were not prepared for it. It is assumed that the attack was planned by a radical Muslim group which called itself salafists. This is faction within the Islamic religion in Egypt. The group has become more visible in recent times.