QUETTA: The Quetta Police Training college attack case has been registered against unknown persons.
The case was registered on the report of SHO New Sariab Police Khalil Ahmed, while 10 different clauses including Anti-terrorism act, Murder, attempt to murder have been included in the case.
The content of FIR further stated that four hand grenades, two detonators, two Kalshankhov, a suicide jacket, various bullets were recovered from the attackers.
It is pertained to mention here that 62 police personnel including two Pak Army personnel were martyred, while 117 persons were injured in the attack.
Friday, 28 October 2016
THE QUEEN WAS SPOTTED MAKING A TRIP TO WAITROSE
The Queen has been spotted browsing the shelves in Waitrose – but no, she wasn’t making a quick dash to the supermarket in her comfy clothes like the rest of us.
Her Majesty looked as immaculate as ever while browsing a selection of cheese in Waitrose aisles (we wonder if she’s a Brie or a Stilton fan?), as well as checking out the semi-skimmed milk.While we’d love to believe that she popped out after realising she’d run out of sugar for the tea, she was actually making a Royal visit as she toured Poundbury, the village that Prince Charles designed.Charles took on designing the village in Dorset because of his interest in architecture.
He also unveiled a statue of his mother in the main square, actually named Queen Mother Square.To round off the tour, the Royal pair popped into the local Waitrose to peruse the food, chat to the staff and possibly even grab a free coffee before the scheme ends...
India criticises Pakistan for expelling diplomat
NEW DELHI: India Friday criticised Pakistan for expelling an officer posted in its High Commission in Islamabad, a day after New Delhi asked a Pakistani High Commission official to leave the country on charges of ‘espionage’. "Government notes with regret the government of Pakistan's decision to declare Surjeet Singh, Assistant Personnel and Welfare Officer in the High Commission of India in Islamabad, persona non grata and expel him and his family members," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement."No justification has been provided by the Government of Pakistan except for the completely baseless and unsubstantiated allegation that his activities were not in keeping with diplomatic norms. The government condemns Pakistan's step," it added.Islamabad's action in the wake of India Thursday expelling 35-year-old Mehmood Akhtar, who worked in the visa section of the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi, after claiming to have caught him and two Indian nationals with some "sensitive defence documents and maps".Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi, Abdul Basit, had refuted India's charges and claimed that Akhtar was "detained and manhandled in violation of the Vienna Convention".Akhtar and the two Indian nationals were nabbed by the Delhi Police for alleged spying. Cops had claimed the trio were caught red-handed near Delhi Zoo while the two Indians were handing over sensitive defence documents to Akhtar, following a tip-off by Indian security agencies.While the Pakistani official was let off after questioning due to his diplomatic immunity, the two Indian nationals - Maulana Ramzan and Subhash Jangir - were arrested, a police official said.The tit-for-tat expulsion of Indian and Pakistan officials came amid increasing tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the terror attack on an army base in Indian-held Kashmir last month, in which 19 soldiers died and more than 30 others sustained injuries.India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, a claim denied by the latter. Both the nuclear-armed neighbours stake claim to Kashmir and have fought at least three major wars over the disputed territory in the past 65 years.
China to unveil its J-20 stealth fighter at air show
China will unveil its new generation J-20 stealth fighter jet at an air show next week, the air force said on Friday, the first public showing of a warplane China hopes will narrow the military gap with the United States.The ability to project air power is key for China as it takes on a more assertive stance on territorial disputes with neighbors in the East China and South China seas.The Pentagon has said the fifth generation stealth aircraft China is developing, the J-20 and the J-31, are necessary for China's air force to evolve from a mostly territorial force to one that can carry out both offensive and defensive operations.The J-20 will give a flight demonstration at next week's China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in the southern city of Zhuhai, the People's Liberation Army Air Force said in a statement on its official microblog.Air force spokesman Shen Jinke said the J-20's production was proceeding according to plan and would assist in the air force's mission to "safeguard sovereignty and national security"."This is the first public appearance of China's indigenously manufactured new generation stealth fighter jet," the air force said.In June, it said the jet would enter service "in the near future" The new Y-20 military transport aircraft will also give a flight demonstration at the seven-day air show, which is held every two years and opens on Tuesday.China showed off the J-31 at the last Zhuhai air show in 2014, a show of muscle that coincided with a visit by US President Barack Obama for an Asia-Pacific summit.China hopes the J-31, still in development, will compete with the US-made F-35 stealth aircraft in the international market, according to China military watchers and state media reports.Some analysts have said photographs of the J-20 suggest China may be making faster-than-expected progress in developing a rival to Lockheed Martin's radar-evading F-22 Raptor.But others say China's defense manufacturers are still struggling to develop advanced engines that would allow its warplanes to match Western fighters in combat.Beijing has been ramping up research into advanced new military equipment, including submarines, aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles, which has rattled nerves regionally and in the United States.China says there is nothing unusual about its development of military technology, and that it is a reasonable course of action for every country that wants to defend its security.
Metro announces 100 layoffs as agency prepares for painful budget cuts
Metro plans to lay off 100 employees in coming days, part of an effort to balance its fiscal 2018 budget that is due to be presented to the Metro board next week. The layoffs were announced Friday morning in an email sent by General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld to Metro staff. The 100 employees who will lose their jobs are part of the 500 positions he said in June that he planned to eliminate: At the time, he did not indicate how many of this eliminations would come from attrition and unfilled job openings, and how many would require employee terminations. Wiedefeld said individual employees will notified by the middle of next week.“Over the next few days, Human Resources will be working with the executive team to notify about 100 employees about impacts to their jobs due to the budget actions we are taking,” Wiedefeld said in his message to staff. “I will say more about these personnel matters once the notifications are complete.” Metro is facing a $275 million budget shortfall, and Wiedefeld is scheduled to formally present his financial plan to the Metro board on Thursday. He is expected to announce a mix of budget fixes that could have a dramatic effect on both Metro staff and commuters, including possible fare hikes and bus or train service cuts. He may also request additional money from the three jurisdictions that provide operating funds to Metro. “I anticipate that Metro will have to make many difficult decisions to balance the budget,” Wiedefeld added in his email Friday. Metro hints at fare hikes and service cuts to balance $275 million budget shortfall
In a budget-preparation document released earlier this month, Metro’s chief financial officer estimated that the elimination of 500 positions in time for the start of fiscal 2018 would help bring down the agency’s operating costs by $25 million for that year. Metro’s next fiscal year will begin July 1, 2017. The 100 employees to receive notification of layoffs in coming days are both management and rank-and-file workers, Metro spokesman Richard L. Jordan said Friday. The 100 layoffs do not include the 20 managers who were fired earlier this year under an agency “restructuring.” “Additional reductions, beyond the 500, are on the table,” Jordan said.
If Clinton Campaign Believes WikiLeaks Emails Are Forged, Why Don’t They Prove It?
TOP DEMOCRATS HAVE repeatedly waved off substantial questions arising from their hacked emails by falsely implying that some of them are forgeries created by Russian hackers. The problem with that is that no one has found a single case of anything forged among the information released from hacks of either Clinton campaign or Democratic Party officials. The strategy dates all the way back to a conference call with Democratic lawmakers in August. Politico reported that a number of Democratic strategists suggested that Russian hackers — who have been blamed by U.S. intelligence agencies for supplying the emails to Wikileaks and other web sites — could sprinkle false data among the real information. Since then, despite the complete lack of evidence to support such a claim, it’s become a common dodge among leading Democrats and the Clinton campaign when asked questions about the substance of the emails. Clinton strategist Joel Benenson, asked about an email in which Clinton campaign staffers decide to accept foreign lobbyist money, used that line on MSNBC on Sunday. “These emails, we have no idea whether they’re authentic or not,” he said. “Or whether they’ve been tampered with. I know I’ve seen things that aren’t authentic, that we know aren’t authentic, and it’s not surprising.” Clinton’s running mate, Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, also suggested that the emails may have been doctored during an appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday. “The one email that has referred to me was flat-out completely incorrect,” he said. “So I don’t know whether it was doctored or whether the person sending it didn’t know what they were talking about. Clearly, I think there’s a capacity for much of the information in them to be wrong.”
Kaine appeared to be referring to a July 2015 email to Clinton campaign chair John Podesta from political consultant Erick Mullen. In the email, Mullen claimed a man named Bob Glennon has informed two Democratic senators that Clinton “has personally told Tim Kaine he’s the veep.” Clinton may or may not have selected Kaine as her running mate a year before announcing it publicly. However, that doesn’t mean the email is a forgery. It was simply Mullen’s view of things. Podesta’s response to the email is itself jovial: “And here I thought it was going to be me.” No one has alleged the email as it was published on Wikileaks is a forgery. The Intercept contacted Benenson to point to any emails he believes are inauthentic. He did not respond. Jennifer Granholm, a senior adviser to the pro-Clinton Super PAC Correct the Record, was asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether the Clinton campaign should be responding to revelations revealed by Wikileaks. “There are reports that these have been doctored,” she told Tapper on October 19. “And Newsweek had found that, in fact, that was happening.” Granholm was referring, inaccurately, to a blog post by Kurt Eichenwald where the Newsweek writer pointed out that the English-language, Russian-owned news website Sputnik had misreported the contents of one of the emails. But there was no evidence that the email itself as it existed on the Wikileaks website was false or doctored. Eichenwald himself added to the misunderstanding by posting a series of tweets imputing that the email had been forged — by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on October 18, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, was asked if the Russian government would impact the election by hacking voting systems. “What worries me the most … is between now and the election the Russians dump information that is fabricated,” Schiff warned. “To get a last minute dump of emails that contain fabricated emails that are widely reported in the press, and there isn’t enough time to fact check and demonstrate the forgery, that is what really concerns me.” CNN host Wolf Blitzer pushed back, “But have you confirmed that any of these emails released over the past two weeks, if you will, by Wikileaks are fabricated or doctored?” “You know I’m not in a position to be able to do that,” Schiff demurred. The Democrats’ muddy-the-waters strategy has had some success. For example, the popular fact-checking website Politifact wrote an article on Sunday titled: “Are the Clinton WikiLeaks emails doctored, or are they authentic?” The article cited numerous claims by Democrats that they cannot verify the authenticity of the emails and a number of experts who claimed that it is in fact possible that false information is in the emails. But the writer also noted that the Clinton campaign has not offered any evidence that any of the emails have been doctored. Ordinarily, if there is no supporting evidence for a claim, PolitiFact has no problem declaring it false. But in this case PolitiFact reached no conclusion — and actually went so far as to raise the possibility that the Clinton campaign does have proof that the emails have been doctored, but isn’t sharing it for political reasons. (Ironically, the website has no problem citing the emails to fact-check other statements). The strategy has not been entirely effective. There has still been discussion about the contents of Clinton’s private speeches to megabanks like Goldman Sachs, her campaign team’s coordination with Super PACs, and the candidate’s affinity for Wal-Mart, among other topics. The Washington Post published a lengthy article on Tuesday delving into the internal squabbling among Clinton aides and allies over the candidates use of a private email server. And the Wikileaks disclosure of a 13-page memo by former Bill Clinton aide Doug Band formed the basis of a Post article Thursday that showed how Band co-mingled the clients of his for-profit consulting firm Teneo with the former president’s speaking clients and financial backers of the Clinton Foundation.
Syria rebels 'in push to break Aleppo siege'
Rebels in Syria have announced a big offensive aimed at breaking the government siege of east Aleppo. A UK-based monitoring group says rebels fired "hundreds" of missiles on western Aleppo, killing at least 15 civilians. In response, Russia's defence ministry asked permission from President Vladimir Putin to resume air strikes against the rebels after a 10-day pause, but he denied the request.
About 275,000 people have been besieged in the east of the city for months. Russian and Syrian government planes began bombarding the city in September. More than 2,700 people are said to have been killed and injured since then. Life under siege in rebel-held Aleppo Why Assad wants to take Aleppo Aleppo: Key battleground in Syria's war Russia suspended its air campaign on 18 October to allow evacuations of sick and wounded people but few have heeded the call to leave. The Russian defence ministry said continuing civilian deaths and an upsurge in rebel activity had prompted its request to resume the strikes. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin did not consider it appropriate to restart the strikes but said the humanitarian pause should continue. Meanwhile US officials have confirmed reports that a Russian fighter jet and a US-led coalition plane were involved in a near miss over Syria on 17 October, coming within half a mile of each other.
'All factions' The attacks are so far coming from rebels outside Aleppo but it is understood that rebels inside the city will join the offensive. "All the revolutionary factions, without exception, are participating in the battle," the military spokesman for the Fastaqim faction inside the city said, AP news agency reports. They include Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, as well as fellow Islamists Ahrar al-Sham. Rebels fired Grad missiles at al-Nayrab airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group said. Up to 115 people were killed or wounded, it added. They also detonated two car bombs against government positions to the south-west of the city. The BBC understands that parts of south-western Aleppo have been captured by a group from outside the city. However, the Syrian government said it had repelled offensives on several fronts around Aleppo by both rebel groups and militants from so-called Islamic State (IS).
"Booby-trapped cars, two tanks and a large number of armoured vehicles" were destroyed, the defence ministry said on its website. The area around the Hmeimim air base near the coastal city of Latakia - the main airport used by the Russian air force - was also reportedly targeted by rebels, the SOHR said.The rebels said this counter-attack would come. But even though disparate groups have united for this effort, "liberating" East Aleppo won't be easy. They have hit an airbase and are targeting other Syrian positions in an effort to cripple any response. But the Syrian army is the least of their problems - by itself, it is relatively weak. The Syrian government is supported by Lebanese, Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan Shia militias, as well as Russian air power - soon to be bolstered by a naval fleet in the Mediterranean. One of the main rebel factions spearheading this operation is Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda. It is the very group the US has tried to untangle from the fighters it supports. This means that from a Western perspective at least, the rebels are on their own.
The rebel offensive came as Syria's foreign minister Walid Muallem met his Russian and Iranian counterparts, Sergei Lavrov and Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Moscow. Mr Lavrov reiterated Moscow's call for moderate rebel groups to disassociate themselves from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. He quoted US Secretary of State John Kerry as saying if this did not happen the moderate groups concerned would be considered a legitimate target. "I think... the time has come for the logic set out by John Kerry to find some practical shape," he said. It is the rebels' second attempt to break the Aleppo siege. In August they temporarily opened a corridor between the east and west after the government entirely encircled them for the first time in July. The city, previously Syria's economic hub, has been divided between the two sides since 2012.
nus on Pakistan and India to work out differences: US
WASHINGTON, USA
: The United States say it is responsibility of Pakistan and India to resolve their differences after Pakistan and India declared a diplomat each at their High Commissions in Islamabad and New Delhi persona non-grata and sought their recall in tit-for-tat action.
State Department spokesperson, John Kirby while briefing the newsmen in Washington on Thursday said "We’ve seen the reports of these decisions. These are sovereign decisions that nation-states make, and these are issues that we re going to leave to India and Pakistan to work out".
The spokesperson further said that the onus is on Pakistan and India to work out differences and de-escalate tensions. "These are issues that we believe Pakistan and India need to discuss, need to talk about, need to work out between themselves," Kirby said.
World's largest marine protected area declared in Antarctica
Delegates from 24 countries and the European Union have agreed that the Ross Sea in Antarctica will become the world's largest marine protected area (MPA).
Some 1.57m sq km (600,000 sq miles) of the Southern Ocean will gain protection from commercial fishing for 35 years.
Environmentalists have welcomed the move to protect what's said to be the Earth's most pristine marine ecosystem.
They hope it will be the first of many such zones in international waters.
At this meeting in Hobart, Australia, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) agreed unanimously to designate the Ross Sea as an MPA, after years of protracted negotiations, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully announced.
The Ross Sea, its shelf and slope only comprise 2% of the Southern Ocean but they are home to 38% of the world's Adelie penguins, 30% of the world's Antarctic petrels and around 6% of the world's population of Antarctic minke whales.
Should tourists be banned from Antarctica?
Swimming for Antarctic ocean conservation
How the smell of the sea could help cool the earth
The region is important to the rest of the planet as the upwelling of nutrients from the deep waters are carried on currents around the world.
The Ross Sea is also home to huge numbers of krill, a staple food for species including whales and seals. Their oil is critical for salmon farming. However there are concerns that overfishing and climate change are having significant impacts on their numbers.
Ross SeaImage copyrightJOHN B. WELLER
Scientists say that the Ross Sea has hardly been touched by humans and as such is a perfect laboratory
The proposal, introduced by New Zealand and the US, and accepted by all the other nations, will see a general protection "no-take" zone where nothing can be removed including marine life and minerals.
As part of the compromise that emerged in negotiations, there will be special zones where fishing from krill and toothfish will be allowed for research purposes.
Speedo diplomacy
"I'm absolutely overjoyed," said Lewis Pugh, the UN Patron for the Oceans, and someone who has campaigned for years in support of this new MPA.
"This is the biggest protected area on the land or the sea, this is the first large scale MPA on the high seas, they are largely unprotected."
The ocean advocate and swimmer drew attention to the Ross Sea with a series of swims in the icy waters - and for two years he has engaged in a series of meetings, dubbed "speedo diplomacy" with Russian officials to convince them of the value of the MPA.
Lewis PughImage copyrightKELVIN TRAUTMAN
UN oceans patron, Lewis Pugh, engaged in "speedo diplomacy" to push for a deal
At the end of negotiations last year, Russia was the one country holding out against a consensus on the Ross Sea. But this year there has been what Mr Pugh describes as an "environmental glasnost".
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has designated 2017 as the Year of Ecology and the country has recently expanded an MPA around Franz Josef Land in the Arctic.
Sergei Ivanov, President Putin's Special Representative for Ecology, welcomed the new deal.
"Russia has a proud history of exploration and science in Antarctica. In this time of political turbulence in so many parts of the world, we are pleased to be part of this collaborative international effort to safeguard the Ross Sea," he said.
One of the key questions in the negotiations was how long the MPA should last. China is on the record as stating it believes that 20 years is long enough for a designation.
Many conservationists say this is far too short, given the lifespan of creatures that life in the Ross Sea, such as whales.
Ultimately, the parties agreed on 35 years.
The designation was welcomed not just by campaigners but also by those with close links to the Ross Sea.
"The Ross family are euphoric that our family legacy has been honoured in the 175th anniversary year since James first discovered the Ross Sea," said Phillipa Ross, great, great, great granddaughter to Sir James Clark Ross, after whom the Ross Sea is named.
Some countries are concerned that a marine protected area in the high seas around Antarctica would set a precedent for the rest of the world
One of the other big concerns that delayed the proposal was the fact that it could set a precedent for other high seas negotiations around the world, such as in the Arctic and in attempts by the UN to develop a new marine biodiversity treaty. Lewis Pugh is very hopeful that this will be the case. And he's willing to keep swimming until it happens.
"This to me represents a first step, I am heading back down to the Antarctic peninsula to carry on swimming, I want to see a series of MPAs around this continent that I feel so much about," he explained.
"For me this is an issue about justice - justice between generations. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with us destroying our oceans so our children and grandchildren have absolutely nothing."
Some 1.57m sq km (600,000 sq miles) of the Southern Ocean will gain protection from commercial fishing for 35 years.
Environmentalists have welcomed the move to protect what's said to be the Earth's most pristine marine ecosystem.
They hope it will be the first of many such zones in international waters.
At this meeting in Hobart, Australia, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) agreed unanimously to designate the Ross Sea as an MPA, after years of protracted negotiations, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully announced.
The Ross Sea, its shelf and slope only comprise 2% of the Southern Ocean but they are home to 38% of the world's Adelie penguins, 30% of the world's Antarctic petrels and around 6% of the world's population of Antarctic minke whales.
Should tourists be banned from Antarctica?
Swimming for Antarctic ocean conservation
How the smell of the sea could help cool the earth
The region is important to the rest of the planet as the upwelling of nutrients from the deep waters are carried on currents around the world.
The Ross Sea is also home to huge numbers of krill, a staple food for species including whales and seals. Their oil is critical for salmon farming. However there are concerns that overfishing and climate change are having significant impacts on their numbers.
Ross SeaImage copyrightJOHN B. WELLER
Scientists say that the Ross Sea has hardly been touched by humans and as such is a perfect laboratory
The proposal, introduced by New Zealand and the US, and accepted by all the other nations, will see a general protection "no-take" zone where nothing can be removed including marine life and minerals.
As part of the compromise that emerged in negotiations, there will be special zones where fishing from krill and toothfish will be allowed for research purposes.
Speedo diplomacy
"I'm absolutely overjoyed," said Lewis Pugh, the UN Patron for the Oceans, and someone who has campaigned for years in support of this new MPA.
"This is the biggest protected area on the land or the sea, this is the first large scale MPA on the high seas, they are largely unprotected."
The ocean advocate and swimmer drew attention to the Ross Sea with a series of swims in the icy waters - and for two years he has engaged in a series of meetings, dubbed "speedo diplomacy" with Russian officials to convince them of the value of the MPA.
Lewis PughImage copyrightKELVIN TRAUTMAN
UN oceans patron, Lewis Pugh, engaged in "speedo diplomacy" to push for a deal
At the end of negotiations last year, Russia was the one country holding out against a consensus on the Ross Sea. But this year there has been what Mr Pugh describes as an "environmental glasnost".
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has designated 2017 as the Year of Ecology and the country has recently expanded an MPA around Franz Josef Land in the Arctic.
Sergei Ivanov, President Putin's Special Representative for Ecology, welcomed the new deal.
"Russia has a proud history of exploration and science in Antarctica. In this time of political turbulence in so many parts of the world, we are pleased to be part of this collaborative international effort to safeguard the Ross Sea," he said.
One of the key questions in the negotiations was how long the MPA should last. China is on the record as stating it believes that 20 years is long enough for a designation.
Many conservationists say this is far too short, given the lifespan of creatures that life in the Ross Sea, such as whales.
Ultimately, the parties agreed on 35 years.
The designation was welcomed not just by campaigners but also by those with close links to the Ross Sea.
"The Ross family are euphoric that our family legacy has been honoured in the 175th anniversary year since James first discovered the Ross Sea," said Phillipa Ross, great, great, great granddaughter to Sir James Clark Ross, after whom the Ross Sea is named.
Some countries are concerned that a marine protected area in the high seas around Antarctica would set a precedent for the rest of the world
One of the other big concerns that delayed the proposal was the fact that it could set a precedent for other high seas negotiations around the world, such as in the Arctic and in attempts by the UN to develop a new marine biodiversity treaty. Lewis Pugh is very hopeful that this will be the case. And he's willing to keep swimming until it happens.
"This to me represents a first step, I am heading back down to the Antarctic peninsula to carry on swimming, I want to see a series of MPAs around this continent that I feel so much about," he explained.
"For me this is an issue about justice - justice between generations. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with us destroying our oceans so our children and grandchildren have absolutely nothing."
World's largest marine park created in Antarctic Ocean
Twenty-four countries and the European Union agreed on Friday to create the world's largest marine park in the Antarctic Ocean, covering a massive 1.55 million square km (600,000 square miles) of ocean.The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, meeting in Hobart, Australia, said the Ross Sea marine park would be protected from commercial fishing for 35 years.The Ross Sea is seen as one of the world's most ecologically important oceans.The sanctuary will cover more than 12 percent of the Southern Ocean, which is home to more than 10,000 species including most of the world's penguins, whales, seabirds, colossal squid and Antarctic tooth fish.Fishing will be banned completely in 1.1 million square km (425,000 square miles) of the Ross Sea, while areas designated as research zones will allow for some fishing for krill and sawfish.Scientists and activists described the agreement as a historic milestone in global efforts to protect marine diversity."The Ross Sea Region MPA will safeguard one of the last unspoiled ocean wilderness areas on the planet – home to unparalleled marine biodiversity and thriving communities of penguins, seals, whales, seabirds, and fish," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement, referring to the marine park authority.Scientists said the marine park would also allow a greater understanding of the impact of climate change.Russia agreed to the proposal, after blocking conservation proposals on five previous occasions.The 25-member commission, which includes Russia, China, the United States and the European Union, requires unanimous support for decisions."They all have diverse economic, political interests and to get them all to align - especially in the context of there are divergent economic interests - is quite a challenge," Evan Bloom, director at the U.S. Department of State and leader of the U.S. delegation, told Reuters.
ADB refuses to fund mega dam project
ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday declined to commit funds for the $14 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam project and called for governance reforms to encourage private investment and equitable growth for all Pakistanis.
“We did not really make any commitment. This is a very big project,” ADB president Takehiko Nakao said on Wednesday at a joint news conference with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the conclusion of the 15th ministerial meeting of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) programme.
He said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was conducting a feasibility study on the Diamer-Bhasha dam, adding that while it was a very important project for Pakistan’s energy and irrigation requirements, it called for the formation of more partnerships that could provide funding for the project.
Read: Marketing Diamer-Bhasha dam
“We haven’t decided [whether to fund] this project yet because it needs big money,” he said, adding that the ADB might consider joining the financing of this project at a later date.
Bank’s chief says it may join the Diamer-Bhasha dam project at a later date
The ADB was originally seen by Pakistan as the lead financier of the strategic project, which would have a water storage capacity of over six million acre feet and a power output of 4,500MW. Repeated efforts to rope the World Bank in as a co-lender failed two years ago when the government declined to seek an NoC from India for the project.
Instead, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar accepted a funding offer from the World Bank to start the Dasu Hydropower project, downstream of Diamer-Bhasha, saying the government would simultaneously go ahead with both projects.
The ADB has been advising the government to adopt a professional approach towards the construction of the big dam that cannot be funded by a single institution, country or group given its mammoth financial requirements and the risks involved.
As a way out, the ADB had advised Islamabad to restructure the Diamer-Bhasha dam project by separating power generation, land acquisition and main dam structures and their various modes of financing.
To do that, the government engaged USAID for a feasibility study and is seeking investment from US investors to develop it as an independent power project (IPP). The government is providing funds for the land acquisition of the project through Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) funds.
The ADB president said Pakistan’s successful completion of a multi-year IMF programme was encouraging, but added that the country still faced several challenges in maintaining its hard-earned gains. He said that deeper structural reforms in the energy sector should continue where smart metering was possible and public sector enterprises should be made more efficient so that private investors — both domestic and foreign — could be encouraged to come forward and contribute.
Mr Nakao stressed that it was very important for Pakistan to continue fighting against corruption, tax avoidance and money laundering, saying that the government should make efforts to minimise these menaces. He said the signing of a tax avoidance treaty with the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) would greatly help in this regard.
Responding to a question, he said good governance was critical for improving spending on the safety and security of people and raising their living standards. The government should take corrective steps; the sooner, the better, he said.
Responding to another question on start-up problems in ADB-funded projects, he said the bank was currently providing on average $1.5 billion to Pakistan per year, but admitted that it was important to improve implementation standards for accelerated disbursement, timely construction and completion so that the benefits of these projects could reach the people.
He also asked Pakistan to wisely implement projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and utilise their funds well so as to avoid debt or repayment problems. He said the ADB supported regional integration efforts such as the CPEC because they ensured shared development.
Finance Minister Dar and the ADB chief also witnessed the signing of a $250 million loan-agreement on the ‘Regional Improvement of Border Services’ between Pakistan and ADB to improve border management facilities at Torkham, Chaman and Wagah under the auspices of CAREC.
The projects aims at the modernisation of the physical infrastructure at border crossing points, provision of equipment such as scanners, weighing bridges etc, IT hardware & software support for the transition to a one-window system, and streamlining cross border procedures and capacity development.
The minister said the CAREC ministerial meeting had formally adopted Georgia as its 11th member. Existing members include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
Multilateral and International development agencies including International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), USAID, DFID of UK, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Trade Organisation also participated in the meeting.
“We did not really make any commitment. This is a very big project,” ADB president Takehiko Nakao said on Wednesday at a joint news conference with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the conclusion of the 15th ministerial meeting of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) programme.
He said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was conducting a feasibility study on the Diamer-Bhasha dam, adding that while it was a very important project for Pakistan’s energy and irrigation requirements, it called for the formation of more partnerships that could provide funding for the project.
Read: Marketing Diamer-Bhasha dam
“We haven’t decided [whether to fund] this project yet because it needs big money,” he said, adding that the ADB might consider joining the financing of this project at a later date.
Bank’s chief says it may join the Diamer-Bhasha dam project at a later date
The ADB was originally seen by Pakistan as the lead financier of the strategic project, which would have a water storage capacity of over six million acre feet and a power output of 4,500MW. Repeated efforts to rope the World Bank in as a co-lender failed two years ago when the government declined to seek an NoC from India for the project.
Instead, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar accepted a funding offer from the World Bank to start the Dasu Hydropower project, downstream of Diamer-Bhasha, saying the government would simultaneously go ahead with both projects.
The ADB has been advising the government to adopt a professional approach towards the construction of the big dam that cannot be funded by a single institution, country or group given its mammoth financial requirements and the risks involved.
As a way out, the ADB had advised Islamabad to restructure the Diamer-Bhasha dam project by separating power generation, land acquisition and main dam structures and their various modes of financing.
To do that, the government engaged USAID for a feasibility study and is seeking investment from US investors to develop it as an independent power project (IPP). The government is providing funds for the land acquisition of the project through Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) funds.
The ADB president said Pakistan’s successful completion of a multi-year IMF programme was encouraging, but added that the country still faced several challenges in maintaining its hard-earned gains. He said that deeper structural reforms in the energy sector should continue where smart metering was possible and public sector enterprises should be made more efficient so that private investors — both domestic and foreign — could be encouraged to come forward and contribute.
Mr Nakao stressed that it was very important for Pakistan to continue fighting against corruption, tax avoidance and money laundering, saying that the government should make efforts to minimise these menaces. He said the signing of a tax avoidance treaty with the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) would greatly help in this regard.
Responding to a question, he said good governance was critical for improving spending on the safety and security of people and raising their living standards. The government should take corrective steps; the sooner, the better, he said.
Responding to another question on start-up problems in ADB-funded projects, he said the bank was currently providing on average $1.5 billion to Pakistan per year, but admitted that it was important to improve implementation standards for accelerated disbursement, timely construction and completion so that the benefits of these projects could reach the people.
He also asked Pakistan to wisely implement projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and utilise their funds well so as to avoid debt or repayment problems. He said the ADB supported regional integration efforts such as the CPEC because they ensured shared development.
Finance Minister Dar and the ADB chief also witnessed the signing of a $250 million loan-agreement on the ‘Regional Improvement of Border Services’ between Pakistan and ADB to improve border management facilities at Torkham, Chaman and Wagah under the auspices of CAREC.
The projects aims at the modernisation of the physical infrastructure at border crossing points, provision of equipment such as scanners, weighing bridges etc, IT hardware & software support for the transition to a one-window system, and streamlining cross border procedures and capacity development.
The minister said the CAREC ministerial meeting had formally adopted Georgia as its 11th member. Existing members include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
Multilateral and International development agencies including International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), USAID, DFID of UK, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Trade Organisation also participated in the meeting.
Donald Trump isn't opening his checkbook to save his campaign
(CNN)If Donald Trump were to honor his pledge to spend $100 million of his own money on his campaign, he would have to invest and spend $44 million at breakneck speed.
And even then, Republicans warn, it would not do much good.
Trump, the billionaire businessman whose outsider appeal was bolstered by his seeming ability and desire to self-fund his campaign, only gave $31,000 to his effort over the first three weeks of October. This after as recently as Wednesday the Republican presidential nominee insisted he will cross the $100 million threshold by the end of the election, something GOP allies have urged him to do for months to resuscitate his stumbling campaign and augment their capabilities on the air and the ground.
Now, though, it may be too late.
If Trump cut the massive check to hit the magic number -- and that's an enormous if -- he is essentially left with two bad options, observers say. He could try in vain to hire last-minute organizers or beef up data capabilities, but those fixed operations take months to develop.
Early voting update: More than 12.6 million votes cast
Early voting update: More than 12.6 million votes cast
Or he could write a check to fund a last-minute advertising barrage and come closer to parity with Hillary Clinton and her associated super PACs on the air -- a likelier scenario, but one with tremendous diminishing returns given the cost and availability of advertising slots with less than two weeks to go.
"It's much harder to scale up the turnout stuff because a lot of that is human capital. Can you find more people?" said Mike DuHaime, who has guided general election budgets at the Republican National Committee and for John McCain. "Putting a lot into the ground game at this stage is smart, but it's hard to do."
Trump's campaign has only $16 million on hand, largely thanks to his poor performance with the party's most elite donors, who only loaded $11 million into the high-dollar Trump Victory fund in the first part of October.
Clinton, meanwhile, has $62 million as of October 20, and her super PAC Priorities USA has an additional $15 million.
For Trump, this adds up to trouble for a candidate trailing or neck-and-neck in the swing states he needs to win in order to capture the White House, such as Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Given that Trump's path to 270 electoral votes is much narrower than Clinton's, the money deficit could easily prove fatal.
Yet Trump has been kept alive by online donors -- plus his willingness, no matter how elusive it seemed at points, to dig into his billions of net worth and independently finance a bid.
Trump in fundraising emails Thursday promised to triple-match his supporters' most recent contributions received through Monday -- and he notably did not include a $2 million cap on that match as he has on solicitations throughout the year.
"With Hillary Clinton dominating the airwaves thanks to her huge contributions from liberal elites, AND all her media friends lying about me on TV all day, our final ad blitz needs to be huge," Trump wrote. "If you wait to contribute tomorrow, it will be too late, Friend. We need to buy more 30-second ad slots now."
And he repeatedly told CNN's Dana Bash on Wednesday that the $100 million total was still accurate, flatly dismissing any skepticism and even suggesting he could give "much more."
Donald Trump says he will dramatically ramp up donations in final stretch of campaign
Donald Trump says he will dramatically ramp up donations
"I will have over $100 million in the campaign, and I'm prepared to go much more than that," Trump said.
That hasn't happened -- and the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening if he still would.
Why didn't he give more? And spend it earlier?
Experienced Republican budgeters have for months stressed that cash that arrived too late in the campaign would have limited utility, and that guidance has been especially sharp for Trump given that he started the general election with no fundraising or data infrastructure.
GOP operatives have fretted since the summer about states where Trump can afford just a half-dozen aides in a swing-state; or where second-tier media markets in battlegrounds do not see any television advertising; or where the infrastructure for tracking early voting is dilapidated and under-funded.
The date long circles on Republicans' calendar: Labor Day, after which, they argued, Trump would begin to see diminishing returns to his money.
Trump did not begin television advertising until late into the summer -- ceding the airwaves to Clinton until the nominating conventions wrapped -- and still maintains a skeletal staff compared to the Clinton behemoth in Brooklyn.
Yet Trump has steadily donated $2 million a month to his campaign for virtually the entire race, smaller chunks than he gave to the campaign during the primary, when he was self-funding nearly entirely. And Republicans now stress that his ability to self fund -- widely celebrated and popular during the primary -- is now largely worthless with two weeks to go, if he even does so.
How to spend $44 million in 11 days?
Top Trump donor family urges him to go on the attack
Top Trump donor family urges him to go on the attack
Jim Bognet, a Republican strategist who bought ads for Mitt Romney in 2012 and has experience with self-funding candidates like David Dewhurst in Texas, said Trump could easily find a way to spend $44 million in a tiny timeframe -- but that money would be spent carelessly.
"If you don't care about price and efficiency, you could definitely spend tens of millions of incremental dollars in a presidential race in the last 10 days of campaign," he said. "In crowded swing state airwaves, it's hard to get incremental space on broadcast TV at this time in true battlegrounds."
Bognet had a few ideas for the Trump campaign. It could air television ads in second-tier states like Arizona or Utah -- red states where he's facing strong challenges from Clinton or independent candidate Evan McMullin -- or do massive national cable buys on pricey channels like ESPN. It could invest big in radio, a relatively available medium where Bognet recalls making reservations in 2012 just 24 hours before Election Day. Or Trump could pay for turnout calls in every particular language -- even up to on Election Day.
"The problem with all of this is it is super expensive," Bognet said. "So the closer you get to Election Day, the more crowded with other campaign and super PAC ads are, and often the harder it is to either get bang for your buck or placement."
Trump during the primaries touted his ability to win on the cheap, especially compared to candidates like Jeb Bush who went nowhere despite spending tens of millions of dollars. He seemingly lamented the political spending game Wednesday in the interview with Bash.
First on CNN: McConnell super PAC raises $43 million to help GOP senators
First on CNN: McConnell super PAC has $43 million to help GOP senators
"In the old days, you'd get credit: If you would spend less money and have victory, that would be a good thing," Trump said. "Today, they want you to spend money."
Trump has also struggled to steer his donors to a viable super PAC behind his bid, like Clinton has with her Priorities USA. The National Rifle Association has been Trump's biggest defender on television, and a second PAC funded by the powerful Adelson and Ricketts families showed initial signs of progress earlier this fall, but neither has matched the Clinton juggernaut.
Many Republicans, at this point, don't expect the major injection of cash to happen. And in fact, a rich irony was revealed thrust Thursday upon Trump, a candidate who has attacked Clinton for not investing more of her own money in his campaign.
It was Clinton -- with her $50,000 donation -- who was the biggest self-funder in October.
And even then, Republicans warn, it would not do much good.
Trump, the billionaire businessman whose outsider appeal was bolstered by his seeming ability and desire to self-fund his campaign, only gave $31,000 to his effort over the first three weeks of October. This after as recently as Wednesday the Republican presidential nominee insisted he will cross the $100 million threshold by the end of the election, something GOP allies have urged him to do for months to resuscitate his stumbling campaign and augment their capabilities on the air and the ground.
Now, though, it may be too late.
If Trump cut the massive check to hit the magic number -- and that's an enormous if -- he is essentially left with two bad options, observers say. He could try in vain to hire last-minute organizers or beef up data capabilities, but those fixed operations take months to develop.
Early voting update: More than 12.6 million votes cast
Early voting update: More than 12.6 million votes cast
Or he could write a check to fund a last-minute advertising barrage and come closer to parity with Hillary Clinton and her associated super PACs on the air -- a likelier scenario, but one with tremendous diminishing returns given the cost and availability of advertising slots with less than two weeks to go.
"It's much harder to scale up the turnout stuff because a lot of that is human capital. Can you find more people?" said Mike DuHaime, who has guided general election budgets at the Republican National Committee and for John McCain. "Putting a lot into the ground game at this stage is smart, but it's hard to do."
Trump's campaign has only $16 million on hand, largely thanks to his poor performance with the party's most elite donors, who only loaded $11 million into the high-dollar Trump Victory fund in the first part of October.
Clinton, meanwhile, has $62 million as of October 20, and her super PAC Priorities USA has an additional $15 million.
For Trump, this adds up to trouble for a candidate trailing or neck-and-neck in the swing states he needs to win in order to capture the White House, such as Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Given that Trump's path to 270 electoral votes is much narrower than Clinton's, the money deficit could easily prove fatal.
Yet Trump has been kept alive by online donors -- plus his willingness, no matter how elusive it seemed at points, to dig into his billions of net worth and independently finance a bid.
Trump in fundraising emails Thursday promised to triple-match his supporters' most recent contributions received through Monday -- and he notably did not include a $2 million cap on that match as he has on solicitations throughout the year.
"With Hillary Clinton dominating the airwaves thanks to her huge contributions from liberal elites, AND all her media friends lying about me on TV all day, our final ad blitz needs to be huge," Trump wrote. "If you wait to contribute tomorrow, it will be too late, Friend. We need to buy more 30-second ad slots now."
And he repeatedly told CNN's Dana Bash on Wednesday that the $100 million total was still accurate, flatly dismissing any skepticism and even suggesting he could give "much more."
Donald Trump says he will dramatically ramp up donations in final stretch of campaign
Donald Trump says he will dramatically ramp up donations
"I will have over $100 million in the campaign, and I'm prepared to go much more than that," Trump said.
That hasn't happened -- and the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening if he still would.
Why didn't he give more? And spend it earlier?
Experienced Republican budgeters have for months stressed that cash that arrived too late in the campaign would have limited utility, and that guidance has been especially sharp for Trump given that he started the general election with no fundraising or data infrastructure.
GOP operatives have fretted since the summer about states where Trump can afford just a half-dozen aides in a swing-state; or where second-tier media markets in battlegrounds do not see any television advertising; or where the infrastructure for tracking early voting is dilapidated and under-funded.
The date long circles on Republicans' calendar: Labor Day, after which, they argued, Trump would begin to see diminishing returns to his money.
Trump did not begin television advertising until late into the summer -- ceding the airwaves to Clinton until the nominating conventions wrapped -- and still maintains a skeletal staff compared to the Clinton behemoth in Brooklyn.
Yet Trump has steadily donated $2 million a month to his campaign for virtually the entire race, smaller chunks than he gave to the campaign during the primary, when he was self-funding nearly entirely. And Republicans now stress that his ability to self fund -- widely celebrated and popular during the primary -- is now largely worthless with two weeks to go, if he even does so.
How to spend $44 million in 11 days?
Top Trump donor family urges him to go on the attack
Top Trump donor family urges him to go on the attack
Jim Bognet, a Republican strategist who bought ads for Mitt Romney in 2012 and has experience with self-funding candidates like David Dewhurst in Texas, said Trump could easily find a way to spend $44 million in a tiny timeframe -- but that money would be spent carelessly.
"If you don't care about price and efficiency, you could definitely spend tens of millions of incremental dollars in a presidential race in the last 10 days of campaign," he said. "In crowded swing state airwaves, it's hard to get incremental space on broadcast TV at this time in true battlegrounds."
Bognet had a few ideas for the Trump campaign. It could air television ads in second-tier states like Arizona or Utah -- red states where he's facing strong challenges from Clinton or independent candidate Evan McMullin -- or do massive national cable buys on pricey channels like ESPN. It could invest big in radio, a relatively available medium where Bognet recalls making reservations in 2012 just 24 hours before Election Day. Or Trump could pay for turnout calls in every particular language -- even up to on Election Day.
"The problem with all of this is it is super expensive," Bognet said. "So the closer you get to Election Day, the more crowded with other campaign and super PAC ads are, and often the harder it is to either get bang for your buck or placement."
Trump during the primaries touted his ability to win on the cheap, especially compared to candidates like Jeb Bush who went nowhere despite spending tens of millions of dollars. He seemingly lamented the political spending game Wednesday in the interview with Bash.
First on CNN: McConnell super PAC raises $43 million to help GOP senators
First on CNN: McConnell super PAC has $43 million to help GOP senators
"In the old days, you'd get credit: If you would spend less money and have victory, that would be a good thing," Trump said. "Today, they want you to spend money."
Trump has also struggled to steer his donors to a viable super PAC behind his bid, like Clinton has with her Priorities USA. The National Rifle Association has been Trump's biggest defender on television, and a second PAC funded by the powerful Adelson and Ricketts families showed initial signs of progress earlier this fall, but neither has matched the Clinton juggernaut.
Many Republicans, at this point, don't expect the major injection of cash to happen. And in fact, a rich irony was revealed thrust Thursday upon Trump, a candidate who has attacked Clinton for not investing more of her own money in his campaign.
It was Clinton -- with her $50,000 donation -- who was the biggest self-funder in October.
FPCCI hints at reviewing trade ties with India
KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Thursday said it would consider suspending trade with India if the situation did not improve soon.
FPCCI president Abdul Rauf Alam said that Pakistan had no compulsions of any sort to continue business and trade relations with India under the current hostile conditions. The entire Pakistani business community, he said, was united to take any decision and given the tense situation in the region, it was not possible to continue trade relations with India.
He pointed out the role of the Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry and said that it left them with no choice but to promote trade relations with ECO and D-8 countries.
Read: ‘Trade with India not to affect Pakistan economy’
The Kalabagh dam and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were also facing controversies and losing such opportunities could be damaging for the country, said Mr Alam, adding that the CPEC was a game-changer, but there was little awareness among the business community about the project. He advised the community to work in unison and avoid politics of accusations in order to improve the image of the apex body of trade and industry (FPCCI).
Mr Alam was of the opinion that without making payments of outstanding sales tax refunds to exporters, the country would not progress and falling exports would also not improve.
FPCCI president Abdul Rauf Alam said that Pakistan had no compulsions of any sort to continue business and trade relations with India under the current hostile conditions. The entire Pakistani business community, he said, was united to take any decision and given the tense situation in the region, it was not possible to continue trade relations with India.
He pointed out the role of the Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry and said that it left them with no choice but to promote trade relations with ECO and D-8 countries.
Read: ‘Trade with India not to affect Pakistan economy’
The Kalabagh dam and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were also facing controversies and losing such opportunities could be damaging for the country, said Mr Alam, adding that the CPEC was a game-changer, but there was little awareness among the business community about the project. He advised the community to work in unison and avoid politics of accusations in order to improve the image of the apex body of trade and industry (FPCCI).
Mr Alam was of the opinion that without making payments of outstanding sales tax refunds to exporters, the country would not progress and falling exports would also not improve.
India desperately seeking access to Kulbhushan Jadhav: ToI
NEW DELHI, INDIA: In an attempt to get access to spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, India sent 6 note verbales to the Pakistan foreign ministry for consular access to its spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, top government sources told Times of India.
The revelation proves that India was very much worried over the disclosures made by its spy under Pakistani custody who has been booked for terrorism by Pakistan authorities.
A note verbale is an unsigned diplomatic communication which is less formal than a letter of protest but is used to forcefully remind the receiving nation of its diplomatic obligations.
Official sources said India will continue to seek consular access to Jadhav. While Pakistan claims that Jadhav is a commander-rank officer with Indian navy, India maintains that he retired from the navy in 2002 and had nothing to do with the Indian government when he was arrested from Balochistan.
"India has relentlessly sought access to Jadhav. And we don't believe that he is a spy because had he been one, he wouldn't have been carrying an Indian passport," said a source here. Jadhav's Indian passport was in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel.
Islamabad has used the arrest of Jadhav at every international forum to drum up support for its contention that India's external intelligence agency, RAW, was fomenting terrorism in Balochistan. It has repeatedly briefed envoys of EU and P-5 nations about Jadhav's "subversive activities" in Balochistan.
Pakistan foreign ministry last week said in a report to the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that its claims about India's involvement in Balochistan had been vindicated by "serving RAW officer" Jadhav's confessions and also PM Narendra Modi's comments on August 15 in which he reached out to the people of Balochistan.
The revelation proves that India was very much worried over the disclosures made by its spy under Pakistani custody who has been booked for terrorism by Pakistan authorities.
A note verbale is an unsigned diplomatic communication which is less formal than a letter of protest but is used to forcefully remind the receiving nation of its diplomatic obligations.
Official sources said India will continue to seek consular access to Jadhav. While Pakistan claims that Jadhav is a commander-rank officer with Indian navy, India maintains that he retired from the navy in 2002 and had nothing to do with the Indian government when he was arrested from Balochistan.
"India has relentlessly sought access to Jadhav. And we don't believe that he is a spy because had he been one, he wouldn't have been carrying an Indian passport," said a source here. Jadhav's Indian passport was in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel.
Islamabad has used the arrest of Jadhav at every international forum to drum up support for its contention that India's external intelligence agency, RAW, was fomenting terrorism in Balochistan. It has repeatedly briefed envoys of EU and P-5 nations about Jadhav's "subversive activities" in Balochistan.
Pakistan foreign ministry last week said in a report to the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that its claims about India's involvement in Balochistan had been vindicated by "serving RAW officer" Jadhav's confessions and also PM Narendra Modi's comments on August 15 in which he reached out to the people of Balochistan.
Coked-up British banker imagined police behind curtains after cutting woman's throat
Moments before he surrendered after killing a second victim in his Hong Kong apartment, British banker Rurik Jutting ingested up to 20 grams of cocaine and imagined police were behind the curtains, a court heard on Thursday.
In videoed police interviews shown on the fourth day of his trial for the murder of two Indonesian women, Jutting impassively described the paranoia he felt moments before calling police to come and get him.
Jutting has admitted killing Sumarti Ningsih, a 23-year-old single mother, and another Indonesian woman, Seneng Mujiasih, as he acted out violent fantasies.
But the former investment banker pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, while pleading guilty to the lesser crime of manslaughter.
Collapsing bloodsoaked and exhausted on his balcony after struggling to cut the throat of 26-year-old Mujiasih, the Cambridge University graduate told how he then yelled and waved a knife at people on the sidewalk 31 floors below.
"When I decided to surrender, I dropped my knife," Jutting said, describing how he barricaded himself into his bedroom and called police. He also dropped and smashed a bottle of vodka.
"I saw the curtains moving and I thought they (the police) were there," he said.
"I took the amount of cocaine for one or two days in half an hour."
The video evidence showed Rutting telling police that he was consuming 10 packs of cocaine a day - each costing HK$1,000 ($128.95). In earlier evidence, he said he was getting through 10 grams per day, washed down with red wine and Red Bull energy drinks. He complained of insomnia.
After surrendering, Jutting gave police his phone as "evidence", which contained photographs as well as four hours of video footage chronicling his cocaine and alcohol fueled spiral into an abyss of sexual torture and killing.
Dressed in a light blue shirt, Jutting, 31, sometimes shut his eyes and tilted his head upwards as the interviews played before the jury of four women and five men.
FINDING A COKE DEALER
During the police interviews, Jutting said he had enticed both victims back to his apartment by offering to pay for sex.
He also described the drug dealer who sold him the cocaine.
"It is all provided by Marvin, he's a black man," Jutting told police. "I was introduced to him by a sex worker...on a daily basis he has been selling me cocaine."
Jutting said he primarily "snorted" the drug but also inserted it into his rectum. He removed his shirt to show self-inflicted scratch marks, which he said was an effect of cocaine.
A toxicologist, called as an expert witness by the prosecution on Wednesday, described the quantities of cocaine consumed by Jutting during a six-week binge as unbelievably high.
The jury was earlier shown footage that Jutting filmed himself during the sexual torture and killing of Ningsih over the course of three days, capturing his taunts and boasts as well as his remorse and moments of self-loathing.
In videos played earlier in the trial, Jutting had described how he had crammed Ningsih's mutilated body in a suitcase which police found on the balcony. She had been visiting Hong Kong on a tourist visa, while Mujiasih had been working there as a domestic helper.
The High Court trial is due to continue next Monday, when the defense is due to open its case.
Murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Hong Kong, while manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of life.
Syria rebels 'in push to break Aleppo siege'
Rebels in Syria have announced a big offensive aimed at breaking the government siege of east Aleppo.
A UK-based monitoring group said the rebels had fired "hundreds" of missiles into western Aleppo, killing at least 15 civilians. They are also reported to have targeted al-Nayrab military airport to the east. About 275,000 people have been besieged in the east by pro-government forces for several months.Syria and its ally Russia have recently intensified air strikes on the east.
- Life under siege in rebel-held Aleppo
- Why Assad wants to take Aleppo
- Aleppo: Key battleground in Syria's war
The attacks are so far coming from rebels outside Aleppo but it is understood that rebels inside the city will join the offensive."All the revolutionary factions, without exception, are participating in the battle," the military spokesman for the Fastaqim faction inside the city said, AP news agency reports.Rebels fired Grad missiles at al-Nayrab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group said. Up to 115 people were killed or wounded, it added. They also detonated two car bombs - one a digger driven by a suicide bomber from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front - against government positions to the south-west of the city. The area around the Hmeimim air base near the coastal city of Latakia - the main airport used by the Russian air force - was also reportedly targeted, the SOHR said.It is the rebels' second attempt to break the siege. In August they temporarily opened a corridor between the east and west after the government entirely encircled them for the first time in July.The city, previously Syria's economic hub, has been divided between the two sides since 2012.Almost 500 people have been killed and 2,000 injured since government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, intensified an assault on the east of the city a month ago. UN human rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein has described the city as a "slaughterhouse".
Pakistan orders Indian diplomat to leave within 48 hours
The Foreign Office said late on Thursday it has declared an Indian diplomat persona non grata and given him 48 hours to leave the country.
The diplomat was identified as Surjeet Singh, an official at the Indian High Commission, in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
India said earlier on Thursday it would expel a Pakistani diplomat based in New Delhi who allegedly ran a spy ring that collected sensitive information about Indian security operations along its border.
The allegations come amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed arch-rivals over the disputed region of Kashmir.
The diplomat was identified as Surjeet Singh, an official at the Indian High Commission, in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
India said earlier on Thursday it would expel a Pakistani diplomat based in New Delhi who allegedly ran a spy ring that collected sensitive information about Indian security operations along its border.
The allegations come amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed arch-rivals over the disputed region of Kashmir.
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