US rejects majority of Pak support fund demands

Washington—The United States has rejected majority of the demands pressed by Pakistan with respect to the coalition support fund claiming them to be unrealistic. The US is not only adamant in its refusal to apologise for the Salala border checkpost incident that had resulted in the killings of 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year but also cornering Pakistan as punishment for the apology demand.Sources claimed that Pakistan’s federal government has decided to pass the burden of the US punishment onto the public and the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) has been increased by 15 to 20 per cent to deal with the impasse. The price hike would be affective from 1st July.

China steps up Afghan role as Western pullout nears

Kabul—China and Afghanistan will sign an agreement in the coming days that strategically deepens their ties, Afghan officials say, the strongest signal yet that Beijing wants a role beyond economic partnership as Western forces prepare to leave the country. China has kept a low political profile through much of the decade-long international effort to stabilise Afghanistan, choosing instead to pursue an economic agenda, including locking in future supply from Afghanistan’s untapped mineral resources.

US-Pakistan freeze chokes fallback route in Afghanistan

Salang —Nowhere is the impact of Pakistan’s ban on NATO truck traffic more visible than here at the top of the Hindu Kush, on one of the only alternative overland routes for supply convoys to reach Kabul and the rest of the country. For 20 miles north and south of the old Soviet-built tunnel at Salang Pass, thousands of trucks are idled beside the road, waiting for a turn to get through its perilous, one-and-a-half-mile length, The New York Times reported Sunday.

India, Pak armies hurdle in Siachen peace: Mukhtar Defence Minister contradicts report

Islamabad—With Pakistan Army Chief having recently stated that Pakistan wants a resolution to the Siachen issue, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar pointed out to BBC Urdu that the biggest hurdle in resolving the icy issue was armies of both Pakistan and India. In an interview to the Urdu-language version of the British news service, Mukhtar said that both Pakistan and India would stand to benefit from resolving the Siachen issue.

Kohistan video 5 women killed, officials deny locals’ claim

Kohistan—Five women in Kohistan, four of whom were filmed ‘singing and dancing’ with men at a wedding party, were killed on May 30 after a tribal jirga ordered their execution, claimed Muhammad Afzal brother of the two people who filmed the video and uploaded it on the internet. Commissioner Hazara Khalid Umarzai and Provincial Minister for Social Welfare Sitara Ayaz denied that the women were killed and said they were alive and safe at their homes. Police officials in the area also denied the incident.

Sikhs observe anniversary of Golden Temple massacre

Washington—Sikhs Community in the United States East Coast gathered in Washington, D.C. to mark the brutal Indian military attack on the Golden Temple, the centre and seat of the Sikh religion, and 37 other Sikh Gurdwaras throughout Punjab, in June 1984, in which according to Sikh leaders over 20,000 Sikhs were killed. Similar commemorations were also held New York, several cities in Canada, at the United Nations, in London and around the world.

Rain fails to dampen spirits of diamond jubilee of Queen’s fans

London—Loyal subjects and curious onlookers refused to let the rain dampen their spirits on Sunday as they lined the Thames under umbrellas waiting to watch Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee river pageant. In a spectacle not seen on such a scale for 350 years, more than 1,000 boats of all shapes and sizes were to sail downstream through central London to mark the queen’s 60 years on the throne.The monarch was to take her place on a sumptuous royal barge for the highlight of the four-day public holiday weekend to mark the jubilee, with ships filling the horizon.