Archive for July, 2014
Loud Thinking July 21, 2014 at 04:26AM
July 21st, 2014 | 
Author: How dare South African team cheat and then force the TV broadcaster Ten Sports not to air the footage of its cheating act?
Link:- http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-south-africa-2014/content/current/story/762471.html
Loud Thinking July 21, 2014 at 04:01AM
Hamas military wing claims it has kidnapped Israeli soldier on edge of Gaza (Times of India)
Hope Pakistani media also reports this great news..?
If no other Muslim country is coming to the help of the un-armed Palestinians even then the myth of the Israel’s invincibility blown up by the brave Gaza Palestinians.
GAZA CITY (Palestinian Territories): The armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas group claimed on Sunday night that it had kidnapped an Israeli soldier, prompting celebrations on the streets of Gaza City.
“The Israeli soldier Shaul Aaron is in the hands of the Qassam Brigades,” a spokesman using the nom de guerre Abu Obeida said in a televised address.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said they were aware of the claim and were investigating.
AFP correspondents said there were celebrations in Gaza City, as well as in the streets of the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Hebron following the announcement from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, with Palestinians firing guns in the air and praising Hamas.
The Qassam Brigades said the soldier had been kidnapped 24 hours earlier during an ambush on Israeli forces in the Tuffah district on the eastern edges of Gaza City.
Palestinians are offered sweets as they celebrate outside the Shifa hospital in Gaza City on late Sunday, July 20, 2014. (AP photo)
There has been heavy fighting on the eastern edges of Gaza, with Israel saying Sunday that 13 soldiers had been killed in violence overnight.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri hailed the news in a statement. “The announcement by the Qassam Brigades of the capture of a Zionist soldier is a great victory and revenge for the blood of the martyrs,” he said.
Hamas last kidnapped an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in 2006. He was held until 2011, when he was freed in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom have subsequently been rearrested by Israel.
Bloody Sunday as 100 Gazans, 13 Israeli soldiers killed
The claim came on day 13 of the latest flare-up in violence between Israel and Hamas, which has seen the deaths of 438 Palestinians and 20 Israelis, 18 of them soldiers.
More than 60 Palestinians were killed in the Shejaiya district alone overnight and into Sunday morning in heavy Israeli tank fire.
Palestinians hold a doll wrapped in a white cloth with red stains and shout slogans during a protest in front of the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. (AFP photo)
The current round of conflict began on July 8, with Israel announcing on July 17 that it would undertake ground operations in Gaza.
The Israeli military offensive saw the bloodiest single day in Gaza in five years.
“Over the course of the day, 13 soldiers from the IDF’s Golani Brigade were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip,” an Israeli military statement said.
Their deaths raised to 18 the number of soldiers killed since the ground operation began late on Thursday. It was the largest number of soldiers killed in combat since the 2006 Lebanon war.
Chief of general staff of the Israel Defence Forces Benny Gantz talks to reporters near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip on July 20, 2014. (AFP photo)
More than half of Sunday’s Palestinian victims were killed in a blistering hours-long Israeli assault on Shejaiya, near Gaza City, which began before dawn and has so far claimed 62 Palestinian lives, with another 250 wounded.
With ambulances unable to reach the area, the International Committee of the Red Cross called for an urgent temporary ceasefire to allow paramedics to evacuate the dead and wounded, which was agreed on by the two sides.
Inside Shejaiya, there were hellish scenes of carnage and chaos as a convoy of ambulances moved in, an AFP correspondent said.
Israeli soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade mourn over the grave of Sgt Bnaya Rubel during his funeral at the military cemetery in Holon, Israel on July 20, 2014. (AP photo)
Entire buildings were collapsed on themselves or strewn into the streets, while others were ablaze, sending pillars of dark smoke skywards.
There were also bodies, blackened and charred almost beyond recognition, some with whole limbs missing.
Abbas calls urgent meeting
As the violence raged, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas arrived in Qatar to discuss a ceasefire with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, and UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived later to push truce efforts.
“I am calling for an urgent session tonight of the UN security council,” Abbas said in a speech broadcast on Palestinian TV.
“What the occupation forces did today in Shejaiya is a crime against humanity,” he said. “Those who committed it will not go unpunished.”
A handout picture released by the Palestinian president’s office shows Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani (right) greeting Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas before a meeting in the capital Doha on July 20, 2014.
Ban also condemned the “atrocious action” in Shejaiya and urged Israel to “exercise maximum restraint”.
“Too many innocent people are dying … (and) living in constant fear,” he told a news conference in Doha.
So far, truce efforts have been rejected by Hamas which has pressed on with its own attacks, undaunted by the Israeli bombardment by land, sea and air.
Following a night of terror in Shejaiya, thousands fled for their lives at first light after heavy shelling, an AFP correspondent reported.
Palestinian medical personnel treat a wounded baby at the emergency room of the Shifa hospital in Gaza City on July 18, 2014. (AP photo)
Among them were gunmen, some with their faces covered by scarves. Women and children were among the dead, as were a Palestinian paramedic and a cameraman killed when an ambulance was hit.
“He wasn’t a fighter, he was a fighter for humanity,” wailed one relative. “He was an ambulance worker, did he deserve to die?”
UNRWA has opened 61 of its schools to shelter those fleeing, with more than 81,000 people taking refuge in them, the refugee agency said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed the civilian casualties on Hamas using innocent civilians “as human shields”, and on Sunday insisted the military campaign had strong international backing.
Orthodox Jews dance with Israeli soldiers at an army deployment area near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip on July 20, 2014. (AFP photo)
“We are carrying out a complex, deep, intensive activity inside the Gaza Strip and there is world support for this … very strong support,” he said ahead of a security cabinet meeting.
Although Israel said earlier Sunday it was expanding its ground operation to destroy the network of tunnels used by militants to stage cross-border attacks, Netanyahu said troops could end their mission “fairly quickly”.
His defence minister Moshe Yaalon also suggested it could end within days.
“My assessment is that in another two or three days, the lion’s share of the tunnels, from our perspective, will be destroyed,” Yaalon said.
But he demanded international action to “demilitarize Gaza”, the tiny coastal enclave which is home to 1.7 million Palestinians and is one of the most densely populated areas on the planet.
Israel’s right to self-defence in the face of rocket fire from Gaza has won repeated support from Washington.
US President Barack Obama expressed concern over the loss of life in a call to Netanyahu, saying secretary of state John Kerry would travel to Cairo to seek an end to the fighting.
Kerry, meanwhile, blamed Hamas for perpetuating the conflict by “stubbornly” refusing all ceasefire efforts.
By its behaviour, Hamas had “invited further actions” by Israel, he said, in remarks which drew an angry response from Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who accused Israel of killing Palestinians “mercilessly”.
“How can we ignore this? How can a country like the United States turn a blind eye to this?” Erdogan asked.
Loud Thinking July 20, 2014 at 10:45PM
In the Lords Cricket Test match for England the party seems to be over..!
Loud Thinking July 20, 2014 at 08:30PM
“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.”
— Morris West
Loud Thinking July 20, 2014 at 03:09PM
Why ALL Pakistani politicians can’t even condemn the Genocide of Muslims in Gaza by the Israel?
Turkish PM Erdogan says Israel ‘surpasses Hitler in barbarism’
Link:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Turkish-PM-Erdogan-says-Israel-surpasses-Hitler-in-barbarism/articleshow/38728358.cms
Loud Thinking July 19, 2014 at 07:05PM
My article titled “Why people are fed up with the government so soon?” Published today by the daily “Pakistan Observer”.
Link:- http://epaper.pakobserver.net/201407/19/comments-2.php
Loud Thinking July 19, 2014 at 06:57PM
My letter published today by the daily “The News”.
The great disconnect
Saturday, July 19, 2014
From Print Edition
New 0 0 0
The ground realities of the last 14 months absolutely negate joy over the news about the improvement in ranking of Pakistan by Moody’s.
The proof of the pudding, however, lies in its eating.
What has been the difference in the loadshedding situation between the PPP and the PML-N governments?
The answer is that we are getting the same amount of electricity, but at 100 percent increased rates.
Further, the finance minister has committed with the IMF to again increase the power rates by almost another 100 percent.
The government must see the mood of the general public and its perception about the current rulers.
The ruling elite is totally disconnected from the problems of the voters and the general public. This disconnect is proved by the daily mantra of the PMLN’s leadership, telling the public to be patient and give them a chance to rule for another four years.
The biggest problem with the disconnect is that it is never ever visible to the rulers; and they are always surprised that if people are not getting bread, why can’t they eat cake?
The people will be happily ready to give them not only the next four years, but the next 40 as well, but what tangible sacrifices have the leaders made for the public?
Genuine leaders rule by example, not by hollow slogans.
The PML-N sadly looks to be a party of the super rich royalty, totally devoid and detached from the issues faced by the general public.
Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad
Lahore
Link:- http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-11-262636-The-great-disconnect
Loud Thinking July 19, 2014 at 06:49PM
“Catch fire today! Make today the day you stop complaining and do something!”
— Steve Harvey
Above the law..!
Why we bother the honourable US citizens with few minutes arrest if we can’t even hold them for few hours?
Why we insult ourselves again and again?
I know for sure even if these US citizens are caught carrying LOADED machine guns to the plane no body dare touch them in Pakistan?
Detained US embassy official at Islambad airport released
By Dawn.com
Updated about 2 hours ago
— File photo
ISLAMABAD: An employee of the US embassy, who had been detained at the Benazir International Airport in the federal capital late on Thursday for carrying 9mm loaded pistols, was released today, DawnNews reported.
According to airport sources, William John who is serving as a trainee at the US embassy in Islamabad was scheduled to fly to the United States via Abu Dhabi.
He had been detained after ASF personnel recovered 9mm pistols with magazines and 15 bullets during baggage checking.
Later, ASF personnel had handed the man to police for investigation. A case had been registered against him.
