7/28/2019 12 Canadians at Pak Militant Camp The Indian Express: January 18, 2011

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TheIndianEXPRESS

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INTERNATIONAL 15NEW DELHI I TUESDAY I JANUARY 18 I 2011

Briefly

World

Biggest blackholeeverfoundLONDON: Astronomershavediscoveredthebiggestblackholewhichweighsthesameas6.8billionsunsandcouldswal-lowour entire solar system.Ac-cordingto scientists, theblackhole,identifiedasM87 issome50millionlightyearsaway.

19killed in bombattackon bus inPakPESHAWAR:A powerfultimebomb rippedaparta minibusinKhyber-Pakhtunnkhwaon Mon-day,killing19 peopleand injur-ing11 others.TheHangupolicesaiditwas aterrorist attack.

Yemeni gets deathfor killing FrenchmanSANAA:Ajudgesentencedtodeatha manconvictedofkillingaFrenchengineer,and alsosen-tencedin absentiaradicalUS-bornclericAnwaral-Awlakito10yearsin jailforaidingman.HishamMohammedAssem, 22,openedfire inOctober inan oilfirmkilling theFrenchman.

Giffords conditionimproves but seriousTUCSON:UScongresswomanGabrielleGiffords conditionwasupgradedfrom criticalto serious,daysaftershewasshotatbyagunman.Meanwhile,father ofChristinaGreen,9, saidsomeofherorganshavebeendonated.JohnGreensaidthis reallyliftedhisspirits,as hisdaughter,hasdoneanother amazingthing.

Israels Barak quitsLabourPartyJERUSALEM: IsraeliDefenceMinister EhudBaraksaid Mon-dayhewasleavinghis LabourPartyandforming a newfactioninsidethe governingcoalition,overthe handlingof peacetalkswiththe Palestinians.Themovedidnot threaten PrimeMinisterBenjamin Netanyahusmajority.Itstrengthenhis hardlinecoali-tionby leavinga smaller,yetlargelylike-mindedmajority.

Arnie not to pursuepoliticalofficeLONDON:Arnold Schwarzeneg-gersaidhewouldnotseekan-otherpolitical office,butmay re-

turnto films.Thebig politicalofficethatreallyinterestsme isunreachable,becauseI wasborninAustriaand thereforecannotbeUSPresident,HetoldAus-trian KronenZeitung. AGENCIES

REUTERS

LONDON,JANUARY17

SCIENTISTS have found a pro-tein that acts as a masterswitch to determine whether

certain white blood cells will boost ordampen inflammation, a finding thatmayhelpthesearch fornewdrugsforrheumatoid arthritis.

Many patients with rheumatoidarthritisaretreatedwitha classof drugsknown astumor necrosisfactor (TNF)

inhibitors madeby various drugfirms.Butaround30percentofpatientsdontrespond to anti-TNFdrugs, so expertssaythere isan urgentneedto develop

morewidelyeffectivetreatmentoptions.In thisstudy, scientists fromImperial

College in London found that a pro-tein called IRF5 acts as a molecularswitch that controls whether certainwhite blood cells, known asmacrophages, will promote or inhibitinflammation.

In a report of their findings in thejournal Nature Immunology on Sun-day, they said the results suggest thatblocking the production of IRF5 inmacrophages might be an effective

wayof treatingawide rangeofautoim-mune diseases, such as rheumatoidarthritis,inflammatorybowel disease,lupusand multiplesclerosis.

They also suggest that boostingIRF5 levels might help treat peoplewhose immune systems are weak,compromised or damaged. Our re-sults show that IRF5 is the masterswitch in a key set of immune cells,whichdetermines theprofile of genesthatgetturnedoninthosecells,IrinaUdalova, senior researcher on thestudy,saidina statement.Thisisreallyexcitingbecauseitmeansthatifwecandesign molecules that interfere withIRF5 function, it could give us new

anti-inflammatorytreatments.TheresearcherssaidIRF5seemsto

workbyswitchingongenesthat stimu-late inflammatory responses and

dampeninggenes thatinhibitthem.Itcan do this either by interacting withDNA directly, or by interacting withotherproteinsthat themselvescontrolwhich genes are switched on, they ex-plainedintheirstudy.

Udalovas teamis nowstudying howIRF5worksatamolecularlevelandwhichotherproteinsitinteractswithsothattheycandesignwaystoblockitseffects.

Rheumatoid arthritis isa chronicin-flammatory diseaseaffectingaround1percent of theworldspopulationand

ariseswhentheimmunesystemmistak-enlyattacksjointsall overthe body. Aswellas joints,itmay alsoaffectthe skin,heart,lungs,kidneysandbloodvessels.

PROTEINCALLED IRF5 ACTSASA SWITCHTHATCONTROLSWHETHERCERTAINWHITEBLOODCELLSPROMOTE INFLAMMATION

Scientistsfindprotein

thattriggers

arthritis

HEALTH

WORLDVIGNETTES

ISLAMABAD: The powerful Inter-Services Intelligence chief attended ameeting that President Asif AliZardari held with CIA chief LeonPanettalast week,dispellinga percep-

tionthat thePakistangovernmentdidnot want to involve the military in itsdealingswiththeUS.

ISIheadLtGenAhmedShujaPashasatinonthekeymeetingheldinWash-ingtononFriday,theDawnnewspaperquoted diplomatic sources as saying.Pasha was not in Zardaris entouragethatarrivedintheUSonThursday.

PashatravelledalonetotheUS,par-ticipatedinthePresidentsmeetingwithPanettabutstayedawayfromotherac-tivities,thereportsaid.TheISIchiefsvisit to the US took place against thebackdropofacourtinBrooklynissuingnotices to Pasha, his predecessor LtGen Nadeem Taj and Lashker-e-Toibaleaders including Hafiz Muhammad

SaeedinconnectionwithalawsuitfiledbyrelativesoftwoJewishvictimsofthe2008Mumbaiattacks.

ThePakistangovernmenthassaid itwillprotectthe interestsof allofficialsnamedinthelawsuitbutskirtedtheis-sue of defending private individualslikeSaeed.ZardarileftWashingtononSaturday evening atthe conclusion ofhis visit during which he attended amemorial service for late Special En-voyRichardHolbrookeand metPres-ident Barack Obama with Pakistans

AmbassadorHusainHaqqani.ThoughObamacametothemeeting

with his entire national security andcounter-terrorismteam,Zardarididnottakeanyotherofficialwithhim,causing

wildspeculationinthemediaaboutthepurposeandcontentsof histalks withtheUSPresident,the Dawnreported.

Zardari also met other US officialsand lawmakers but his meeting withtheCIAchiefwasconsideredthemostimportantaftertheonewithObamaatthe White House. After the Zardari-Obamatalks,theWhiteHouseissuedastatementthat saidthe twoleadersfo-cusedon sharedeffortsto fightterror-ismand topromoteregionalstability.

No statements were issued afterZardaris meeting withthe CIA chief,which led to reports that Panettawanted to expand drone attacks inuetta where the US believes seniorAfghan Talibanleadersare hiding. PTI

12Canadians at Pakmilitant camp: ReportWith26/11noticeagainsthim,ISIchiefPashameetsCIAheadinUS

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIA

KUALALUMPUR,JANUARY17

AGROUPof 12Canadians arereportedundergoing militant training at an al-Qaeda camp in Pakistans lawless

NorthWaziristan inapparentplots tocarry outterrorattacks backhome.

The Canadians, who may have converted toIslam,werehelpedtoreachtheDarpakhelareasof the lawless tribal belt after joining radical

Egyptian group Jihad al-Islami, Hong KongbasedAsiaTimesreported.

Their presence in the camps in Pakistanstribal belt comes close on the heels of intelli-gencewarningsthat al-Qaedais trainingarmedcadresfrom severalEuropean countries,includ-ingGermany,insuchcamps.

Arab intelligence agencies have alreadywarnedthat foreignrecruits arebeingtrainedtocarry out terror attacks in European mainlandtriggeringa continent-widealert.TheCanadianswent to Afghanistan in February 2010; therewere12 ofthem.Afternine months,al-QaedasleadersdecidedtosendthemtoNorthWaziristanand they reached Darpakhel in Novemberlastyear, ArifWazir,a local militantof Darpakhel,wasquotedassayingin thereport.

The report, quoting well placed Taliban

sources,saidmilitanttrainingto Canadiansis apart of al-Qaeda plans to recruit, train andlaunchWesternCaucasiansin theircountries...the aim is to spread the flames of the SouthAsianwartheatreto theWest.

In Afghanistan they received basic jihaditraining, while currently they are busy doingsome special courses. Their main learning ishow to use sophisticated weapons, and how toconnectwith localsmugglingnetworksin NorthAmerica.Theyare alsolearninghowtouse ordi-

narymateriallike sugarand basicchemicals tomakepowerful explosives.These militantswillthen return to their country to execute al-Qaedas planof targetingbig citiesin Canada,ArifWazirsaid.

A 30-year-old man Abu Shahid, sportinggolden beard, is leading the Canadian group,thereportsaid,addingthatthosewhocouldnotbe independently verified include: Jeam Paull(local name Sadiq Ullah), Leman Langlois(SanaUllah), JamesRichard (AbdurRehman),Otto Paul (Abu Usman), Thomas (Abdullah)andPaulGall(HafizUllah).

The news article also mentions that variousmilitants of other nationalities are also beingtrained in North Waziristan and apart fromArabandCentralAsianmilitants,one canfindji-hadisfromtheUS,BritainandGermany.

BehindstoryofChinasrisingpower,

leadersauthorityunderquestion

DAVIDE SANGER&

MICHAELWINES

BEIJING,JANUARY17

WITHPresidentHu Jintaoatthehelm,Chinahas becomea$5 trillion industrialcolossus,agrowing military force, and amodel of authoritarian deci-siveness, sealingits positionastheworldsfastestrisingpower.

But as Hu prepares to visitWashingtonthisweekinanat-temptto defusetensionswiththe US, Obama administra-tionofficialsare grapplingwithwhat they describe as a morecomplex reality. China is farwealthierandmoreinfluential,butHualsomaybetheweakestleaderoftheCommunistera.

Husstrange encounter withDefence Secretary Robert MGateslastweek inwhichhewasapparentlyunawarethathisAir Force had just test-flownChinas first stealth fighter wasonlythelatestcasesuggest-inghe hasbeen circumventedbyrivalpowercentres.

USofficialshavespentyearsurging Hu to revalue Chinascurrency,rein inNorthKorea,easeupondissidentsandcrackdown on copying of US tech-nology, and they felt at times

thatHuagreedtoaddresscon-cerns.Butthoseproblemshavefestered,andafterfirstwonder-ing if the Chinese leader wassimply deceiving them, Presi-dent Obamas advisers haveconcluded Huis atmercy ofa

diffuse ruling party in whichgenerals,ministersandbigcor-porate interests have morecloutthanthey did inthe daysofMaoorDengXiaoping.

Chinas military has some-timespursuedanindependentapproachtoforeignpolicy.Re-centlyTreasurySecretaryTim-othy F Geithner hinted thatjockeying for power and ancoming leadership transitionhavedegradedChinasabilitytoset consistentpolicies.

In past meetings, Hu andhis Prime Minister have indi-cated that they would letChinas currency graduallyrise.But theCommerceMin-istry promptly labelled themovea catastrophe.

Adding to the uncertaintyaboutisanexpectedleadership

changein 2012.Itis atonce achoreographed transition to anewgenerationofleadersandavolatile minefield for all con-tenders,noneofwhomwishtobeviewed asrisk-takers, orassubservienttotheUS. NYT

InfooverloadaproblemforUSmilitaryTHOMSHANKER&

MATTRICHTEL

NEWYORK, JANUARY17

WHENmilitary investigators lookedinto anattack byUS helicopters lastFebruarythat left23 Afghanciviliansdead, they found the operator of aPredator drone had failed to passalong crucial information about the

makeup of a crowd of villagers. ButAirForce andArmyofficialsnow saytherewasalsoanunderlyingcauseforthatmistake:informationoverload.

AtanAirForcebasein Nevada,thedrone operator and his team strug-

gledtoworkoutwhatwashappeningin the village, where a convoy wasforming. They had to monitor thedrones videofeeds whileparticipat-ingin dozens ofinstant-message andradioexchangeswithintelligenceana-lystsandtroopsontheground.

There were solid reports that thegroup included children, but theteam did not adequately focus on

themamidtheswirlofdatamuchlikea cubicleworker wholoses trackof an important e-mail under themounting pile. The team was underintensepressuretoprotectUSforcesnearby,andintheenditdetermined,

incorrectly,that thevillagersconvoyposedanimminentthreat,resultinginoneoftheworstlossesofcivilianlivesinthewarinAfghanistan.

Informationoverload anaccu-rate description, said one militaryofficer, who was briefed on the in-quiry and spoke on condition ofanonymity. The deaths would havebeenprevented,hesaid.

Data is among the most potentweapons of the 21st century. Un-precedented amounts of raw infor-mation help the military determinewhattargetstohit andwhat toavoid.Anddrone-basedsensorshave given

rise to a new class of wired warriorswho mustfilter the informationsea.Butsometimestheyare drowning.

Researchshowsthatthekindofin-tense multitasking required in suchsituations can make it hard to tellgoodinformationfrombad.Themil-itary faces a balancing act: how tohelp soldiers exploit masses of datawithoutsuccumbingtooverload.

Across the military, the data flowhassurged;sincetheattacksof 9/11,theamount of intelligence gatheredbyremotelypiloteddronesandothersurveillance technologies has risen1,600percent. NYT

Courtiers fearedforCharles afterDi deathLONDON:Royal courtiersin-sisted onPrinceWilliamandHarrys presencein PrincessDi-anas funeralcortegeto protectPrince Charlesfrom gettinglynchedby angrymembersofthepublic,it hasbeenclaimed.Accordingto former BritishPre-mier TonyBlairs ex-communi-cationschief AlastairCampbell,

royal courtiersfearedthattheCharleswouldbe lynchedby anangrycrowdat Dianasfuneralunless hissonsaccompaniedhim,the Daily Mailreported.

AGENCIES

HU JINTAO

James Blunt performson Todayshow. AP

TUNIS: PMMohamedGhan-nouchiannounceda unitygovernment Monday,includ-ingat leasttwotop ministersfromthe Cabinetof oustedpresident,Zine el-AbidineBenAli, asdemonstratorscalledfor wholesalereshuf-flingof thecountrysleader-ship.TheInteriorand Foreignministerswould remainun-deragreementnegotiatedbyGhannouchiandinterimPresidentFouadMebazaa,bothalliesofBenAli.

TUNISIAGETS UNITYGOVT, PEOPLECALLFOR TOTAL REJIG

Ghannouchi namesgovernment in Tunis. AP

Leon Panetta and Shuja Pasha

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\THEY CONQUEREDTHE GLOBEThe68th annualGolden Globe Awardswere held Sundayat theBeverlyHilton Hotel.Facebook film The SocialNetworkled the packand pickedup four awards while TV

series Gleebagged three. Winners in majorcategories:

FILM

DRAMA: TheSocialNetwork

COMEDY: TheKidsAre AllRight

ACTOR,DRAMA: ColinFirth, TheKings Speech

ACTRESS,DRAMA: NataliePortman, BlackSwan

ACTOR,COMEDY:PaulGiamatti,BarneysVersion

ACTRESS,COMEDY:AnnetteBening, TheKidsAre AllRight

DIRECTOR:DavidFincher,TheSocialNetwork

ANIMATEDFILM: Toy Story3

FOREIGNLANGUAGEFILM: In aBetterWorld(Denmark)

Event came days after a formerpublicist filed a lawsuit accusingHollywood Foreign Press Associ-ation of engaging in question-able deals such as accepting lav-ish perks from studios inexchange for nominating films.Host Ricky Gervais wasted notime tackling the lawsuit. He

joked that there was a ridiculousrumour that surprise contenderThe Touristwas nominated sothat members could hang outwith the stars of the costly flop,Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.That is rubbish. That is not theonly reason, Gervais said. Theyalso accepted bribes.

ChristianBale,theshowsfirstwinnerforhis support-ingroleas awashed-up boxerin The Fighter,saidheusedto considerthe Associationsmembers tobe odd-ballcharacters.He recalledthathe would attend pro-motionaleventswheretheywouldargueamongthem-selves while ignoringhim.NowI knowwhoyou are,andsuddenly Irealisehowwise andspectacularandperceptivethoseguysreallyare,he said.

HOLLYWOOD TAKESA DIG Robert De Niro, winner of a life-time achievement award, jokedthat many of the 80-some mem-bers of the Association had justbeen deported as illegal immi-grants. De Niro revived the issuea little later with a backhandedcompliment, thanking the groupfor its tireless work in promotingour industry all over the world.Then he stuck the knife in: Theimportant thing is that we are allin this together, the filmmakerswho make the movies and theAssociation members, who inturn pose for pictures with themovie stars.

TELEVISION

DRAMA:BoardwalkEmpire

COMEDY: Glee

MINISERIES/TVMOVIE: Carlos

ACTOR,DRAMA: Steve Buscemi,BoardwalkEmpire

ACTRESS,DRAMA: KateySagal,SonsofAnarchy

ACTOR,COMEDY: JimParsons,TheBig BangTheory

ACTRESS,COMEDY:LauraLinney,TheBigC

ACTOR,MINISERIES/TV MOVIE:

Al Pacino,YouDontKnowJack

ACTRESS,MINISERIES/TV MOVIE:

ClaireDanes, TempleGrandin

Staple blackgownswereoutnumberedby creationsinpink, green,red andnudehueson thered carpet.

Lastyearsbest actresswinnerSandraBullockwore asheerpowderpink dresswithsilverbeadingby JennyPackamwhileScarlettJohanssonworea similarshimmery numberwith loose sleevesby ElieSaab.Preg-nantstarNataliePortman(left) coveredher bumpina flowinglightpink gownwithred flowerdetailing byViktorand Rolf. GleestarLeaMicheleworea dramaticruffledgown ina blushpinkby Oscardela Renta.AngelinaJolie,CatherineZeta-Jonesand MilaKunischoseto standoutin theiremeraldhued gowns.

BL

ACKOUT, PINKRULESRED

C

ARPET

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COLIN FIRTH LEA MICHELE

OscarwinningmusicianA R Rahmanlost outthe GoldenGlobein theOriginal Scorecategory toTrentReznor andAtticusRoss,whowon fortheirmusicin TheSocialNetwork. The45-year-oldmusicianwasupfor hissecondGoldenGlobeforthe Danny Boylefilm127Hoursandhadjust aday earlierbaggedthebest originalsongtrophyat the16th CriticsChoiceAwardsforhis number IfIRise. RahmanwhowonaGlobein 2009for SlumdogMillionaire, isin runningfor hissecondOscarwiththe song.

OSCAR WINNERA R RAHMAN LOSESOUT TO THESOCIAL NETWORK