MOSCOW: Syria’s most powerful ally Russia on Friday said the Damascus regime had agreed to attend an international peace conference on the crisis that world powers hope will take place in Geneva in June.

But President Bashar al-Assad’s fractured foes expressed immediate scepticism over Moscow’s announcement and questioned why the Damascus government itself remained silent.

Diplomatic efforts to hold a conference first proposed by Moscow and Washington on May 7 gained further steam when US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed by telephone to meet in Paris on Monday to discuss progress in getting the sides to talk.

The actual date of the conference has not been made clear amid few signs of any end to a conflict that has killed more than 90,000 people in 26 months.

Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Moscow had received the Damascus government’s assurance it would take part in the talks during a visit this week by Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad.

“We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from Damascus to attend the international conference in the interest of the Syrians themselves finding a political path to resolve the conflict,” Lukashevich told reporters.

Russia is seen as the nation exercising the most influence over the Syrian regime thanks to years of military and other cooperation that stretch back to Soviet times.

Moscow has in recent weeks also been keen to show its diplomatic muscle in the region by ensuring that Assad’s representatives attend the conference after a failed effort at getting the conflict resolved in Geneva last June.

The announcement came as Syria’s main opposition group held a second day of talks in Istanbul aimed at finding a joint approach to what has already been dubbed the “Geneva 2″ talks.

Assad’s place in any new transitional team proposed by Moscow and Washington has again emerged as the main stumbling block to the talks taking place in the coming weeks.

Some rebel leaders have said that no negotiations were possible with Assad remaining in power. The Damascus government counters that it wants assurances that the president’s role will not be a subject of debate in Geneva.

Divisions within the opposition’s ranks about whether to attend the talks at which Assad would be represented translated Friday into scepticism about the regime’s own commitment to the negotiating process.

“We would like to hear that statement from the Assad government,” the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition’s spokesman Louay Safi said in Istanbul.

“This has been related to us through the Russians, I have no idea why the Syrians are silent.”

Fellow Syrian National Coalition member Khaled Khoja accused Assad of “playing with words” by only agreeing to the negotiations in principle.

Some European media have reported that the meeting has been already tentatively scheduled for June 10 despite all the disagreements.

But Lukashevich said reports of a specific date for the conference “cannot be taken seriously” because the ranks of Assad’s foes remained so split.

The foreign ministry spokesman said that Moscow has been far from impressed with the opposition’s attempts to forge a united front.

“We are again hearing about the precondition that Bashar al-Assad leaves power, and that a government be formed under the auspices of the United Nations,” Lukashevich said.

And he condemned attempts by Western and regional powers to convene a human rights conference at the United Nations as a one-sided attempt to further discredit Assad.

The calls for the UN Human Rights Council to initiate a debate on the deteriorating situation in Syria were renewed on Friday by the ambassadors to the body from the United States as well as Turkey and Qatar.

Meanwhile — in a dramatic and rare intervention — Lebanon’s President Michel Sleiman cautioned the Shiite group Hezbollah over its militia fighting alongside regime troops in Syria.

Hezbollah “should not get bogged down in the sands of dissension, whether in Syria or Lebanon,” Sleiman said in a statement.

At least 23 people have been killed since Sunday in inter-confessional clashes in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior has directed on Friday to begin strict investigation for Pakistan plane’s escorting in London.

Pakistan’s Caretaker Minister for Interior. Malik Mohammad Habib Khan has directed to commence investigation over PIA plane (PK-709) escorting in London’s Stansted Airport by RAF Typhoon jets.

The minister has ordered the civil aviation authorities to take rapid and effective action against the incident to avoid any embarrassing event in future.

Some sources closer to interior ministry disclosed that the minister also raised questions regarding the quality of services provided to the passengers travelling by the Pakistan’s biggest airline.

Earlier Story:

Pakistan International Airline (PIA), which was surrounded in air by RAF Typhoons fighter jets, has forcefully landed by the British air security officials on Stansted Aiport of London on Friday.

British security officials have entered in the PIA plane and arrested two passengers including a woman, who threats the staff to blow the plane by explosives.

According to London’s Essex Police,  the passengers named Ammara Ashraf and Muhammad Shafqat had been arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft. The detained passengers were holding the seat numbers 61 and 62.

Pakistan International Airline (PIA) escorted plane (PK-709): Courtesy BBC News

The two detained passengers had been released after investigation and two others were arrested by the British security officials at Stansted Airport.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence said that the explosion threats were carried out after the fight began between two groups of the passengers.

PIA officials said there were 308 passengers on board, with a mixture of Pakistani and British passport holders as well as 14 crew including pilots.

Pakistani civil aviation sources said that the pilot Nadeem Sufi raised panic alarm to London Air Traffic Control on the suspicious reports of explosive presence in the plane.

Shahid Yaqoob, a Pakistani passenger of plane while talking to the Dunya News, has claimed that the passengers of seat numbers 61 and 62, had exchanged arguments with the staff on their worst flight services but PIA staff have raised the issue as terrorism threat.

The PIA passenger plane, reportedly flight number PK 709 taking at least 297 passengers, was heading towards the Manchester Airport from Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore.

The plane left Lahore at 09:35 local time. It was due in at Manchester at 14:00 BST.

According British TV reports, some uncertain event found on the plane during the flight which is being followed and investigation by the air security forces within the British air premises.

The security jet fighters had ordered the pilot of passenger plane to land immediately on Stansted Airport of London instead of Manchester Airport.

Seoul: South Korean giant Samsung after the success of its most powerful android device Samsung Galaxy S4, plans to launch Galaxy Note 3 later this year with its rivals Apple and Microsoft coming up with their new devices.

Few days before Samsung have crossed landmark of selling 10 million devices of Galaxy S4. Now its coming up with Galaxy Note 3 while Apple has not launched any of its devices yet.  On the other hand Microsoft will be coming up with second version of Surface Pro.

Here are some features and specifications of upcoming devices Note 3 and Surface Pro 2:

Processor

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will provide the users an experience of Exynos Octa 5 processor while its rival Surface Pro 2 will be coming up with Core i5 or beyond.

Screen
Note 3 will likely to come with a 5.99 inch full HD Super AMOLED with structure of diamond pixels and a resolution of 1920 X 1080.

On the other hand Surface Pro 2 will be coming up with 7 inch edition.

Operating System

Surface Pro 2 will be running on the upgraded Window 8.1 while Note 3 will be available with latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and can be upgraded to 4.3 Android Jelly Bean.

Camera  

The new Note 3 is expected to come with 13 Megapixel rear and 3 Megapixel front cameras. On the other hand Surface Pro 2 will be coming with an 8 Megapixel camera.

Storage

According to rumors Galaxy Note 3 has upgraded RAM up to 3 GB while its internal memory is up to 32 GB with microSD card expansion. The new Surface Pro 2 might be available in 16/32/64 and 128 GB storage capacity.

So which device would you like to have later this year?

London: A exchange of hard words between two passengers and staff of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has led emergency landing of its flight PK-709 carrying 297 passengers.

According a passenger on board  Shahid Yaqoob, at least two persons with seat numbers 61-J and 61-H, were taken off and later on taken by security officials.

“Ammara Ashraf and Muhammad Shafqat are in British Police custody” said TheNewsTribe’s correspondent from London while quoting the local police.

PIA administration in London also confirmed the identity of two passengers.

These two passengers have reportedly threaten air-hostess to explode the plane, causing pilots to contact British authorities.

Sources told The News Tribe that Captain Nadeem Sufi contacted air traffic control section to intervene into the situation.

Earlier Updates

Pakistan International Airline (PIA), which was surrounded in air by fighter jets, has forcefully landed by the British air security officials on Stansted Aiport of London on Friday.

British security officials have entered in the passenger plane to investigate the matters over security concerns.

PIA passenger plane, reportedly flight number PK 709 taking at least 297 passengers, was surrounded off by British fighter jets.

The security jet fighters had ordered the pilot of passenger plane to land immediately on Stansted Airport of London instead of Manchester Airport.

According British TV reports, some uncertain event found on the plane during the flight which is being followed and investigation by the air security forces within the British air premises.

The Pakistani passenger plane is heading towards the Manchester Airport from Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore.

Pakistani civil aviation official said that our authorities are trying to contact the plane’s pilot to clear the actual situation.

WASHINGTON: 

Shoukhrat Mitalipov nevertheless adamantly stood by the conclusions of the study published last week in journal Cell, which reported that human stem cell lines for the first time had been created via cloning.

The journal Nature contacted Mitalipov after an anonymous online critic on PubPeer spotted four separate problems in the paper.

In an interview with Nature, Mitalipov confirmed that three errors were made in the rush to publish — but denied the fourth issue raised was an error and said the overall conclusions were unaffected.

“The results are real, the cell lines are real, everything is real,” said Mitalipov, a reproductive biology specialist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Beaverton.

“I personally made the cells,” he said. “I saw them grow into colonies.”

He blamed the errors on his rush to publish the research, which he hoped to present next month at the International Society for Stem Cell Research meeting. “Maybe it was rushed,” he said. “It was my mistake.”

Mitalipov said his research team will be issuing an erratum correcting the flaws, and hopes that other scientists will try to duplicate his findings, which will lend it even more credibility.

“The first thing we want to do is have people confirm our results,” Mitalipov said. “We are not hiding these cell lines.”

The scientific community was divided as to how seriously to view the errors.

Robin Lovell Badge, who heads the Division of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in London, warned against a rush to condemn.

“I expect the errors above were also due to the rush to publish. The authors should be given a chance to answer and correct mistakes,” he told Nature.

Others said they were surprised that Cell accepted the paper in just days — a time they deemed insufficient for proper peer review.

“The four-day review process was obviously inadequate,” said Arnold Kriegstein, director of the stem cell program at the University of California, San Francisco.

“It’s a degree of sloppiness that you wouldn’t expect in a paper that was going to have this high profile,” Kriegstein told the British journal.

“One worries if there is more than meets the eye and whether there are other issues with the work that are not as apparent,” he said.

The cloning method written about in the article was described as an important breakthrough because it does not destroy embryos in creating the type of stem cell that can morph into any other type of cell in the body.

The technique involves transplanting an individual’s DNA into an egg cell that has been stripped of genetic material, a variation of a method called somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Scientists said the research could one day offer new pathways in the fight against Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and blindness.

Since the reprogrammed cells use genetic material from the patient, there is no concern about transplant rejection.

Another advantage of the technique is that it circumvents some of the ethical challenges inherent when using fertilized embryos to obtain stem cells.

LONDON: Pakistan International Airline (PIA), which was surrounded in air by RAF Typhoons fighter jets, has forcefully landed by the British air security officials on Stansted Aiport of London on Friday.

(Refresh the page for recent updates)

British security officials have entered in the PIA plane and arrested two passengers including a woman, who threats the staff to blow the plane by explosives.

According to London’s Essex Police,  the passengers named Ammara Ashraf and Muhammad Shafqat had been arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft. The detained passengers were holding the seat numbers 61 and 62.

The two detained passengers had been released after investigation and two others were arrested by the British security officials at Stansted Airport.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence said that the explosion threats were carried out after the fight began between two groups of the passengers.

PIA officials said there were 308 passengers on board, with a mixture of Pakistani and British passport holders as well as 14 crew including pilots.

The plane was diverted from Manchester to Stansted (Courtesy: BBC News)

Pakistani civil aviation sources said that the pilot Nadeem Sufi raised panic alarm to London Air Traffic Control on the suspicious reports of explosive presence in the plane.

Shahid Yaqoob, a Pakistani passenger of plane while talking to the Dunya News, has claimed that the passengers of seat numbers 61 and 62, had exchanged arguments with the staff on their worst flight services but PIA staff have raised the issue as terrorism threat.

The PIA passenger plane, reportedly flight number PK 709 taking at least 297 passengers, was heading towards the Manchester Airport from Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore.

The plane left Lahore at 09:35 local time. It was due in at Manchester at 14:00 BST.

According British TV reports, some uncertain event found on the plane during the flight which is being followed and investigation by the air security forces within the British air premises.

The security jet fighters had ordered the pilot of passenger plane to land immediately on Stansted Airport of London instead of Manchester Airport.

(Refresh the page for recent updates)

NEW DELHI: Organization is both loved and loathed by a tyrannical entity. Loved, because enslaved people make up for a profit generating labor. Loathed, because if the same organization is mobilized for a cause which stands at the loggerheads of the entity, the tyrants are bound to fall.

If not materially but in the intangible world of morality. What does defeat mean though? Does defeat always signify a sense of loss? The answers are murky, but if there is something which literature has taught us, it’s that winning and victory are not the same. It’s in the backdrop of this notion that Sanjay Kak brings his audience to a world which has been heard of before but never witnessed with compassion. It’s a world filled with laughter, with revolutionary songs, with martyrdom and most importantly, with life.”Sometimes to live, we need to die first”. These are the words which are very central to the theme and concept of the film.

 In the Islamic interpretation of dreams, to dream (For some it can  be a nightmare)  about insects means a weaker people organizing themselves to win something over. In one of the scenes, perhaps the most powerful scene of the entire film, is that of a female guerrilla who is practicing to fire pistol without an actual gun in her hand. It’s the sheer defiance seen in her eyes, while practicing sight alignment, that  send shivers into the spines of many and at the same time can generate solidarity for a million other. Solidarity for the oppressed, the helpless, the wretched, for those who don’t have real guns to train and yet are fighting one of the largest military complexes of the world. The female guerrilla, even in her defeat would turn out to be the victorious one. The insects in the dream are red ants.

The Adivasis

 In the 18^th century, tribesmen belonging to the Santhal community offered armed resistance to occupying British forces and their local collaborators  This ensued a war for days, with Advasis using their bows and arrows against a much sophisticated artillery of the British. Most of the resistance fighters were either killed or injured brutally until only few of them were left. A tale of heroism of the remaining Santhal rebels has been narrated by L S S O’Malley:

“They showed the most reckless courage, never knowing when they were beaten and refusing to surrender. On one occasion, forty-five Santhals took refuge in a mud hut which they held against the Sepoys. Volley after volley were fired into it….Each time the Santhals replied with a discharge of arrows. At last, when their fire ceased, the Sepoys entered the hut and found only one old man was left alive. A Sepoy called on him to surrender, whereupon the old man rushed upon him and cut him down with his battle axe”.

Sanay Kak has managed to capture the same spirit which has been passed  onto this generation of fighters. From the Santhal rebellion to Birsa Munda’s movement, these Adivasis have lived a life filled with resistance. The common thread among the Adivasis of central and southern India and that of the farmers of Punjab is the legacy of a cause, a fight for greater social justice.

Punjab, Bhagat Singh and Paash

As powerful as the images from the film are, the audio surpasses the quality of visuals. Revolutionary poems, interviews of CPI(Maoist) spokesperson Azad, slogans and revolutionary songs reverberate throughout the film, giving a tacit support to the imagery. The incorporation of Avtar Sandhu’s (Pen name Paash) poems is like a whole new world for those who don’t know of the Naxalite poet who was shot dead  by militants of Khalistani Comomdo Force on the 23rd March 1988, exactly 55 years after the hanging of Comrade Bhagat Singh from whom many leftists of contemporary times have drawn ideological support. The poetry and death of Paash presents a dilemma and a an ironical situation both in the film and in this world of different struggles. While Paash was shot dead on the pretext of being an anti-Khalistan Struggle activist, the BJP has been said to play an instrumental role in excluding some of Paash’s poems from the school curriculum. The appropriation of Bhagat Singh by Hindu right wing as well as centrist political parties, the appropriation of current Khalistani activists and the appropriation of the leftists, the revisionists is beautifully captured as a conflict of ideologies.

“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.” – Mark Twain

Stetson Kennedy in the 1940′s, went undercover and joined the Ku Klux Klan  in order to try to dismantle the terrorist organization. KKK a white supremacist organization had previously been using codes and rituals to carry out their operations against the African-American community in the US. Stetson was faced with a problem, the might of the Ku Klux. They were everywhere- in the government, the diplomacy, the bureaucrats. The secrets of the organization only lay with the members and that’s where Stetson thought of delivering his first blow.But how could leaking secrets of a clandestine organization dismantle it. There might be a strategic retreat from the KKK but to dismantle it, there had to be a bigger plan.

For Stetson, it was comedy. He along with his friend, a radio host, began to air talk shows about the KKK rituals and secrets, more importantly they used satire. The funny sounding codes, the outrageous symbols where ripped apart coupled with giving away of future plans of the KKK. Result was that people began to mock the KKK and out of curiosity went to the KKK rallies only to enjoy the freak show. The fear amongst the people had disappeared so did the lynching. Sanjay Kak in his film gives the same treatment to Counter Terrorism Forces operating in Bastar, Chattishgarh. He employs several methods in doing so, for example the Salva Judum recruitment drive, a horrific and brutal exercise, appears to look like few loons blackmailing the poor with sub-standard methods. By the time Army General appears in the film, giving serious briefing to his jawans, the audience can’t help but laugh at the tragedy of the whole thing and at  the General himself.( As brutal as he is in his life, in the film he reduces himself to a bad comedian. A comedian whom people don’t laugh with, but laugh at). Do not dare to compare him with Charlie Chaplin.

The army as an institution is not targeted exclusively, but is seen as a manifestation of the capitalist structures, only there to protect the rich, the powerful and their relatively poor collaborators.  A very intriguing scene in the film is when the Sanjay Kak incorporates in his film,  a Maoist video footage of a burnt, looted home and the female wailing which is immediately followed by the aggressive guerrilla training of the CRPF forces who proudly yell Commando while jumping off trees.

Of Bombs and Explosions

In the 2008 film, The Dark Knight, Health Ledger played the role of an unhinged anarchist (Joker). The role got so popular that it overshadowed each and every character not only of the film, but previous grey characters. The politics of Joker became overwhelmingly dominative and the Health Ledgers death, immortalized his character . The next in line of the Batman trilogy was alleged to be a pro-captalist and anti-occupy movement film.  After the bombings in Boston, a modified version of an dialogue of Joker was shared by thousands of people on facebook and twitter shows the popularity of the politics of Joker. The original dialogue from the film goes-

“If tomorrow I tell the press that, like a gangbanger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds” 

The modified version was

“15 people died today in a car bombing in the Middle East, but nobody cared because that’s all just part of the plan. Two people die in Boston and everyone goes crazy”.

This was a response to the bombings which took place in Iraq on the same day of the Boston bombings. As tragic as the Boston Bombings were, there is no denial that the outrage over the Iraq bombings was nowhere close to that of the US. This is not hypocrisy but a complex reaction which is a direct result of propaganda mechanism which  forces people to value certain life over other. This dehumanization of the people of  Middle East, of Palestine,  the African countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chechnya and Kashmir is a product of the biased reportage and so called political analysis by the powerful. This relation between the oppressed, the oppressors and the neutral parties is very well captured by Sanjay Kak. The Adivasis have been at the forefront of the  suffrage caused by the mass media propaganda and the so called civilized people. If you are not civilized as per the standards of the elite, you are siding with the uncivilized.

Sanjay Kak’s film familiarizes with his audiences to the revolutionary forces within South Asia. The moment when people realize that they are slaves, is the exact moment when they are liberated. Red Ant Dream is about that moment. It’s about love, it’s about romanticism and no revolution is possible without a tinge of romance in it. 

ISLAMABAD: Government of Pakistan on Friday has reversed its decision to put Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling restrictions on vehicles having engines of above 1000cc.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Law & Justice has reversed the decision after the comprehended consultation with Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso.

It is pertinent to be note, the federal government has imposed a ban May 21 on the vehicles with 1000 CC or more to use CNG as fuel asking authorities to ensure owners of such vehicle do not get the CNG from fuel stations.

The sources closer to Ministry of Law & Justice said that the previous decision was against the basic human rights, however, the related authorities have withdrew the decision.

The sources added that the kind of decisions did not meet with the mandate of caretaker government as well as implementation on the decision was impossible.

According to government officials, vehicles with 1000cc or more will be allowed to use CNG as fuel from May 25.

ISLAMABAD: “Learning a language does not simply involve knowing morphology, syntax, and semantics of that particular language rather it involves the thought process, particular reactions, and spirit of the language”, stated Lt Gen (R) Sahibzada Yaqoob Khan, former Foreign Minister.

He expressed these views while a book donation ceremony in which he donated a rare collection of books from his enriched library to National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad, today. He told a large gathering that when one studies or learns a language one enters a universe that belong to the real spirit, essence and quintessential of the people who speak it.

Mr Yaqoob Khan suggested that students of the language should not only have the knowledge of basic culture, literature and source of the language but they also have to find the true spirit in it as it actually animates the language. Languages continues to have their own life and it is through this tool that a country and people communicate their sorrows, emotions, enjoyments, rejoices, suffer, jostle and strive and this all reflects their spirit, he added.

Earlier to this, Director General (DG) Brig Azam Jamal introduced the guest with audience and presented his brief introduction and his successful as a ranking officer and career diplomat. Rector NUML Maj Gen (R) Masood Hasan expressed his gratitude for his precious donation.

The ceremony was attended by Directors, Deans, Heads, Faculty members and a large number of students who enthusiastically attended the event to listen a learned and seasoned scholar. In the end Rector Maj Gen (R) Masood Hasan presented acknowledgement letter and university souvenir to Sahibzada Yaqoob Khan.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has introduced new models of its EVO and Nitro Cloud devices, which offer enhanced and upgraded features for a rich on-the-go broadband experience.

The pocket-sized EVO and EVO Nitro Cloud devices are easy-to-manage portable Wi-Fi routers that create a powerful Wi-Fi hotspot, enabling users to share hyper fast broadband speeds of up to 9.3Mbps in over 200 cities and 3.1Mbps in more than 250 cities nationwide.

“PTCL is continuously introducing connectivity solutions in order to facilitate our customers in their daily lives and also help them to remain efficient by offering tailor-made products to fit their needs,” said Omar Khalid, PTCL Executive Vice President (EVP) Wireless Services.

“Our EVO product portfolio is opening up a new world of opportunities for on-the-go broadband internet connectivity while removing barriers for improved growth and development of wireless broadband internet in the country”, he added further.

Offering an intelligent Li-Polymer battery with auto cut-off function to avoid over-charging, and options of various packages, the devices offer great value for money, and enable customers to get the most out of their multimedia content whilst on the go. Both the device models come with slightly varying features, and can connect upto 5 and 8 Wi-Fi enabled gadgets like tablets, notebooks and smart phones, through a simple touch all at the same time.

With the largest data network in addition to widest coverage, PTCL broadband is empowering people to reach out to the world, enabling convenient access to knowledge and information nationwide.