VATICAN CITY, DEC 25 (DNA) – Pope Francis in his Christmas eve mass Sunday urged the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics not to ignore the plight of migrants who are “driven from their land” because of leaders willing to shed “innocent blood”. “So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary,” the Argentine pontiff, himself the grandson of Italian migrants, told worshippers in Saint Peter’s Basilica “We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away but, driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones.”
Mitchell Starc out, Jackson Bird in for Boxing Day Test against England
MELBOURNE, DEC 24 (DNA) – Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Starc was on Sunday ruled out of the fourth Ashes Test with a heel injury and will be replaced by Jackson Bird.Starc, who is Australia´s leading wicket-taker in the series with 19, bruised his heel bowling in Australia´s series-clinching third Test win in Perth last week.There wasn´t enough time for him to recover from the injury to his landing foot, with team management officially ruling him out two days before Tuesday´s Melbourne Test.
Britain FM to visit Moscow first time in five years amid cold relations
LONDON, DEC 22 (DNA) – British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Friday will hold talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the first official visit by a minister from London in five years. The visit could signal an improvement in relations after years of antagonism. It comes after Johnson in April cancelled a planned trip at the last minute over Russia’s support for the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Britain’s outspoken foreign secretary himself said he holds out little hope that ties with Moscow could undergo a full-blown transformation.
Indo-US nexus:
By: Mustansar Klasra.
Factors determining the geo-political dynamics of our region have a name. It is Modi’s concept of ‘Act Asia’ and Obama’s idea of ‘Pivot to Asia.’ In fact, both the concepts emanate from their failed post 9/11 Afghanistan policies:The 2005 Indo-US Strategic Partnership was aimed at establishing Indian hegemony over the territories from Afghanistan to Bangladesh. For this purpose, Afghanistan was declared a part of South Asia, giving a free hand to India to use Afghan soil as the base for the “Coalition Spy net-work”, against all the neighbors of Afghanistan, particularly Pakistan.
Jamiat-i-Islami urges Ghani to reverse decision over Noor
KABUL, DEC 20 (DNA) – Jamiat-i-Islami political party’s leadership council in a statement urged President Ashraf Ghani to reverse his decision to ‘oust’ Ata Noor as Balkh governor.On Monday, the presidency said that it accepted the resignation of Noor, who is also the executive chief of Jamiat-i-Islami. But Noor and his party condemned the move with Noor saying that his resignation was submitted months ago and was no longer valid.Jamiat council in the statement said that the party had offered reasonable and realistic conditions to the presidency over Noor, but it took ‘animosity’ approach instead of dealing with the issue through negotiation and reasonable solution.
Gwadar port to become formally operational next month: Hasil Bizenjo
KARACHI, DEC 19 (DNA) – Gwadar Port will be formally operational and open to the world by end of next month and the first international expo will be held at Gwadar on January 29-30 to project the potential of Gwadar mainly of Special Economic Zone. Gwadar Port is a deep-sea international port with a draught of more than 18 meters, where motherships can easily anchor at the port. Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo also revealed that his ministry in next couple of weeks would float a tender for the construction of much talked about and long-awaited mega project of Elevated Expressway – linking Keamari, West and East Wharf to Northern Bypass. This would be operative in next two years.
Tajik ambassador assumes charge of acting Dean of diplomatic corps
ISLAMABAD, DEC 18 (DNA) – Ambassador of Tajikistan Sherali Jononov has been nominated as Acting Dean of Diplomatic Corps. The announcement was made during a farewell reception held for the outgoing ambassadors of Turkey and Lebanon. The Dean of Diplomatic Corps Ambassador of Kazakhstan made this announcement. The Dean is leaving Pakistan after completing his tenure in Pakistan. Ambassador of Tajikistan being a senior ambassador shall assume the office and will continue to hold the office till the decision of the new Dean. It is mostly likely that Ambassador Sherali will become permanent Dean also.
EBRD ready to implement at least 15 projects in Uzbekistan in 2018
TASHKENT, DEC 17 (DNA) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) intends to implement at least 15 projects in various spheres in Uzbekistan in 2018, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti said.Chakrabarti made the remarks during the visit of the Uzbek delegation to the headquarters of the bank in London.The Uzbek delegation visited London within the participation in the meeting of the EBRD Board of Directors.
Rahul Gandhi extends family grip on India’s Congress party
NEW DELHI, DEC 16 (DNA) – India’s Rahul Gandhi took over Saturday as president of the main opposition Congress, becoming the sixth member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to head the party that has ruled the country for much of its independent history.Fireworks erupted over the party headquarters in New Delhi drowning out the voice of his mother Sonia Gandhi as she handed over the reins of power to her 47-year-old son.
Social media may help chronically ill connect to doctors, fellow patients
NEW YORK, DEC 15 (DNA) – Social media groups that bring together patients, family, friends and healthcare providers can improve patients’ outlook and reduce their anxiety and depression, a recent U.S. study suggests.In a nine-month experiment with liver-transplant patients, researchers found that participants came to rely heavily on a closed Facebook group, both for information about their condition and help in coping.“Ninety percent of Americans are on the internet and 80 percent are using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to find healthcare information from a supportive online community,” said Dr. Sean Langenfeld, of the Department of Surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, who wasn’t involved in the study.
