Friday, September 23, 2011

Humaima Malik in Bigg Boss 5?


There is a strong buzz that the Pakistani actress Humaima Malik might appear as a contestant in Indian TV reality show Bigg Boss 5.

Colombian pop star Shakira and the movie ‘Kites’ fame, Mexican actress Barbara Mori have also been approached for Bigg Boss 5.

Other names that are doing the rounds for Bigg Boss 5 are: TV actress Parul Chauhan of ‘Bidai’ fame, the small-screen’s famous doctor Dr Armaan aka Karan Singh Grover, the sexy Riya Sen, singer Jay Sean and actress Mink Brar.

It’s said that the serial killer Charles Sobhraj’s wife Nihita Biswas and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu have confirmed their participation in the fifth season of Bigg Boss.

Tyson is expected to visit India between October and December to shoot for the fifth season, which airs in October, reports a daily. This time the show is going to be really big as Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt both are the hosts of the show.

Pakistan’s prime Minister arrives in Kabul

http://bakhtarnews.com.af


Pakistan’s prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gailani arrived here in Kabul today.
Pakistan’s prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gailani arrived here in Kabul today. A statement released through Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul says the premier has arrived in Kabul to convey his country’s sorrow over the assassination of Afghanistan’s former president and the head of the Afghan High Peace Council Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani to the people of Afghanistan and more especially to the family of Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani. BIA reported. It is due to be performed on Friday the funeral ceremonies of the body of Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani who was martyred in a terroristic attack on Tuesday.

The Palestinians’ Bid

EDITORIAL




Last year, President Obama’s speech to the United Nations was full of promise and determination to advance Palestinian statehood through negotiations with Israel. This year, his address was about lowering expectations and a dispiriting realpolitik as the president spoke of how “peace is hard” and vowed to veto the Palestinians’ bid for statehood if it came to a Security Council vote.

Mr. Obama had no choice but to stand by Israel, this country’s historic ally. And we agree that a negotiated deal is the only way to ensure the creation of a viable Palestinian state, guarantee Israel’s security and build a lasting peace. But there should be no illusions about the high cost both Israel and this country will pay if this stalemate is allowed to drag on any longer.

There is plenty of blame to go around. The main responsibility right now belongs to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel who refuses to make any serious compromises for peace. He appears far more concerned about his own political survival than his country’s increasing isolation or the threat of renewed violence in the West Bank and all around Israel’s borders.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who is understandably frustrated, has forced a process that holds high risks for him as well. The bid to the United Nations is hugely popular among Palestinians. But he may find it hard to contain their disappointment when it becomes clear that maneuvering in New York cannot deliver a state on the ground.

President Obama and his aides have misplayed the diplomacy from the start; they promised “confidence building” measures they couldn’t deliver and lost sight of the bigger deal. But we are sure there can be no solution without strong American leadership.

What happens now? On Friday, Mr. Abbas is expected to submit an application for statehood to the Security Council, triggering a review process with no definite timetable. Washington hopes this will buy room and time to get the two sides into substantive talks.

The United States and its allies are going to have to be ready to push both the Israelis and the Palestinians hard. After months of talking, the so-called Quartet — the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations — still has not agreed on a set of negotiating guidelines on borders, security, refugees and Jerusalem.

There is no mystery to what a final deal would look like, just a lack of political courage to push it to the end. In The Times on Thursday, Ehud Olmert, Israel’s former prime minister, wrote about his own 2008 peace offer to Mr. Abbas, which would have led to the creation of a Palestinian state on territory equivalent to the pre-1967 West Bank and Gaza Strip, with mutually agreed land swaps.

Mr. Olmert said his ideas were never formally rejected by Mr. Abbas, who, despite recent assertiveness, suffers from an inability to make decisions. When Mr. Netanyahu took office, Mr. Abbas wanted to pick up where Mr. Olmert left off, but Mr. Netanyahu wanted to start fresh.

The United States and its partners should put a map and a deal on the table, with a timeline for concluding negotiations and a formal United Nations statehood vote. The proposal must be bold and fair and backed by the Security Council and the Arab League. And they need to help sell it to the Israeli and Palestinian people — not just politicians.

There is still some time left to avoid a complete diplomatic train wreck. But not a lot of time.

Pakistan condemns US comments about spy agency

Pakistan's foreign minister has lashed out at the U.S. for accusing the country's most powerful intelligence agency of supporting extremist attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar condemned the allegations and warned the U.S. that it risks losing Pakistan as an ally. She said the U.S. cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani government or its people, and if it does so, it will be at Washington's cost.
Khar spoke to Geo TV from New York City on Thursday following Congressional testimony about Pakistan from the top U.S. military officer.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency of "exporting violence" to Afghanistan.

Pakistan condemns US comments about spy agency

Pakistan's foreign minister has lashed out at the U.S. for accusing the country's most powerful intelligence agency of supporting extremist attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar condemned the allegations and warned the U.S. that it risks losing Pakistan as an ally. She said the U.S. cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani government or its people, and if it does so, it will be at Washington's cost.
Khar spoke to Geo TV from New York City on Thursday following Congressional testimony about Pakistan from the top U.S. military officer.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency of "exporting violence" to Afghanistan.

Sparks fly as U.S., Pakistan spar over Afghan bloodshed


The top U.S. military officer accused Pakistani intelligence on Thursday of backing violence against U.S. targets including the American Embassy in Afghanistan, a stunning remark that fueled a war of words and seemed certain to deepen tensions in South Asia.
Admiral Mike Mullen said Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) played a role in the September 13 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, supporting militants known as the Haqqani network.
That network, he said, is a "veritable arm" of the ISI.
The embassy attack was the latest in a series of violent episodes that were a blow to U.S. efforts to bring the Afghan war to a peaceful close.
Pakistan's interior minister rejected the U.S. accusations of Islamabad's links to the Haqqanis, one of the most feared insurgent groups operating in Afghanistan.
The minister, Rehman Malik, also warned against a unilateral U.S. ground attack on the Haqqanis, who are based in Pakistan's ungoverned tribal territories.
"The Pakistan nation will not allow the boots on our ground, never. Our government is already cooperating with the U.S. ... but they also must respect our sovereignty," Malik said in an interview with Reuters.
The harsh words appear to represent a new low in U.S.-Pakistani relations, which had barely begun to recover from the unannounced U.S. Special Forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in May.
COMPLETE BREAK IN TIES UNLIKELY
The tensions could have repercussions across Asia, from India, Pakistan's economically booming arch-rival, to China, which has edged closer to Pakistan in recent years.
A complete break between the United States and Pakistan -- sometimes friends, often adversaries -- seems unlikely, if only because the United States depends on Pakistan as a route to supply U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and as a base for unmanned U.S. drones. Pakistan relies on Washington for military and economic aid and for acting as a backer on the world stage.
Washington does not want to see further instability in the nuclear-armed country.
But support in the U.S. Congress for curbing assistance or making conditions on aid more stringent is rising rapidly. And Mullen, CIA Director David Petraeus and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have all met their Pakistani counterparts in recent days to demand Islamabad rein in militants.
Bruce Riedel, a former top CIA analyst with close ties to the Obama White House, which he once advised, told Reuters administration officials have told him that militants who attacked the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul on September 13 phoned individuals connected with the ISI before and during the attack.
Following the attacks, Riedel said, U.S. security forces collected cell phones the attackers had used. These are expected to provide further evidence linking militants to ISI.
Obama Administration spokespeople declined comment on Riedel's statements.
CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT
Mullen, who appeared with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said U.S. aid to Pakistan "needs to be conditioned" on Pakistan's cooperation against militants. But as U.S. officials mull a host of unpalatable options for dealing with Pakistan, he cautioned against going too far.
"I think we need to continue to stay engaged. And I don't know when the breakthrough is going to take place. ... We need to be there, you know, when the light goes on," Mullen said.
A separate Senate committee voted on Wednesday to make conditions on U.S. assistance to Pakistan more rigorous, and contingent upon its cooperation in fighting militants such as the Haqqani network.
Mullen, who is about to step down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been a defender of U.S. engagement with Pakistan and has met more than two dozen times with his Pakistani counterpart, General Ashfaq Kayani.
The Haqqani network is one of three allied insurgent factions fighting U.S.-led NATO and Afghan troops under the Taliban banner in Afghanistan.
In earlier testimony, Mullen said "the Haqqani network ... acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency. ... With ISI support, Haqqani operatives planned and conducted (a September 11) truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy," Mullen said.
Insurgents struck the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and nearby NATO headquarters on September 13, killing at least seven people and wounding 19.
FLAT DENIAL FROM PAKISTAN
Of the Haqqanis, Mullen said, "We also have credible intelligence that they were behind the June 28 attack against the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul and a host of other smaller but effective operations."
Malik, the Pakistani minister, issued a flat denial of such accusations. "If you say that it is ISI involved in that (embassy) attack, I categorically deny it. We have no such policy to attack or aid attack through Pakistani forces or through any Pakistani assistance," he told Reuters.
The U.S. accusations underscore mounting exasperation in the Obama administration, which is struggling to put an end to the long war in Afghanistan.
Some U.S. intelligence reporting alleges the ISI specifically directed or urged the Haqqani network to carry out the attack on the embassy and a NATO headquarters in Kabul, two U.S. officials and a source familiar with recent U.S.-Pakistan official contacts told Reuters on Wednesday.
Mullen said the embassy attack and a bombing this week that killed former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who personified hopes for peace negotiations with the Taliban, were examples of the Taliban's shift toward high-profile violence.
Such violence has been a blow to Washington's hopes to weaken a stubborn militancy and seal a peace deal with the Taliban as it gradually draws down the U.S. force 10 years after the Afghan war began.
"These acts of violence are as much about headlines and playing on the fears of a traumatized people, as they are about inflicting casualties -- maybe even more so," Mullen told the Senate panel.
"We must not misconstrue them. They are serious and significant in shaping perceptions but they do not represent a sea change in the odds of military success."

Humaima Malik, A role model for the Pakistani youth


In India she’s known as ‘Wasim Akram’s girlfriend’. The tag isn’t welcome: “I don’t have to be known as anyone’s girlfriend, I’m talented enough to be known as Humaima Malik.” Wasim may be a super cricketer, she points out, but she’s “a supermodel too” with brands like Lux and Sunsilk, and after her film Bol, “a superstar”. “Wasim is a friend,” she says. “The Indian media misinterpreted my statement that our friendship could never lessen but only go further to refer to something more.”
After the release of Bol, on June 24, she’s become a role model for the Pakistani youth, the women in particular, with everyone wanting to be another Zainub, raise her voice against what’s wrong and fight for her rights. “They’ve learnt that there’s more to life than just delivering babies. There’s a line in the film where I say, ‘Agar paal nahin sakte toh paida kyun karte ho?’ (why give birth if you can’t raise them?) That and other dialogues have become catchlines. I’ve become the ‘Face of Pakistan’… A national heroine,” she exults.

She admits that when director Shoaib Mansoor approached her for the lead, she was flattered because after Khuda Ke Liye (2007), everyone wanted to work with him. “But he told me I couldn’t wear any make-up and for a second I hesitated,” Humaima reminisces. “But a Bol happens once in a lifetime and I knew it would work for me 50 years from now. I don’t know if any other model would have accepted it but the film made box-office history with a gross of PKR 22 million in six days, surpassing the records of My Name Is Khan (2010) and Dabangg (2010) in Pakistan.”

Bol is gearing up for an Eid release in India. Humaima is hopeful she’ll be just as appreciated here. Lucky to get out of a bad marriage, she lived the character of Zainub for three months, from 5 am, through sleepless, teary nights. “It was a traumatic shoot, particularly the last scene when I’m hanged. It was filmed from 7 pm to 7am in Lahore with the temperature dipping to minus 2 degree,” she reminices. “Another scene left me with a ‘sooja hua sar’ (a swollen forehead) because Shoaib insisted that my father (Manzar Sehbai) bang my head hard against the wall to make it look convincing. But it was worth it. I’m sure like Khuda Ke Liye, Bol will also do wonders across the world.”

Pakistani actors like Zeba Bakhtiyar, Meera and Veena Malik have travelled to India. So does Humaima have Bollywood aspirations? She says, “As an actor, my job is to entertain. If I get a good script, I’m ready to work in Bollywood and Hollywood. Heena (1991) gave the beautiful Zeba a lot of respect but that was 20 years ago. I don’t understand what Meera and Veena do, so I can only wish them the best. India made them feel special.”