Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Wednesday 14 September 2011
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Azizi Acting as Khusra and Discussing Obama (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam---
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/mian-shakeel-aslam
Monday 12 September 2011
Friday 9 September 2011
England Won 3rd ODI against India (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam— England edged to a nervy three-wicket win over India in the third one-day international at The Oval.
After being reduced to 58-5, India recovered to 234-7 thanks to Ravindra Jadeja (78) and Mahendra Dhoni (69).
Craig Kieswetter (51) got England off to a good start before they slipped to 133-5 either side of rain that reduced their target to 218 from 43 overs.
But Ravi Bopara (40) and Tim Bresnan (28) added 60 to help Alastair Cook's side home with seven balls to spare.
The home side should have won by a more comfortable margin, but twice failed to capitalise on positions of dominance.
Firstly, they let the tourists recover after their top order was decimated by skilful swing bowling from James Anderson, then later some poor shot selection against the visiting spinners made the run chase much closer than it needed to be.
Taking advantage of some helpful conditions after Cook won the toss, Anderson had Ajinkya Rahane caught at first slip, removed Parthiv Patel's off stump and enticed Virat Kohli to edge behind - as well as running a dawdling Rahul Dravid out with a direct hit.
Suresh Raina then aimed an ugly swipe at Stuart Broad and was caught behind, leaving captain Dhoni and Jadeja, who only arrived in the UK on Thursday, to rebuild the innings.
They did so with the help of some conservative captaincy by Cook, accepting the singles on offer on the way to an Oval ODI record sixth-wicket stand of 112.
When the batting powerplay was taken, Dhoni skied a Bresnan full toss to Cook at mid-off, but Jadeja found a willing ally in Ravichandran Ashwin and a half-century stand in only 25 balls took the Indians to a respectable total.
For a time Kieswetter, who blasted three sixes, and Cook looked set to make a mockery of the run chase with rapid opening partnership of 63 but, after Cook was trapped lbw by Munaf Patel, Kieswetter and Jonathan Trott were bamboozled by the spin of Ashwin and Jadeja respectively.
Rain altered the chase and Ian Bell and Ben Stokes looked to rebuild, only for Bell to be run out in bizarre circumstances by wicketkeeper Dhoni when the ball had barely left the wicket. Stokes was then bowled by an Ashwin full toss after missing a pre-meditated sweep.
Bresnan and Bopara added 60 for the sixth wicket but again England struggled against the Indian spin, with Bresnan bowled playing back to Jadeja and Bopara deceived by the flight of Ashwin.
However, with only nine required from the final two overs, Broad and Graeme Swann ensured that a much-improved Indian display was not rewarded with a first international victory of the tour.
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Source: http://www.twitter.com/#!/mianshakeel
Rafael Nadal qualified for the Semi final of the last Grand Slam of the year (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam— Rafael Nadal kept his US Open title defence on track with a 6-2 6-1 6-3 demolition of Andy Roddick to set up a semi-final against Andy Murray.
The world number two raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set and never looked back, breaking three times in the second and once in the third.
Roddick was treated for a leg injury but looked lost for ideas as Nadal beat him in an hour and 53 minutes.
The Spaniard goes on to play Murray after the Briton overcame John Isner.
While Roddick appeared to be struggling physically in the latter stages, it was a highly impressive display from Nadal.
The 10-time Grand Slam champion hit 35 winners, including 22 off his fearsome forehand side, and he remains the only men's player yet to lose a set in the tournament.
"The beginning was really important," said Nadal. "Andy had a really tough match yesterday [against David Ferrer] so he was probably tired.
"I'm sorry for him - he has had a fantastic career and it a great champion."
Looking ahead to his meeting with Murray, Nadal added: "It's always a pleasure to play Andy, he's one of the players with the most talent on the tour.
"It's always exciting against him and a big challenge for me. I lost to him in the 2008 semi-finals and I will have to play aggressive, play my best tennis.
"If I play like I did today then I'll give myself a good chance."
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
One decade of Al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks and it's after shocks (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam— Those of us who live in New York have our own special memories of 9/11/2001. I was driving down the Long Island Expressway, about to begin a month-long leave from my job at Newsweek to work on a book. Around 9 a.m., I switched from the CD player to the radio to listen to the news. The reports were chaotic but the outlines of what had happened were clear. I turned around and headed back to New York to get to my wife and 1-year-old boy. As I approached the Triborough Bridge I saw huge barricades and dozens of police cars. All bridges and tunnels were closed. Manhattan had been sealed off. Cell phones were useless that morning because 8 million people were trying to use them simultaneously and the result was cellular gridlock.
I turned around and headed to my destination in Long Island, the home of friends where I had been planning to work on the book. As soon as I got there, I turned on CNN and watched with horror and anger. Finally, I was able to talk to my wife and knew that she and my son were fine. But soon I got a call from one of my dearest friends, my roommate from college. His brother, Chris, worked on one the high floors of the Towers. No one had heard from him. I began calling friends and contacts at the New York Police Department, the FBI, the CIA - anyone who might have any ideas about what I might do to help. I remember looking at the hospital emergency rooms, with beds set up on the streets, waiting for patients to come streaming in. But, of course, they were all empty. No one ever came. Chris was never heard from again.
I guessed instantly who had done it. I had followed Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda for a few years, through the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Africa and on the USS Cole in Yemen. In my previous job, as Managing Editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, I had published a commentary on bin Laden’s then-little-known fatwah against the United States by the eminent Princeton historian, Bernard Lewis. But I was still stunned by the attack - by its audacity, simplicity and success. In one respect, I was thoroughly American. I imagined that America was an island, a rock, far away from the troubles and infections of the rest of the world. And like most Americans, I felt a shock, an intrusion, a violation.
I put my book project on hold and spent all my spare hours reading and thinking about what had caused the attack. What explained this monstrous evil? I wrote my columns for Newsweek on it and then, a couple of weeks later, I was talking to Newsweek’s Editor, Mark Whitaker, and we decided that I would write a full-length essay explaining the roots of this rage against America. I spent three days and nights in a white heat, reading, researching and writing. The result was a 6,000-word cover essay that ran in Newsweek worldwide titled, “Why They Hate Us?” It got a lot of attention - more than anything I had ever written. It was a moment that Americans - in fact, people around the world - were deeply curious for answers, explanations and understanding. The piece did deal with America and American foreign policy in small measure, but it was mostly about Islam and the Arab world in particular. It was mostly about them.
That’s how 9/11 was discussed and analyzed at the time - mostly with a focus on them. Who are they? Why are they so enraged? What do they want? What will stop them from hating us? That discussion of Islam and the Arab world had its problems, but its was a fruitful discussion, especially once it was joined by Arabs and Muslims themselves. I have often said that the most influential piece of writing of the last decade was a United Nations report, the UNDP’s Arab Development Report, written by Arabs, that documented in granular detail the decay of the Arab world. Once Arabs began to focus on how stagnant and repressive their societies had become, it set off a chain of ideas and actions that I believe has led to the discrediting of al Qaeda and its philosophy and the rise of the Arab Spring.
But if 9/11 was focused at the time on them, ten years later the discussion is mostly about us. What is America’s position in the world today? Are we safer? Are we stronger? Was it worth it? Some of these questions are swirling around because the United States is mired in tough economic times and at such moments, the mood is introspective not outward looking. Some of it is because of the success in the war against al Qaeda. The threat from Islamic terrorism still seems real but more manageable and contained.
But, in large part, the discussion about the United States is the right one to have. History will probably record this period not as one characterized by al Qaeda and Islamic terrorism. That will get a few paragraphs or a chapter. The main story will be about a rapidly changing world and perhaps about the fate of the world’s sole superpower – the United States of America. History might well record 9/11 as the beginning of the decline of America as planet’s unrivaled hegemon.
The day on 9/11, the world was at peace, and the United States strode that world like a Colossus. It posted a large budget surplus. Oil was at $28 a barrel. The Chinese economy was a fifth the size of America’s. Today, America is at war across the globe; it has a deficit of $1.5 trillion and oil is at $115 a barrel. China is now the world’s second largest economy.
Al Qaeda will be forgotten. Few people today remember what the Boer War was about. But what they do know is that, around that time, the dawn of the 20th Century, Great Britain spent a great many of its resources and, more importantly, its attention, on policing the world and sending its troops to Africa and...Afghanistan and Iraq - some things never change. But Britain forgot that the real threat to its power came from the economic rise of Germany and the United States, which were challenging its industrial supremacy.
America needs to get back its energy and focus on its true challenge – staying competitive and vibrant in a rapidly changing world. That requires not great exertions of foreign policy and war but deep domestic changes at home. The danger comes not from them but from us.
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Egyptian protesters broke the Israeli embassy's wall and storm into it (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam—Egyptian protesters entered the Israeli Embassy here on Friday after tearing down the wall surrounding the building that houses it. Once inside, they threw papers bearing Hebrew from the windows and into the streets.
The offices were empty because it is the weekend in Egypt.
Police fired tear gas into the crowd and gunshots into the air outside the building, which is across the Nile River from Cairo. A police car in front of a nearby police headquarters was on fire.
The incident occurred hours after hundreds of protesters attacked the wall in a show of political rage on another tense day in Egypt's capital.
Earlier, as demonstrators destroyed the wall that had been built around the high-rise building to protect it, police and military took no action.
But 219 people were injured in clashes between protesters and police that took place in back streets, the minister of health told MENA, Egypt's official news agency.
One man died of a heart attack after the protests, said Army Lieutenant Colonel Amr Imam.
Protesters cheered the demolition and chanted for the ouster of Israel's ambassador. The demonstrators were among thousands of Egyptians who took to the streets Friday.
Many converged on Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand reforms in a turnout dubbed "correcting the path of the revolution." Egyptian state TV reported that hundreds of people attempted to raid the Interior Ministry and crowds of demonstrators gathered in front of the state TV building.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said about 3,000 protesters had torn apart the wall.
An Egyptian commander at the embassy told CNN that security personnel had been ordered to avoid confrontations with protesters.
Six trucks carrying anti-riot police were parked on a side street near ambulances, armored vehicles and police vans.
Police had been guarding the entrance to the building, which houses the embassy on the 12th floor and private dwellings on other floors.
The commander said the new walls had been erected to defend the residents, not the embassy.
Since the ouster in February of President Hosni Mubarak, many Egyptians have called for the end of diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. The two nations signed a peace treaty in 1979.
Egyptians have been angry about the killing of police officers by Israeli soldiers last month when Israel went after militants who had attacked civilians near the Israeli-Egyptian border.
Meanwhile, protesters at Tahrir Square criticized the performance of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the government in the wake of Mubarak's ouster.
The Interior Ministry announced Thursday the square would be cleared of police and soldiers for 24 hours to allow for a smooth protest. It said its forces would intervene if government or public property were destroyed.
"We cleared the square to avoid any confrontations, but we expect violence within the groups and hope thugs don't take advantage of the situation," said Lt. Col. Amr Imam, armed forces spokesman.
Protesters want military tribunals abolished, the establishment of minimum and maximum wages, permission for Egyptians abroad to vote in the coming elections and the announcement of dates for those elections.
They are also calling for the removal of former ruling party members from banks, schools, universities and government institutions.
Mubarak is charged with ordering the killing of protesters to quash the uprising that ultimately ended his 30-year rule. In addition, he faces corruption charges. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/mian-shakeel-aslam
US President Barack Obama reveals the Govt. job plans (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam— US President Barack Obama has unveiled a $450bn (£282bn) package of tax cuts and spending plans aimed at creating jobs and boosting the economy.
It includes funding for teachers and firefighters - and tax cuts to small businesses to encourage employment.
Mr Obama told a joint session of Congress that politicians needed to act quickly to pass the package.
Republican congressman John Boehner, whose support is likely to be crucial, said the plans "merit consideration".
The Republicans control the House of Representatives, and have managed to derail many of Mr Obama's legislative proposals.
Some Republicans have already dismissed the plan as a crude attempt to boost the president's flagging popularity in the run-up to next year's presidential election.
Some 9.1% of Americans are currently out of work, and the issue is expected to dominate the election campaign.
The BBC's Marcus George in Washington says it is a political gamble by the president - if Republicans vote against the plan, he will accuse them of serving themselves and not the country.
But failing to pass the proposals will leave Mr Obama without a way to kick-start the economy, and leave him at the mercy of millions of Americans who are still feeling the pain, says our correspondent.
'Political grandstanding'
In his speech, Mr Obama urged Congress to "stop the political circus" and said everything in the jobs plan was based on principles already supported by Republicans and Democrats.
"The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working," he said.
"It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed."
The president has yet to give details on how the plans would be paid for, but he hinted that the money could be found in spending cuts and promised to release more details on 19 September.
The centrepiece of the proposal is to expand a cut in the Federal Insurance Contributions tax, a levy paid by employers and workers to fund social security and healthcare for retirees.
Congress approved a cut in the tax for workers last year, from 6.2% to 4.2%. But that measure was due to expire in December.
Mr Obama wants to continue that cut next year, lower the tax even further to 3.1% for workers, and extend a similar cut to companies, at a cost of $240bn.
He also proposed providing $85bn in federal government aid to local and state governments, to be spent among other things on helping to keep teachers and emergency services workers in jobs.
And a further $50bn should be spent on infrastructure projects, including a plan to upgrade the country's airports, he said.
The president wants to submit the bill to Congress next week.
Mr Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said he hoped that Democrats and Republicans could work together on the bill.
"The proposals the president outlined tonight merit consideration. We hope he gives serious consideration to our ideas as well," said Mr Boehner.
Some Republicans have said they would support at least part of the plan, but others have already indicated their opposition.
Representative Paul Broun of Georgia, one of the Republicans who chose not to attend the speech, tweeted: "This is obviously political grandstanding and class warfare."
The two parties clashed all summer over plans to sort out the country's debt levels, which prompted a historic US government credit downgrade.
The political battles on Capitol Hill have seen the president's approval slump, but ratings for Congress have been even lower.
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Source: http://www.twitter.com/#!/mianshakeel
BBC reporter killed by US service member last july unintentionally (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam— A reporter was killed by a U.S. service member last July in southern Afghanistan in a case of mistaken identity, according to the results of an investigation by NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
Ahmad Omid Khpalwak -- a free-lancer for the BBC and Pajhwok News Agency in Afghanistan -- was killed during an insurgent attack in the Uruzgan province city of Tarin Kowt on July 28. He was 25 and joined the BBC in May 2008 as a stringer, the network said.
"Mr. Khpalwak was shot by an ISAF member who believed he was an insurgent that posed a threat and was about to detonate a suicide vest improvised explosive device," the NATO-led force said in a statement Thursday. ISAF identified the soldiers at the scene as Americans.
"The investigating officer found that the ISAF member involved in this incident complied with the laws of armed conflict and rules of engagement and acted reasonably under the circumstances."
Peter Horrocks, director BBC Global News, said the death is "a tragedy for his family and friends as well as his colleagues at the BBC."
It "further highlights the great dangers facing journalists who put their lives on the line to provide vital news from around the world," he said. "It is essential that journalists are given the best possible protection whilst reporting in dangerous situations so that the world can hear their stories."
Insurgents staged what ISAF said was a "complex attack" on a number of targets, including the provincial governor's compound and the Radio Television Afghanistan compound. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 22 people were killed and 37 people were injured.
Gen. John R. Allen, commander of ISAF, appointed an independent investigating officer to examine the circumstances of the death.
The report said two insurgents gained entry to the RTA compound when they used a car bomb to destroy a gate and a section of the wall.
From inside the building they traded fire with uniformed Afghan forces and shot at U.S. soldiers arriving at the scene. The firing from the insurgents eventually stopped amid escalating force by the Americans.
Afghan leadership told the forces that two suicide bombers were in the RTA building and that they "were not aware of any civilians present," ISAF said.
"Upon U.S. soldiers entering the RTA building, the two suicide bombers detonated their explosives, collapsing the front walls of the building and trapping members of the clearing team under heavy brick debris," ISAF said.
As some soldiers aided the injured, some continued clearing building remains and others "remained in overwatch to provide security."
During the clearing operation, a soldier "identified movement of a young adult male in the building through a large hole in a broken wall."
"The room the man was in was immediately adjacent to the room where one of the suicide bombers had detonated his suicide vest IED, and across the hall from the other suicide vest detonation, just minutes before," ISAF said.
The soldier heard a shot he thought was from the man's "exact location." ISAF said "it is probable that the shot he heard was actually fire by a soldier inside the building during the building clearing."
The soldier "assessed the individual he observed to be enemy and fired a single round which did not strike him. In the stress and urgency of the moment, it is highly probable that soldiers in the courtyard outside the building incorrectly perceived that shot as having been fired by the man in the building."
ISAF said several soldiers thought the man was shooting, and called out warnings.
"A soldier was directed to move up to the broken wall where the man was seen. As the soldier approached he observed a young adult male with a beard with something clinched in one of his fists and reaching for something on his person with his other hand."
The soldier assessed the actions as those of a suicide bomber who was working to detonate an IED that "posed a lethal threat."
The soldier shot and killed the man. They later discovered that the man was Khpalwak. No weapon was found on him.
"It appears that all the rounds perceived as coming from his location were instead fired by U.S. soldiers," ISAF said.
The BBC said the "confusion surrounding the circumstances" intensified "the tragedy felt by the journalist's family and colleagues."
"The BBC recognizes that ISAF has provided clarification that he was killed by a U.S. soldier, ending a period of uncertainty," the network said in a statement. "We will be studying the details of the findings and await receipt of the full report."
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Japan facing energy crisis after Fukushima (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam— Working at the weekend in sweltering offices and meager use of electrical devices in a country known for its gadgets: This is the new reality in Japan.
Six months after the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown, Japan is still struggling to get back to pre-quake power generation.
Across the country energy production is down 7% on last summer; in greater Tokyo power generation has fallen by 20%. To avoid blackouts, the government told big industrial energy consumers to cut their power usage by 15% over the summer.
Nearly all companies hit their targets or exceeded them, but it's been tough on everyone.
No one knows that better than Nissan Motors' Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga, who's had to implement the measures. He talks of the "sacrifices" made by his thousands of employees.
Tsunami-hit city fights back from tragedy
Sacrifices like starting work at 5:30 in the morning to avoid peak energy hours, working most weekends and taking two days off during the week, setting the thermostat in the office to 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), turning off lights, cutting back on overtime.
Nissan easily hit its targets and went some way beyond, but if this is the beginning of the new normal, it won't work says Shiga.
"I think this is not sustainable. If mothers and fathers go to the office or factory at the weekend they can't talk to their children. It is such a pity. We cannot continue this working situation."
Aftermath of Japan's tsunami nightmare
Japan Inc. rallied to the energy saving cause so strongly that the Government was able to lift the energy ban early.
But it's not over yet, not by a long shot: It looks like energy shortages could remain for another year at least.
Currently 43 of the country's 54 nuclear reactors are offline for safety checks and maintenance. And, as the Fukushima Daiichi plant continues to smolder, there's no appetite to bring them back on line.
Plant owner says efforts ahead of schedule
In fact by May next year, officials say that all nuclear reactors could be offline as more are closed for annual maintenance. That suggests another sweltering summer for Japan's millions of office workers, and continued weekend work for blue-collar workers.
The real threat to corporate Japan, though, is unstable energy supply. If that happens, one Tokyo think tank says it will send Japanese industry offshore with losses of hundreds of thousands of jobs. Exporters are already struggling with the strong yen; the last thing they need is energy uncertainty.
Watch Andrew Steven's interview with Japan's 'Mr. Yen'
All this puts new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in a very difficult position.
He has to convince a highly skeptical public that nuclear energy is safe and can be used, at least until alternatives to nuclear power are up and running.
And with the Fukushima plant not likely to be shut down until the end of the year, that's no easy task.
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Federer will face Djokovic in the Semi of US-Open Tennis tournament (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam—Five-time champion Roger Federer dismissed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets to earn himself a US Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic.
Federer made amends for successive defeats by Tsonga that includedJune's Wimbledon quarter-final as he won 6-4 6-3 6-3 in the night match.
World number one Djokovic earlier came through a tough encounter with fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.
Rafael Nadal made the last eight in the delayed bottom half of the draw.
Federer coped with yet another rain interruption in the final match of the day, despite dropping serve on the resumption at 3-2, and found Tsonga in less sparkling form than at Wimbledon or in Montreal last month.
The blistering winners of previous matches were few and far between from the Frenchman and Federer kept him under control with some solid serving to win in one hour and 53 minutes.
Federer now faces a rematch oflast year's semi-final against Djokovic, which the Serbian won in five dramatic sets.
"I played great," said Federer. "For me it continues, and that is awesome. I'm very happy with the way I'm playing, the way I'm moving and I'm enjoying myself on the court."
Defending champion Nadal beat Gilles Muller in their delayed fourth-round match during the afternoon session and will face Andy Roddick in the last eight.
Nadal had led the protests at the slippery courts on Wednesday as players managed only 15 minutes of action before rain stopped play, but when he resumed on Thursday trailing the big-serving Muller 3-0 he was fully focused as he powered to a 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 6-2 victory.
The Spaniard's form suggested he is getting back to somewhere near his best but his attention quickly turned to the scheduling issues that have dogged this US Open.
"That's not fair, but that's what it is," said the world number two. "Here in the Grand Slams, if I am in the position of the US Open or Wimbledon or Australia, Roland Garros, I will do the same. Why not?"
The tournament would laterannounce that the men's final will be rescheduled from Sunday to Monday, giving the finalists a day off after the semi-finals.
Roddick, the 2003 champion, must beat Nadal if he is to make it that far and he enjoyed a superb 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over fifth seed David Ferrer on Court 13, after their match was moved when water began seeping through near the baseline on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
"I enjoyed it," said the 29-year-old American. "I like playing kind of the smaller, more intimate stuff when I can. It was a little bit of everything."
Djokovic was below par for much of his quarter-final, allowing Tipsarevic back from 5-2 down to serve for the first set only to take it in a tie-break.
The top seed broke his opponent's resistance in the third set before there was another alarm in the fourth when he needed treatment to a toe injury.
But in the end it was Tipsarevic who called it quits at 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (3-7) 6-0 3-0 down after earlier receiving treatment to his leg.
"My left toe is bleeding," said Djokovic afterwards. "These things happen all the time when you're sliding like I do."
On a packed day at Flushing Meadows as organisers looked to get the schedule back on track, fourth seed Andy Murray beat Donald Young 6-2 6-3 6-3 and will next face American John Isner, who defeated Gilles Simon 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4).
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/mian-shakeel-aslam
Thursday 8 September 2011
Wednesday 7 September 2011
Missile stolen from army warehouse in Tripoli, Libya (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam— A potent stash of Russian-made surface-to-air missiles is missing from a huge Tripoli weapons warehouse amid reports of weapons looting across war-torn Libya.
They are Grinch SA-24 shoulder-launched missiles, also known as Igla-S missiles, the equivalent of U.S.-made Stinger missiles.
A CNN team and Human Rights Watch found dozens of empty crates marked with packing lists and inventory numbers that identified the items as Igla-S surface-to-air missiles.
The list for one box, for example, written in English and Russian, said it had contained two missiles, with inventory number "Missile 9M342," and a power source, inventory number "Article 9B238."
Grinch SA-24s are designed to target front-line aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and drones. They can shoot down a plane flying as high as 11,000 feet and can travel 19,000 feet straight out.
Fighters aligned with the National Transitional Council and others swiped armaments from the storage facility, witnesses told Human Rights Watch. The warehouse is located near a base of the Khamis Brigade, a special forces unit in Gadhafi's military, in the southeastern part of the capital.
The warehouse contains mortars and artillery rounds, but there are empty crates for those items as well. There are also empty boxes for another surface-to-air missile, the SA-7.
Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch emergencies director, told CNN he has seen the same pattern in armories looted elsewhere in Libya, noting that "in every city we arrive, the first thing to disappear are the surface-to-air missiles."
He said such missiles can fetch many thousands of dollars on the black market.
"We are talking about some 20,000 surface-to-air missiles in all of Libya, and I've seen cars packed with them." he said. "They could turn all of North Africa into a no-fly zone."
There was no immediate comment from NTC officials.
The lack of security at the weapons site raises concerns about stability in post-Gadhafi Libya and whether the new NTC leadership is doing enough to stop the weapons from getting into the wrong hands.
A NATO official, who asked to not be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said 575 surface-to-air missiles, radar systems and sites or storage facilities were hit by NATO airstrikes and either damaged or destroyed between March 31 and Saturday. He didn't elaborate on the specifics about the targets.
Gen. Carter Ham, chief of U.S. Africa Command, has said he's concerned about the proliferation of weapons, most notably the shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. He said there were about 20,000 in Libya when the international operation began earlier this year and many of them have not been accounted for.
"That's going to be a concern for some period of time," he said in April.
Gilles de Kerchove, the European Union counterterrorism coordinator, raised concerns Monday about the possibility that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, based in North Africa, could gain access to small arms, machine guns and surface-to-air missiles.
Western officials worry that weapons from the storage sites will end up in the hands of militants or adversaries like Iran.
The governments of neighboring Niger and Chad have both said that weapons from Libya are already being smuggled into their countries, and they are destined for al Qaeda. They include detonators and a plastic explosive called Semtex. Chad's president said they include SA-7 missiles.
An ethnic Tuareg leader in the northern Niger city of Agadez also said many weapons have come across the border. He said he and other Tuareg leaders are anxious about Gadhafi's Tuareg fighters returning home -- with their weapons -- and making common cause with al Qaeda cells in the region. Gadhafi's fighting forces have included mercenaries from other African nations.
The missing weapons also conjure fears of what happened in Iraq, where people grabbed scores of weapons when Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown.
Bouckaert said one or two of the missing artillery rounds are "enough to make a car bomb."
"We should remember what happened in Iraq," he said, when the "country was turned upside down" by insurgents using such weaponry.
There have been similar concerns in Afghanistan, where the United States provided thousands of Stinger missiles to the Afghan mujahedeen when they were fighting the Soviets in the 1980s. The United States has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy them back, fearful that they would fall into the hands of terrorists.
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Russian plane carrying ice hockey team and many others crashed (Mian Shakeel Aslam)
Mian Shakeel Aslam— A plane carrying a hockey team with international players, including some NHL veterans, crashed as it took off Wednesday afternoon from Russia's Yaroslavl airport, killing at least 43 people, Russian emergency officials said.
The Yak-42 aircraft was taking players for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl -- one of Russia's leading ice hockey teams -- to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, the Russian aviation authority told CNN.
Two of the 45 people aboard the plane, which included eight crew members, survived, a Russian Emergency Situations Ministry representative said. Eleven of those on the aircraft were foreigners, the ministry said.
Yaroslavl's regional governor, Sergei Vakhrukov, named the two survivors as Russian forward Alexander Galimov and flight crew member Alexander Sizov. Both are being treated in intensive care.
Si.com: Plane crash darkens hockey's grim summer
Thirty-five bodies have been recovered from the crash site so far, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said, and the search for those still missing continued into the night.
Many of the bodies were recovered from the Volga River after the plane crashed on its banks near the airport, the ministry said.
The Lokomotiv team, which was scheduled to play a match Thursday in the new Kontinental Hockey League, had a number of players with ties to the National Hockey League.
NHL.com cited Russia's Sov Sport website as confirming that the entire main roster of the team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was on the plane, along with four players from the youth team.
CNN.com: NHL feels loss of plane crash
The team's head coach, Brad McCrimmon, 52, who was born in Canada, previously played in the NHL and was an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings, NHL.com said.
Others who played in the NHL included Karel Rachunek, 32, a Czech native; Ruslan Salei, 36, from Belarus; Karlis Skrastins, 37, from Latvia; Pavol Demitra, 36, from Slovakia; and Josef Vasicek, 30, from the Czech Republic.
Demitra was a former Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks center, RIA Novosti reported, while fellow center Vasicek was formerly with the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes. Salei previously played for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Colorado Avalanche and the Red Wings.
SI.com: Team tragedies
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the crash "represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world -- including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our league. Our deepest condolences go to the families and loved ones of all who perished."
Lou Lamoriello, president of the New Jersey Devils, paid tribute to Alexander Vasyunov, a forward who played for the club last season, as "an outstanding young man and a gifted athlete."
Rachunek also played for the Devils in 2007-08, Lamoriello said, adding: "Both were members of the Devils family."
The Russian Hockey Federation expressed "its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and relatives, fans and the entire hockey community" in a statement on its website.
A Kontinental Hockey League statement said: "We are only beginning to understand the impact of this tragedy affecting the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl club on the friends we've lost and the international hockey community.
"First and foremost, our condolences go out to the families of the players, coaches and staff lost in today's tragedy. We know that there are many in the KHL family who will be grieving with us."
A national championship ice hockey match between Salavat Yulayev and Atlant was halted in the city of Ufa after reports of the crash.
Players from both teams and spectators observed a moment of silence before leaving the stadium. Many in the audience were crying, Russian state TV footage showed.
The president of the Russian national hockey league, Alexander Medvedev, took the microphone at the stadium to say representatives from both clubs had asked to call off the match because they had ties to those at Lokomotiv.
He said: "I would like to assure you that we'll do everything we can to make sure that the first-class ice hockey in Yaroslavl will continue and that the Lokomotiv club will remain as one of the strongest clubs in our Kontinental Hockey League."
An aviation agency spokesman, Sergei Izvolsky, told CNN the crash occurred around 4 p.m. (8 a.m. ET) during takeoff because the plane couldn't reach a safe altitude fast enough.
The aircraft collided with the antenna of the airport beacon, fell to the ground and broke into several pieces and caught fire, Izvolsky said.
It was a charter flight with a plane operated by Yak-Service Airlines, he said. Yaroslavl is about 155 miles (250 kilometers) northeast of Moscow.
The Yakovlev Yak-42 was in proper technical order, the Russian Federal Aviation Agency's press officer, Andrei Pryanishnikov, told CNN. The plane went through cursory maintenance service before departure to Yaroslavl and fully complied with all safety standards, he said. The last time it underwent regular maintenance service was on August 16 in the city of Kazan.
Pryanishnikov said the plane was manufactured in 1993 and was certified airworthy until October 1.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed the country's Investigative Committee and other law enforcement agencies to probe the crash.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin also asked Transport Minister Igor Levitin to go to the scene to organize efforts to examine the cause of the crash, Putin's press office reported.
The crash came as an international political forum opened in Yaroslavl, with participants expected to include Medvedev, the prime ministers of France, Spain and Italy and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
Medvedev plans to visit the crash scene to pay tribute to the victims before attending the forum Thursday, the Kremlin press office said.
Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam
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