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11 Jul 2006 10:36:44 PM |
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INDIA: Muslim militants are prime suspects in bomb attacks |
What a surprise . . .
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2265773,00.html
Muslim militants are prime suspects in bomb attacks
times online
July 11, 2006
Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor
Muslim militants fighting against Indian control in Kashmir are the
prime suspects for the bloody terrorist bombings on trains carrying
rush-hour commuters in Bombay.
Dozens of groups, mostly based in neighbouring Pakistan, have been
responsible for a string of attacks against targets in India over the
past decade with two organisations, Lashkar-e-Toiba (Soldiers of the
Pure) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (Army of Mohammad), regarded as the most
effective and deadly.
Although there were no immediate claims of responsibility for today's
bombings, Western intelligence experts had been anticipating a new
wave of attacks in India by militants.
Shivraj Patil, the Indian Home Minister, said that the authorities in
Delhi had been warned about an imminent terrorist operation, but did
not know the time or location.
Gareth Price, the head of the Asian Programme at the Royal Institute
of International Affairs, said that militant groups were hoping to
harm improved relations between Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime
Minister, and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, who last year
signed an agreement to ease relations between the two rival states.
"In the past these attacks have sometimes provoked communal unrest
between Muslims and Hindus and caused friction between Pakistan and
India. That could be the purpose of these bombings today," said Dr
Price.
In December 2001, militant gunmen stormed the parliament building in
Delhi, killing more than a dozen people. In the aftermath, India
blamed Pakistan for the incident and the two nuclear-armed states
mobilised their forces and were pushed to the brink of war.
Since then, Pakistan has taken steps to crack down on militant groups
and arrest their leaders. The countries have also helped ease tensions
by improving diplomatic ties, opening travel links and agreeing to put
their dispute over Kashmir to one side.
But there is evidence that the militant movement has regrouped and is
growing again.
After the devastating earthquake in Pakistani Kashmir in October,
several Muslim groups with links to militants were allowed to mobilise
to help the victims by collecting donations and organising
reconstruction.
Since then there have been several attacks in India, including the
bombing of a market in Delhi and explosions at a Hindu temple in
Varanasi. Hours before today's bombings in Bombay, Kashmiri
separatists launched a series of machinegun and grenade attacks in
Srinagar, the Kashmiri capital, killing eight tourists.
Pakistan was at pains to distance itself from the bloodshed in India.
President Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz, the Pakistani Foreign Minister,
condemned the killings as a "despicable act of terrorism".
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "Terrorism is the bane of
our times and it must be condemned, rejected and countered effectively
and comprehensively."
But statements are unlikely to satisfy the Indian leadership. Delhi
will now want concrete evidence that the Pakistan authorities are
doing everything they can to stop the militants carrying out further
operations.
To make matters worse for Islamabad, the same message is also being
sent from Afghanistan, which has accused Pakistan of not doing enough
to stop Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters crossing over the border to
attack Afghan and Coalition forces.
Donald Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of State, today made an implicit
criticism of Pakistan during a visit to Kabul, when he said that there
was "no question" that militants were crossing the border and that
greater effort had to be made to stop the infiltration.
--
oderint dum metuant
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| User: "gringogirl" |
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| Title: Re: INDIA: Muslim militants are prime suspects in bomb attacks |
12 Jul 2006 02:41:33 AM |
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www.numbersusa.com
STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo
U=2ES. Video
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. population is on target to hit 300 million
this fall and it's a good bet the milestone baby - or immigrant - will
be Hispanic.
No one will know for sure because the date and time will be just an
estimate.
But Latinos - immigrants and those born in this country - are driving
the population growth. They accounted for almost half the increase last
year, more than any other ethnic or racial group. White non-Hispanics,
who make up about two-thirds of the population, accounted for less than
one-fifth of the increase.
Phil Shawe sees the impact at his company, Translations.com. The New
York-based business started in 1992, when it mainly helped U.S.
companies translate documents for work done overseas. Today, the
company's domestic business is booming on projects such as helping a
pharmacy print prescription labels in up to five languages or providing
over-the-phone translation services for tax preparers.
"It's been a huge growth area for our business," said Shawe, the
president and chief executive. "Not only is the Hispanic market growing
faster than the average, but it is also growing in purchasing power."
When the population reached 200 million in 1967, there was no accurate
tally of U.S. Hispanics. The first effort to count Hispanics came in
the 1970 census, and the results were dubious.
The Census Bureau counted about 9.6 million Latinos, a little less than
5 percent of the population. The bureau acknowledged that the figure
was inflated in the Midwest and South because some people who checked
the box saying they were "Central or South American" thought that
designation meant they were from the central or southern United States.
Most people in the U.S. did not have any neighbors from Central America
or South America in the 1960s. The baby boom had just ended in 1964,
and the country was growing through birth rates, not immigration, said
Howard Hogan, the Census Bureau's associate director for demographic
programs.
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People responding to the Census survey - which uses the term "foreign
born" rather than immigrant - are not asked whether they are legal or
illegal.
In 1967, there were fewer than 10 million people in the U.S. who were
born in other countries; that was not even one in 20. White
non-Hispanics made up about 83 percent of the population.
Today, there are 36 million immigrants, about one in eight.
"We were much more of an insular society back then," said William Frey,
a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
"It was much more of a white, middle-class, suburban society."
As of midday Sunday, there were 299,061,199 people in the United
States, according to the Census Bureau's population clock. The estimate
is based on annual numbers for births, deaths and immigration, averaged
throughout the year.
The U.S. adds a person every 11 seconds, according to the clock. A baby
is born every eight seconds, someone dies every 13 seconds, and someone
migrates to the U.S. every 30 seconds.
At that rate, the 300 millionth person in the U.S. will be born - or
cross the border - in October, though bureau officials are wary of
committing to a particular month because of the subjective nature of
the clock.
Hispanics surpassed blacks as the largest minority group in the 2001,
and today make up more than 14 percent of the population.
The growth of the Latino population promises to have profound cultural,
political and economic effects.
"I think we've already seen these changes," said Clara Rodriguez, a
sociology professor at Fordham University.
"I think the music has been influenced by the Caribbean rhythms and the
Latino singers," Rodriguez said. "I think economically, clearly
immigrants are coming to work."
Don't forget the salsa-ketchup wars, well-publicized since salsa
surpassed ketchup in U.S. sales in the 1990s, pitting the two
condiments in a seesaw battle for supremacy ever since.
Many people are embracing the changes, but some are not, as evidenced
by the national debate on immigration. The growing number of Hispanics
is closely tied to immigration because about 40 percent are immigrants.
"I think there is a little bit of a culture shock effect, especially
with the language," said Frey, the demographer. "But as people get to
know their new neighbors, they find they are not that different from
them."
The U.S. added 2.8 million people last year - a little more than a
million from immigration and about 1.7 million because births
outnumbered deaths.
The U.S. is the third largest country in the world, behind China and
India. America's population is increasing by a little less than 1
percent a year, a pace that will keep it in third place for the
foreseeable future, said Carl Haub, a demographer at the Population
Reference Bureau.
The world, with a population of 6.5 billion, is growing a little faster
than 1 percent a year.
By the time the U.S. population hits 400 million, in the 2040s, white
non-Hispanics will be but a bare majority. Hispanics are projected to
make up close to one-quarter of the population, and blacks more than 14
percent. Asians will increase their share of the population to more
than 7 percent.
Those percentages, however, are just projections. They are subject to
big revisions, depending on immigration policy, cultural changes and
natural or manmade disasters.
"In terms of projecting out a year or two, we're not too bad," said
Hogan of the Census Bureau. "In 2043, I don't think anybody here would
think they are particularly accurate."
One thing is certain: A lot more people who say they are Central
American or South American will actually be from those places.
"The over 40 population dominated by the baby boomers, they're the ones
in power now," said Frey. "But when we get to 2043, a lot of them will
not be with us anymore. Those under 40 will be in power and we will be
even more of a global society."
---
On The Net:
U=2ES. and world population clocks:
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html=20
=A9
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