Italian protest against the 40 people injured

Italian protest against the 40 people injured

Thousands of protesters on Sunday fought with Italian police while protesting construction of a high-speed rail linking Italy to France.
Local media said about 50 police officers were injured in the clashes with demonstrators in the Val di Susa area near Turin.

On the Italian side, construction was brought to a standstill by protests before and after the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006. But protests resumed this week after a new construction site opened in Chiomonte.

Many residents around border between Italy and France believe a high-speed rail line would destroy the area, and they oppose the drilling of a tunnel which they claim could release potentially harmful materials.

On last Sunday, 30 people were hurt when police clashed with demonstrators as construction workers were to start work on boring a tunnel in the Susa Valley near Turin.

The leader of the "No Tav" (No to the high-speed train) movement, Alberto Perino, said demonstrators in Sunday's march would have "bare hands and clean hands, against those whose hands are neither bare nor clean", according to local media.

Twenty-three local mayors are against the project, signed by Italy and France in 2001, to build the high-speed link, which would slice three hours off the current seven-hour journey time between Paris and Milan.

Work on the main 58-kilometer (36-mile) tunnel, of which 12 kilometers are in Italy, is scheduled to begin in 2013. It is expected to go into service around 2023.

United States does not use the unmanned aircraft base against Pakistan

United States does not use the unmanned aircraft base against Pakistan

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Sunday said that his government has never allowed the United States to use Pakistani air bases for strikes by its spy aircraft in the tribal regions.
Gilani's fresh statement came amid controversy about the use of Shamsi airbase in southwestern Balochistan province as local media has reported that the US had been using the air base for drone strikes.

Pakistani Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said last week that Islamabad has asked the US to vacate the Shamsi air base. An unidentified American official in his reaction rejected Pakistan's call for leaving the air base.

Pakistani Air Chief told the joint session of the parliament in May that Shamsi air base has been leased out to the UAE and Pakistani media later reported that the UAE has allowed the US to use it for strikes by spy planes.

"My government has not allowed the US to use Pakistani air bases for drone strikes", Prime Minister Gilani told reporters in the central city of Multan on Sunday.

"The former government of President Pervez Musharraf had allowed the US to use the air bases for reconnaissance purpose," the Prime Minister said.

The unmanned aircraft regularly fire missiles into Pakistani tribal regions despite public opposition by Pakistani leaders, but the CIA has ruled out changes in the policy and insists that it is useful to eliminate al-Qaida and Taliban.

Responding to a question about tension along the border with Afghanistan, the Prime Minister said that Pakistan has lodged protest with the Afghan government over recent incursions by the militants into Pakistani territories from Afghan soil.

Pakistan army says that militants from Afghan soil have launched five attacks on border checkpoints in the Pakistani territories in a month, killing nearly 50 soldiers and injuring around 80 others.

Afghan authorities allege that Pakistani forces have recently fired hundreds of rockets and artillery shells into eastern Nangrahar and Kunar provinces, causing civilian casualties.

Responding to a question about the possibility of military operation against the militants in North Waziristan, Gilani said Pakistan will not carry out operation in North Waziristan tribal region on dictations by others.

"If it is in the interest of the country, we will go ahead with the plan, but if it is not in our interest we will not launch any operation on others' demands," he said, adding that the army and political leadership are on the same page to deal with the issue of violent militants.

To another question, the Prime Minister ruled out snap polls in the country after a key coalition partner parted ways with his government. He said the government will complete five- year constitutional term and the next elections will be held in early 2013 as per schedule.

ECB: ECB's Noyer; says France PSI proposal

ECB: ECB's Noyer; says France PSI proposal is voluntary but still some
points to be resolved, restructuring would be catastrophic for Greece.