US Plane Hit in South Sudan, Americans Wounded

The U.S. military says unidentified gunmen have opened fire on at least one U.S. military plane involved in a rescue mission in South Sudan.
The U.S. Africa Command says four U.S. service members were wounded during the incident on Saturday, which took place as the U.S. was trying to evacuate Americans from Bor, a city recently overrun by rebels.
In a statement, the military says it aborted the mission after the plane came under fire and diverted the aircraft to an airfield outside South Sudan.
Bor has been the scene of some of South Sudan's worst fighting during the past week.
The violence erupted after President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, accused former vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer, of attempting a coup. The Juba government says more than 500 people have been killed, and the unrest has forced tens of thousands of people to flee from their homes.
There are reports of fresh fighting in some regions on Saturday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he is sending a special envoy to South Sudan to encourage talks between opposing factions. Ambassador Donald Booth is heading to the region as soon as possible.
U.N. Security Council president Gerard Araud said Friday that South Sudan's President Kiir and former vice president Machar have agreed to "unconditional dialogue" despite their recent history of bitter recriminations. Mediators from East African countries met with Mr. Kiir Friday in what they called productive talks, but what form the Kiir-Machar "dialogue" will take is unclear.
On Friday, the U.N. said at least 11 civilians and two peacekeepers had been killed in an attack a day earlier on  a U.N. base in the town of Akobo.
The U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says the peacekeepers and civilians were shot after about 2,000 armed youth, believed to be ethnic Nuers, surrounded the base and opened fire on members of the Dinka ethnic group taking shelter at the U.N. compound.
About 35,000 civilians are believed to have fled to U.N. compounds since the latest unrest began.

ممبئی میں خود کو غیر محفوظ سمجھتی ہوں،کرینہ کپور

ممبئی…بالی وڈ ایکٹریس کرینہ کپور نے خواتین کی حفاظت کے لئے،موبائل ایپلی کیشن لانچ کر دی،کہتی ہیں،پچھلے دو سال سے وہ خود کو بھی ممبئی میں محفوظ نہیں سمجھتی، بھارتی اداکارہ،کرینہ کپور نے ممبئی میں ایک تقریب میں اس ایپلی کیشن کا افتتاح کیا،جس کے تحت خواتین خطرے کی حالت میں ایک بٹن دبا کر اپنے دوستوں اور خاندان والوں کو اطلاع کر سکیں گی۔کرینہ کا کہنا تھا کہ بڑھتے ہوئے گینگ ریپ،نے انہیں بہت مایوس کیا ہے اور وہ خود کو بھی غیر محفوظ سمجھنے لگی ہیں،یہی وجہ ہے جس نے انہیں ایسی موبائل ایپلی کیشن بنانے پر مجبور کیا۔

نہ کیل چا ہیے نہ ہتھو ڑی،مقنا طیس کے ذریعے چپکنے والا انوکھا فر نیچر

ایمسٹرڈیم…این جی ٹی…اب میز، کرسی اور الما ری بنا نے کے لیے کیل اور ہتھو ڑی کی ضر ورت نہیں ہے ۔ نیدر لینڈ سے تعلق رکھنے والے ایک ڈیزائنر نے ایسا فر نیچر تیار کیا ہے جسے کیلو ں سے نہیں بلکہ مقنا طیس کے ذریعے جو ڑا جا تا ہے ۔یہ فر نیچر لو ہے اور لکڑی کے ملا پ سے تیار کیا گیا ہے جس کے جوڑوں میں مقنا طیس کے ٹکڑے فٹ کیے گئے ہیں ۔ اس کے مختلف حصوں کی ایک دوسرے کے ساتھ ملانے سے یہ مقنا طیس کے مد د سے مضبو طی سے ایک دوسرے کے ساتھ جڑ جا تے ہیں اور یو ں کیلو ں اور ہتھو ڑی کے بغیر منٹو ں میں کو ئی بھی فرنیچر تیار کیا جاسکتا ہے ۔ اس فرنیچر کے با آ سا نی کھو ل کر ایک جگہ سے دو سر ی جگہ منتقل بھی کیا جاسکتا جبکہ دوبا ر ہ جو ڑنا بھی نہا یت آ سان ہے ۔

کتے اور ننھی بی مانو کی دو ستی کے انداز نرالے

لندن…سچ کہتے ہیں کہ دو ستی میں رنگ اور نسل کی کو ئی قید نہیں ہو تی اسی لیے تو یہ کتا اوربی مانو روایتی دشمن ہونے کے باوجود گہرے دو ست بن گئے ہیں ۔اٹکھیلیوں اور شرارتوں میں مصروف یہ ڈوگی اور بی مانو آپس میں اتنے گہرے دوست ہیں کہ کسی ایک کا بھی دوسرے کے بغیر گزارا ممکن نہیں۔جہاں ایک طرف یہ بلی خود سے کئی گنا بڑے کتے سے خوفزدہ نہیں ہوتی تو دوسری جانب یہ کتا بھی اپنی ننھی سی دوست کے خوب نخرے اٹھاتا ہے اور اسے کوئی نقصان نہیں پہنچاتا۔

مری :بس کھائی میں گر نے سے ایک بچہ جاں بحق،25افراد زخمی

راولپنڈی…مری کے علاقے تریٹ میں مری روڈ پر آرو کس کے مقام پر بس کھائی میں گر نے سے ایک ڈیڑھ سالہ بچہ جاں بحق جبکہ 25افراد زخمی ہوگئے۔ 15زخمیوں کو بس سے نکال کر اسپتال منتقل کیا گیا ہے۔ نمائندہ جیو کے مطابق اسلام آباد سے مری جاتے ہوئے بس کو حادثہ بارش کی وجہ سے سڑک پر پیدا ہونے والی پھسلن کے سبب پیش آیاجبکہ مری روڈ پر کئی خطرناک موڑ بھی واقع ہیں جن میں سے ایک موڑ سے مڑتے ہوئے بس 40فٹ گہری کھائی میں جاگری۔بس میں لاہور کی ایک فیملی کے 25سے 30افراد سوار تھے جن میں مرد، خواتین اور بچے بھی شامل ہیں۔ اندھیرا اور سخت سرد موسم ہونے کی وجہ سے امدادی کاموں میں دشواری پیش آرہی ہے۔ تاہم اب تک 15زخمیوں کو ہی کو بس سے نکالا جاسکا ہے۔زخمیوں میں سے زیادہ تر کو پمز اسپتال منتقل کیا گیا ہے۔ ریسکیو ٹیمیں اور ٹریفک کا عملہ حادثے کی جگہ امدادی کاموں میں مصروف ہے۔

Thai Opposition to Boycott Election

Thailand's main opposition Democrat Party has announced that it will boycott February's general election.

The party's leader, former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, announced the boycott Saturday after a meeting of party executives. He said the decision was made to try to ensure political reforms are implemented.

Street protesters have been demanding for weeks that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down ahead of the February 2 elections and hand over the government to an unelected "people's council."

Yingluck dissolved parliament on December 9 and called the snap poll in an attempt to defuse tensions, but opposition against her remains strong and a mass rally is due to take place in Bangkok Sunday.

Obama Discusses US Surveillance, Iran, Economy at Year-End News Conference

WHITE HOUSE — In an end-of-year news conference, President Barack Obama discussed U.S. electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency, the recent budget deal between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, the flawed rollout of his health care reform law, his low approval ratings, and nuclear talks with Iran.

Obama began by pointing to news he says bodes well for 2014 - that the U.S. economy grew at a 4.1 percent pace in the third quarter of the year, the strongest in nearly two years, with unemployment the lowest in five years.

"More Americans are finding work and experiencing the pride of a paycheck. Our businesses are positioned for new growth and new jobs. And I firmly believe that 2014 can be a breakthrough year for America," said the president.

He said more work is needed to provide better opportunities for middle-class Americans, adding that he hopes Washington will not be "condemned to endless gridlock" in 2014.

Obama provided a summary of accomplishments, and work still to be done, overseas.

"This year we have demonstrated that with clear-eyed principled diplomacy, we can pursue a new path to a world that is more secure, a future where Iran does not build a nuclear weapon, a future where Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles are destroyed," said Obama.

The interim deal between the United States and other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany, provides Iran with limited sanctions relief in exchange for halting parts of its nuclear program.

Obama appealed again to U.S. lawmakers not to pass legislation imposing new sanctions on Iran, which he has threatened to veto, while a final nuclear deal is negotiated in coming months.

"It's not going to be hard for us to turn the dials back, strengthen sanctions even further. I'll work with members of Congress to put even more pressure on Iran. But there is no reason to do it right now," he said.

Another major issue was NSA surveillance, and 46 recommendations from a special panel formed after revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Obama declined to directly comment on Snowden, who faces felony charges, or to suggestions that Snowden, who received temporary asylum from Russia, receive amnesty.

He said there was another way, however, to have a debate about U.S. intelligence capabilities besides the method Snowden chose. "As important and as necessary as this debate has been, it is also important to keep in mind that this has done unnecessary damage to U.S. intelligence capabilities and to U.S. diplomacy."

He said Americans are "rightly concerned about the possibility of misuse" of the data that the National Security Agency is collecting.

He said the spy programs have to balance the country's need to protect itself against the need to protect Americans' civil liberties and privacy. NSA has collected a vast storehouse of data about Americans' phone calls - the numbers they have called, the time and length of the calls.

"We need this intelligence," Mr. Obama said. "We can't unilaterally 'disarm.'"

But he said the surveillance programs are "only going to work if the American people have trust" in them.

Obama will speak to Americans and the world in January, likely before his State of the Union address, about his decisions on surveillance policy.

Asked if 2013 was the worst year of his presidency, Obama said "that is not how I think of it," but acknowledged that health care reform problems contributed to his current low approval ratings.

"My polls have gone up and down a lot through the course of my career. I mean if I was interested in polls, I wouldn't have run for president," he said.

He also looked ahead to the planned withdrawal of the last U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and he said the U.S. remains vigilant to protect against terrorist attacks.

After the hour-long news conference, he was asked what his new year's resolution would be, and replied, "to be nicer to the White House press corps.