Breaking news from Afghanistan
TAPI Pipeline Signed, Sealed -- Not Yet DeliveredSmiling faces and rosy predictions were abundant in Ashgabat over the weekend, when top officials from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India signed a deal to build a natural-gas pipeline that promises to change the region's energy fortunes.
But while the four countries finally signed off on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, or TAPI, natural gas pipeline after 15 years of negotiations, the biggest obstacle remains in place -- ensuring security for a project that would wind through some of the most hazardous territory in the world.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai addressed the main challenge to the TAPI pipeline becoming operational in 2014, as planned, during the December 11 signing ceremony in the Turkmen capital.
Afghanistan, Karzai promised, would "put in efforts to ensure security both during construction and after completing the project." The country's Mines and Industry Minister Wahidullah Shahrani confirmed that, "five thousand to 7,000 security forces will be deployed to safeguard the pipeline route."
This "huge" project is not important just for Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is anxious to cash in on its huge natural gas reserves, and Pakistan and India are badly in need of additional energy resources. The recent heightened desire of all these parties to finally realize the project has propelled TAPI plans forward in recent months, but solely at the level of diplomatic and specialist discussions.
Annette Bohr, an associate fellow for the Russia-Eurasia program at the London-based Chatham House, notes that, "all of these actors very much wanting this pipeline, but nonetheless we have these security questions that have not improved but, in fact, have become worse if anything."
Through Dangerous Terrain
TAPI's 1,680-kilometer route (given as 1,735 kilometers by some sources) originates in southern Turkmenistan, winds south through Afghanistan's Herat Province, and then arcs southeast until it reaches Kandahar Province. Kandahar was the spiritual capital for the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, and the city and its surrounding areas remain the heart of the Taliban insurgency against government and foreign forces.
With construction slated to begin in 2012, these sections of the pipeline are the main areas of concern when it comes to security.
"Embarking on pipeline construction across Afghanistan in the midst of a continuing war between a NATO-backed government in Kabul and Taliban forces still operating effectively in much of the country," Bohr explains, "it's just not going to happen."
Afghan Mines and Industry Minister Shahrani expressed confidence that the ability of the pipeline to provide jobs and benefit local communities by supplying new sources of power and heating would be enough to gain the support of local residents. Shahrani said that once locals see the advantage of the pipeline they will shun the Taliban. But for that same reason, observers say, the Taliban would be likely to focus on preventing the pipeline from being built.
And the pipeline's security worries don't end in Afghanistan. From Afghanistan the pipeline would continue through Pakistan's Baluchistan region, scene of a violent campaign for independence from Islamabad. Ethnic Baluchis have waged a campaign against the Pakistani government for years targeting officials, teachers, students, and generally all non-Baluchis who try to settle or work in the region. While there has been much talk about securing the TAPI pipeline in Afghanistan, little has been said about security along the line in Baluchistan. Pakistani officials have proposed slightly altering the pipeline's route in Pakistan to take it through more secure Pashtun-inhabited areas of Baluchistan.
Question Of Funds
Bohr raises another issue that will come into play before the first section is laid -- finances. The Asian Development Bank has pledged to help finance TAPI but the bulk of financing the project will be left to private investors.
"We understand that the ADB backs this -- yes, but even in this agreement that was struck on December 11, we don't have details about funding in the framework agreement." But, Bohr questions, "Where this massive amount of money would come from and which bank would be willing to underwrite it, is another question."
That question will have to be answered before anyone will be able to say with certainty that TAPI will be built at all. And even with ADB backing, and presumably the support of the U.S. government and possibly the Indian government, the unanswered questions about security in Afghanistan and southern Pakistan will likely give potential investors pause when considering sinking millions and possible billions of dollars into the project.
But while the four countries finally signed off on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, or TAPI, natural gas pipeline after 15 years of negotiations, the biggest obstacle remains in place -- ensuring security for a project that would wind through some of the most hazardous territory in the world.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai addressed the main challenge to the TAPI pipeline becoming operational in 2014, as planned, during the December 11 signing ceremony in the Turkmen capital.
Afghanistan, Karzai promised, would "put in efforts to ensure security both during construction and after completing the project." The country's Mines and Industry Minister Wahidullah Shahrani confirmed that, "five thousand to 7,000 security forces will be deployed to safeguard the pipeline route."
This "huge" project is not important just for Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is anxious to cash in on its huge natural gas reserves, and Pakistan and India are badly in need of additional energy resources. The recent heightened desire of all these parties to finally realize the project has propelled TAPI plans forward in recent months, but solely at the level of diplomatic and specialist discussions.
Annette Bohr, an associate fellow for the Russia-Eurasia program at the London-based Chatham House, notes that, "all of these actors very much wanting this pipeline, but nonetheless we have these security questions that have not improved but, in fact, have become worse if anything."
Through Dangerous Terrain
TAPI's 1,680-kilometer route (given as 1,735 kilometers by some sources) originates in southern Turkmenistan, winds south through Afghanistan's Herat Province, and then arcs southeast until it reaches Kandahar Province. Kandahar was the spiritual capital for the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, and the city and its surrounding areas remain the heart of the Taliban insurgency against government and foreign forces.
With construction slated to begin in 2012, these sections of the pipeline are the main areas of concern when it comes to security.
"Embarking on pipeline construction across Afghanistan in the midst of a continuing war between a NATO-backed government in Kabul and Taliban forces still operating effectively in much of the country," Bohr explains, "it's just not going to happen."
Afghan Mines and Industry Minister Shahrani expressed confidence that the ability of the pipeline to provide jobs and benefit local communities by supplying new sources of power and heating would be enough to gain the support of local residents. Shahrani said that once locals see the advantage of the pipeline they will shun the Taliban. But for that same reason, observers say, the Taliban would be likely to focus on preventing the pipeline from being built.
And the pipeline's security worries don't end in Afghanistan. From Afghanistan the pipeline would continue through Pakistan's Baluchistan region, scene of a violent campaign for independence from Islamabad. Ethnic Baluchis have waged a campaign against the Pakistani government for years targeting officials, teachers, students, and generally all non-Baluchis who try to settle or work in the region. While there has been much talk about securing the TAPI pipeline in Afghanistan, little has been said about security along the line in Baluchistan. Pakistani officials have proposed slightly altering the pipeline's route in Pakistan to take it through more secure Pashtun-inhabited areas of Baluchistan.
Question Of Funds
Bohr raises another issue that will come into play before the first section is laid -- finances. The Asian Development Bank has pledged to help finance TAPI but the bulk of financing the project will be left to private investors.
"We understand that the ADB backs this -- yes, but even in this agreement that was struck on December 11, we don't have details about funding in the framework agreement." But, Bohr questions, "Where this massive amount of money would come from and which bank would be willing to underwrite it, is another question."
That question will have to be answered before anyone will be able to say with certainty that TAPI will be built at all. And even with ADB backing, and presumably the support of the U.S. government and possibly the Indian government, the unanswered questions about security in Afghanistan and southern Pakistan will likely give potential investors pause when considering sinking millions and possible billions of dollars into the project.
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Suicide Bombing Kills 16 in Eastern Afghanistan
A suicide bomber killed at least 16 people and wounded 50 others in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province Thursday.
A spokesman for the provincial governor told VOA that the bomber struck a rally being staged against alleged corrupt practices of the provincial government.
An Afghan lawmaker, Homayoun Homayoun, is among those wounded. Civil society activists and some lawmakers have been leading the anti-government protests that erupted a week ago in Khost, which borders Pakistan.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb in violence-plagued southern Helmand province killed a district police chief. Local authorities say that Hikmatullah Akmal was on his way to the scene of an early morning Taliban attack in Gereshk district Thursday when his car hit the bomb.
A suicide bomber killed at least 16 people and wounded 50 others in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province Thursday.
A spokesman for the provincial governor told VOA that the bomber struck a rally being staged against alleged corrupt practices of the provincial government.
An Afghan lawmaker, Homayoun Homayoun, is among those wounded. Civil society activists and some lawmakers have been leading the anti-government protests that erupted a week ago in Khost, which borders Pakistan.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb in violence-plagued southern Helmand province killed a district police chief. Local authorities say that Hikmatullah Akmal was on his way to the scene of an early morning Taliban attack in Gereshk district Thursday when his car hit the bomb.
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PM Nawaz chairs high-level meeting on Yemen crisis
ISLAMABAD: A high-level meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is underway at the PM House, in which the civil and military leadership will discuss the Yemen crisis and Pakistan's possible role in the conflict.
The meeting takes place after a Pakistani delegation returned from Riyadh, where it was furnished with the demands of the Saudi leadership and discussed with Saudi officials the possible solutions to escalating violence in Yemen.
Last week, top government officials — Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Advisor to the PM of Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — along with the premier met with the army and air force chiefs to discuss the Middle East conflict and Pakistan's decision on the Saudi request for assistance.
ISLAMABAD: A high-level meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is underway at the PM House, in which the civil and military leadership will discuss the Yemen crisis and Pakistan's possible role in the conflict.
The meeting takes place after a Pakistani delegation returned from Riyadh, where it was furnished with the demands of the Saudi leadership and discussed with Saudi officials the possible solutions to escalating violence in Yemen.
Last week, top government officials — Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Advisor to the PM of Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — along with the premier met with the army and air force chiefs to discuss the Middle East conflict and Pakistan's decision on the Saudi request for assistance.
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That was thanks to photography - a technology that was then still in its infancy but would come to dominate the way all politicians have presented themselves ever since.
"Lincoln was the first president born in the photographic era," says Paul Tetreault, director of Ford's Theater in Washington.
"He was very aware of the importance of photography. But unlike our public figures today who have the $700 haircut and the right suit, I don't think Lincoln cared about that. He was very conscious of his shortcomings in the looks department and he didn't shy away from that."
On 27 February 1860, Lincoln addressed a large audience in New York where he was photographed by Mathew Brady - a pioneer of American photography. Brady pulled up Lincoln's collar to improve his appearance and the image was subsequently reproduced and copied by newspapers and magazines.
Photographer Matthew Brady pulled up Lincoln's collar in this iconic shot"That photograph established Lincoln not as a hayseed or bumpkin but as a sober, respectable, powerful intellectual who could become president," says David Ward, senior historian at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. "Lincoln said that this was the photograph that made him president."
Brady and his colleague Alexander Gardner went on to photograph Lincoln many times and their images endure today. But modern perceptions of the 16th president have also been shaped by two eerie life masks.
The sculptor Leonard Volk created the first mask in 1860 as a model for a bust of Lincoln. Having just won the election, Lincoln was in good spirits and full of energy. But the second mask, made by another sculptor Clark Mills in February 1865, just two months before Lincoln was assassinated, shows a very different man.
The Civil War was coming to an end and the enormous toll taken by four years of conflict is etched into the lines of Lincoln's craggy face. His eyes are sunken, his hairline has receded and he has grown a beard which also makes him appear older.
"He looks exhausted," says Ward. "In fact, people frequently think the second one is a death mask because he looks so exhausted."
Lincoln himself didn't think he'd survive his second term because of his failing strength. The masks are the most vivid documentation of how he aged. They are also the closest we can get today to being face to face with Lincoln.
"The life mask is personal because it actually touched Lincoln's skin," says Ward. "You have an almost ghostly remnant of the president where the plaster was on his face for half an hour in February 1865. It's kind of spooky."
By 1865, Abraham Lincoln looked older and tired in photographs.Life masks were rapidly going out of fashion when Lincoln's were made. They had been popular in America as the best way to disseminate a realistic likeness of people - particularly politicians who, without photography, had no other way of enabling people to recognise them. Paintings were distrusted as being too subjective and somewhat decadent in a society that was focused on forging a new nation and had little time for the luxury of art.
But almost two centuries later, the life mask - or something like it - could be making a comeback.
Barack Obama is the first president to have his features digitally scanned and printed to create an identical 3D portrait.
"It really is the modern day equivalent to those plaster casts of Lincoln's face," says Gunter Weibel, director of the Smithsonian's Digitization Program. "[Life masks] were the best way to create accurate representation at the time. This is the best way today. But the end goal is really the same - can we create a direct line to a moment in history? I think both methods achieve that."
And there's another link. The idea for the president's 3D portrait occurred while technicians were scanning Lincoln's life masks to create 3D printouts and make the objects more accessible online.
"We thought, what could happen if we could actually update that process using modern day technology and do that with a sitting president? And that's what we did with President Obama," says Weibel.
The process was far less arduous than being encased in plaster. President Obama sat on a mobile light stage in the White House while flashing lights and cameras captured high resolution data of his face. In just a few seconds enough information was collected to create an exact three-dimensional likeness.
Obama's bust was created by a 3D printerAs America's first black president, Barack Obama is probably also the most instantly recognisable - apart from Abraham Lincoln.
Paul Tetreault says Lincoln is second only to Jesus Christ in the number of books written about him. Lincoln's image is still being re-interpreted and analysed. Even the life mask at the National Portrait Gallery is a 1917 rendering from Volk's 1860 cast, which is kept at the National Museum of American History in Washington.
"People want to reach out to try to understand, who was this guy? Who was this man who by sheer force of his own power held this country together?" says Tetreault. "We all find some connection to him and that's why I think the image of Lincoln will last forever and ever."
"Lincoln was the first president born in the photographic era," says Paul Tetreault, director of Ford's Theater in Washington.
"He was very aware of the importance of photography. But unlike our public figures today who have the $700 haircut and the right suit, I don't think Lincoln cared about that. He was very conscious of his shortcomings in the looks department and he didn't shy away from that."
On 27 February 1860, Lincoln addressed a large audience in New York where he was photographed by Mathew Brady - a pioneer of American photography. Brady pulled up Lincoln's collar to improve his appearance and the image was subsequently reproduced and copied by newspapers and magazines.
Photographer Matthew Brady pulled up Lincoln's collar in this iconic shot"That photograph established Lincoln not as a hayseed or bumpkin but as a sober, respectable, powerful intellectual who could become president," says David Ward, senior historian at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. "Lincoln said that this was the photograph that made him president."
Brady and his colleague Alexander Gardner went on to photograph Lincoln many times and their images endure today. But modern perceptions of the 16th president have also been shaped by two eerie life masks.
The sculptor Leonard Volk created the first mask in 1860 as a model for a bust of Lincoln. Having just won the election, Lincoln was in good spirits and full of energy. But the second mask, made by another sculptor Clark Mills in February 1865, just two months before Lincoln was assassinated, shows a very different man.
The Civil War was coming to an end and the enormous toll taken by four years of conflict is etched into the lines of Lincoln's craggy face. His eyes are sunken, his hairline has receded and he has grown a beard which also makes him appear older.
"He looks exhausted," says Ward. "In fact, people frequently think the second one is a death mask because he looks so exhausted."
Lincoln himself didn't think he'd survive his second term because of his failing strength. The masks are the most vivid documentation of how he aged. They are also the closest we can get today to being face to face with Lincoln.
"The life mask is personal because it actually touched Lincoln's skin," says Ward. "You have an almost ghostly remnant of the president where the plaster was on his face for half an hour in February 1865. It's kind of spooky."
By 1865, Abraham Lincoln looked older and tired in photographs.Life masks were rapidly going out of fashion when Lincoln's were made. They had been popular in America as the best way to disseminate a realistic likeness of people - particularly politicians who, without photography, had no other way of enabling people to recognise them. Paintings were distrusted as being too subjective and somewhat decadent in a society that was focused on forging a new nation and had little time for the luxury of art.
But almost two centuries later, the life mask - or something like it - could be making a comeback.
Barack Obama is the first president to have his features digitally scanned and printed to create an identical 3D portrait.
"It really is the modern day equivalent to those plaster casts of Lincoln's face," says Gunter Weibel, director of the Smithsonian's Digitization Program. "[Life masks] were the best way to create accurate representation at the time. This is the best way today. But the end goal is really the same - can we create a direct line to a moment in history? I think both methods achieve that."
And there's another link. The idea for the president's 3D portrait occurred while technicians were scanning Lincoln's life masks to create 3D printouts and make the objects more accessible online.
"We thought, what could happen if we could actually update that process using modern day technology and do that with a sitting president? And that's what we did with President Obama," says Weibel.
The process was far less arduous than being encased in plaster. President Obama sat on a mobile light stage in the White House while flashing lights and cameras captured high resolution data of his face. In just a few seconds enough information was collected to create an exact three-dimensional likeness.
Obama's bust was created by a 3D printerAs America's first black president, Barack Obama is probably also the most instantly recognisable - apart from Abraham Lincoln.
Paul Tetreault says Lincoln is second only to Jesus Christ in the number of books written about him. Lincoln's image is still being re-interpreted and analysed. Even the life mask at the National Portrait Gallery is a 1917 rendering from Volk's 1860 cast, which is kept at the National Museum of American History in Washington.
"People want to reach out to try to understand, who was this guy? Who was this man who by sheer force of his own power held this country together?" says Tetreault. "We all find some connection to him and that's why I think the image of Lincoln will last forever and ever."
![Picture](/uploads/5/0/3/2/50327511/3008088.jpg?250)
Kerry, Zarif Meet as Iran Nuclear Talks Continue Thursday
The extended negotiations on Iran's nuclear program continued Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Twitter that the officials talked for several hours early Thursday along with experts from the Iranian and international delegations before taking a break.
Earlier she cited continued progress, but said negotiators "have not reached a political understanding."
Iran and the group that includes the U.S., Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany met all day Wednesday trying to close the remaining gaps in a framework deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. They had set a Tuesday deadline for agreeing to an outline, but with no deal in place decided to keep the negotiations going.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, told Iranian state television on Wednesday that his delegation insists on having an outline in place for lifting all international sanctions against his country before it agrees to a deal. Other sticking points included details about Iran's future research and nuclear development.
If the two sides can reach a framework deal, more work would remain to come up with a detailed final agreement by a June 30 deadline.
Iran denies wanting to build nuclear weapons and insists its program is solely for civilian purposes.
The extended negotiations on Iran's nuclear program continued Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Twitter that the officials talked for several hours early Thursday along with experts from the Iranian and international delegations before taking a break.
Earlier she cited continued progress, but said negotiators "have not reached a political understanding."
Iran and the group that includes the U.S., Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany met all day Wednesday trying to close the remaining gaps in a framework deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. They had set a Tuesday deadline for agreeing to an outline, but with no deal in place decided to keep the negotiations going.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, told Iranian state television on Wednesday that his delegation insists on having an outline in place for lifting all international sanctions against his country before it agrees to a deal. Other sticking points included details about Iran's future research and nuclear development.
If the two sides can reach a framework deal, more work would remain to come up with a detailed final agreement by a June 30 deadline.
Iran denies wanting to build nuclear weapons and insists its program is solely for civilian purposes.
sport
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Cricket World Cup 2015: Australia crush New Zealand in final
Australia overwhelmed New Zealand to win the World Cup for a fifth time at an ecstatic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
New Zealand lost influential captain Brendon McCullum to the fifth ball of the match and were bowled out for 183.
Grant Elliott resisted with 83, while Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner shared eight wickets.
Cricket World Cup 2015: Australia beat New Zealand in Melbourne final
Australia rarely looked troubled, sealing a seven-wicket win in 33.1 overs, with captain Michael Clarke scoring 74 and Steve Smith 56 not out.
Clarke, in his final one-day international, was given a standing ovation by the record 93,000 crowd and welcomed by his team-mates on the boundary when he was bowled by Matt Henry with eight required.
He was part of the Australia team that last lifted the trophy in 2007, with this success extending their record for most World Cups won. No other team has more than two.
Australia's win was the second in as many tournaments by a host nation after India's triumph four years ago.
Australia overwhelmed New Zealand to win the World Cup for a fifth time at an ecstatic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
New Zealand lost influential captain Brendon McCullum to the fifth ball of the match and were bowled out for 183.
Grant Elliott resisted with 83, while Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner shared eight wickets.
Cricket World Cup 2015: Australia beat New Zealand in Melbourne final
Australia rarely looked troubled, sealing a seven-wicket win in 33.1 overs, with captain Michael Clarke scoring 74 and Steve Smith 56 not out.
Clarke, in his final one-day international, was given a standing ovation by the record 93,000 crowd and welcomed by his team-mates on the boundary when he was bowled by Matt Henry with eight required.
He was part of the Australia team that last lifted the trophy in 2007, with this success extending their record for most World Cups won. No other team has more than two.
Australia's win was the second in as many tournaments by a host nation after India's triumph four years ago.
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Jamshed, Umar Akmal likely to get the axe for Bangladesh series
LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) selection committee is expected to announce the squad for the Bangladesh series today, with opening batsman Nasir Jamshed and the mercurial Umar Akmal set to get the axe after their World Cup flops.
Under the chairmanship of newly-appointed chief selector Haroon Rasheed, captains for all three formats will also be giving their input in the meeting at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
While it is expected that the limited-overs squads will wear a similar look to that of the World Cup team, Akmal and Jamshed are the two players who will most likely miss the Bangladesh trip.
During the World Cup, Akmal managed to score 164 runs in seven matches at an average of 23.42, whereas Nasir Jamshed could only manage to score five runs in three matches.
Left-arm pace bowler Sohail Tanvir may also be dropped despite giving a good performance in the Twenty20 format against New Zealand in December 2014.
The meeting of top PCB officials in Lahore is also expected to devise new central contracts for players.
Pakistan is to play two Test matches, three One-Day Internationals and one Twenty20 International against Bangladesh, for which team's training camp is likely to commence from April 6.
LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) selection committee is expected to announce the squad for the Bangladesh series today, with opening batsman Nasir Jamshed and the mercurial Umar Akmal set to get the axe after their World Cup flops.
Under the chairmanship of newly-appointed chief selector Haroon Rasheed, captains for all three formats will also be giving their input in the meeting at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
While it is expected that the limited-overs squads will wear a similar look to that of the World Cup team, Akmal and Jamshed are the two players who will most likely miss the Bangladesh trip.
During the World Cup, Akmal managed to score 164 runs in seven matches at an average of 23.42, whereas Nasir Jamshed could only manage to score five runs in three matches.
Left-arm pace bowler Sohail Tanvir may also be dropped despite giving a good performance in the Twenty20 format against New Zealand in December 2014.
The meeting of top PCB officials in Lahore is also expected to devise new central contracts for players.
Pakistan is to play two Test matches, three One-Day Internationals and one Twenty20 International against Bangladesh, for which team's training camp is likely to commence from April 6.