2. US intends to pressurize Pakistan to control its production of nuclear weapons in the next UN General Assembly meeting, according to US media reports. If so, it may aggravate the already tense relations between the two countries. (Baad-e-Shimal, Daily Pak, Khabrain)

3. Pakistan has rejected American demands to open its consulates in Multan and Quetta. ….US officials have contacted local leaders for establishing secret spy networks in South Waziristan. (Jasarat, Khabrain)

4. All methods used by the US against the Taliban have failed; 2011 has proved to be fatal as Americans have faced a record number of losses and hence, it has planned to withdraw from Afghanistan. In the recent attacks carried out in Laghman, Takhar, Logar and Kunar, 77 allied troops were killed and 6 tanks were destroyed by the Taliban. It is false American propaganda that it has killed those who had shot down the Chinook helicopter. (Al Qalam Weekly, 19 August to 25 August)

5. MQM leader Farooq Sattar has called on American diplomat Cameron Munter to discuss MQM’s return to the government and conditions in Karachi. …US diplomats have been playing a role in maintaining peace in Karachi. ….MQM attributes the bloodshed in Lyari to underworld groups. (Ibrat, Khabrain, Jinnah)

INDIA
1. In his interview to Jinnah, Senator Mohabbat Khan has accused foreign powers of being responsible for the deteriorating situation in Balochistan. He said that India was providing rocket launchers and other weapons to locals in the province.  If the government did not take notice of the situation, it would be responsible for the outcome. (Jinnah)

2. Nawa-i-Waqt commenting on statements made by Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani, that Pakistan has removed its forces from the eastern border and has positioned them on the western border to fight the Taliban, said the forces should immediately be sent back to the eastern border. All the weapons and other military hardware shifted to western border should be returned to the Eastern border. Otherwise Pakistan’s enemy (India) will take advantage of the situation and attack Pakistan. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)

DEFENCE
1.COAS Gen. Kayani visited the Kurram Agency on Thursday to see the areas that have been cleared of terrorists in recent operations – Koh-i- Safaid (White Mountain).  He met the soldiers and praised the services of the political administration Kurram Agency has been strategically important since the TTP used to plan suicide attacks and terrorist attacks from this location. (Baad-e-Shimal, Urdupoint)

TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. Ulema Ghulam Afzal Chishti, the priest who read Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s last rites at his funeral after several Ulemas in Lahore refused to do it, has gone abroad after receiving several threatening messages. (Kawish)

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. PM Gilani has expressed concern over the Karachi situation; he told the Sindh Governor and the CM that if the provincial government wants to bring in the army into Karachi the federal government will support them. (Ibrat)

2. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the army will be called into Karachi if needed and the coast guards might be deployed as well. (Kawish)

3. President will hold an important meeting on the Karachi situation in Islamabad today at which he will take others into confidence about the return of the MQM into the ruling coalition. (Ibrat)

4. Government has not allowed the security agencies to arrest terrorists in Karachi; Local politicians are in touch with foreign agencies. The authorities know where weapons had been hidden by these gangsters as weapons are coming into Karachi through the Afghanistan border in Balochistan. (Ummat)

5. ANP will decide whether it will leave or quit the Sindh government in its advisory committee meeting on the 28th of August. (Daily Pak)

6. JI chief Syed Munawar Hassan has criticized the provincial government for deteriorating Karachi situation. He has urged for convening an APC in order to maintain peace in Karachi. JI Secretary Liyaqat Baloch has said that to restore peace in Karachi, President Zardari, ANP Chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and MQM Chief Altaf Hussain should visit Karachi. (Khabrain, Jang)

7. Former cricketer Amir Sohail has announced he is joining PML-N.  (Jinnah)

8. Prominent business and social figure Hajji Farooq and his community have announced their joining of MQM. (Jinnah)

9. Nawa-i-Waqt editorially opposed Nawaz Sharif’s demand for snap elections. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)

10. Jinnah Editorial said: Sharif has pledged that he will not allow the government to weaken and on the other hand, he has demanded fresh elections. This must be a political tactic to pressurize the government to pay attention towards people’s problems. (Jinnah Edit)

BALOCHISTAN
1. Columnist Charagh Afreedam writes in Daily Pak:  ‘Most Baloch leaders are in Karachi, Islamabad or the UK. So the government will have a tough time in its efforts to talk to Baloch leaders in the province. (Daily Pak)

SINDH
1. Sindh Interior Minister Manzoor Wasan said that so far, everything was being tolerated in Karachi on grounds of reconciliation but now action will be taken. He said that every party in Karachi has weapons and that people have been trained to use them. …. Wasan has summoned the Sindh police chief and asked him to show him the results of action taken against extortionists and other criminal elements in Karachi in the next 24 hours. (Jasarat, Ibrat)

2. Karachi currently has 56,000 security officials on duty with total expenses amounting to Rs.32 billion. Despite such a colossal security network, peace continues to be elusive. More than 35,000 rangers and FC are strengthening the police in Karachi and out of these 1,600 of them are on VIP duty. The initial budget for Rangers’ duty was Rs.50 lakhs but it has now shot up to Rs.66 crores. 1,000 FC officials have been appointed in Karachi but they are hardly seen on the roads. (Kawish)
MQM is trying to capture Lyari by creating clashes between two groups of PPP. Zafar Baloch and Akram Baloch are fighting against each other to take control of Lyari. (Ummat)

3. Several students boycotted classes at Mehran University in Jamshoro, Sindh to protest the denial of admission to Sindhi youth in Karachi’s educational institutions. Urdu-speaking students refused to board university buses headed for Mehran University and only boarded once they received assurance from the Vice-Chancellor that they would be protected against any attacks. (Ibrat)

4. Daily Pak edit is on a visit by the PM to Badeen wherein he was taken to a school that was set up for the flood-affected families. It says:  the school is a ghost-school with no teachers and students.  PM was taken to a similar ghost-school last year to inspect relief management. These schools do not exist and they are created simply for the PM’s visits. (Daily Pak Edit)

POK NEWS
1. IG Gilgit-Baltistan has visited Hunza where a police station had been burnt down; speaking on the occasion, he said the local people should voluntarily retrieve looted weapons or the government would be forced to take action. Heavy police deployment has been made in Hunza.. (Ausaf, 18 August)  

2. PPP district President has said that the government has sanctioned a passport office at Chilas to meet the long standing demand of the local people. (Baad-e-Shimal)

3. Chaudhary Amir Hamza was appointed as Central Secretary of AJK police Welfare Association. (Khabrain)

4. PM Gilani will inaugurate 150 MW Patrind Hydropower Project in Muzaffarabad on Sept 8th. It is the first private project on the Kanhar River. (Khabrain, Daily Dharti)