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Intense NATO airstrikes rock Tripoli
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Hosni Mubarak, sons charged with murder
Obamas get royal welcome at Buckingham Palace
Pak rejects India’s list of 50 most wanted
Strauss-Kahn GUILTY?
volcanic
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Intense NATO airstrikes rock Tripoli
Tripoli, May 24 The international community has been stepping up airstrikes and diplomatic efforts against the regime in a bid to break a virtual stalemate, with the rebels in the east and Gaddafi maintaining his hold on most of the west. The NATO airstrikes hit in rapid succession within a half-hour time span, setting off a series of explosions and sending up plumes of acrid-smelling smoke from an area around Gaddafi’s sprawling Bab al-Aziziya compound in central Tripoli. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded in NATO strikes that targeted what he described as buildings used by volunteer units of the Libyan army. NATO said in a statement that a number of precision-guided weapons hit a vehicle storage facility adjacent to Bab al-Aziziya that has been used to supply regime forces “conducting attacks on civilians.” It was not immediately clear if the facility was the only target hit in the barrage. Bab al-Aziziya, which includes a number of military facilities, has been pounded repeatedly by NATO strikes. At the Tripoli Central Hospital, the bodies of three mangled men in their twenties lay on stretchers, their clothing ripped and their faces partially blown away.
— AP
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Hosni Mubarak, sons charged with murder
Cairo, May 24 Mubarak was ousted from power on February 11 after mass demonstrations demanding an end to his 30-year rule. He was then ordered detained by prosecutors probing corruption during his rule and a crackdown on the protesters. His two sons Alaa and Gamal, who many had believed was being groomed by his father to replace him, were also referred to the criminal court on a range of charges, the public prosecutor said in a statement. The crimes listed by the prosecutor included “intentional murder, attempted killing of some demonstrators ... misuse of influence and deliberately wasting public funds and unlawfully making private financial gains and profits,” the statement said.
— Reuters
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Obamas get royal welcome at Buckingham Palace
London, May 24 Ceremonial cannon sounded 41 blasts as Queen Elizabeth, her husband Prince Philip, heir Prince Charles and Charles’s wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, escorted the Obamas onto the west terrace of the palace for their formal arrival ceremony. Obama is on the second stop of a four-nation European tour, arriving from Ireland late on Monday and planning to attend a Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France, on Thursday and end the week in Poland. As a precautionary measure Obama flew to London on Monday night instead of Tuesday morning because of fears that a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland could drift over Ireland and prevent his Air Force One jet from flying. Later, after lunch at the palace, Obama planned to lay a wreath at Westminster Abbey, hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron and attend a state dinner hosted by the queen. Obama and Cameron are to announce the formation of a US-British national security council to work together on international challenges and share intelligence, an Obama administration official said. A speech at Westminster Hall on Wednesday may give Obama an opportunity to outline how Washington now views Europe in a crowded diplomatic agenda dominated by challenges from Asia to the Middle East. A challenge for the two leaders is Libya. Obama, Cameron and NATO allies launched an air campaign in March to protect Libyan civilians from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a civil war between him and rebels who now control eastern Libya. Obama and Cameron are also expected to review the fight against Islamist militants and relations with Pakistan. — Reuters
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Pak rejects India’s list of 50 most wanted
Islamabad, May 24 India had handed over the list to Islamabad during the home secretary-level talks between the two countries in March. Two men on the list were found to be in India - one out on bail in Thane and the other in a Mumbai jail. In a letter addressed to the foreign office, the interior ministry said India should first probe if the people named in the list have been living in that country, as it turned out that two of them have been living there, the Online news agency reported quoting sources. After reviewing the list, the ministry has sent it to the foreign ministry to return it to India, the
report said. It added that the list will be handed over to the Indian high commissioner in Pakistan within a few
days. — IANS
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Strauss-Kahn’s DNA ‘found’ on maid’s dress
New York, May 24 “Tests matched a DNA sample submitted by Strauss-Kahn and semen found on the shirt of the hotel maid,” the Wall Street Journal reported quoting law-enforcement officials. Strauss-Kahn was submitted to DNA test after he was arrested and indicted on seven counts last week for sexual assault and attempted rape. He was taken into custody minutes before his Air France flight was about to depart for Paris. After the alleged assault by Strauss-Kahn on May 14, the maid was found by hotel staffers crouching in the hall, the paper reported quoting eyewitnesses. She was “quite upset” and “had to be consoled”. Soon, 62-year-old Kahn walked out of his hotel room, down the hallway and into the elevator, they said. Kahn left Rikers Island prison after paying $6 million in bail. He has been put under house arrest. He denies wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Strauss-Kahn is looking for a place to stay. After the Bristol Plaza turned him down last week, he found refuge in the Empire building in Lower Manhattan, and reportedly here too, he has been asked to leave by Tuesday. — PTI
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volcanic
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London, May 24 The Daily Mail said that a towering plume of ash, smoke and steam hit Scotland and Ireland Monday night, bringing disruption to airlines. British Airways and a host of other airlines cancelled all flights between London and Scotland Monday night. The air traffic control company Nats said ash was expected to affect a number of British airports, including Heathrow, Londonderry, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Prestwick, Newcastle, Carlisle, Durham Tees Valley and Cumbernauld. Ryanair said on Tuesday that it had carried out a one hour flight over Scotland in the so-called “red zone” of the ash cloud from Glasgow Prestwick to Inverness, on to Aberdeen and then south to Edinburgh. But there was no visible volcanic ash cloud or any presence of ash on the air frame, wings or engines, the Mail quoted the airline as saying. At least 36 flights were cancelled in Scotland on Monday and Tuesday, as airports across Britain were put on stand-by for imminent disruption. — IANS
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