Baby can’t be named Messiah: US judge 
Washington, August 12
Thou shalt not be named Messiah! A US judge has forced a seven-month-old boy’s name to be changed to mundane Martin from Messiah, saying the religious name was earned only by Jesus Christ.

Nawaz to ‘name’ new army chief before Kayani retires
Islamabad, August 12
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plans to name Pakistan’s new army chief weeks before Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s term ends in November to quell speculation about the issue, according to a media report today.

Asians could swing 2015 UK election: Study
London, August 12
Asian and black voters are likely to decide the outcome of Britain’s next general election in 2015, according to a new study. The study by cross-party group Operation Black Vote (OBV), which campaigns for a fairer vote across various communities in Britain, found the number of seats where ethnic minority voters could decide the outcome had rocketed by 70 per cent compared to the 2010 election.

Kabul, August 12
Afghan President Hamid Karzai will visit Pakistan from August 26-28 in the hope of breathing life into moribund peace process with the Taliban and mending a frayed relationship between the neighbours, Afghan officials said today.

The role of Pakistan is seen as critical to efforts to get the Afghan Taliban to sit down to talks about ending the 12-year war as most foreign troops prepare to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of next year.

Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the capital of the Gulf State of Qatar, Doha, were announced in June only to be cancelled following Karzai's anger over the Taliban displaying a banner and a flag, harking back to their repressive rule over Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

“I can confirm that President Karzai is travelling to Pakistan later this month,” Afghanistan’s ambassador to Islamabad, Omer Daudzai, said. The trip will be Karzai’s first visit to Pakistan since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was elected. Many had hoped Sharif's election would lead to a reset in the relationship. Those hopes were dashed after Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry accused Pakistan of having raised the idea of power-sharing between the Kabul government and the Taliban.

Pakistan denied the accusation. Karzai has made 19 trips to Pakistan since coming to power in 2002, and has come away with many promises, but few results. Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of playing a double game regarding the Taliban, with some Afghan officials saying their neighbour makes public pronouncements about peace but allows elements of its military and intelligence complex to play a spoiling role.

The leadership of the High Peace Council, the body created by Karzai in 2010 to broker peace with the Taliban, will also attend, a spokesman said. The Taliban have been waging an insurgency to overthrow Karzai's government and oust foreign troops.

They say they want a political solution that would bring about a just government based on Islamic principles and the end of foreign occupation. — Reuters

Harare, August 12
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe today told critics of his disputed re-election to “go hang”, dismissing his rivals as “Western-sponsored stooges” at a liberation war commemoration that was boycotted by his principal challenger.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of Mugabe’s rival Morgan Tsvangirai filed a court challenge on Friday against the announced landslide win of Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party in the July 31 vote, alleging widespread rigging and intimidation.

The Western governments, especially the United States, have also questioned the credibility of the election outcome, which extends by five more years the 33-year rule of Mugabe, who at 89 is Africa’s oldest leader. In contrast, observers from African diplomatic bodies broadly approved the Zimbabwe election.

"We fought gallantly in this election, and we won so overwhelmingly that some people are hurting badly," Mugabe told a rally to mark Heroes Day, an annual celebration of those who fought to liberate Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, from white minority rule, leading to its independence in 1980.

"If they cannot stomach it, they can go and hang," Mugabe said. — Reuters

Cairo, August 12
Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi's detention was extended by 15 days today by a court here on charges that the Islamist leader conspired with Palestinian militant group Hamas during the country's 2011 uprising.

Mursi (62) overthrown by the military on July 3, was placed in detention on July 26 over his links with the Hamas, which rules neighbouring Gaza.

Egypt’s judiciary said it was extending Mursi's detention for a further 15 days pending an investigation into his collaboration with Hamas.The court is looking into accusations that Mursi colluded with Hamas and other militant groups to break out of the Wadi al-Natroun prison west of Cairo along with 33 other members of his Muslim Brotherhood group during the mass uprising against his predecessor Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

On June 23, the court said Hamas militants facilitated the escape of prisoners during the tumultuous 18-day uprising that forced out Mubarak. Meanwhile, Supporters of Mursi have fortified their two Cairo sit-in sites after Egyptian security officials said their forces will move against the entrenched protest camps.

At the main sit-in, vendors said they had sold hundreds of gas masks, goggles and gloves to protesters readying for police tear gas. Three waist-high barriers of concrete and wood have been built against armoured vehicles.

Egypt, where more than 250 people have been killed in clashes since Morsi was toppled by the powerful military on July 3, braced for more violence as the four-day Muslim Eid celebrations wrapped up yesterday.

Pro-Mursi protesters also gathered outside the Egyptian High Constitutional Court, demanding resignation of prosecutor-general. Mursi supporters have been staging sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque and Nahda Square, as well as daily rallies demanding Mursi's reinstatement, following his ouster. — PTI

Dhaka, August 12
The Bangladesh government today sought death penalty for rightwing Jamaat-e-Islami supremo Ghulam Azam (91) as it challenged in the Supreme Court a 90-year jail term handed down to him by a special tribunal for war crimes.

“We have sought the capital punishment for him (Azam) in our appeal prayers with the Appellate Division (of the Supreme Court),” chief coordinator of prosecution lawyers M K Rahman said.

He said the state side also simultaneously sought ban on the politics of Jamaat-e-Islami, the party which Azam headed as the chief in the then East Pakistan wing, as it was opposed to Bangladesh’s independence.

The appeal from the government came a week after Azam appealed against the jail term and nearly a month after the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh sentenced him to 90 years in jail.

The tribunal judgment at that time, however, said Azam deserved the death penalty for the crimes he had committed siding with the Pakistani junta but his old age and physical condition forced the three-member panel to deliver the 90 years of jail term. — PTI

Washington, August 12
Thou shalt not be named Messiah! A US judge has forced a seven-month-old boy’s name to be changed to mundane Martin from Messiah, saying the religious name was earned only by Jesus Christ.

Jaleesa Martin, mother of the baby, is now appealing the court’s decision after the judge ordered her son’s name be changed.

Messiah’s parents could not agree on a last name, and which is why they ended up at a child support hearing in the Cocke County Chancery court, in Tennessee, last week. That is when the first name of the baby came into question by the judge, reports said.

Judge Lu Ann Ballew ordered the baby’s name be changed to “Martin DeShawn McCullough” which includes both parent’s last names but leaves out Messiah.

“The word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” Ballew said in the judgment.

"I was shocked. I never intended on naming my son Messiah because it means God and I didn’t think a judge could make me change my baby's name because of her religious beliefs.” Martin said.

The judge said it was the first time she had ordered a first name change. She ruled the decision is best for the child, especially while growing up in a county with a large Christian population.

"It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is," Ballew said.

"Everybody believes what they want so I think I should be able to name my child what I want to name him, not someone else," Martin said.

Ballew said the parents would have to change the name on the birth certificate.

However, Martin is appealing against the judge’s decision. — PTI 

Islamabad, August 12
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plans to name Pakistan’s new army chief weeks before Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s term ends in November to quell speculation about the issue, according to a media report today.

Sharif’s move is aimed at quashing an ongoing guessing game about Kayani’s successor and ensuring a smooth transition at a time when the military is fighting militants on many fronts, The Express Tribune quoted its sources as saying.

“Consultations have already begun to choose Kayani’s successor. The government will not wait until November 28. The decision will come much earlier than the cut-off date,” said an unnamed close aide to the premier.

Kayani, 61, was appointed the army chief by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007. He was given an unprecedented three-year extension by then premier Yousuf Raza Gilani in 2010 and is set to retire on November 28.

The revelation by one of Sharif’s close aides corroborates an earlier statement by senior PML-N leader Raja Zafarul Haq, who recently told reporters the government would soon complete consultations over appointing a new army chief.

The appointment of the next army chief has gained wide attention in view of past difficulties faced by civilian governments in appointing persons to the coveted military post. — PTI