W O R L D

Pak militants behead 3 anti-Taliban militia
Peshawar, September 10
In a brutal attack, militants beheaded three members of an anti-Taliban militia and kidnapped four more in Pakistan's lawless Khyber Agency, officials said today. Dozens of armed militants stormed the office of the Shalobar "peace committee" in a pre-dawn attack in Bara area of Khyber Agency.

Top Afghan Taliban leader to be freed
Islamabad, September 10
Pakistan today said it has decided "in principle" to free Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the former deputy commander of the Afghan Taliban, to facilitate the peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.

US adviser to aid clean-up at Fukushima plant
Tokyo, September 10
Tokyo Electric Power Co, the beleaguered operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, said it has appointed a former US nuclear regulatory official as an adviser — a sign that it is prepared to reach out to foreign expertise in the face of criticism over its handling of the March 2011 disaster.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga (L) speaks at the first Cabinet meeting on decommissioning nuclear reactors and control of radiation- contaminated water leak at the Fukushima plant, in Tokyo on Tuesday. — AFP

Tough contest: Miss World contestants participate in a tug-of-war in Bali, Indonesia, on Tuesday. The contest began last Sunday. — AP/PTI

Bullying of Sikh, Asian students in New York schools doubles
New York, September 10
Bullying of Asian American students, including Sikhs, has nearly doubled to 50 per cent in public schools in New York City, according to a report by two civil rights groups.

Rowhani talks tough on Iran nuclear rights
Tehran, September 10
Iran's new President Hassan Rowhani said today that Tehran would not give up "one iota" of its nuclear rights, echoing his hardline predecessor, after the UN nuclear watchdog urged improved cooperation.

‘84 riots: Sikh group secures summons to Sonia Gandhi
New York, September 10
A Sikh rights group today secured a summons from a US judge to be served on Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a hospital where she is believed to be under medical care in a case filed against her for "shielding and protecting" party leaders allegedly involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

26/11: Pak panel’s visit to India delayed
Islamabad/Lahore, Sept 10
A Pakistani judicial commission's visit to India to cross-examine witnesses of the Mumbai terror attacks has been delayed because of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival, a defence lawyer said today.

Pak airline reduces India flights by 60%
Lahore, September 10
Pakistan's national carrier has reduced the number of flights to and from India by over 60 per cent due to low passenger traffic and shortage of aircraft. "We have cut down our operations temporarily to and from India by 66 per cent, primarily because of shortage of aircraft and reduction in passengers," Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Mashhood Tajwar said today.

Pak militants behead 3 anti-Taliban militia

Peshawar, September 10
In a brutal attack, militants beheaded three members of an anti-Taliban militia and kidnapped four more in Pakistan's lawless Khyber Agency, officials said today. Dozens of armed militants stormed the office of the Shalobar "peace committee" in a pre-dawn attack in Bara area of Khyber Agency. Members of the militia were asleep at the time.

The militia members had no time to respond to the sudden assault. Though they fired at the attackers, the militants beheaded three militia members and took another four hostage, officials said.

The militants took with them the heads of three militia members, which they threw on the roadside while fleeing. The militants warned local residents not to remove the heads from the road before 12 noon on Tuesday, officials said.

Two of the beheaded bodies were found in Qamabarabad at Shalobar, media reports said. The reports did not give details about the third body.

The three men killed by the militants had recently joined the peace committee as volunteers. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The political administration of Khyber Agency has started a probe into the incident.

As part of its counter-terrorism strategy, the Pakistan government and security forces had encouraged local tribesmen to set up militias to fight the Taliban and other militant groups.

Dozens of leaders and members of these militias have been killed in militant attacks in the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and the adjoining tribal belt. — PTI

surprise attack

• Before dawn, armed militants stormed the office of the Shalobar "peace committee"
• Members of the militia were asleep at the time
• The militants beheaded three militia members and took another four hostage
• They threw the heads of three victims on the roadside while fleeing and warned local residents not to remove the heads

Top Afghan Taliban leader to be freed

Islamabad, September 10
Pakistan today said it has decided "in principle" to free Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the former deputy commander of the Afghan Taliban, to facilitate the peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.

Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said Baradar's release is part of efforts to “help promote the Afghan peace process”. Baradar will be released at an “appropriate time”, Chaudhry said.

Pakistan freed seven Afghan Taliban leaders on Saturday, taking the total number of commanders released so far to 33. — PTI

US adviser to aid clean-up at Fukushima plant

Tokyo, September 10
Tokyo Electric Power Co, the beleaguered operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, said it has appointed a former US nuclear regulatory official as an adviser — a sign that it is prepared to reach out to foreign expertise in the face of criticism over its handling of the March 2011 disaster.

Tokyo Electric (Tepco) said in a statement that Lake Barrett, an independent energy consultant and former head of the US Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Nuclear Waste Management, will advise it on steps to decommission the plant and contain contaminated water at the site.

Lake Barrett, who was also a director for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the Three Mile Island plant, the site in Pennsylvania that suffered a partial nuclear meltdown in 1979, will join Tepco's clean-up effort this week.

In the 30 months since a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant, Tepco has been criticised for failing to tap foreign experts in dealing with cleaning up the site.

The utility has come under increased scrutiny after it admitted last month that 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water had leaked from one of the hastily built tanks storing contaminated water at the site.

The Japanese Government last week pledged nearly half a billion dollars to contain contaminated water problems at the site and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stressed that the issue is "under control". — Reuters

Bullying of Sikh, Asian students in New York schools doubles

New York, September 10
Bullying of Asian American students, including Sikhs, has nearly doubled to 50 per cent in public schools in New York City, according to a report by two civil rights groups.

The report by the Sikh Coalition and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund found that bullying of Asian-American students nearly doubled, to 50 per cent, in 2012 compared with 27 per cent of students who reported being harassed in 2009.

Bullying ranged from verbal abuse and cyber-intimidation to physical assaults, including students pulling off turbans and headscarves, the Washington Post said citing the report by Religion News Service, last week.

"I was called names like Osama and rag-head," said Pawanpreet Singh, a junior at Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and a student leader of the Junior Sikh Coalition. "These seem just like words, but they make you feel like a different species, like you’re not human. My self esteem and academics were greatly affected." Bullied students also said teachers rarely intervened and in some cases made derogatory remarks themselves.

Aronno Shasi, a Bengali-American and a Muslim at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, said she has stayed home from school because of fear. "You start believing what they say," she said.

The increase in harassment comes even though New York City school officials established policies in 2008 intended to combat "bias-based" bullying and intimidation. The report found that many of those policies are rarely implemented.

For example, only 16 per cent of students who reported being bullied received incident reports, as required by the policies, and only 40 per cent of bullied students said school officials notified their parents.

To mitigate future bullying, the groups recommended that the city's education department publish annual reports about bullying incidents and train all school personnel about diversity. — PTI

Verbal abuse, assaults

• The report by the Sikh Coalition and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund found that bullying of Asian-American students nearly doubled, to 50 per cent, in 2012 compared with 27 per cent of students who reported being harassed in 2009
• Bullying ranged from verbal abuse and cyber-intimidation to physical assaults, including students pulling off turbans and headscarves, the Washington Post said citing the report by Religion News Service, last week
• I was called names like Osama and rag-head, said Pawanpreet Singh, a junior at Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and a student leader of the Junior Sikh Coalition

Rowhani talks tough on Iran nuclear rights

Tehran, September 10
Iran's new President Hassan Rowhani said today that Tehran would not give up "one iota" of its nuclear rights, echoing his hardline predecessor, after the UN nuclear watchdog urged improved cooperation.

The comments come ahead of a meeting later this month between his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on restarting negotiations on the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear ambitions.

"Our government will not give up one iota of its absolute rights" on the nuclear issue, said Rowhani, a reputed moderate, repeating a mantra frequently used by his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Soon after his election as President in June, Rowhani said he wanted "serious" talks with world powers to resolve Western suspicions that Iran's nuclear drive is a cover to build a bomb despite repeated denials by Tehran.

The two sides have failed to achieve a breakthrough in years of talks with Iran — during Ahmadinejad's two-term presidency — refusing to make any concessions on sensitive activities in the nuclear programme, notably enrichment.

"The West must understand that it will not obtain any result by threats and pressure," Rowhani stressed. — AFP

‘84 riots: Sikh group secures summons to Sonia Gandhi

New York, September 10
A Sikh rights group today secured a summons from a US judge to be served on Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a hospital where she is believed to be under medical care in a case filed against her for "shielding and protecting" party leaders allegedly involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

A class action suit against Sonia Gandhi was filed by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a US-based human rights group, along with victims of the November 1984 under Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA).

SFJ legal counsel Gurpatwant S Pannun said federal court Judge Brian M Cogan's order further directs the hospital and security staff to give summons and complaint to Sonia Gandhi personally in the hospital.

Sonia Gandhi is currently in the US for regular medical check up. Sixty-six-year-old Gandhi, who had undergone a surgery in the US for an undisclosed ailment on August 5, 2011, had flown there for a check-up in February and again on September 2 last year. — PTI

26/11: Pak panel’s visit to India delayed

Islamabad/Lahore, Sept 10
A Pakistani judicial commission's visit to India to cross-examine witnesses of the Mumbai terror attacks has been delayed because of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival, a defence lawyer said today.

"The Indian government informed us that the visit (planned for) tomorrow cannot take place due to Ganesh Chaturthi as the courts (in Mumbai) are closed," lawyer Riaz Akram Cheema said.

"They will propose to the Pakistan government new dates in a week," Cheema, part of the team of lawyers defending the seven Pakistani accused, told PTI.

The crucial visit has been delayed twice this month. While India had given a date for early September, the team could not leave due to the cancellation of a Pakistan International Airlines flight.

The visit was then fixed for September 7 but it was again cancelled due to the non-availability of a flight. Asked about the development, Special Public Prosecutor Chaudhury Mohammed Azhar said, "I am yet to hear from officials about any change in plans about the visit slated for tomorrow."

Pak airline reduces India flights by 60%

Lahore, September 10
Pakistan's national carrier has reduced the number of flights to and from India by over 60 per cent due to low passenger traffic and shortage of aircraft. "We have cut down our operations temporarily to and from India by 66 per cent, primarily because of shortage of aircraft and reduction in passengers," Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Mashhood Tajwar said today.

PIA will now operate only four flights a week to India as against 12 earlier.

"Karachi to Delhi, Delhi to Karachi (four flights), Karachi to Mumbai, Mumbai to Karachi (two flights) and Lahore to Delhi and Delhi to Lahore (two flights) will no longer operate," he said.

"PIA will now operate only two flights from Lahore to Delhi and Delhi to Lahore and Karachi to Mumbai and Mumbai to Karachi." PIA is the only airline operating direct flights between the Pakistani and Indian capitals. Air India suspended its services from Pakistan several years ago due to lack of passengers.

Tajwar said the decision was linked to PIA replacing its Boeing 737s with Airbus 310s which have double the seating capacity.

Boeing 737 aircraft have a capacity of 118 while Airbus A310 can carry 227 passengers. — PTI