S P O T L I G H T

Karzai elected Afghan President
Kabul, June 13
Mr Hamid Karzai won Afghanistan’s presidential election in a landslide vote today among delegates at a historic grand assembly, the Loya Jirga commission said. In the first free presidential election in Afghan history, Mr Karzai won with 1,295 votes out of more than 1,500 who cast ballots, the commission said. Dr Masoodeh Jalal, a woman doctor with the World Food Programme, got 121 votes, and the third candidate, government official Mir Mohammad Mahfouz Nedaei, won 89. Reuters

Flights cancelled
Narita, June 13
Japan today cancelled a round-trip flight between Narita and New Delhi on Sunday and Monday in view of the tension between India and Pakistan. Japan Airlines also cancelled its Thursday flight to Delhi, and is expected to cancel its return flight from the Capital on Friday, Kyodo news agency reported. PTI

Nepal violence
Kathmandu, June 13
About 300 armed Maoists ambushed an army patrol team in western Nepal killing eight soldiers as the security personnel in the latest anti-terrorist operations killed 39 rebels, officials said here today. They said the security personnel were killed when they tried to resist last night’s attack in Damachaur in Salyan district, 300 km west of Kathmandu. PTI

Bharat Shah
Mumbai, June 13
A special court today framed charges against film financier Bharat Shah, producer Nasim Rizvi, his assistant Abdul Rahim Allah Baksh and Dubai-based diamond merchant Mohammad Shamshuddin alias Bhatija in a case of alleged nexus with the underworld. The accused denied the charges framed by the designated Judge A.P. Bhangale. Rizvi, admitted to Bombay Hospital for treatment of cervical spondylitis, was brought in an ambulance and produced before the court on a wheelchair. PTI