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25 die in Pakistan gas explosions
England pleads guilty to Abu Ghraib charges
10 killed in blast in Somalia
Pak wants UN observers to stay
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Kenyan First Lady ‘assaults’ TV cameraman
Nairobi, May 3 Kenya’s First Lady and her security detail stormed the offices of the nation’s largest newspaper early this morning, triggering a confrontation where she allegedly slapped a television cameraman and demanded the arrest of another reporter and his editor, witnesses said. IAEA chief for moratorium on uranium enrichment
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25 die in Pakistan gas explosions
Islamabad, May 3 Emergency crews rushed to the scene and were sifting through the rubble of the three-storey building to free trapped survivors, raising apprehension that the death toll could rise, the police said. Residents said some 40 persons lived in the apartment. Quoting doctors, reports from Lahore said 25 persons were killed in the collapse, while the state-run PTV reported that 11 persons were confirmed dead and several still feared trapped inside. Four women and two children are among those killed in the blast, which is suspected to have triggered by gas cylinders stored in the building's basement. At least 18 persons were injured in the blast and were shifted to local hospitals. The blast occurred at about 3 am when most of the residents were fast asleep, district Mayor Mian Aamir Mehmood said. The explosion which could be heard around the city also damaged nearby houses, he added. The building housed a small ice-cream factory as well as workers' quarters and some residential flats. Two nearby buildings collapsed and the explosion also partially damaged other buildings smashing glass windows. The district administration has ordered a probe into the incident, Mehmood said. The police, meanwhile, has ruled out the possibility of terrorist involvement in the blast.
— PTI |
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England pleads guilty to Abu Ghraib charges
Fort Hood, (Texas), May 3 Offering the most ordinary explanation to a scandal that ignited international outrage, England said she posed in some of the widely circulated photographs showing humiliating abuses of Iraqi detainees to placate her then-boyfriend and others from her Maryland-based unit. ‘‘I had a choice, but I chose to do what my friends wanted me to,’’ England (22) said in a glum voice as she pleaded guilty to mistreating detainees at the notorious Baghdad prison. ‘‘They were being very persistent and bugging me, and I was like, OK, whatever.’’ England became one of the most visible and polarizing figures in the prison abuse scandal when the notorious photographs of naked and hooded Iraqi detainees enduring abuses at the hands of US soldiers became public a year ago. Those photographs stood in stark contrast to the image of England when she returned to the USA early last year, pregnant (reportedly by the scandal's reputed ringleader Charles Graner) and facing more than three decades in a military prison for her role in the abuses. Closing the last high-profile case in the scandal, England pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of conspiracy, four counts of mistreating detainees and one count of dereliction of duty. England, who gave birth to a son in October, now faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in military prison. But she is expected to face considerably less time than that under the undisclosed terms of her plea deal with prosecutors. By arrangement with the
Los Angeles Times-Washington Post |
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10 killed in blast in Somalia
Mogadishu, May 3 Prime Minister Ali Gedi escaped unhurt and talked to reporters shortly afterwards, saying that he was in shock. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear. Seven persons were killed at the stadium, one was killed by a vehicle escaping the scene and two others died on their way to hospital, the witnesses said. The powerful blast destroyed a wall of the
stadium. Gedi flew to Mogadishu on Friday for the first time since his appointment last year to try to end a rift in his government and shore up sagging confidence in efforts to rebuild the broken country. Lawlessness has continued to plague Mogadishu despite the formation of the President Andullahi Yusuf’s Transitional Federal Government in the relative security of neighbouring Kenya last year in an attempt to end 14 years of chaos and bloodshed.
— Reuters |
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Pak wants UN observers to stay
Islamabad, May 3 Asked to comment on a recent report attributed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at his press briefing here on Monday, Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said that the UNMOGIP had been mandated by the UN Security Council to monitor violations of the ceasefire line between the two parts of Kashmir. Pakistan believed that the UNMOGIP was performing an extremely useful task in monitoring the LoC and should be allowed to complete its mandate till the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was resolved, he added. The spokesman confirmed that the Defence Secretaries of India and Pakistan would be meeting in Islamabad on May 25 and 26 to resume talks on troops’ redeployment from high altitude locations. Survey officials of the two countries would be meeting on May 27 and 28 to resolve the outstanding issues in the Sir Creek area. Referring to a reported Indian statement that Siachen talks would be held after Pakistan had authenticated the present Indian troops location, Mr Jilani said that Pakistan would adhere in the talks to the recent joint statement issued by leaders of the two countries after their meeting in Delhi last month concerning troops’ withdrawal from Siachen. The Indian statement had once again reiterated its old position on the issue, he said, adding the two Defence Secretaries had agreed to resolve the Siachen issue in their joint statement of 1989 and they would withdraw troops to newly defined positions. About Pakistan’s response to the names of experts proposed by the World Bank on the Baglihar hydropower project, Mr Jilani said that the names were being examined by the officials concerned and a reply would be communicated to the bank within the stipulated two-week time limit. According to Indian media reports, New Delhi has refused to accept any of the three experts from Australia, Switzerland and Brazil proposed by the World Bank. In case Pakistan did the same, the spokesman said, the bank would propose another panel of three experts requiring Pakistan and India to indicate their preference for one of them. |
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Kenyan First Lady ‘assaults’ TV cameraman
Nairobi, May 3 Lucy Kibaki, wife of President Mwai Kibaki was protesting stories carried in daily papers that she tried to spoil a party on Friday for the outgoing country director for the World Bank, whose residence is next door. According to the reports, she felt the music was too loud and wanted the police to stop it.
— AP |
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IAEA chief for moratorium on uranium enrichment
United Nations, May 3 “Improving control of facilities capable of producing weapon-grade material will go a long way towards establishing a better margin of security," head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei said yesterday at the month-long NPT review meet.
— PTI |
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At least 25
persons were killed and several injured when multiple gas explosions ripped through a building housing an ice cream factory in
Lahore today.
Fort Hood, (Texas), May 3
