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8 held in UK anti-terror raids
All-women UN peacekeeping unit
Shilpa to meet Queen, Blair
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Biden enters US presidential race
Pak teenager raped, paraded
Bangladesh poll officials quit
Sidney Sheldon dead
Castro looking stronger in new TV images
Pak student convicted in US
Laden’s kin killed
Lanka rebels bomb police bus, 6 dead
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8 held in UK anti-terror raids
London, January 31 The arrested persons intended to post a video of the hostage being tortured and killed, on the Internet. Their target was a British Muslim soldier in his 20s who had served with the UK forces in Afghanistan. The soldier is now under police protection, the Sky News TV channel reported. The identities of those arrested were not revealed but local Councillor Ansar Ali Khan was quoted by AFP as saying that they were British of Pakistani origin. The suspects were arrested during early morning raids on a number of addresses in Birmingham. Several addresses in Birmingham were sealed off by the police after the raids, which were launched at around 4 am. A bookstore in Stratford Road, Sparkhill, selling Islamic literature, was also raided. A Home Office spokeswoman said the arrests were part of a major “nationwide” operation. Security sources said a major terror attack has been thwarted. The plan, which was in its advantaged stages, was a departure from recent Al-Qaeda style bombings. “We can confirm that a major counter-terrorism operation took place earlier today led by West Midlands Police,” she said, adding “eight arrests under the Terrorism Act have been made to date during this nationwide operation. “This operation is a reminder of the real and serious nature of the terrorist threat we face,” she said. The police said the suspects were held “on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism”. — PTI
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All-women UN peacekeeping unit
United Nations, January 31 The 103-member contingent, which arrived in Liberia yesterday, will help strengthen the rule of law and maintain peace in the West African country. The contingent also has 22 men but they would engaged in logistic work and not participate in operations. Activists groups have persistently been demanding posting of more women police and military officers in the peacekeeping operations after cases of rape and sexual abuse by peacekeepers came to light. The new officers serving with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) are “very confident, they are trained, and I think they will perform well out here,” said their commander Seema Dhundiya. In a statement, she emphasised that the Unit is well-prepared to meet the challenges ahead. “Our contingent has been carved out from a paramilitary force and as far as training is concerned, it is almost on the same line of what army recruits get.” — PTI
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Shilpa to meet Queen, Blair
London, January 31 The 31-year-old also revealed she planned to extend her stay in Britain and was on the lookout for love. The Daily Mirror said Shilpa had been invited to a reception to mark Commonwealth Day on March 12 where she would come face-to-face with the Queen. She was also due to meet Blair and other ministers at the House of Commons, Britain’s lower chamber of parliament, on February. 7, the tabloid reported.
— Reuters
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Biden enters US presidential race Washington, January 31 “You’ve got to file the formal papers to meet the legal requirements to be able to raise money, and that’s what I’ve done today. I’m in. And this is the beginning of a marathon,” Mr Biden said in an interview. In an appearance on ABC News, Mr Biden used the occasion to attack the Bush administration’s policies in both Iran and Iraq, stressing the imperative of Washington having to sit down and talk with Teheran, especially in the context of reports that Iran may have been behind the recent attack against American forces in
Karbala. — PTI
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Karachi, January 31 Such attacks, known as honour crimes because they are committed in response to a perceived slight on a family’s honour, are common in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, especially in backward, rural communities. The police said the girl’s father had filed a complaint on Saturday in Ubaro town, 530 km from the city of Karachi, saying a group of 11 men had kidnapped his daughter, raped her and forced her to parade naked. The father told police the men were furious because the girl’s cousin had eloped with and married a young woman from their family. “Some villagers have said the girl was raped and her clothes torn off,” investigating police officer Aftab Farooqi told Reuters. “They also claim she was forced to walk half naked in the village streets before some older woman covered her with a blanket,” he said. The girl is in hospital in Ubaro, the police said. Another senior police official, Mushtaq Khoso, said police had arrested four of the 11 men named in the complaint and police were awaiting a medical report to confirm the 16-year-old had been raped. Another police officer said certain influential people were pressing the girl’s father to drop his complaint. — Reuters
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Bangladesh poll officials quit
Dhaka, January 31 The departure of the five, whose removal was a key demand of one of the country’s main political groupings, raised hopes that the crisis that has gripped the country for months could soon be resolved. President Iajuddin Ahmed summoned Commission chief Mahfuzur Rahman and his four deputies to the palace after they had defied weeks of speculation that they would bow to popular opinion and step down voluntarily. A multiparty grouping led by Sheikh Hasina chief of the Awami League, had accused the commissioners of bias towards her rival Begum Khaleda Zia, the immediate past premier.
— Reuters
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Los Angeles, January 31 Sheldon died yesterday of complications from pneumonia at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, near his Palm Springs home, said Sean Rossall, publicist at Warren Cowan and Associates. Sheldon became an American icon in the 1970s with novels like “The Other Side of Midnight” and “Bloodline”. He published 18 novels and sold 300 million copies. Translations into 71 languages in 180 countries won him a listing in “The Guinness Book of Records” as “the world’s most translated author.” But before his career in fiction took off after turning 50, the Chicago native had made his mark in Hollywood movies and television and in Broadway Theater. After heading to Los Angeles at 17, he started as script reader at major studios, and then had three Broadway musical hits by the age of 25. Working as a screenwriter at both MGM and Paramount Pictures, Sheldon went on to write 25 films, including “Easter Parade,” showcasing Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. In 1964 he created the hit TV show “I Dream of Jeannie.” In 2005, he wrote his memoir “The Other Side of Me” in which he offered a rare glimpse into the lives of stars like Grant and Garland. Sheldon is survived by his wife, Alexandra, a daughter, Mary and a brother Richard. — Reuters
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Castro looking stronger in new TV images
Havana, January 31 The Cuban leader dropped from public view six months ago after undergoing emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding. His illness is a state secret. Castro relinquished power for the first time since his 1959 revolution when he handed over government duties temporarily to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, on July 31. Fidel Castro was last seen on an October 28 video clip looking very frail and walking with difficulty.
— Reuters
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Houston, January 31 Shiraz Syed Qazi was yesterday found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm in a 15-minute trial. The accused had waived his right to a jury trial. A recently established federal law makes it illegal for non-immigrant student visa holders like Qazi to possess firearms. Qazi’s three associates, Adnan Mirza, Kobie Williams and Syed Maaz Shah, are accused of material support of terrorism by training to fight with the Taliban against US-led forces. — PTI
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Laden’s kin killed
Dubai, January 31 Malek Khalifa said 20 to 30 gunmen broke into his brother’s bedroom yesterday, shot him dead and stole his belongings. He said the businessman was staying at a precious stones mine he owns in Madagascar when he was killed. Jamal was alleged to have helped finance the Islamist militant Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines. But Malek Khalifa denied his brother was involved in political activity, and said that apart from family ties, Jamal had no links to bin Laden.
— Reuters
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Lanka rebels bomb police bus, 6 dead
Colombo, January 31 The attack in the restive eastern district of Batticaloa came after the government vowed to wipe out the Tigers militarily, a development analysts say could deepen a new chapter in a two-decade civil war. “A Claymore (fragmentation mine) attack in front of the Eastern University in Batticaloa has blasted a bus carrying police personnel going on leave,” military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told reporters.
— Reuters
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