W O R L D

Greek Tragedy
Violence rages
More than 3,000 protesters march through Athens
Athens, December 24
More than 3,000 protesters chanting “Cops, Pigs, Murderers” marched through Athens amid fears of continued violence over the death of a teenage boy in police shooting.

Comments withheld on Indo-Pak tension
Pakistan foreign office on Wednesday withheld comments on Tuesday’s statement of Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh on current tension between India and Pakistan, but a senior official of the ministry said there seemed a discernable effort in New Delhi to tone down the hostile rhetoric.

Pak rejects India’s claims on Farid
Pakistani army has rejected India's claims of arresting a soldier, Ghulam Farid, and two other 'suicide attackers' in Kashmir. An army official said that sepoy Ghulam Farid had deserted Okara on June 6, 2008.

Obama’s goodbye to grandma in Hawaii
Honolulu, December 24
US President-elect Barack Obama paid his last respects to the woman he called the rock of his family, the grandmother who helped to raise him, before scattering her ashes from a Hawaiian shoreline. Madelyn Dunham, known to Obama as Toot, short for Tutu, the Hawaiian word for grandmother, took him in when his mother went to work in Indonesia and put him through private school.

Mexican beauty queen held from gun-filled truck
Guadalajara (Mexico), December 24
A reigning Mexican beauty queen from the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa was arrested with suspected gang members in a truck filled with guns and ammunition, the police said.

In this two-image composite, Laura Zuniga is crowned as Miss Sinaloa state (left) in Mazatlan, Mexico, on July 8, 2008 and is being shown to the press with unidentified gunmen after her arrest in Zapopan, Mexico, on Tuesday. — AP/PTI

Iran hangs 8 men, woman for murder
Tehran, December 24
Iran hanged nine convicted murderers, including a woman, in a Tehran prison on Wednesday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Greek Tragedy
Violence rages
More than 3,000 protesters march through Athens

Athens, December 24
More than 3,000 protesters chanting “Cops, Pigs, Murderers” marched through Athens amid fears of continued violence over the death of a teenage boy in police shooting.

Earlier yesterday, shots were fired with an automatic rifle at a riot police bus in Athens. None of the 19 officers on board was injured, authorities said, but the attack raised concern that violence against police could escalate.

“The incident concerns us, but we are handling it calmly,” police spokesman Panayiotis Stathis said.

The death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigopoulos on December 6 triggered Greece’s worst riots in decades, leaving hundreds of stores damaged or destroyed around the country. The capital has been quiet since late Saturday.

The police said the bus came under attack in Athens while passing a university campus. Authorities said they had recovered seven 7.62-mm bullet casings. They said the unknown gunman had fired from inside the campus ground, hitting the vehicle in the engine and one tire.

Under the Greek law, the police is prohibited from entering the grounds of universities without special approval by the academic authorities or a public prosecutor.

Yesterday’s march kept many stores in downtown Athens closed, as shopowners feared a repeat of the recent smashing, burning and looting.

A group of youths overturned a police car, but the incident ended without further violence.

Protesters set fire to a papier-mache model of a pig’s head wearing a policeman’s hat, before the rally ended peacefully.

Another protest is planned today, Christmas Eve, in the city’s main shopping district. — AP

Comments withheld on Indo-Pak tension
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Pakistan foreign office on Wednesday withheld comments on Tuesday’s statement of Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh on current tension between India and Pakistan, but a senior official of the ministry said there seemed a discernable effort in New Delhi to tone down the hostile rhetoric.

“We will hope that the Indian leadership lower the temperature and reopens diplomatic channels to resolve the issues arising from the Mumbai attacks through a peaceful dialogue,” the official said. In the National Assembly also, some lawmakers welcomed the latest statements by Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister Pranab Mukharjee, hoping that the Indian media would also temper its anti-Pakistan campaign.

The assembly adopted a resolution reaffirming desire for ending current tension and restoring peace and stability in the region.

An amendment introduced by a PML-Q in the resolution moved by state minister for foreign affairs Malik Ammad, asked the world community to press India for the “closure of terror cells and to stop anti-Pakistan propaganda.” The resolution has urged global community to press India to close terror hubs and stop anti-Pakistan propaganda.

In Lahore, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said the media and leadership on both sides must stop creating war hysteria as nobody wants war. He rejected the chances of war but reiterated that Pakistan was ready to meet any challenge.

Gilani said Pakistan did not want tension along the border with India, and the country would ‘act responsibly and with caution’ in dealing with the situation emerging in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Pak rejects India’s claims on Farid
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Pakistani army has rejected India's claims of arresting a soldier, Ghulam Farid, and two other 'suicide attackers' in Kashmir. An army official said that sepoy Ghulam Farid had deserted Okara on June 6, 2008.

"He is certainly not an army employee at present and his unit is not deployed on the Line of Control," he said while suspecting that the Indian authorities might have arrested him sometime back but were now trying to establish a Pakistani link in the Mumbai attacks by twisting the facts.

Earlier on Tuesday, India had claimed that it had arrested three suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed militants who were planning a suicide attack in Kashmir.

Obama’s goodbye to grandma in Hawaii

Honolulu, December 24
US President-elect Barack Obama paid his last respects to the woman he called the rock of his family, the grandmother who helped to raise him, before scattering her ashes from a Hawaiian shoreline. Madelyn Dunham, known to Obama as Toot, short for Tutu, the Hawaiian word for grandmother, took him in when his mother went to work in Indonesia and put him through private school.

Dunham was one of the main formative influences on Obama’s life, but she did not live to see him win office. She died of cancer at 86, just two days before he won the November 4 election.

The demands of the presidential campaign meant Obama was unable to fly to Hawaii for her funeral. But yesterday, he finally bade her farewell at a memorial service attended by friends and family, including his wife Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, and half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng. Obama is in Hawaii for a two-week Christmas holiday before he resumes his preparations to take office as President on January 20. — Agencies

Mexican beauty queen held from gun-filled truck

Guadalajara (Mexico), December 24
A reigning Mexican beauty queen from the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa was arrested with suspected gang members in a truck filled with guns and ammunition, the police said.

Miss Sinaloa 2008 Laura Zuniga stared at the ground, with her flowing dark hair concealing her face, as she stood squeezed between seven alleged gunmen lined up before journalists. Soldiers wearing ski masks guarded the 23-year-old model and the suspects.

Zuniga was arrested shortly before midnight Monday at a military checkpoint in Zapopan, just outside the colonial city of Guadalajara, said Jalisco state police director, Francisco Alejandro Solorio.

Zuniga was riding in one of two trucks, where soldiers found a large stash of weapons, including two AR-15 assault rifles, 38 specials, 9mm handguns, nine magazines, 633 cartridges and USD 53,300 in US currency, Solorio said yesterday.

Zuniga told police that she was planning on travelling to Bolivia and Colombia with the men to go shopping, Solorio said.

When the former preschool teacher won Miss Sinaloa in July she gave an impassioned speech about how society should value women more, especially mothers. In October, she won the Hispanoamerican Queen beauty contest in October against competitors from across Latin America.

She placed third in the Nuestra Belleza Mexico pageant in Monterrey in September. That pageant sends its winner to the Miss Universe contest. For placing third, she was expected to represent Mexico in the 2009 Miss International contest. — AP

Iran hangs 8 men, woman for murder

Tehran, December 24
Iran hanged nine convicted murderers, including a woman, in a Tehran prison on Wednesday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Ten convicts were taken to the gallows in Tehran’s Evin prison on Wednesday morning, Fars reported, but one was returned to his cell because the family of the victim were not present at the prison.

Under Iran’s Islamic law, sharia, a victim’s relatives may pardon the murderer in return for financial compensation.

“Eight men and one woman were hanged after their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court,” Fars said.

“One convicted man’s hanging was delayed.”

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran’s sharia, practised since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

European governments and the Western rights groups have criticised Iran for an increasing number of hangings since the authorities launched a clampdown on “immoral behaviour” in July.

Amnesty International has listed the Islamic state as the world’s second most prolific executioner in 2007, after China.

It said in a report, Iran had executed at least 317 persons last year compared with at least 470 in China.

Iran rejects the accusations that it is violating human rights and accuses the West of double standards and hypocrisy. — Reuters