Los Angeles, June 28
Mystery surrounding the death of 'King of Pop' Michael Jackson thickened today with his family opting for a second autopsy even as latest reports suggest that court battles may ensue over his multi-million fortune and children's custody. The 'Thriller' hitmakers family got a second independent examination by a private pathologist today, dissatisfied with the inconclusive result of the first autopsy, which had ruled out foul play.

"We don't like what's going on," family patriarch Joe Jackson told People magazine.The coroner's office had earlier said that the cause of Jackson's death will only be determined after toxicology reports which will take upto six weeks.

Jackson's family is concerned with the role of his personal physician, Dr Conrad Murray, who was present with the performer when he breathed his last.

The police said that Murray contacted them on his own and was helping out in the investigation. After Murray's interview with the police, his lawyer said the doctor was not a suspect in the case.— PTI

Dhaka, June 28
Bangladesh has asked India to suspend construction at the cross-border Tipaimukh Dam until a parliamentary committee from the country visited the site for an impact assessment as proposed by New Delhi.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, in talks with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Preneet Kaur on sidelines of a conference in New York asked India “not to progress with the construction of the dam until the Parliamentary Standing Committee visited the site and a comprehensive study was done regarding its impact on environment”, the foreign office said.

Moni also “mentioned that India assured Bangladesh of not doing anything detrimental to its interest and Bangladesh would like to believe that”, the statement said last night.

During talks with Kaur, the foreign minister proposed a meeting of Joint Rivers Commission and said joint assessment of the project should be done, as it was “widely believed it would harm the environment of Bangladesh”.

Bangladesh recently decided to send a parliamentary delegation to the site in line with a New Delhi proposal.

Moni’s comment came as leading Bangladeshi water expert Ainun Nishat, who drafted the landmark 1996 Dhaka-New Delhi Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, said in a newspaper interview that the structure was likely to affect the ecosystem of both countries.

The issue of the dam appeared to be in centre stage of Dhaka-New Delhi interactions with former Bangladesh premier and opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia sending a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging him to stop its construction.

Her party also demanded the withdrawal of the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, for his “objectionable comments” on the country’s water experts and the opposition party over the issue.

Chakravarty had earlier said, “The so-called (Bangladeshi) water experts also say that India has violated international law (while) there is no binding international law on transnational rivers.”

A five-member delegation from Manipur and Assam last week visited Bangladesh to support the campaign against the dam as they addressed a “solidarity meeting” at the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in northeastern Sylhet yesterday.

Leader of the delegation Professor RK Ranjan Sinha of Manipur Central University told newsmen that the structure would expose the rich fisheries and aquaculture in the region to danger. — PTI 

Washington, June 28
Pakistan, plagued by insurgency and the worst-ever economic crisis, has been named among the "top 10 failed states" by the US-based reputed Foreign Policy journal.

Pakistan, bracketed along with countries like Somalia, Afghanistan and Sudan, has improved its position only by a notch - it is placed 10th in the index for 2009 published in the July-August issue of the magazine.

The fifth annual 'Failed States Index' is a collaboration between The Fund for Peace, an independent research organisation and foreign policy.

The financial crisis is a "near-death experience for insurgency-plagued" Pakistan, which remains on IMF life support, the journal said.

It is a sobering time for the world's most fragile countries - virulent economic crisis, countless natural disasters and the government collapse, it noted.

Using 12 indicators of state cohesion and performance, compiled through a close examination of more than 30,000 publicly available sources, the journal ranked 177 states in order from most to least at risk of failure.

India is ranked 87th, showing an improvement over the previous year. But its neighbours performed badly in the index with Sri Lanka placed 12th, Bangladesh 19th and Nepal 25th.— PTI 

Islamabad, June 28
Pakistan has offered a Rs 50 million reward for information on Baitullah Mehsud, a senior leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, who is linked to the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Advertisements have appeared in newspapers here offering reward on information that leads to the arrest of Baitullah Mehsud and his accomplices.

The rewards are for militants, including three from South Waziristan, another three from Bajaur, two from Mohmand, two from Darra Adamkhel and one from Kurram Agency.

“A reward of Rs 50 million has been announced for the arrest of Baitullah Mehsud,” Geo TV reported today.

According to the advertisements, Bajaur’s Molvi Faqir’s head money has been fixed at Rs 15 million while the head money of Rs 10 million each has been fixed on the arrests of Abdul Wali of Mohmand Agency, Qari Shakeel of Mohmand Agency, Commander Tariq of Darra Adamkhel, Hakimullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain of South Waziristan.

Information leading to the arrest of Qari Ziaur Rahman of Bajaur, Fazal Saeed Utezai of Kurram Agency, Mufti Ilyas of Darra Adamkhel and Waliur Rahman of Bajaur would be rewarded Rs 5 million each.

In March this year, the US offered a $5 million reward for information on Baitullah Mehsud.

Gordon Duguid, State Department acting deputy spokesperson, had said: “Mehsud is regarded as a key Al Qaeda facilitator in the tribal areas of South Waziristan in Pakistan.”

The Pakistani authorities believe the January 2007 suicide bombing at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was staged by militants loyal to Mehsud. Press reports have also linked Mehsud to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a statement quoting Duguid said. — IANS

Melbourne, June 28
An Australian magistrate’s ruling to set young thugs who beat an Indian man almost to death free after serving only six months has angered the Indian community in the country. On Wednesday, Magistrate Kay Macpherson said five teenagers acted "like a pack of animals" when they bashed Indian student Sukhraj Singh in December and left him in a coma for three weeks.

But she sentenced four of them to only 12 months' youth detention - meaning they will be eligible for parole within weeks after serving more than six months on remand.Another youth involved in the attack escaped custody, instead being sentenced to a 12-month youth attendance.One of the youths, aged 14, had been involved in 12 violent incidents since he had been on remand.Singh was initially speechless when told of the sentences."I don't understand this at all," he said.

Indian community leaders reacted with outrage to the leniency shown by the court."What sort of a sentence is this?" said Vasan Srinivasan, president of the Federation of Indian Associations, Victoria. — ANI