W O R L D

Taliban torch seven schools in Pakistan
Islamabad, August 11
Taliban were back to their old barbaric ways, as they torched at least seven more schools, four of them girls today in the insurgency-torn Malakand division, a day after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had assured students that days of militant terror were over. No one was hurt or injured in the arson attacks as they happened in the night when they were closed, local officials said.

Musharraf booked for judges’ detention
Islamabad, August 11
Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was today booked for "illegally" detaining 60 judges after imposing an emergency in 2007, an unprecedented move that could eventually land him in prison or force him to turn his current stay abroad into permanent exile. Interestingly, the development came on a day when Musharraf, who is in London on a long lecture tour of Europe, turned 66.

Suu Kyi’s house arrest extended by 18 months
Yangon, August 11
A court in army-ruled Myanmar (Burma) on Tuesday sentenced opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months in detention, a verdict that drew condemnation abroad and will keep her off the political stage ahead of next year's elections.

Noble act, global cause

Carolyn Atherholtz is the first volunteer to receive a shot of H1N1 flu vaccine during the first of several clinical trials of a new vaccine conducted by Emory University in Atlanta on Monday. — AP/PTI

My hubby not Secy of State, I am: Hillary
Kinshasa, August 11
Usually calm in public, top US diplomat Hillary Clinton snapped at a Congolese student on Monday when asked about her husband's views on a foreign policy issue, saying: “My husband is not secretary of state, I am.”

38 dead in Taiwan floods
Taipei, August 11
Flooding in Taiwan triggered by Typhoon Morakot has killed 38 people and another 62 are missing, rescuers said today. At least 35 people were also injured as the typhoon lashed the island with a record of 2.5 metres of rain over the weekend, submerging houses, streets and bringing down bridges.

flu Alert
Malaysia deaths
Kuala Lumpur: Swine flu has claimed six more lives in Malaysia, taking to 38 the number of people who succumbed to the deadly virus all over the country.

Taliban torch seven schools in Pakistan

Islamabad, August 11
Taliban were back to their old barbaric ways, as they torched at least seven more schools, four of them girls today in the insurgency-torn Malakand division, a day after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had assured students that days of militant terror were over.

No one was hurt or injured in the arson attacks as they happened in the night when they were closed, local officials said. But the entire buildings were gutted to ashes.

Employing the methods they used in Afghanistan, which earned them a bad reputation worldwide, the Taliban set on fire four primary girls’ and three boys’ schools near Buner and Shangla, next door to Swat Valley.

Though the authorities have reopened some of the educational institutions in the troubled areas, but at the time of Taliban attack the buildings were empty. The schools have been re-opened on August 1, after almost a three months forced break.

The Taliban carried out the barbaric acts, even as a military operation is on to flush them out. So far in the last two years, the militants have torched more than 356 boys and girls schools in NWFP.

Swat valley has some of the most prestigious schools in Pakistan and more than 6,00,000 children are enrolled in various educational institutions. The children have already lost a year due to militant unrest.

TV channels beamed footage of the gutted schools bringing the gruesome act to drawing rooms all over Pakistan.

Gilani, who made his first visit to Malakand since he ordered the Army in May to eliminate the Taliban, had assured the students that the days of Taliban were numbered.

While interacting with students at a girls’ school in Swat, Gilani had said they should not worry as the country’s leaders were standing behind them.

Thousands of people displaced by the fighting in Malakand have returned to their homes over the past month.

Meanwhile, Gilani has also said that Pakistan’s political and military leadership had decided that the army would remain in Malakand division till the rehabilitation of displaced people is completed and the area is reconstructed. — PTI

Musharraf booked for judges’ detention

Islamabad, August 11
Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was today booked for "illegally" detaining 60 judges after imposing an emergency in 2007, an unprecedented move that could eventually land him in prison or force him to turn his current stay abroad into permanent exile.

Interestingly, the development came on a day when Musharraf, who is in London on a long lecture tour of Europe, turned 66.

The Islamabad police filed an FIR against the former president for illegal confinement of the country's top judges after the imposition of emergency on November 3, 2007.

The criminal case was registered by the secretariat police after district & sessions judge Akmal Raza yesterday asked it to register an FIR against Musharraf, two weeks after the country’s Supreme Court declared his move as "unconstitutional."

The court order was issued after lawyer Aslam Ghuman filed an application asking for a case to be registered against Musharraf.

This was the first time that a court had asked police to register a case against Musharraf. Several persons, including relatives of people detained by intelligence agencies, had earlier approached police for filing cases against Musharraf but officials had been reluctant to act.

In his application Ghuman accused Musharraf of illegally detaining over 60 judges, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, after imposing the emergency. — PTI

Suu Kyi’s house arrest extended by 18 months

A Myanmar court sentenced Suu Kyi to 18 months in detention for violating an internal security law. — Reuters

Yangon, August 11
A court in army-ruled Myanmar (Burma) on Tuesday sentenced opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months in detention, a verdict that drew condemnation abroad and will keep her off the political stage ahead of next year's elections.

The court handed down a three-year prison term for violation of an internal security law. But that was immediately halved on the orders of the military government, which said the Nobel peace laureate could serve the time in her Yangon home. "Aung San Suu Kyi ... was found guilty of the charges and I hereby pass the sentence of three years' imprisonment," said the judge, drawing gasps from the courtroom.

Moments after the verdict was passed, however, Myanmar's home minister, Maj-Gen Muang Oo, stood before the court and announced that the junta had decided to reduce her sentence. He said it had taken into account the fact that Suu Kyi was the daughter of Burmese independence hero Aung San as well as "the need to preserve community peace and tranquility and prevent any disturbances in the roadmap to democracy." The “roadmap” refers to plans laid down by the junta to move toward what it sees as democracy, which culminate in multi-party elections planned for next year. — Reuters

My hubby not Secy of State, I am: Hillary

Kinshasa, August 11
Usually calm in public, top US diplomat Hillary Clinton snapped at a Congolese student on Monday when asked about her husband's views on a foreign policy issue, saying: “My husband is not secretary of state, I am.”

“You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?,” she replied angrily when a university student in Kinshasa asked what former President Bill Clinton thought about a deal between China and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion, I am not going to be channelling my husband," she added, without commenting further on the infrastructure-to-minerals deal that has raised some IMF concerns.

The former US president stole the diplomatic spotlight from his wife last week. On the day she set off on an 11-day trip to Africa, Bill Clinton was on a secret mission to North Korea to secure the release of two US journalists.

Clinton said afterward she was relieved the mission had been successful but made clear the former president's Pyongyang mission was purely humanitarian and not linked to the work she is doing to revive stalled nuclear talks.

38 dead in Taiwan floods

Taipei, August 11
Flooding in Taiwan triggered by Typhoon Morakot has killed 38 people and another 62 are missing, rescuers said today.

At least 35 people were also injured as the typhoon lashed the island with a record of 2.5 metres of rain over the weekend, submerging houses, streets and bringing down bridges.

Rescue missions were in full swing today with the authorities dispatching helicopters to remote areas cut off by fallen bridges or raging rivers. — AFP