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52 die in Nigerian ethnic clashes
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Memogate
Pak joins UNSC as non-permanent member
N Korea urges troops to be ‘human bombs’
Iran fires radar-beating missile
Capitalism losing sheen in US
‘Hindus, Hazaras facing problems in Pakistan’
New Year messages crash Twitter
British woman gets her bottom insured for £4m
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52 die in Nigerian ethnic clashes Abuja, January 1 A Nigerian government spokesman said the violence in the state of Ebonyi took place between the Ezza and Ezilo peoples due to a land dispute. Local media reported that 52 persons, including women and children, were killed in the resurgence of the Ezza/Ezillo inter-communal strife in Ebonyi. It said a divisional police officer, children and women were among those killed. The attacks came hours after a state of emergency was declared in parts of the country by President Jonathan due to an unrelated spate of attacks by Islamist group Boko Haram. The President, in his national broadcast, said it had become necessary to take the step in the light of “recent events in some parts of the country that have threatened our collective security and shaken the foundations of our corporate existence as a nation.” “Consequently, I have... declared a state of emergency in the following parts of the federation,” he said, listing parts of the states of Borno, where Boko Haram traditionally has its base, as well as Yobe, Niger and Plateau. Jonathan’s decision came after he visited St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Suleja, where some 47 worshippers were killed in a bomb attack on Christmas day, said he was poised to end the reign of terror in the country. There is growing concern that Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden”, is spreading its presence across the region. The sect wants to impose Islamic Shariah law in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. Emergency laws would all allow security agencies to make arrests without proof and conduct searches without warrants. The President also ordered the closure of international borders near the affected areas. Jonathan said the security forces would take necessary action concerning the affected areas and announced setting up of a counter-terror group within the armed forces to handle the issue of terrorism. “Terrorism is a war against all of us,” Jonathan said as appealed to all Nigerians to join hands with government to fight the terrorists. “What began as sectarian crises in the northeastern parts of the country has gradually evolved into terrorist activities in different parts of the country with attendant negative consequences on our national security,” Jonathan said. Jonathan had described the Boko Haram sect as “cancerous” and asserted that any attack on any part of the nation was “an attack on all of us”. A suicide bomb attack by the group at the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in July last year had killed 26 persons. Nigeria, with a population of 150 million, has both Muslim and Christian communities. Muslims are predominant in the north while Christians mostly live in the South. — PTI
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Wanted since 1995, Japanese cult member surrenders Tokyo, January 1 Makoto Hirata, 46, a prominent member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult turned himself in to the police early today and was arrested, the Tokyo police said. Hirata had been on a wanted list since May 1995, was immediately arrested on suspicion of involvement in a conspiracy with AUM founder Shoko Asahara and other followers to abduct Kiyoshi Kariya, chief clerk at a notary office in Tokyo, in February 1995. The victim was a relative of a follower trying to quit the group. Hirata was one of three former cult members still on the run in connection with a series of heinous crimes by the group, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. The last trial of those already in custody concluded late last year, Kyodo news agency reported. “Hirata was arrested on suspicion of abduction and confinement resulting in death,” a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department spokesman said. The crime is punishable by at least two years in prison. “I want to give myself a sense of closure after so many years passed,” Hirata was quoted as telling investigators. “I only drove a car,” he added about his role in the plot which was, according to police, led by Aum guru Shoko Asahara. Hirata was one of three Aum members who went into hiding after the sarin attack in March 1995, which killed 13 persons and injured more than 6,000. Naoko Kikuchi, 40, and Katsuya Takahashi, 53, are still at large. Nearly 200 members of the cult have been convicted, including 13 on death row, in the gas attack and dozens of other crimes. — PTI z Makoto Hirata was a member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult that released deadly sarin gas on Tokyo subways in 1995. z He and fellow Aum members, Katsuya Takahashi and Naoko Kikuchi, are listed as Japan’s three most-wanted fugitives, on a police website. z Hirata was wanted in connection with the murder of a notary, while the other two are alleged to have been involved in the poison gas attacks.
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Memogate Islamabad, January 1 Jahangir, one of Pakistan's leading rights activist, said she had asked Haqqani to engage another lawyer to represent him in the apex court and the court-appointed commission that has been asked to conduct an inquiry into the alleged memo that sought US help to prevent a feared military coup in Pakistan in May. A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry last week formed a commission comprising the Chief Justices of the High Courts of Islamabad, Balochistan and Sindh to conduct a probe into the memo issue in four weeks. Jahangir alleged the judges were acting "under the influence of the (security) establishment".
— PTI
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Pak joins UNSC as non-permanent member
United Nations, January 1 It had won 129 votes in the 193 General Assembly, getting one vote more than the 128 required to win the election. It will be Pakistan’s seventh time on the council, and the fourth time its term will overlap with India. India joined as non-permanent member of the UNSC on January 2011 and its term will end on December 31, 2012. Pakistan’s term will end on December 31, 2013.
— PTI
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N Korea urges troops to be ‘human bombs’ Seoul, January 1 “The entire army should place absolute trust in and follow Kim Jong-un and become human rifles and bombs to defend him unto death...” an editorial in official newspapers said, a day after the late leader’s young son was proclaimed supreme military commander. Jong-un visited a tank division on New Year’s Day, the state KCNA news agency said, accompanied by his influential uncle Jang Song-Thaek, military chief Ri Yong-Ho and other military leaders. “The whole party, the entire army and all the people should possess a firm conviction that they will become human bulwarks and human shields in defending Kim Jong-Un unto death, and follow the great party for ever,” the editorial said. Jong-un, aged in his late 20s, was swiftly proclaimed the “great successor” after his father and longtime leader Kim Jong-il died on December 17. On Saturday the North announced he had formally been appointed supreme commander of the 1.2-million-strong military, the world’s fourth-largest. Chinese President Hu Jintao, whose country is the North’s main ally and economic prop, sent Jong-un “warm congratulations” on assuming the military leadership, KCNA said today. — AFP
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Iran fires radar-beating missile Tehran, January 1 The 10-day naval exercise coincided with increased tension in Iran’s nuclear row with Western powers, after the European Union said it was considering a ban, already in place in the United States, on imports of Iranian oil. “The mid-range surface to air missile which is equipped with the latest sophisticated anti-radar technologies has been successfully test-fired,” Deputy Navy Commander Mahmoud Mousavi said. Iran delayed testing its long-range missiles during the drill, saying the weapons would be launched in the next few days. The US and Israel say they have not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve a dispute over the country’s nuclear programme, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West says is a cover to build bomb. Iran has long-range missile systems including the Shahab-3, which could reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East. In the past week Iran has threatened to stop ships moving through the strategic Strait of Hormuz if sanctions are imposed on its oil exports. The threat has heightened tension between Iran and the West. The US Fifth Fleet said it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the vital oil-shipping route. —
Reuters
‘First nuclear fuel rod ready’
Iran says its scientists have produced the nation’s first nuclear fuel rod, a feat of engineering the West doubted Tehran was capable of. Today’s announcement comes after Iran has said it was compelled to manufacture fuel rods on its own since international sanctions banned Tehran from buying them on foreign markets. Nuclear fuel rods contain pellets of enriched uranium that provide fuel for nuclear power plants.
— AP
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London, January 1 According to the Pew Research Center poll, those who say they side with Occupy Wall Street or are liberal democrats are as likely to say capitalism is positive as negative, the Politico reports. More than a quarter of Americans who say they align with the tea party movement, or 26 per cent, say they react negatively to capitalism, but 71 per cent told pollsters it was a positive term. Meanwhile, around 38 percent have a positive view of the term libertarian, with 51 per cent of tea party supporters saying they view it favorably, along with 47 per cent of liberal Democrats. And the positives for libertarian score even higher among those younger than 30, with 50 per cent telling pollsters they have a positive reaction to the term. The poll included 1,521 adults from December 7 to 11 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. — ANI
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‘Hindus, Hazaras facing problems in Pakistan’
Islamabad, January 1 Yousuf made the remarks while speaking at the launch of a HRCP report on problems faced by religious minorities at the Karachi Press Club last week. She expressed concern at growing problems confronting the minorities. The growing threats to minorities had been compounded by the government’s failure to take measures to address them. — PTI
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New Year messages crash Twitter London, January 1 The overload meant no one could post new messages or read existing ones. Instead, frustrated users were greeted with the error message: "Twitter is over capacity." The site returned to working order but then stopped on several other occasions, prompting speculation that it was being hit by the arrival of New Year in different parts of the world, the 'Daily Mail' reported. One user tweeted: "It's amazing how three words can ruin my day! Twitter over capacity." Another joked: "Twitter's New Year resolution needs to be - I will never go over capacity." "Some people experienced issues connecting early today," said Carolyn Penner, a spokeswoman for Twitter, in an e-mail to the 'New York Times', although she declined to clarify why Twitter went down or for how long the service was unavailable. Meanwhile, Facebook said it was ready for the surge in New Year traffic as it expects one billion uploads from people sharing photos and comments via their laptops and smart phones during New Year 2012 celebrations. Jay Parikh, Facebook's director of engineering, told the 'Times Herald' that the key was to predict the surge in traffic. "There is a little bit of a special preparation in terms of watching over it, but it's not this fire drill. We'll just kind of run through a preflight checklist type of thing," he was quoted as saying. — PTI
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British woman gets her bottom insured for £4m
London, January 1 This is because Natalie Thomas has grabbed a job to test the softness of guests' beds. She will check about 24 beds each day after being appointed director of bed bouncing for a hotel chain, the 'Daily Express' reported. Natalie, who was given the job after impressing with her ability to feel even the smallest lump or bump in a mattress, will test how comfortable Premier Inn's 46,000 beds are. She takes care of her prized asset with regular moisturising and does not wear materials, such as denim jeans, which lessen sensitivity. So important is her bottom that the firm is in talks to insure it for four million pounds. Natalie said: "I absolutely love my new job -- it's a dream come true. While it can be fun bouncing on beds, I take my job very seriously as making sure every guest gets a good night’s sleep is of paramount importance to the hotel."
— PTI
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At least 52 persons, including women and children, have been killed in clashes between two rival ethnic groups in southeastern Nigeria, as President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency.
