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Hadi takes Yemen’s reins as car bomb kills 26
53 killed in Syria as protests rage
After killing of its advisers, NATO withdraws Afghan ministry staff
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8,000 killed in final phase of Lanka’s civil war: Report
Cambridge students ‘sell drugs’ to pay varsity fees
US: Pak’s terror havens were ‘deal-killer’ in Afghanistan
US spies find no hard evidence against Iran building N-bomb
Pak to approach Interpol for Musharraf arrest
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Hadi takes Yemen’s reins as car bomb kills 26 Sanaa, February 25 The car loaded with explosives killed at least 26 persons and injured dozens when it was driven towards a presidential palace in the southern Yemeni city of Hadramout, far from the capital Sanaa where Hadi was sworn in. A former army general, Hadi stood as the sole candidate to replace Saleh in a power transfer deal brokered by Gulf neighbours and backed by Western powers. He was elected after more than 60 per cent of eligible voters took part in an election this week. Saleh's departure makes him the fourth Arab leader to be removed from power in more than a year of mass uprisings that have redrawn the political map of the Middle East. Hadi said in a speech that Yemen must draw a line under a year of protests and violence and tackle pressing issues such as Yemen's economic problems and bringing those displaced by the crisis back to their homes. "I stand here in a historic moment... I look to the Yemeni people and give them thanks. The crisis reached every city and village and house, but Yemen will continue to go forward," Hadi said. "If we don't deal with challenges practically, then chaos will reign."
— Reuters
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53 killed in Syria as protests rage
Damascus, February 24 Twenty-two people where killed in the bombardment of Homs, including four each in the districts of Baba Amr and Khaldiyeh, where hundreds have reportedly been killed since regime forces began an artillery attack on February 4, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "Baba Amr is being brought down on the heads of its inhabitants," wrote one activist who posted online footage of the bombing. "Oh, Arabs and Muslims, why don't you react?" he asked.
— AFP
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After killing of its advisers, NATO withdraws Afghan ministry staff
Kabul, February 25 Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying it was in revenge for the burning of Qurans at a US-run military base, an incident that forced US President Barack Obama to apologise to the Afghan people. In a day of violence across the country, a UN compound came under attack by thousands of demonstrators in northeastern Kunduz province, but they were driven back when the police fired into the crowd, an AFP correspondent at the scene said. Five persons were reported killed in the attack, taking the five-day death toll from protests over the burning of Qurans at the US-run Bagram airbase to around 30. President Hamid Karzai issued a statement urging demonstrators and Afghan security forces to exercise restraint, saying the government was pressing the US "on the need to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime". NATO said in the Kabul shooting, "an individual" turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force officers in the interior ministry, killing two, without giving further details. A government source said the two men were American advisers and that they were shot within the interior ministry, which has responsibilities for counter-terrorism operations, by a member of the Afghan police. "For obvious force protection reasons, I have taken immediate measures to recall all other ISAF personnel working in ministries in and around Kabul," said General John Allen, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force. "We are committed to our partnership with the government of Afghanistan to reach our common goal of a peaceful, stable and secure Afghanistan in the near future."
— AFP
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‘Revenge’ killing London, February 25 Gagandip's killers had decided to "play God" after the victim allegedly tried to rape medical student Mundill Mahil (20) six months before he died, they said. Mahil lured Gagandip down to her university house in Brighton last February where he was set upon by Harvinder Shoker and Darren Peters, who viciously beat him up before bundling him into the boot of a car and driving it to Blackheath, where they set it alight. Shoker was found guilty of murder by a majority verdict of 10-2 by a jury at the Old Bailey, while Peters was found guilty of manslaughter and Mahil of causing grievous bodily harm. The trio had denied murder. Mahil from Chatham, Kent, Shoker (20) of Greenwich and Peters (20) from Blackheath will be sentenced on Wednesday. Mahil had confided in Shoker about the attempted sex attack, and he recruited Peters to help him in the plot against Gagandip. Mahil insisted that she had no idea that Gagandip would be hurt, instead believing the two men were going to take him to see an older man called Sonny to be lectured about religion and how to treat women. In his closing speech, prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee told jurors: "Gagandip had his share of faults. He may have deserved some punishment. But for a group of youngsters to decide that they are the custodians of Sikh virtue and play God on the subject of religious duty and moral obligation is a grotesque turn of events."
— PTI
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Pak demolishes Osama’s compound in Abbottabad Islamabad, February 25 Heavy machinery and cranes were moved to the compound, located about 800 yards from the elite Pakistan Military Academy, this evening as security agencies closed all roads leading to the house in Bilal Town, local residents told the media. Powerful spotlights were put up and a large number of security personnel, including army soldiers, were deployed in the area before the demolition began at around 9 pm. "Osama compound at Bilal Town in Abbottabad city has been dismantled," state-run Radio Pakistan announced on Twitter. The private Geo News channel reported that authorities first tore down the room on third floor where the world's most wanted man was gunned down by the US Navy Seals. Local residents and reporters said the authorities had directed people living in houses near the compound not to go out on their rooftops. Dunya News channel aired grainy footage of a section of a balcony of the three-storey building being demolished. The Pakistani military had taken control of the compound shortly after the Al-Qaida chief was killed in a pre-dawn raid by the US troops on May 2 last year. There were rumours on at least two occasions in the past that the compound would be demolished so that it did not become a shrine for jihadists. The media was given limited access to the compound after it was briefly handed over to the local police by the army for a few days in May last year. However, soldiers were redeployed at the site and people were barred from approaching it.
— PTI
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8,000 killed in final phase of Lanka’s civil war: Report With an impending resolution against Sri Lanka at next week’s sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, the Government on Saturday released a census report in which it said that over 8,000 civilians were killed during the final phase of the war between government troops and the Tamil Tigers between January and May in 2009. Most human rights organisations have claimed that up to 40,000 civilians, who were caught up in the war, may have been killed, but the Government has dismissed the figures as being exaggerated. This is for the first time that a government study has come out with a figure on the possible number of civilian casualties during the last phase of the war. The United Sates has taken the lead to bring a resolution against the country backed by the United Kingdom over possible war crimes that may have been committed by government troops during those five crucial months in 2009. The report compiled by the Census and Statistics Department of Sri Lanka said a total of 11,172 deaths had occurred in the Northern Province in 2009 and of these 2,523 had died due to natural cause, while 7,934 had died due to other causes. It said over 70 per cent of the deaths that occurred in 2009 are reported as being due to “extraordinary circumstances”, but did not specify what these were. The report release came as Sri Lanka is battling the UNHRC to prevent a US-led resolution being tabled at the UNHRC sessions. Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs Gl Peiris, who is in Geneva, has urged that the resolution be put off till September when the next sessions of the UNHRC are scheduled. He said such move would be counterproductive and would disrupt the local mechanisms in place to address accountability issues.
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Cambridge students ‘sell drugs’ to pay varsity fees
London, February 25 Cocaine was the most popular 'class A' drug, with students claiming it is more rife at Cambridge than other universities, The Daily Mirror reports. The survey revealed that an alarming 14 per cent had been hospitalised or required medical attention as a result of drug abuse. Around 20% students said they turned to drugs to manage the work load at the university, where fee is around £9,000 a year. "It's hard to juggle a job and studying, so this is a quick and easy way for them to make cash to pay for the fees," the report quoted a One King's College student, as saying. According to the report, the Varsity article noted that 'it is unsurprising in such a high stress environment that so many students use drugs as a way to relax and completely disconnect.'
— ANI
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US: Pak’s terror havens were ‘deal-killer’ in Afghanistan Washington, February 25 The cable written by Ambassador Ryan C Crocker last month "amounted to an admission that years of US efforts to curtail insurgent activity in Pakistan by the lethal Haqqani network, a key Taliban ally, were failing," the Washington Post reported today. "Because of the intended secrecy of that message, Crocker sent it through CIA channels rather than the usual State Department ones," it said. "The sanctuaries are a deal-killer for the (Afghan war) strategy," a senior defence official, familiar with the ongoing debate, was quoted as saying by the daily. The State Department refused to comment on the authenticity of the cable. "We are not in a position to comment on alleged leaked cables," its spokesman Mark Toner said when asked about the news report. "Our position on the Haqqani network remains as we've expressed it publicly. Safe havens continue to pose a threat to Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US and we must do everything to see them eliminated," said Toner.
— PTI
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US spies find no hard evidence against Iran building N-bomb Washington, February 25 Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the latest assessments by US spy agencies are broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons programme. The officials said that assessment was largely reaffirmed in a 2010 National Intelligence Estimate, and that it remains the consensus view of America's 16 intelligence agencies, the report said. The report came after the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that it continued to have "serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme".
— AFP
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Pak to approach Interpol for Musharraf arrest
Islamabad, February 25 The procedure for obtaining the notice has started, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the mediapersons last night. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will approach Interpol within the next few days so that Musharraf, who has been living in self-exile in London and Dubai since 2009, can be arrested and brought back to Pakistan to face the charge of alleged involvement in Bhutto's killing, he said. "We have started the procedure and we will bring Musharraf back to the country soon with a Red Corner Notice issued through Interpol," he said. Malik had announced on Wednesday that the government would bring Musharraf back to Pakistan to face trial.
— PTI
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Sanaa, February 25
‘Revenge’
killing
With an impending resolution against Sri Lanka at next week’s sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, the Government on Saturday released a census report in which it said that over 8,000 civilians were killed during the final phase of the war between government troops and the Tamil Tigers between January and May in 2009.
