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Saeed moves HC to stop Pak Govt from taking action against him
Fresh bloodshed in Syria clouds UN observer talks |
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Opinion Poll
China promises probe against sacked leader
Pak SC allows 3 Hindu women to decide their future
Man strips naked at US airport to protest screening
Deportation of Osama’s kin from Pak delayed
Mamata among Time’s most influential people
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Saeed moves HC to stop Pak Govt from taking action against him Lahore, April 18 Acting on the petition of Saeed, for whom the US has offered a $10 million bounty, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh today issued notices to the federal government, the Interior Ministry and the Punjab Home Ministry to file their replies by April 25. Saeed filed the petition along with his brother-in-law, Hafiz Abdur Rehman Makki, for whom the US has announced a $ 2 million bounty under its Rewards for Justice programme. Saeed and Makki contended in the petition that under Articles 4 and 9 of the Pakistani Constitution, they are free citizens, and the federal and provincial governments should be stopped from taking any "adverse action" against them under pressure from the US. They asked the court to direct the government to provide them security as their "lives were not safe" and any "mishap" could happen. Saeed and Makki further requested the court to direct the federal government to ask the US to withdraw the bounty. Saeed's lawyer A K Dogar said the Pakistan government should ask the US to provide evidence against Saeed, the JuD chief, before acting against him. "Arresting anyone without evidence is an open violation of the law," Dogar said. Unlike other terrorists sought by the US, Saeed lives openly in Pakistan and has mocked the bounty offered for him, saying he is ready to face "any American court" to answer charges. The Defa-e-Pakistan Council, a conglomerate of over 40 extremist and hardline groups cobbled together by Saeed last year, has organised protests against the US bounty across the country in recent days. The Pakistan government has sought "concrete evidence" against the two men from the US, saying this was necessary to "proceed legally" in the matter. Following the Mumbai attacks, India provided Pakistan several dossiers with evidence against Saeed and other members of the LeT and JuD who were linked to the terrorist assault. Pakistan has maintained that this evidence is inadequate to prosecute Saeed. The JuD chief was detained for nearly six months after the Mumbai incident before being freed on the orders of the Lahore High Court. — PTI Trying to Save his skin
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Fresh bloodshed in Syria clouds UN observer talks Damascus, April 18 UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who was due to report to the Security Council later on Wednesday on the progress of talks between an observer advance team and Syrian officials, urged Damascus to give the mission free access across the country. But a pro-government newspaper reported that a protocol governing the mission's operations might still be days away. The seven-member advance team arrived in Damascus on Sunday to prepare for the observer mission agreed with international envoy Kofi Annan as part of his blueprint for ending 13 months of bloodshed. But its efforts to reach agreement with the authorities on unrestricted access to protest centres for the full mission have so far failed to bear fruit, diplomats at the United Nations said. Syrian's pro-government Al-Watan newspaper said the advance team had held talks with foreign ministry officials yesterday and that the protocol should be finalised in the coming days. — AFP
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Opinion Poll
Washington, April 18 Obama, who is seeking his re-election, and Romney each received support from 46 per cent of registered voters when asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, said the poll released by The New York Times and CBS News. In March, a similar survey found Obama holding a slight advantage over Romney of 47 per cent to 44 per cent. The poll was conducted between last Friday and yesterday, days after former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum suspended his campaign, effectively making Romney the presumptive nominee to take on Obama in the fall. The CBS News/ The New York Times poll said Romney has closed the gap with Obama among registered voters putting the former Massachusetts governor in a dead heat with the President for the White House. A majority of Republican primary voters 54 per cent, including a plurality of evangelical Christians, a group that had formed Santorum's base of support, now say they would like to see Romney nominated. — PTI
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Suu Kyi to step out of Myanmar for the first time in 24 years Yangon, April 18 Her travel caps months of dramatic change in Myanmar, including a historic byelection on April 1 that won her a seat in a year-old Parliament that replaced nearly five decades of oppressive military rule. Her trip will include a visit to the British city Oxford, where she attended university in the 1970s, said National League for Democracy (NLD) party spokesman Nyan Win. "But I don't know the exact date yet," Nyan Win said, adding he did not know which country she would visit first. She has previously indicated that it would be Norway. Suu Kyi (66) was first detained in 1989 and spent 15 of the next 21 years in detention until her release from house arrest in November 2010. She refused to leave the country during the brief periods when she was not held by the authorities, for fear of not being allowed to return. She won one of her party's 43 seats in this month's byelection following a series of reforms under President Thein Sein, a former general, including the release of political prisoners, more media freedom, dialogue with ethnic militias and an exchange rate unification seen crucial to fixing the economy. Suu Kyi was invited to visit Britain when she met PM David Cameron in Yangon on Friday. She said the fact that she would consider the offer, rather than reject it outright, showed "great progress" had been achieved in Myanmar. "Two years ago, I would have said thank you for the invitation, but sorry," she added. — Reuters
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China promises probe against sacked leader Beijing, April 18 The charismatic former mayor of south-western city of Chongging is currently being investigated by the Communist Party's disciplinary commission for blocking investigations into the death of British businessman Neil Heywood, as Whitehall mounted pressure on Beijing to probe the matter. The government would "thoroughly investigate the related events", the official Xinhua news agency said. The agency in a commentary said the mysterious death of Heywood was a "serious criminal case involving the kin and aides of the party leader". "Those in power should be held responsible for their usage of power," Xinhua said. The British businessman was found dead in a hotel room in November in what was initially blamed on excessive alcohol consumption. Reports that Beijing could initiate criminal cases against Bo come even as Whitehall raised concerns over the suspected murder of Heywood. British Prime Minister David Cameron raised the issue during a meeting with a senior Chinese Communist Party official at Downing Street, BBC reported. — PTI
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Pak SC allows 3 Hindu women to decide their future
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday gave three Hindu girls, who were allegedly forced to convert to Islam and marry Muslims, the right to decide their future themselves.
The girls -- Faryal (Rinkle Kumari), Hafsa Bibi (Dr Lata) and Haleema Bibi (Asha Kumari) -- were allowed to decide whether they want to live with their husbands or their family. The three-member Bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ordered the police to provide adequate security to the girls and said in case of any harm faced by the girls, the police officials will be blamed for negligence. The court added that the girls were old enough to make the right decisions themselves.
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Man strips naked at US airport to protest screening
Washington, April 18 The 50-year-old man identified later as John E Brennan said he felt that airport screeners were "harassing" him, CNN reported quoting the Oregon police where the incident happened. The police charged Brennan with disorderly conduct and indecent exposure after he disrobed while going through the security screening area at the airport last night. Taken aback by the exposure, passengers covered their and their children's eyes. But some took it sportingly and even took pictures. The airport authorities had to close two screening lanes. — PTI
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Deportation of Osama’s kin from Pak delayed
Islamabad, April 18 The 12-member family, including Osama’s three widows, eight children and one grandchild, had originally been due to leave last night. Two of the wives are Saudi nationals and the third is from Yemen. The 9/11 mastermind's family were detained by the Pakistani authorities after Osama was killed in a US special forces operation in the garrison town of Abbottabad, north of Islamabad, last May. Lawyer Muhammad Aamir said they were expected to receive their passports later today and may be able to leave for Saudi Arabia later in the day. — AFP
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Mamata among Time’s most influential people
Apart from Banerjee, advocate Anjali Gopalan, who works for the rights of gays and transgendered in India, is the only other Indian in the list released by the magazine today. The 2012 list is topped by American basketball sensation Jeremy Lin. In recent days, Banerjee's government has been criticised for choice of newspapers for state and state-aided libraries and a professor's arrest over circulation of a cartoon featuring the Chief Minister. Time said Banerjee, 57, spent years struggling on the margins but ultimately she proved to be the "consummate politician". "Though much of Indian society remains hidebound in patriarchy and tradition, strong women still prevail in the nation's political life. Mamata Banerjee rose to the fore last year when she and a movement she built from the grassroots wrested control of her home state of West Bengal, ending three and a half decades of sclerotic communist rule," Time said. Referred to by her supporters as "Didi", Banerjee was labelled by critics as a "mercurial oddball and a shrieking street fighter". Through successive elections, she steadily expanded her power base while chipping away at that of her opponents, Time said adding that her lower-middle-class background was no obstacle in a country "notorious for its dynasties". "She out-Marxed the Marxists. And as the Chief Minister of her home state, she has emerged as a populist woman of action - strident and divisive, but poised to play an even greater role in the world's largest democracy," the magazine said. On Gopalan, 54, Time said through her work at the Naz Foundation, she has done more than anyone else to advance the rights of gays and the transgendered in India, successfully petitioning the courts to get rid of a British-era law against sodomy. "Gopalan has brought about a revolution in the status of sexual minorities in India - and has done so joyously, dancing," it said. The list comprising people "who inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change our world," includes Pakistan's first Oscar winner filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry. —
PTI
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LeT founder Hafiz Saeed has moved the high court here, asking it to stop the Pakistani authorities from taking any "adverse action" against him under pressure from the US and provide security to him as his life was "not safe" and any "mishap" could happen.
Acting on the petition of Saeed, for whom the US has offered a $10 million bounty, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh today issued notices to the federal government, the Interior Ministry and the Punjab Home Ministry to file their replies by April 25.
Syrian forces today shelled rebel areas anew, six days into a UN-backed ceasefire, sparking new pressure for unfettered nationwide access for an observer mission intended to oversee it.
Washington, April 18
China has pledged a "thorough" probe into the sensational allegations of abuse of power and murder involving purged Chinese Communist leader Bo Xilai, indicating he could face criminal charges.
The charismatic former mayor of south-western city of Chongging is currently being investigated by the Communist Party's disciplinary commission for blocking investigations into the death of British businessman Neil
Heywood.
New York, April 18