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Didn’t ask any PM for
favours, Murdoch tells inquiry panel Days after Agni V, Pak tests Hatf IV |
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Insane diagnosis based on lies, says Breivik Romney sweeps five states
No deal with Far Right: Sarkozy
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Didn’t ask any PM for favours, Murdoch tells inquiry panel London, April 25 The 81-year-old media mogul's appearance is the high point in an inquiry which has laid bare collusion between ministers and News Corp, reawakening decades of concern over the cosy ties between big money, the media and power in Britain. Murdoch was immediately asked about his relationship to politics and British "toffs", a reference to his regular attacks on Britain's gilded establishment, which the Australian-born mogul has lampooned as snobbish and inefficient. "I have never asked a Prime Minister for anything," Murdoch said with steely calm when asked about his links to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, one of his favourite British leaders. "It is only natural for politicians to reach out to editors and sometimes proprietors, if they are available, to explain what they are doing. But I was only one of several," he said. Some politicians had expected Murdoch, who has been courted by Prime Ministers and Presidents for decades, to come out fighting, having been on the backfoot for almost a year over a newspaper phone hacking scandal that has convulsed his empire. "He's the master of the barbed quote, the one-liner," said Neil Chenoweth, a veteran Australian investigative journalist who has written two books on Murdoch. "He just lets it drop, and his delivery makes it absolutely lethal," said Neil.— Reuters
Top UK minister’s aide quits London: An aide of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Adam Smith, on Wednesday resigned following the publication of a large number of emails that reflected proximity between Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Hunt's office on the issue of pay-TV giant BSkyB's takeover bid. Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith quit over contact with the firm that he said "went too far". — PTI James’ tiny chat with Cameron London:Former chairman of News International James Murdoch has claimed that he and Prime Minister David Cameron had discussed the controversial News Corporation's bid to take over British satellite broadcaster BskyB. Cameron had previously played down suggestions that he talked about the $8 billion bid during a meal at the home of Rebekah Brooks, the then chief executive of News International, on December 23, 2010. According to The Telegraph, James confirmed for the first time that he asked Cameron for assurances the bid would be dealt with "objectively". — ANI
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Days after Agni V, Pak tests Hatf IV Pakistan on Wednesday successfully test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile Hatf IV Shaheen 1A weapon system with capability of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads.
“Pakistan today successfully conducted the launch of the intermediate-range ballistic missile Hatf IV Shaheen 1A weapon system,” Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. It is an upgraded version of the Shaheen-1 with a longer range, the statement added, but did not reveal the exact range. The missile, an improved version of the Shaheen-1, has a better range than before and is capable of hitting its target more accurately with improvements in range and technical parameters. The missile’s launch, with the impact point at sea, was witnessed among others by Director General (DG) Strategic Plans Division (SPD) Lieutenant General Khalid Ahmed Kidwai. Kidwai congratulated all scientists and engineers on the successful launch and the accuracy of the missile in reaching the target. The exact range of the missile was not revealed, but is estimated to have a payload capacity of 1,000 kg and an ability to hit targets up to 2,500 km to 3,000 km away, putting India well within reach. The test missile’s impact point was in the Indian Ocean. The launch comes days after India announced that it had successfully test-launched a new nuclear-capable, long-range missile — Agni-V with a range of 5,000 km.
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Insane diagnosis based on lies, says Breivik Oslo, April 25 "It is not me who is described in that report," the right-wing extremist, who admitted killing 77 persons in bomb and shooting attacks on July 22, said in court. A second psychiatric examination found Breivik sane. The five-judge panel trying Breivik on terror charges for the attacks will consider both reports. Breivik admits to the bombing of Oslo's government district that killed eight persons and a subsequent shooting massacre at a Labour Party youth camp that left 69 persons dead, most of them teenagers. He claims the attacks were "necessary" and that the victims had betrayed Norway by embracing immigration. — AP
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Washington, April 25
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, rolled to easy double-digit victories in five Northeastern states - Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island - with a combined 231 delegates. Far ahead of the field in the battle for delegates, 65- year-old Romney became the presumptive nominee on April 10 after his closest rival, former US Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, suspended his campaign. Romney has 695 of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination, with Santorum holding 273 delegates, Gingrich 141 and Paul 72. Obama already has clinched the Democratic nomination. Soon after his resounding victory, Romney turned his full focus to the general election showdown with Obama in November. "I have a simple message: Hold on a little longer. A better America begins tonight," Romney said in his victory speech in Manchester, New Hampshire. "Tonight is the start of a new campaign to unite every American who knows in their heart that we can do better. The last few years have been the best that Barack Obama can do, but it's not the best America can do," Romney said. "Tonight is the beginning of the end of the disappointments of the Obama years," Romney said in his remarks after mainstream media outlets virtually declared him as the presumptive Republican nominee. Arguing that Obama has failed in office, he added, "Because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions and distractions and distortions. That kind of campaign may have worked at another place and in a different time - but not here and not now."— PTI
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No deal with Far Right: Sarkozy Paris, April 25 An opinion poll showed two-thirds of Sarkozy supporters want him to break with past policy and strike an alliance with the Front after Le Pen's 17.9 per cent score on Sunday made her 6.4 million backers key to a May 6 presidential run-off. Both Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande, who beat the conservative by 28.6 per cent to 27.2 per cent on the first round and leads opinion polls for the run-off, are striving to respond to the protest vote without angering traditional supporters. Sarkozy said listening to Le Pen's backers did not mean he could envisage Far Right ministers in a conservative-led government. "There will be no pact with the National Front," he told France Info radio, saying there were too many issues on which the parties disagreed to give the party Cabinet posts. — Reuters
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Rupert Murdoch batted away accusations today that he used his vast media empire to play puppet master to a succession of British leaders, electrifying a media inquiry that has shaken faith in Prime Minister David Cameron's government.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy ruled out any deal with the Far Right National Front of Marine Le Pen, backed by nearly a fifth of voters in the first round of presidential election, to give them Cabinet jobs or help them win seats in Parliament.