W O R L D

Car bombs kill 70 in Iraq
Baghdad, June 13
A coordinated wave of car bombs struck Shia pilgrims in Baghdad and several other cities today, killing at least 70 persons and wounding more than 200 in one of the deadliest days in Iraq since US troops withdrew from the country.

VIOLENCE- STRUCK: A burnt vehicle is removed from the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad on Wednesday. — Reuters

US deploys pint-sized drones in Afghanistan
Washington, June 13
US military has issued to soldiers in Afghanistan pint-sized drones, small enough to be carried in backpacks, but used in battlefield in place of airstrikes, as reports said that Washington had given the nod to the CIA to step up strikes on militants in Pakistan.

B’desh turns away Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar

Dhaka, June 13 Bangladesh is preventing hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from seeking refuge after ethnic violence in Myanmar forced them to flee, with the foreign minister stating that the country was already "overburdened" by years of influx from the neighbouring state. A Rohingya Muslim, who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape religious violence, pleads for help after he and others were intercepted by the Bangladesh border authorities in Taknaf on Wednesday. — AP/PTI

Phone-hacking: Brooks, husband get bail London, June 13 Rebekah Brooks, the former top executive of News International and a close aide of Rupert Murdoch, and her husband got bail today, along with four other persons charged with perverting the course of justice in connection with the phone-hacking scandal. Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and her husband Charlie Brooks leave a court in London on Wednesday. — Reuters

SC issues notice to Malik Riaz
The Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday slapped a suo motu contempt case against a real estate tycoon at the centre of a corruption scandal involving Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's son, viewing his remarks against the top judge as an attack to malign and ridicule the judiciary.

Car bombs kill 70 in Iraq
Over 200 injured in 16 separate explosions targeting Shia pilgrims

Baghdad, June 13
A coordinated wave of car bombs struck Shia pilgrims in Baghdad and several other cities today, killing at least 70 persons and wounding more than 200 in one of the deadliest days in Iraq since US troops withdrew from the country.

The bloodshed comes against a backdrop of political divisions that have raised tensions and threatened to provoke a new round of the violence that once pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents who frequently target Shias in Iraq.

Today's blasts were the third this week targeting the annual pilgrimage that sees hundreds of thousands of Shia converge on a golden-domed shrine in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah to commemorate the eighth century death of a revered Shia saint, Imam Moussa al-Kadhim. The commemoration culminates on Saturday.

Puddles of blood and shards of metal clogged a drainage ditch at the site of one of the bombings in the city of Hillah, where hours before pilgrims had been marching.

Soldiers and dazed onlookers wandered near the charred remains of the car that had exploded and ripped gaping holes in nearby shops.

Most of the 16 separate explosions that rocked the country targeted Shia pilgrims in five cities, but two hit offices of political parties linked to Iraq's Kurdish minority in the tense north.

Authorities had tightened security ahead of the pilgrimage, including a blockade of the mainly Sunni area of Azamiyah, which is near the twin-domed Shiite shrine.

The level of violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq since peaking in 2006-2007 as the country faced a Sunni-led insurgency and retaliatory sectarian fighting that broke out after the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. But Iraqis still face near-daily attacks and Shiite pilgrimages are often targeted.

Political divisions also have only deepened, paralyzing the country since the Americans withdrew all combat troops in mid-December.

Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been accused of trying to monopolise power, and tensions spiked after Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi the highest-ranking Sunni in Iraq's leadership was charged with running death squads.

The government began his trial in absentia since al-Hashemi was out of the country, drawing allegations the charges were part of a vendetta by the Shia-led government. — Agencies

US deploys pint-sized drones in Afghanistan

Washington, June 13
US military has issued to soldiers in Afghanistan pint-sized drones, small enough to be carried in backpacks, but used in battlefield in place of airstrikes, as reports said that Washington had given the nod to the CIA to step up strikes on militants in Pakistan.

The weapon dubbed the 'Flying Shotgun' has been sent to troops battling Taliban militants close to the border with Pakistan, a US media report said. The drones are small enough to fit in soldiers' rucksacks, but packed with tiny explosive warheads, enough to blast targets with pinpoint accuracy.

The new drone christened 'Switchblade' weighs less than six pounds and takes out a sniper on a rooftop without blasting the building and Pentagon has given the go ahead for deployment of these mini killer machines, Los Angeles Times reported quoting Pentagon officials.

The deployment of Switchblades has been made a top priority by Pentagon as Washington is seeking to reduce civilian casualties and collateral damage in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other battle zones.

The weapon was tested last year by special operations units and has also been widely tested by the US army, Marines and air force.

The paper said US army had placed orders with manufacturers for these mini killer machines worth $100 million under a programme called Lethal Miniature Areal Munition System.

The deployment of mini killer drones comes, LA Times said, amid reports of the Obama administration giving a nod to CIA to step up drone strikes in Pakistan. — PTI

The small wonder

• Pint-sized drones are small enough to fit in soldiers' rucksacks, but packed with tiny explosive warheads, enough to blast targets with pinpoint accuracy
• The new drone christened 'Switchblade' weighs less than six pounds and takes out a sniper on a rooftop without blasting the building
• The deployment of Switchblades has been made a top priority by Pentagon as Washington is seeking to reduce civilian casualties and collateral damage
• These enable soldiers to identify and destroy targets much more quickly by eliminating the need to call in a strike from large drones that may be miles away

B’desh turns away Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar

Dhaka, June 13
Bangladesh is preventing hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from seeking refuge after ethnic violence in Myanmar forced them to flee, with the foreign minister stating that the country was already "overburdened" by years of influx from the neighbouring state.

Bangladesh said it was "saddened" by casualties in the sectarian violence in neighbouring Myanmar where five days of strife between Buddhists and Muslims has claimed 25 lives, but expressed inability in accepting more refugees.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said: "Our population is very dense and we are already overburdened with the huge number of documented and undocumented Myanmar refugees for the past 20 years".

"This time we are not in a position to host additional refugees from anywhere," she told an unscheduled press briefing at her office.

Moni's comment came hours after the foreign office issued a statement saying Bangladesh was "saddened" by the sectarian violence but wanted to ensure that developments in Myanmar's Rakhine state did not have any "trans-boundary spill-over". — PTI

Phone-hacking: Brooks, husband get bail

London, June 13
Rebekah Brooks, the former top executive of News International and a close aide of Rupert Murdoch, and her husband got bail today, along with four other persons charged with perverting the course of justice in connection with the phone-hacking scandal.

The six persons linked to the phone-hacking row at the now-defunct News of the World were bailed until June 22.

Brooks, 44, her racehorse trainer-husband Charles Brooks, 49, and four former colleagues are the first to face charges in the multiple investigations related to the phone-hacking scandal. They appeared before the Westminster Magistrates Court today. — PTI

SC issues notice to Malik Riaz
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

The Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday slapped a suo motu contempt case against a real estate tycoon at the centre of a corruption scandal involving Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's son, viewing his remarks against the top judge as an attack to malign and ridicule the judiciary.

A three-judge bench led by Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan took up the suo motu case against tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and issued a show cause notice asking him to explain why action should not taken against him. The bench summoned Hussain to personally appear in court tomorrow.