W O R L D

Bloodiest day in Syria: 300 killed
Beirut, September 27
More than 305 persons were killed across Syria on Wednesday, making it the bloodiest single day of the 18-month revolt, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A rebel fighter uses a machine gun to fight government forces as they attempt to capture the Al-Arqub neighbourhood of Aleppo in Syria. — AFP

7 lakh Syrians may flee by year-end: UN
Geneva, September 27
The number of refugees fleeing Syria could reach 7,00,000 by the end of the year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today, almost four times its previous forecast. About 2,94,000 refugees fleeing 18 months of conflict in Syria have crossed into four neighbouring countries of Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey or await registration there, it said.

Obama exploiting Arab Spring for political gain, says Assange
Washington, September 27
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has accused US President Barack Obama of seeking to exploit the Arab uprisings for personal political gain. Assange's remarks came while speaking to a gathering of diplomats at the UN general assembly via a satellite videolink from the Ecuador's embassy in London.

‘Osama was blind in one eye’
London, September 27
Slain Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was blind in one eye after an accident during his youth and was a one-time member of the Muslim Brotherhood, his successor has claimed in a new video tribute to the terror mastermind.
                                                                 Osama bin Laden

Bloodiest day in Syria: 300 killed

Beirut, September 27
More than 305 persons were killed across Syria on Wednesday, making it the bloodiest single day of the 18-month revolt, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"This is the highest toll in a single day since March 2011. And this is only counting those whose names have been documented. If we count the unidentified bodies, the figure will be much higher," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

A total of 199 of the deceased were civilians, the Britain-based watchdog said.

In the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, 23 persons, including a child and a woman, were killed by army gunfire when troops stormed the Jura district.

In Damascus, 17 persons, including eight women and three children, were shot dead in the northern Barzeh neighbourhood, the watchdog said.

Another 14 persons were killed when two bombs struck the Syrian army headquarters in the heart of Damascus, according to the Observatory.

Outside the capital, 40 bodies, including those of women and children, were found in the village 

The previous highest death toll of the uprising was on July 19, when 302 persons were killed, according to the Observatory.More than 30,000 people have been killed in violence since the outbreak of the revolt against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad in March last year. — AFP 

7 lakh Syrians may flee by year-end: UN

Geneva, September 27
The number of refugees fleeing Syria could reach 7,00,000 by the end of the year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today, almost four times its previous forecast. About 2,94,000 refugees fleeing 18 months of conflict in Syria have crossed into four neighbouring countries of Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey or await registration there, it said.

“This is a significant outflow taking place -- 1,00,000 people in August, 60,000 in September and at the moment 2,000 or 3,000 per day or night," Panos Moumtzis, regional refugee coordinator for the UNHCR, told a news briefing. About 6,000 Syrians have reached other parts of north Africa, while other refugees are turning up in south Europe, he said. — Reuters

Obama exploiting Arab Spring for political gain, says Assange

Washington, September 27
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has accused US President Barack Obama of seeking to exploit the Arab uprisings for personal political gain. Assange's remarks came while speaking to a gathering of diplomats at the UN general assembly via a satellite videolink from the Ecuador's embassy in London.

According to the Guardian, the founder of the whistle blowing website claimed that Obama's vocal support for freedom of expression had not been translated into action.

Assange focused largely on Obama's address to the UN in which he gave a staunch defence of freedom of speech, and voiced American support for the revolutions in the Arab world.

Assange said it was 'audacious' for the US Government 'to take credit for the last two years of progress', given past American support for the ousted Arab dictators. — ANI

Pak not to exclude Prez immunity clause from Swiss letter 

Lahore, September 27
Pakistan appears headed for another political crisis as the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has decided not to exclude the clause of presidential immunity from a letter to be sent to the Swiss government on reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari despite the Supreme Court's objection to it.

The apex court yesterday set October 5 deadline for Law Minister Farooq Naek to finalise the letter to be sent to the Swiss authorities to revoke an earlier communication of 2007 that had closed the graft cases against Zardari.

The court reportedly wants the draft letter to make no mention of the President's immunity from criminal proceedings under Article 248 of Pakistan's Constitution.

However, the government has no intention of following this instruction, sources said.

Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has hinted that the PPP-led government is not going to remove a reference to the President's immunity from the new draft of the letter to be sent to the Swiss authorities.

"I will oppose it if the President's immunity is ignored in the (revised draft of the) letter. The President has immunity under the Constitution. I followed the Constitution and refused to write the letter," said Gilani, who was convicted of contempt and disqualified by the apex court in June for refusing to revive the cases against Zardari.

The Supreme Court has been pressuring the government to reopen the cases against the President since December 2009, when it struck down a graft amnesty that benefited Zardari and over 8,000 others. — PTI

Caretaker set-up to come after PPP govt's term ends

Afzal Khan in IslamabadA caretaker set-up to oversee Pakistan's next general election will be installed only when the current government's term ends on March 18 next year and consultations with political parties on the interim administration will be held at an "appropriate time", Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Thursday. "The election will be held on time. The term of the current parliament and the government ends on March 18. Therefore, the caretaker government is to be installed on March 18," he told reporters outside the Election Commission. 

‘Osama was blind in one eye’

London, September 27
Slain Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was blind in one eye after an accident during his youth and was a one-time member of the Muslim Brotherhood, his successor has claimed in a new video tribute to the terror mastermind.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, made the claim in an hour-long account of the life of Osama, who was killed in a US Navy Seal raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, last year.

In the video entitled 'Days With The Imam', uploaded to an radical Islamist website, Zawahiri also reveals that Osama was a one-time member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is Arab world's most influential and one of the largest Islamic movements, and is also the largest political opposition organisation in many Arab states.

Zawahiri revealed "for those who do not know" that Osama was left blind in his right eye after an accident during his youth. — PTI 

BRIEFLY

Indian Ocean’s 2012 mega-quake was biggest ever recorded
Washington: An 8.7-magnitude earthquake that struck west of Indonesia on April 11 was the biggest of its kind ever recorded, confirming suspicions that a giant tectonic plate is breaking up, a new study has found. The quake, previously was reported as 8.6 magnitude, and the new estimate means its was 40 per cent larger than had been believed, scientists from the University of Utah and University of California, said in statement. — PTI

A protester wears a headband portraying disappeared political figures as part of ‘The Walls Remember’ campaign to focus on ‘forced disappearance’ of people in Sanaa, Yemen, on Thursday. — Reuters

Sikh woman laughs off cruel taunts about her facial hair
London: A Sikh US student's dignified response to a tasteless post making fun of her facial hair has earned her a legion of fans. A man took a photo of Balpreet Kaur and uploaded onto Reddit in the 'funny' category with the tagline 'im (sic) not sure what to conclude from this', Daily Mail reported. The aspiring neurosurgeon discovered the picture - which shows her standing in a queue - and, instead of flying into a rage at the person behind the cheap dig, she posted a comment explaining why she didn't remove her hair. — PTI

$1 mn to settle pepper-spray suit
San Francisco: The University of California has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by demonstrators who were pepper-sprayed during an Occupy protest at UC Davis last fall, according to a preliminary settlement filed. The November 18, 2011, incident prompted national outrage, angry campus protests after online videos shot by witnesses went viral. — AP

Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar

Hina's hubby rubbishes rumours
Islamabad: Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar's husband Feroz Gulzar has rubbished rumours about differences in their relationship as a campaign to malign his wife.Gulzar, an industrialist from the Punjab province, was quoted by Geo News channel on Thursday as saying that the campaign to malign his wife was "rubbish" that does not merit comment. He further said there was "no premise for such trash" and that he would not offer any comment on "social media gossip". — PTI