The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Facebook post sparks riots in many towns of Bangladesh Dhaka, September 30 Thousands of protesters took to the streets in southeastern Bangladesh, torching Buddhist temples and ransacking neighbourhoods over a Facebook post they said was derogatory to Islam. Authorities called out paramilitary troops to control the situation in southeastern Ramu town near the port city of Chittagong after Muslim fundamentalists torched 11 Buddhist temples and damaged two others. Some of the attackers alleged that a follower of the faith posted a photo defaming Islam on Facebook. Witnesses and officials said several thousand Muslims took to the street shortly before midnight yesterday and attacked the temples and the Buddhist neighbourhoods in the area forcing the residents to flee their homes in fright. "During the several hour long attack, they torched 11 Buddhist temples, damaged two others and ransacked at least 30 Buddhist homes... no casualty was reported as most Buddhists fled their homes to evade the attack," a local journalist who witnessed the unrest told PTI. He said a group of people staged a street protest at around 10.30 pm alleging that a Buddhist youth in the area posted an offensive picture and instigated the mob to carry out the attack on the old Buddhist sites. Paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troops were called on immediately along with anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and riot police. Army soldiers from nearby camps were also sent to patrol the neighbourhood. "The situation was brought under control before dawn and we enforced a ban on street rallies and protests," Cox's Bazaar district's police chief Salim Mohammad Jahangir told PTI on phone. He said police had escorted the man accused of posting the insulting photograph and his mother to safety. Home Minister Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir flew to the scene and ordered immediate punitive actions against the attackers, calling the incident part of a plot to destroy the traditional communal harmony in the country. Information minister Hassanul Haque Inu in a hurriedly called press conference at his office in Dhaka said "an identified communal force" carried out the attack under a pre-planned design. "The fundamentalist elements spread a rumour to destabilise the peaceful political environment," he said. The Buddhists, meanwhile, staged a human chain protest at the port city demanding action against the attackers and warning that the members of the community would be forced to wage a bigger protest if no action was taken. "Unless the culprits are immediately arrested and handed down exemplary punishment, we will be forced to go for fast unto death," Bangladesh Buddhist Association president Ajit Ranjan Barua told PTI on phone from Chittagong. The incident came close on the heels of protests witnessed in Bangladesh against a controversial anti-Islam film. In this case, the sentiments were also flared by the violence across the border in Buddhist-majority Myanmar's Rakhine state which recently witnessed sectarian violence against Muslims. — PTI
	Sein: Suu Kyi acceptable as Myanmar Prez London, September 30 Signalling another step towards political reform, Myanmar President Thein Sein has said that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi would be acceptable as the country's president if the people vote for her in 2015. Sein has initiated a series of reforms in recent years that have seen the beleaguered country gradually emerge out of its international isolation. Western countries have either suspended or eased sanctions due to the new direction in hitherto military-control in Myanmar's politics. Speaking to BBC, Sein said he would accept Suu Kyi as president if the people voted for her, and insisted that the will of the people would be respected whoever they chose in an election due in 2015. Reiterating his commitment to the country's reform programme, he said he and Suu Kyi were working together. Last week, he spoke at the UN General Assembly, congratulating Suu Kyi on receiving the US Congressional Gold Medal, America's highest civilian honour. — PTI
	Lahore roundabout renamed Bhagat Singh Chowk Lahore, September 30 Pakistani authorities have renamed a roundabout in the eastern city of Lahore after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh to acknowledge his revolutionary spirit and his role in the movement against the erstwhile British rulers of the subcontinent. The Shadman Chowk of Lahore will now be known as Bhagat Singh Chowk, officials said. Bhagat Singh was hanged in March 1931 in the erstwhile Lahore Jail, which stood at the spot where the roundabout was built later. While authorities have changed the Hindu names of several places in the old quarters of Lahore over the years, the decision to rename a busy roundabout after Bhagat Singh has been hailed by some local residents as a bold move. District administration chief Noorul Amin Mengal recently directed the City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) to make arrangements for renaming the roundabout after Bhagat Singh within a week. Mengal admonished CDGL’s Chief Publicity Officer Nadeem Gilani for considering another request to rename the roundabout as Chaudhry Rehmat Ali Chowk. “You know who Bhagat Singh was. He was martyred at this place (Shadman Chowk) after he fought the British by raising a slogan for revolution in the subcontinent,” Mengal told Gilani. He said all Pakistani citizens, including Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Christians, had equal rights under the Constitution and no one should object to the decision to rename the roundabout after Bhagat Singh. — PTI Move welcomed in India Eminent personalities and groups from India have welcomed the renaming of Shadman Chowk in Lahore as Bhagat Singh Chowk on the occasion of birth anniversary of the martyr. Eminent journalist and author of 'Without Fear', a book on Bhagat Singh, Justice Rajinder Sachar, editor of Bhagat Singh's documents and author of several books in many Indian languages on Bhagat Singh, Prof Chaman Lal from JNU, New Delhi, activists from the Indo-Pak Dosti Manch, Pakistan India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy(PIPFPD), National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers, People's Saarc and Bhagat Singh's family members have welcomed the notification issued by Lahore officials to this effect as reported in Pakistan daily 'Dawn'. — TNS
	Attack on Hindus prompts blasphemy case in Pak Afzal Khan in Islamabad Pakistani authorities have used blasphemy law to register a case against Muslim attackers of a Hindu temple in Karachi during riots on countrywide protests against anti-Islam film on September 21. A lesser known Section 295-A of the controversial blasphemy law, which is not Islam specific, has been invoked for this purpose. The Shri Krishna Bhagwan Mandir, located in the Gulshan-e-Maymar area of Karachi, was vandalised by a mob rallying against the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims". They also ransacked nearby houses where members of the Hindu community reside, and looted jewellery and other valuables. The police registered a case under 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, which covers "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs". Nine persons, including Maulvi Habibur Rehman and his accomplices, have been named in the police complaint regarding the ransacking of the Sri Krishna Bhagwan Mandir in Gulshan-e-Maymar area of Karachi. Police officer Jaffar Baloch said: "For me, every believer is the same. The desecration of a temple meant blasphemy to me and that's why we inserted that section." No one has been arrested so far by police because the accused are on the run. Authorities have also beefed up security for the Hindus living in Gulshan-e-Maymar. Welcoming the move by the police, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairperson Zohra Yusuf said she had never heard of a blasphemy case registered against Muslims for damaging a house of worship.
	26 killed, 94 injured in blasts across Iraq Baghdad, September 30 Bombs striking Shiite neighborhoods, security forces and other targets across Iraq killed at least 26 persons today, officials said. It was the latest instance in which insurgents launched coordinate attacks in multiple cities across the country in a single day, apparently intending to rekindle widespread sectarian conflict and undermine public confidence in the beleaguered government. The deadliest attack came in the town of Taji, a former Al-Qaida stronghold, where three explosive-rigged cars went off within minutes of each other. The police said eight persons died and 28 were injured in the back-to-back blasts. In all, at least 94 persons were wounded in the wave of attacks that stretched from the restive but oil-rich city of Kirkuk in Iraq's north to the southern Shiite town of Kut. — AP
	Canada takes custody of last Gitmo detainee Ottawa, September 30 Canadian authorities said they have taken custody of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay for nearly a decade. The custody marks the last transfer of a Western detainee from the controversial US military base. Khadr, 26, applied to serve out an eight-year prison sentence in Canada after pleading guilty in a military tribunal two years ago of attempted murder in violation of the law of war, and conspiracy and spying, in addition of being part of terrorist activities. According to the Wall Street Journal, the case has been a high-profile one in Canada because of Khadr's Canadian citizenship, his young age and international scrutiny of the legal standing of the US military-tribunal process. He was just 15 when American forces detained him in Afghanistan in 2002, and his repatriation to Canada has been widely supported by Canadians, the report said. Canadian officials took custody of Khadr early Saturday, after he arrived from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, aboard a US Government aircraft, officials said. — ANI

Round-the-clock weddings in Britain from today

London, September 30
Just married at 3 am! With the lifting of the 176-year-old ban on marrying at night, now Las Vegas-style weddings can take place in Britain from tomorrow.

The government is reforming the marriage law, which dates from 1836, so that people can marry outside the hours of 8 am-6 pm. Civil partnerships can also be held at any time of day with the removal of the traditional time restrictions from tomorrow.

Blackpool Tower will be one of the first venues to take advantage of the new rules, offering weddings at sunrise, midnight and even at 3 am at the top of the tower, the Sunday Times reported.

The change, to be brought in by the Home Office after public consultation, is designed to give people more choice. It is also hoped that it will unblock long waits to get to the altar.

Mark Harper, the Home Office minister with responsibility for the General Register Office, said: "Removing these restrictions will give people greater freedom of choice when planning their big day." — PTI

BRIEFLY

PARTY TIME

King penguins stand in an enclosure at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Sunday. — AP/PTI

Gandhi’s Phoenix Settlement part of new heritage tourism route
Johannesburg: The Phoenix Settlement, founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1904 near Durban in South Africa to experiment with non-violence, is now part of a new heritage tourism route established by the KwaZulu-Natal government. Gandhi started his fight against oppression at the Phoenix Settlement. It was in Phoenix Farm on March 5, 1913 that Gandhiji wrote, "refuse to believe that you are weak, and you will be strong." The cottage that he lived in and the shed from where Gandhi published his newspaper 'Indian Opinion' are part of what tourists can see on the Inanda Heritage route. — PTI

Now, bottomless pics of Kate published
London: A Danish magazine has published bottomless pictures of Kate Middleton, days after topless snaps of the future British queen had gone viral. Photographs of Kate changing her bikini bottoms while on a holiday with hubby Prince William in the South of France have been published in the Danish Celebrity magazine 'Se Og Hor' (See And Hear). The magazine has gone further than any other publication and printed a 16-page special of photographs, including three of the Duchess of Cambridge changing her bikini bottoms, taken from the front. — PTI