W O R L D

14 UNSC members, India slam Israel’s construction plan
United Nations, December 20
India was joined by all members of the 15-nation UN Security Council, except the US, to condemn Israel's announcement of new construction activity in Palestinian territories and demand immediate dismantling of the "illegal" settlements. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also expressed his deep concern

A man walks past a construction site in Gilo, a Jewish settlement that Israel erected on land in the West Bank, on Thursday. — Reuters

Core of Al-Qaida degraded in S Asia, claims US
Washington, December 20
The core of Al-Qaida has seriously degraded in South Asia, a top American counter-terrorism official has said, noting that the US has removed 20 of its top 30 leaders. 

26/11 case: Indian team reaches Pak
Islamabad, December 20
A four-member team of Indian legal experts has arrived in Pakistan to finalise the terms of reference of a judicial commission that is expected to visit India next year to gather evidence on the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

US cellist Olivia Culpo crowned Miss Universe
Miss USA Olivia Culpo being crowned by Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes of Angola (C) during the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday. — Reuters	Olivia Culpo, a 20-year-old Rhode Island native, beat 88 other beauty queens from around the world to be crowned as Miss  Universe 2012 Philippines' Janine Tugonon was adjudged the first runner-up followed by Venezuela's Irene Esser India's Shilpa Singh made only to the  top 16

14 UNSC members, India slam Israel’s construction plan 

United Nations, December 20
India was joined by all members of the 15-nation UN Security Council, except the US, to condemn Israel's announcement of new construction activity in Palestinian territories and demand immediate dismantling of the "illegal" settlements.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also expressed his deep concern by the heightened settlement activity in West Bank, saying the move by Israel "gravely threatens efforts to establish a viable Palestinian state".

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, in his capacity as coordinator of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) caucus of the Security Council, told reporters here after a UNSC briefing on the situation in the Middle East that there was an attempt in the council to bring a resolution on the issue.

"It (resolution) did not see the light of the day even though it had 14 votes in favour but one permanent member was against it," Puri said without naming the US, which has veto power in the council.

Making a statement on behalf of the NAM, Puri said the grouping "condemns the recent provocative announcements by Israel, the occupying Power" to construct 3,000 settlement units on confiscated Palestinian land in an area east of occupied Jerusalem.

The new construction activity, widely known as the 'E-1' plan is in addition to the announcement by Israel that another 3,600 settlement units would be constructed in occupied territories. — PTI

Attacks on Gaza scribes unlawful

GAZA: Israel's killing of two Palestinian journalists and attacks on media facilities during its Gaza offensive last month violated the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Two cameramen working for al-Aqsa TV, a station affiliated with Gaza's Hamas-run government, were killed by Israeli air strikes on their car on November 20.

Core of Al-Qaida degraded in S Asia, claims US

"The removal of Al-Qaida’s founder and sole commander for 22 years was a testament to the work of countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals across the government. That operation demonstrated as never before the extraordinary proficiency our military and intelligence communities have achieved, " he said. — PTI

Putin warns of endless conflict in Syria

Moscow, December 20
Any solution to the conflict in Syria must ensure President Bashar al-Assad's forces and his opponents do not simply swap roles and fight on forever, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

In what appeared to be his first direct comments on the possibility of a post-Assad Syria, Putin said he did not believe that a military solution could hold.

"We are not concerned about the fate of Assad's regime. We understand what is going on there and that the family has held power for 40 years," Putin told a news conference.

"We are worried about a different thing - what next? We simply don't want the current opposition, having become the authorities, to start fighting the people who are the current authorities ... and (we don't want) this to go on forever."

The West and some Arab states accuse Russia of shielding Assad after Moscow blocked three UN Security Council resolutions intended to increase pressure on Damascus to end the violence that has already killed more than 40,000 people.

Putin said the Syrian people would ultimately decide their own fate.— Reuters

  26/11 case: Indian team reaches Pak

Islamabad, December 20
A four-member team of Indian legal experts has arrived in Pakistan to finalise the terms of reference of a judicial commission that is expected to visit India next year to gather evidence on the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The delegation, led by a joint secretary of the Home Ministry, includes legal experts from the Home and External Affairs Ministries.

Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam — who handled the prosecution of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist involved in the Mumbai incident — is also part of the team.

The team arrived late last night, officials said today.

It will hold talks today and tomorrow with Attorney General Irfan Qadir and other Pakistani officials to finalise the terms of reference for the second judicial commission that will go to India to investigate the Mumbai attacks.

The Pakistani authorities decided to send another panel to Mumbai as the findings of the first judicial commission were rejected by an anti-terrorism court as its members were not allowed to cross-examine four key witnesses — the police officer who led the probe into the attacks, the magistrate who recorded Kasab’s confessional statement and two doctors who conducted autopsies of nine terrorists killed during the attacks.

An agreement was reached on the visit by a second judicial commission when Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik met his Indian counterpart Shushil Kumar Shinde in Delhi recently.

Malik said on his return to Islamabad that if the terms of reference are finalised this week, the panel will visit India on January 2 or 3.

Sources said a decision was made to include Public Prosecutor Nikam in the team of legal experts as he was well versed with all the intricacies and complex legal issues associated with the trial of persons involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Given the experiences with the first judicial commission, it is believed the Indian side will insist on some sort of undertaking that the evidentiary value of the findings of the new panel is not rejected by the Pakistani anti-terrorism court that is conducting the trial of seven suspects, including Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

One of the trickiest issues that will be tackled during the discussions between the Indian team and their Pakistani interlocutors is the cross-examination of witnesses.

Pakistan has in the past been reluctant to allow cross-examination. — PTI

tough task
One of the trickiest issues that will be tackled during the discussions between the Indian team and their Pakistani interlocutors is the cross-examination of witnesses

BRIEFLY

Bigelow’s Osama film faces flak from US Senators
Washington: Just days into release, a new Osama bin Laden manhunt movie, billed to be in contention for Oscars, is facing flak with three top US Senators slamming it for suggesting the torture may have led the trail to the Al-Qaida chief. Three Senators, including former White House hopeful John McCain, have described the movie as "grossly inaccurate and misleading". — PTI

Egypt ART: A wall dotted with graffiti at Tahrir Square in Cairo on Thursday. — Reuters

Benghazi fallout: 4 officials suspended
Washington: Ripples over the Benghazi attack grew bigger as a top US State Department official resigned and three others were disciplined after an independent probe uncovered major security failures and mismanagement. The failures pointed out by the independent accountability review board came as clamour grew in the Congress to recall Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top officials to testify to questions why security was "grossly inadequate" at the American mission. — PTI

N Ireland politicians get bullets in letters
Dublin: Five Northern Ireland politicians received letters containing live bullets as an extremist Protestant campaign of death threats and illegal street protests escalated over Belfast City Council's decision to stop flying the British flag year-round. The letters were intercepted by security screening staff on Wednesday at Stormont Parliamentary Building in east Belfast. — AP

33 dead in Sudan bus collision
Khartoum: As many as 33 persons were killed and 24 injured when two inter-city buses collided in Sudan in one of the country's worst road accidents in years, the police said. The crash between a full-sized passenger bus and a minibus occurred near the small community of El Kamlien, about halfway between Khartoum and Wad Medani late on Wedneday. — AFP

Sikh group submits petition on 1984 riots to Obama admn 
New York: Sikh rights group here has submitted a petition to the Obama administration seeking that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India be recognised as "genocide". The 'Sikh Genocide Petition' with 46,000 signatures, including 29,000 online, is the first petition of its kind to be submitted to the administration on the 1984 riots in which a large number of Sikhs were killed, the Sikh for Justice said in a statement. — PTI

2 Indian women racially assaulted 
Melbourne: A ‘very manly’ Australian woman threatened two young Indian women and slapped one across the face here in a ‘racial attack’, prompting the Victoria police to launch a probe into the assault. The mystery woman — believed to be in her 30s — racially abused the Indian passengers "throughout the journey into the city", the police said in a statement on Thursday. — PTI

Another anti-polio volunteer dies in Pak 
Islamabad: Another victim of attacks on UN-backed anti-polio teams has died in a Peshawar hospital, bringing the three-day toll to nine, an official said on Thursday. 
Health official Janbaz Afridi said 20-year-old Hilal Khan died on Thursday, a day after he was shot in the head in the north-western city of Peshawar. — TNS

Egypt election panel head resigns 
Cairo: Egypt's top election official overseeing a referendum to decide the fate of a controversial and polarising draft Constitution, has resigned citing health reasons, two days ahead of the second phase of voting amid widespread allegations of irregularities and rigging. Meanwhile, country's chief public prosecutor Taalat Ibrahim Abdallah on Thursday retracted his resignation, days after offering to step down following protests by prosecutors and judges against his appointment by the President. He asked to be allowed to remain on in his position. — PTI