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Cleric Qadri demands new interim Pak govt
China orders survey of disputed islands
New York is first US state to enact gun control laws
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France strikes another Mali town, increases troop deployment
Peiris appointed Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa (L) shakes hands with Mohan Peiris (R) in Colombo on Tuesday. — AFP Twin blasts in Syrian university kill 82
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Cleric Qadri demands new interim Pak govt
With Islamabad completely paralysed by his long march, firebrand cleric Allama Tahirul Qadri called for dissolution of assemblies and installation of a genuine independent interim government on Tuesday. Addressing tens of thousands of people in front of Parliament House and other sensitive government and judicial buildings, Qadri declared culmination of his long march and “beginning of a revolution” that would dismantle the present “corrupt and inept” system. People had braved biting cold in the open on Jinnah boulevard’ for the whole night while waiting for Qadri’s address, which he delivered both in Urdu and fluent English saying the whole world was hearing him. He put the gathering at over four million, while government agencies said over 40,000 people had attended. The police fired in the air and used teargas to disperse followers of Qadri after they clashed with security forces. Footage on television showed policemen in riot gear firing in the air and using batons to push back dozens of supporters of Qadri, who lobbed stones at them. Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the media that security forces fired in the air after Qadri's supporters pelted them with stones. The Supreme Court’s order to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in the Rental Power Plants case in which he was accused of corruption came at a time when Qadri was in the midst of a fiery address to people a few hundred meters opposite the court, key government buildings and Parliament House. During his speech to a charged audience, Qadri heard the report about the court order for the PM’s arrest and declared: “Half of our mission has succeeded. Wait for more when I resume the address tomorrow.” (With PTI inputs) Flaring up Addressing supporters in Islamabad, cleric Allama Tahirul Qadri declared culmination of his long march and “beginning of a revolution” that would dismantle the present “corrupt and inept” system On hearing the report about the SC order for the PM’s arrest, Qadri said, “Half of our mission has succeeded. Wait for more when I resume the address tomorrow.”
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China orders survey of disputed islands Beijing, January 15 China is to survey the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea as part of a programme of mapping its territorial islands and reefs, the official media here reported. The first stage of the island surveying and mapping was launched in 2009 and monitoring of islands located within 100 km of the coastline has been finished, according to a document issued by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The second stage will cover islands, including the Diaoyu Islands. — PTI
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New York is first US state to enact gun control laws
New York, January 15 The state senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of a legislation that seeks to expand a ban on assault weapons and prevent the mentally ill from possessing guns making it the first state to put in place "toughest, most comprehensive" gun laws in the aftermath of the mass shooting in a Connecticut elementary school. The state senate passed the NY Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (NY SAFE) with a 43 to 18 vote. The Bill now goes to the lower house of the state for ratification. The moves by one of America's most populous states came as media reports said President Barack Obama was contemplating new steps to curb gun violence nationwide without having to seek approval of the Congress. — PTI
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France strikes another Mali town, increases troop deployment Bamako, January 15 France on Monday secured UN backing for its campaign launched four days earlier to halt a southward advance on the capital Bamako by Islamist fighters who have controlled northern Mali since April. A contingent of 750 French troops has been sent to bolster Malian forces against the well-armed rebels. Defence sources say the force will eventually rise to 2,500. Since the French air offensive was launched on Friday, the Islamists have fled three key towns under their control: Timbuktu, where residents have suffered some of worst abuses of the past 10 months, as well as Gao, also in the north, and Douentza in Mali's centre. Though driven from their strongholds by French Rafale fighter jets, the Islamists struck back on Monday in the government-held south, capturing the small town of Diabaly some 400 kilometres north of Bamako. French planes hit Diabaly overnight, according to a security source who said at least five Islamists were killed and many injured. A resident of a town some 20 kilometres from Diabaly said he had seen armed Islamists fleeing after the strikes.— AFP W African army chiefs meet Bamako (Mali): West African army chiefs met in Bamako on Tuesday on plans to send African troops to join an offensive against Islamists occupying northern Mali, as France pressed on with air strikes against the insurgents. — AFP
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Peiris appointed Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice Colombo, January 15 Rajapaksa sworn in new Mohan Peiris to replace Sri Lanka's first woman Chief Justice who was impeached by Parliament in a controversial move. Peiris, a British qualified solicitor who retired in 2011 as the Attorney General, was serving as the legal adviser to the Cabinet. He is being seen as a favourite of the government. Peiris has lobbied for Sri Lanka during the sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council in recent years. He is also supervising the implementations of recommendations by Sri Lanka's post war reconciliation commission. —PTI
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Twin blasts in Syrian university kill 82 Aleppo (Syria), January 15 "So far there are 82 fatalities and more than 160 wounded in a terrorist attack that targeted students on their first day of exam at the University of Aleppo," Akkad said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 52 persons had been killed in the blasts but the figure could rise dramatically. As well as students, the campus houses some 30,000 people who have fled homes in areas of the city ravaged by fighting since July last year. Video footage posted by students on the Internet showed tearful survivors taking refuge in a campus building. — AFP
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Indian’s subway death: NY woman indicted, deemed fit for trial
Indians ended Oz isolation 4,000 yrs ago 19 dead as train derails in Egypt Girl steals train in Sweden 52 killed in Syria university explosions
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With Islamabad completely paralysed by his long march, firebrand cleric Allama Tahirul Qadri called for dissolution of assemblies and installation of a genuine independent interim government on Tuesday.
French warplanes hit a town newly-seized by Islamists in Mali as African troops today prepared to join the offensive which has sent the jihadists fleeing from their northern strongholds.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today appointed his Cabinet's legal adviser as the country's new Chief Justice to succeed Shirani Bandaranayake, whose impeachment created much furore both inside and outside the nation.
