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Boston bombing suspects were brothers, one shot dead, search on to nab other The suspects walking through the crowd in Boston on Monday. —
AP/PTI
PAKISTAN ELECTIONS
Shahid Afridi visits Khyber Agency
Senators demand Musharraf’s trial for treason
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Make report on Lal Masjid op public: SC
Ex-MP Amir quits PML-N, will back Imran’s party
Iraq ups security as 37 killed in attacks ahead of polls
China to send North Korean envoy to Washington
Savita died of medical misadventure, rules inquest
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Boston bombing suspects were brothers, one shot dead, search on to nab other
Boston, April 19
Both suspects led officers on a wild and deadly chase through suburban neighbourhoods early today that ended in the death of one of them and an MIT campus police officer. The police has launched a full-scale manhunt for the second suspect, who is armed and considered extremely dangerous. The two bombing suspects are believed to be brothers of Chechen-origin, media reports said. The suspect at large is 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and was born in Kyrgyzstan, NBC News said. The dead suspect was identified as 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He was born in Russia. The police and law enforcement agents launched a massive manhunt to find the younger of the two suspects, ordering a complete and unprecedented lockdown of the entire city. Governor Deval Patrick has suspended service on all public transit services in the MBTA system in Boston, including the 'T' subway, buses and commuter trains. The authorities have asked all residents of the towns of Watertown, Newton, Waltham and Cambridge to stay home and stay indoors. Watertown was locked down early today, with no one allowed to leave their homes and no businesses allowed to open. “This situation is grave, we are here to protect public safety,” said Colonel Tim Alben of the Massachusetts State Police. “We believe these are the same individuals that were responsible for the bombing on Monday at the Boston Marathon,” Alben said. In the course of the chase, the suspects shot and killed a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and severely wounded a transit police officer, the police said. MIT and Harvard University, both in Cambridge, cancelled today's classes. Edward Davis, Boston Police Commissioner, told reporters that the two men involved in the chase were the suspects identified yesterday by the FBI as responsible for setting the explosives at Monday's marathon that killed three people and injured more than 170 others. Earlier, the FBI released pictures and videos of two suspects and sought public's help in identifying the men who are seen carrying backpacks near the finish line of the race before the blasts that killed three persons and injured over 180. “He is a white skinned Caucasian male with longer brown curly hair. You have the picture, you have seen it, that's the individual we are looking for...suspect number 1 has been shot dead,” said another city police official. Boston Police Commissioner Davis said that they “believe this to be a terrorist.” A few minutes later, an MIT campus police officer was found with multiple gunshot wounds in his vehicle. He was pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital. The police then received reports of a carjacking at gunpoint by two men in the area of Third Street in Cambridge. The SUV proceeded out Memorial Drive toward Watertown followed by a long train of police vehicles in pursuit. At one point during the pursuit, the two suspects opened fire on Watertown police and a Transit Police officer, who was shot and who is now in critical condition at a Boston-area hospital. During the gunfight, the man known as Marathon suspect '1' was wounded and died in a local hospital. —PTI Brothers of Chechen origin The two bombing suspects are believed to be brothers of Chechen-origin, media reports said. The suspect at large is 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and was born in Kyrgyzstan, NBC News said. The dead suspect was identified as 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He was born in Russia.
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Never got equal chance in polls, rue PPP leaders
Afzal Khan in Islamabad Former prime ministers Raja Pervez Ashraf and Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have complained that the PPP has never been provided a level playing field in the country’s electoral history.
The leaders of the Islami Tehreek-i-Pakistan (ITP), who announced support of their party for the PPP in the coming general elections, also attended the news conference. Raja claimed that he was penalised by the returning officer and later the election tribunal barred him from contesting election on the basis of accusations. He said under the Constitution, a candidate can be disqualified only if his crime is proved. Gilani said despite all problems and conspiracies, the government had completed its five-year term and the credit for it must go to the PPP. It was because of the 20th amendment to the Constitution that an impartial caretaker government was in place, he observed. He warned against any move to delay the elections, saying postponement would be bad for the country. He said the PPP was committed to free‚ fair and transparent elections. Ashraf predicted that no party would be able to get absolute majority in the elections. “Those parties who can accommodate each other will form the (future) government,” he added.
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the ringside view Islamabad: Cricketer Shahid Khan Afridi (pic) paid a surprise visit to the Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Thursday and urged the tribal people to cast their vote sensibly for honest and sincere candidates in the forthcoming general election. Speaking at a tribal jirga in Bara, the hard-hitting cricketer also announced his support for former senator Mohammad Shah Afridi, a candidate for NA-46, Bara tehsil. Shahid Afridi denied he has joined the PML-N but said he had recently met its chief Nawaz Sharif to express gratitude for the personal support he had given him as a player. — TNS
Two hurt at political rally
Lahore: At least two persons were injured in a rocket attack at a political gathering in the NA-41 constituency of South Waziristan's Wana area on Friday. A political rally of Nasir Ahmed was under way in Wana when a rocket landed from an unknown direction injuring two persons. Further details were not available till the filing of this report. — TNS |
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Senators demand Musharraf’s trial for treason
The Senate or the upper house of Parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for treason under Article 6 of the Constitution that prescribes death penalty for subversion of the document. Senators from both sides of the isle blamed Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution twice, unleashing reign of terror and massacres, and mutilating the Constitution. They took strong exception to according him unusual protocol and deploying unprecedented security personnel at state expense. They said Musharraf had committed unpardonable crimes against democracy, politicians and the nation. They also demanded from the caretaker interior minister to inform the House how he escaped from the court to his residence and “why a former General could not be arrested if the elected prime ministers of the country can be sent to jails.” PPP senator Raza Rabbani said the retired general was a self-proclaimed president and should not be given preferential treatment. “We all are equal and we all should be treated equally,” he said. He blamed Musharraf for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Akbar Bugti and hundreds of others.
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Make report on Lal Masjid op public: SC
The Supreme Court has ordered to make public the report on the bloody Lal Masjid operation by Gen Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad, ruling that there was no restriction in any law not to make any probe report public or to keep it confidential. A three-member Bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justices Gulzar Ahmed and Sheikh Azmat Saeed, heard suo motu case of the Lal Masjid operation. On December 4, 2012, a three-member Bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, constituted a one-member judicial commission to probe the Lal Masjid operation launched in 2007 by former military dictator Pervez Musharraf against the seminary for challenging the writ of the state. The court ruled that as per Article 19-A of the Constitution, every citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all the matters of public importance subject to regulation and reasonable restrictions imposed by law.
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Ex-MP Amir quits PML-N, will back Imran’s party
Leading columnist and former MP Ayaz Amir on Friday quit the PML-N and announced support for the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI). The eminent journalist, whose disqualification by a returning officer on the basis of two columns he wrote seeking interpretation of the term ‘ideology of Pakistan’ raised huge storm at home and abroad, has been denied party ticket. While the election tribunal reversed the disqualification and allowed Amir to contest election, the party has now stepped in to deny him the ticket. The controversy triggered a worldwide debate on the vagueness of the term ‘ideology of Pakistan’ that has been made a lynchpin by former military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq to determine the qualification of a candidate to be member of any assembly. Amir’s supporters say PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif apparently felt scared accentuating religious lobbies’ resentment if the ticket was granted to him. Instead, the party owned a new convert who had earlier shifted many parties. Speaking to this correspondent on telephone from hometown Chakwal, Amir said after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) denied a ticket to him, he felt much “relieved” as he was out of this party now. His panel will announce unconditional support for the PTI in Chakwal on Friday. “The PML-N is a party in which the cardinal virtue to move forward is sycophancy. Since I was deficient in mastering this art, I couldn’t get along with it,” he said. “I was a strange ideological fellow traveller of the PML-N. I left the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1998 and came to the PML-N’s rescue in 2002 when it had no other candidate in Chakwal,” Ayaz Amir said. “We put a very strong fight in Talagang.” The upright journalist said he would now devote more time to his professional obligations and leave politics to his 30-year-old son who had already joined the PTI against the wishes of his father.
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Iraq ups security as 37 killed in attacks ahead of polls
Baghdad, April 19
The deadly violence just before tomorrow's provincial election raises further questions about the credibility of the polls, with 14 candidates killed and a third of Iraq's provinces -- all of them mainly Sunni Arab or Kurdish -- not even voting. The election is seen as a key test of Iraq's stability and security, and will provide a gauge of the popularity of the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ahead of a general election next year. But attacks on Thursday and Friday that left 37 dead increased concerns about the ability of Iraqi forces to assure security for the polls. Yesterday evening, a bomb in the west Baghdad suburb of Amriyah killed 27 persons and wounded over 50 others, officials said. Further attacks in the capital and northern Iraq today killed another 10 persons and wounded many more. The Baghdad blast yesterday hit a billiards cafe frequented by young men inside a small shopping mall on the main road in the predominantly Sunni Arab neighbourhood. Witnesses said it wreaked massive damage. Security forces restricted access to the area, but the tightened searches did little to placate anger in Amriyah, where many residents accused authorities of negligence. "If it was not them (soldiers) who did it, it was their fault," said one resident who declined to be named. "We are surrounded by walls and checkpoints, so if it's not them who did it, they helped because they were lazy or they did not perform the checks well." Today, four mortar rounds struck near a Sunni mosque as worshippers left noon prayers in the restive town of Khalis, killing seven and wounding 12, while a bomb detonated at a Shiite mosque in Kirkuk at around the same time, leaving one dead and 15 wounded. A civil servant was shot dead in Baghdad, and a soldier was killed and 14 people wounded by several roadside bombs in and around the main northern city of Mosul. The attacks all took place despite heightened security nationwide ahead of tomorrow's election. Movement is expected to be tightly controlled tomorrow, with only approved vehicles allowed on the streets and concertina wire closing off areas around polling stations. Some restrictions were already in place ahead of the vote. "We will use all of our forces in the interior and defence ministries to control the situation," said interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan. The latest deaths bring to 120 the number of people killed since Sunday, an average of 20 per day, according to AFP figures. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda often carry out bombings in both Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods across Iraq, in a bid to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government and security forces. An estimated 13.8 million Iraqis are eligible to vote for more than 8,000 candidates, with 378 seats being contested. It is the first vote since March 2010 parliamentary polls, and the first since US forces withdrew from Iraq in December 2011. — AFP
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China to send North Korean envoy to Washington
Beijing, April 19 Wu Dawei will also discuss denuclearisation of the region, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing. He will visit at the invitation of Glyn Davies, Washington's special representative on North Korea, Hua said. After weeks of threats of war by North Korea, Pyongyang said on Thursday it would return to negotiations subject to a list of conditions, including the lifting of UN sanctions. The United States said it was seeking "clear signals" that the North would halt its nuclear weapons activities. China is North Korea's main diplomatic and financial backer and fought alongside the North in the 1950-53 Korean War. But in recent months, China has begun to express impatience with Pyongyang and its 30-year-old leader, Kim Jong-un, grandson of state founder Kim Il-Sung. "The international community, including China, has to seriously reconsider what will be the more effective way to force North Korea not just to get back to negotiations, but force them to give up nuclear weapons," Zhu Feng of the China Institute of Strategic Studies at Peking |
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Malala to give her first public speech in New York
London, April 19 UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown announced today that Malala is determined to continue campaigning for girls' education and will speak to a specially convened meeting of young people from around the world at the United Nations. Her first public address is being organised by UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown along with the President of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. Some 4,000 young people from across the globe is likely to attend the launch a youth campaign to secure universal primary education. Currently, 61 million children go without a single day of primary school. "Malala is a true inspiration and a shining beacon for girls education around the world. I am full of admiration for her courage and determination in the journey she is on, and am sure that she can become a real leader in the campaign for a school place for every girl - and every boy," said Brown. Malala, who has made a remarkable recovery in Birmingham and has since returned to school, but is yet to make a public speech. A passionate campaigner for a long-time for the right of every girl to attend school, Malala will be making the case that the voice of young people is essential in the fight for education. The Malala Day meeting will close with a youth resolution to make education for all a reality by the end of 2015, as was promised in the second Millennium Development Goal in 2000. Brown's announcement was made during the 'Learning for All Ministerial' meeting, co-hosted with Jim Kim of the World Bank and Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations at the World Bank in Washington. The meeting, one of a series of events as part of an education summit, examined how to put in place education for all in eight countries which represent around half of the world's out-of-school children. — PTI
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Savita died of medical misadventure, rules inquest
London, April 19 The ruling at the Galway Courthouse found there were systemic
failures or deficiencies in the care given to 31-year-old Savita, originally from Karnataka. "You showed tremendous loyalty and love to your wife. All of Ireland followed the case," coroner Ciaran MacLoughlin told Savita's husband Praveen Halappanavar as he released the verdict at the end of the seven-day inquest today. The jury also accepted all nine recommendations put forward by coroner Ciaran MacLoughlin, including the failure to chart observations of vital signs every four hours, a failure to pass on information about an elevated white cell count, an "inordinate delay" in reporting back on blood samples and issues relating to note-taking. Dr McLoughlin had
also said the Medical Council should clarify exactly when a doctor can intervene to save the life of a mother, which will remove doubt or fear from the doctor and also reassure the public. Savita was 17 weeks pregnant when admitted to University Hospital Galway on October 21 last year. — PTI |
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One of the suspects believed to be responsible for bombings at the Boston Marathon was today shot dead while the police pursued the second suspect in the Boston region which saw itself in the grip of intense security crackdown.
Islamabad: Cricketer Shahid Khan Afridi (pic) paid a surprise visit to the Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Thursday and urged the tribal people to cast their vote sensibly for honest and sincere candidates in the forthcoming general election.
They were addressing a news conference after Ashraf was given conditional reprieve by the Lahore High Court (LHC) to contest election. Ashraf was disqualified earlier from participating in elections, while Gilani was disqualified and ousted by the Supreme Court in June for contempt of court. 