Punjab guv tenders resignation
Governor of Punjab Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood announced his resignation on Monday, two days after the general elections, saying it was the right time for him to step down. “I believe intellectual honesty demands I should quit my office in view of the outcome of the polls,” Mehmood said while talking to the media in Lahore, adding that he would stay away from parliamentary politics.

Washington, May 13
British Prime Minister David Cameron moved to end a revolt over European Union membership in his ruling Conservative party on Monday, saying all his ministers backed his strategy on the issue despite two expressing more sceptical views than his own.

Cameron, who heads a two-party coalition, has promised to try to renegotiate Britain's membership of the EU if he wins an election in 2015 and then call a referendum to decide whether his country remains a member of the bloc.

He cannot act now because his junior coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, oppose such a move. Two of his ministers suggested on Sunday they would vote to leave the EU if a vote were held today, while Cameron has always said he wants Britain to stay in a reformed EU. A powerful wing of his own party worried about losing votes to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), an anti-EU party, is pushing him to enshrine his promise of a vote in law now.

In comments he hopes will hold his party together on an issue that helped bring down previous Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher and dogged the premiership of her successor John Major, Cameron said his policy enjoyed the full backing of all his ministers.

"What matters is making sure that we do everything we can to reform the EU ... so that when we have the referendum before the end of 2017 we give the British public a real choice," Cameron told reporters as he flew to the United States to support the case for a US-EU trade deal. "Every Conservative cabinet minister is confident that we'll be able to deliver those changes. We're all confident of the success."

To compound Cameron's discomfort, up to 100 eurosceptic Conservative members of parliament are expected to back an amendment later this week criticising legislative plans unveiled by the government because they did not include a bill paving the way for a referendum on Britain's EU membership. Cameron played down the prospect of such a vote on Monday.

"Coalition does throw up different circumstances," he said, saying newspaper headlines about the vote were "over-excited", a reference to some front page stories claiming his party was embroiled in a civil war. The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, a member of Cameron's Conservatives and a potential leadership rival, said he supported the vote.

"I personally back legislation now to make sure that referendum goes ahead," he said, writing in the right-of-centre Daily Telegraph newspaper. "It will be a good thing for everyone, because we will all have to focus not on the feud ... but on what is actually right for the country." Several high-profile internal critics have said Cameron has no chance of renegotiating Britain's EU membership.

He strongly rejected that charge on Monday. "You shouldn't give up before a negotiation has started," he said. "It seems to me to be an extraordinary way to go about things. The idea of throwing in the towel before the negotiations have started is a very, very strange opinion." Cameron set out his Europe strategy in a speech in January.

At the time, some business figures criticised him for creating uncertainty around such an important issue. Officials in several European countries warned him he could not have an "a la carte Europe", choosing the bits he liked while discarding other parts he didn't. But Cameron said on Monday he had been encouraged by reaction to the speech. "(It) had a reasonable reception in Europe with a number of key European players recognising this was a legitimate agenda," he said. "It's a good start." — Reuters

Houston, May 13
At least 19 people, including two children, were injured when gunmen opened fire at a Mother's Day parade in the US state of Louisiana, police said today.

The shooting took place in New Orleans city during the parade. Among those injured were two children, including a 10-year-old girl.

City Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said at least 19 people were shot during the parade in city's 7th Ward yesterday. None of the injuries were expected to be fatal.

Authorities saw three people running away from the scene after the shooting, and at least one suspect was described as a man between the age of 18 to 22.

The victims were part of the second line of people who were following a brass band during the Mother's Day celebrations. Serpas said the parade was just a few blocks long.

"These are unusual circumstances. We have second lines which occur in the city of New Orleans virtually every weekend at this time of the year," Serpas said. — PTI

Governor of Punjab Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood announced his resignation on Monday, two days after the general elections, saying it was the right time for him to step down. “I believe intellectual honesty demands I should quit my office in view of the outcome of the polls,” Mehmood said while talking to the media in Lahore, adding that he would stay away from parliamentary politics.

The governor felicitated the PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for the confidence reposed by the people in him, hoping: “Sharif will administer Pakistan effectively.”

Responding to a question about PPP’s complete rout in the polls outside Sindh, he said, “Incumbency factor is the reason why the PPP lost. People are angry at load-shedding, unstable economy and lack of security and this is why the people didn’t elect PPP.” He also congratulated PTI chairman Imran Khan for emerging as a formidable force in the general elections.

Ahmed Mahmood’s two sons joined PPP after he became governor. His elder son Mustafa has been elected to the National Assembly from ancestral seat in Rahimyar Khan which, incidentally, is the only seat won by PPP in Punjab. President Asif Zardari will name a new governor on advice of caretaker premier Mir Khoso who, in turn, is expected to take Nawaz Sharif into confidence on this issue.

NRI is Dy Mayor of London Borough

London: A leading NRI in the UK has been elected as the Deputy Mayor of a London Borough. Councillor Sunil Chopra, has been elected as the Deputy Mayor of Southwark for 2013-14. Delhi-born Chopra, General Secretary of the Indian Overseas Congress, London, is the first and only Indian-origin elected councillor in London Borough of Southwark Council, which has only 1.5 per cent Indian-origin people. — PTI

UK ex-minister released from jail with tag

London: Disgraced former British Cabinet minister Chris Huhne, jailed here in March for perverting the course of justice, was today freed from prison with an electronic tag to track his whereabouts. The former energy secretary and Liberal Democrat MP had been found guilty of an offence dating back a decade when his then wife, Vicky Pryce, took speeding points for him. — PTI

Thai monk punishes dog for killing cat

Bangkok: The abbot of a popular temple in Thailand penalised a dog that killed a kitten, by hanging the dead cat around its neck, drawing angry reactions from netizens. A monk at the temple in Mukdahan province said the dog, which was raised there, bit one of the kittens to death when the monks were collecting alms one morning. Abbot Phra Thong decided to hang the dead kitten around the dog's neck, using a piece of the monk's robe. Phra believed this punishment would stop the dog from attacking other cats again, he said. Phra said he had punished other dogs in similar fashion and it had worked before. — PTI

Tripoli: A car bomb that exploded in the parking lot of a Benghazi hospital killed at least 15 people and wounded 30, Libya's deputy interior minister said. "Fifteen people have been killed and at least 30 were wounded in the explosion of a car bomb near the hospital," Abdullah Massoud said citing a preliminary toll. — AFP