Mandela in hospital
Johannesburg, June 8
Former South African President and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was in a "serious but stable" condition on Saturday after being taken to hospital with a recurrence of a lung infection, the government said.

Islamabad, June 8
On the instructions of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, US Charge d' Affaires was summoned today by Pakistan's Foreign Office to lodge protest against a drone strike carried out in the restive tribal belt killing nine people.

The move comes two days after Sharif, who also holds foreign affairs portfolio, called for an end to the campaign by the CIA-operated spy planes.

"The US Charge d' Affaires, Ambassador Richard Hoagland, was summoned this afternoon to the Foreign Office by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi to lodge a strong protest on the US drone strike carried out in North Waziristan on June 7," said a statement from the Foreign Office spokesman.

The protest was lodged on the instructions of the Prime Minister, the statement said.

Former envoy Tariq Fatemi, a Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, handed over a demarche to the US diplomat.

Hoagland was told by Fatemi that the government strongly condemns the drone strikes as a "violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity". — PTI 

Islamabad, June 8
With Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif deciding to retain Pakistan's foreign affairs portfolio, former minister Sartaj Aziz will play a crucial role as his adviser in charting a way forward on issues like relations with India and the US.

The Cabinet Division has notified the appointment of the 84-year-old Aziz as Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs.

Aziz served as both Finance and Foreign Minister in Sharif's last term as Premier in the late 1990s.

Over the past few weeks, Aziz has been advising Sharif on foreign policy issues and participating in meetings with foreign envoys and visiting leaders.

Sources in the PML-N said Aziz would play a major role in shaping the new government's policy for relations with India and the US and for the endgame in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will be the new government's point man for dealing with law-and-order problems and the Taliban insurgency, while Power Minister Khwaja Asif has been entrusted the tasking of addressing a crippling energy crisis.

Khan, a hawk considered close to the military and a political heavyweight from the Rawalpindi region, was allocated the Interior Ministry hours after 25 members of Sharif's Council of Ministers were sworn in yesterday.

Asif, a former banker, has been allocated the crucial water and power portfolio at a time when cities and towns across Pakistan are coping with power cuts of up to 20 hours a day. — PTI

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has urged Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to hold a probe into, what he called, “unprecedented rigging”, and punish the erring returning officers (ROs) for their “terrible role” in the process.

In his brief recorded speech telecast from Lahore via video-link, Imran claimed people were now describing the May 11 general election as the ROs’ elections due to their terrible role during the electoral process. Khan is recuperating in Lahore after a fall from a forklift at an election rally in Lahore on May 7, four days before the elections.

The PTI chief warned if the Chief Justice failed to provide justice, people who had been agitating peacefully, could become violent. He said it was a strange fact that all parties, even those which won, had been raising their voice against rigging in the elections.

He slammed the returning officers, particularly in the Punjab, and asked who would contest elections if they were not to be penalised for their actions. “You hold investigation as to what kind of game ROs played,” he said.

Johannesburg, June 8
Former South African President and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was in a "serious but stable" condition on Saturday after being taken to hospital with a recurrence of a lung infection, the government said.

The 94-year-old, who became the first black leader of Africa's biggest economy in 1994 after historic all-race elections, has been in hospital three times since December.

Mandela has been battling the infection for a few days, the government said in a statement.

"This morning at about 1.30 am (2330 GMT), his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to a Pretoria hospital. He remains in a serious but stable condition," it said.

Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, accompanied him to the hospital, the South African Press Association reported. — Reuters

Santa Monica, June 8
A gunman dressed in black killed four people in a string of shootings through the seaside California town of Santa Monica on Friday before he was shot dead by police in a community college library, law enforcement officials said.

Five other people were wounded, one of them critically, in the shooting rampage that unfolded just a few miles from where President Barack Obama was speaking at a political fundraiser elsewhere in Santa Monica, west of Los Angeles.

As the gunman lay dead on a sidewalk outside the Santa Monica College library, a second individual was taken into custody near the campus and was described by police as a "person of interest" in the case. He was later released.

The police initially said six people were killed by the gunman, who was described only as a man between the ages of 25 and 30.

Obama completed his remarks at his event without interruption and left for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping near the desert resort community of Palm Springs. The bloodshed did not appear to be related to Obama's visit and the Secret Service called it a "local police matter." — Reuters

London, June 8
The British Government is under increasing pressure to order an inquiry into claims that the country’s security services were covertly gathering a mass of personal data from some of the world's largest Internet firms through a US spy programme.

Britain's eavesdropping centre “Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)” will report to the Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee Committee (ISC) by Monday over claims it secretly gathered intelligence.

British Indian MP Keith Vaz described the allegations regarding the government's Cheltenham-based electronic listening post as "chilling".

"The most chilling aspect is that ordinary American citizens and potentially British citizens too were apparently unaware that their phone and online interactions could be watched. I am astonished by these revelations, which could involve the data of thousands of Britons. — PTI