Snowden tells rights groups he wants asylum in Russia
Moscow, July 12
Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden today told rights activists he would seek asylum in Russia, in his first encounter with the outside world since becoming marooned at a Moscow airport three weeks ago.

Deliver commercial promise of civil nuke deal, US asks India
Washington, July 12
The US has asked India to deliver the commercial promise of the historic civil nuclear agreement between the two countries.

Royal Fusiliers carry the coffin of British soldier Lee Rigby out of the Bury Parish Church, England, on Friday following his funeral. Rigby was hacked to death in broad daylight near his barracks at Woolwich in London on May 22. — AFP

Jail break: Indonesian police hunts escapees, regains control 
Medan, July 12
Indonesian police today hunted for over 100 inmates who escaped from an overcrowded jail after setting it ablaze in riots that left five dead, as security personnel regained control of the prison.

Let education be free for children: Malala
United Nations, July 12
In her first speech since the Taliban in Pakistan tried to kill her for advocating education for girls, Malala Yousufzai celebrated her 16th birthday on Friday at the United Nations, appealing for compulsory free schooling for all children.

Lal Masjid Op
High Court orders registration of case against Musharraf
The Islamabad High Court on Friday ordered the registration of a case against Pervez Musharraf for his alleged involvement in the Lal Masjid operation.

Ireland allows limited abortion
London, July 12
Irish lawmakers today overwhelmingly backed a groundbreaking law that will allow abortion in limited cases in the predominantly Catholic country, following an outcry over the tragic death of an Indian dentist after a miscarriage last year.

Thimphu, July 12
Bhutan is all set to hold its second national elections tomorrow with the country's two major political parties facing off in the polls, which have been logistically aided by India.

"We are all ready. It is a free and fair election. We expect the polling will be peaceful," Bhutan Chief Election Commissioner Kunzang Wangdi told PTI.

The polls will be contested by the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), which is the ruling party in Bhutan, and the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the major opposition. In the last election, the opposition could win only two out of the 47 seats up for grabs.

In the first stage of the polls on May 31, two parties, the Druk Nymrub Tshogpa (DNT) and the Druck Chirwang Tshogpa (DCT), lost out leaving the DPT and the PDP to contest the final stage of the polls tomorrow.

Bhutan has a tri-cameral Parliament of the King, the National Council and the National Assembly. There are 25 seats in the National Council or the upper house. Five of them are appointed by the King and 20 elected from 20 districts.

The National Assembly or the lower house consists of 47 members elected from 47 constituencies. Representatives to both houses were elected first in 2008.

Wangdi said his country is grateful to India for its help to conduct free and fair polls successfully by providing logistical support, including gifting nearly 2,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Wangdi said his men and materials are in place in all polling stations, including remote ones.

The voting will start at 9 am (local time), end at 5 pm (local time) and the counting will begin immediately after completion of polling, he said.

"The polling centres will become counting centres when the voting ends. We expect all results to be out by 9 pm tomorrow," Wangdi said.

The fate of 94 candidates in 47 constituencies will be decided by 3,81,790 registered voters, including 1,87,917 women voters. In addition, there are 48,000 postal voters.— PTI 

Cairo, July 12
Supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi called for protests on Friday and Egyptians prayed there would be no repeat of clashes that have killed over 90 persons in the last week in the bitterly divided Arab nation.

More than a week after the army toppled Egypt's first elected leader on a wave of demonstrations, Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood movement wants people to join it on the streets to push for his reinstatement, which now looks like a lost cause.

The streets of Cairo were quiet on Friday morning, with separate demonstrations by Mursi supporters and opponents expected later in the day, the weekly Muslim prayer day. Officials say Mursi is still being held at the Republican Guard compound in Cairo, where troops killed 53 Islamist protesters on Monday in violence that intensified anger his allies already felt at the military's decision to oust him. Four members of the security forces were also killed in that confrontation, which the military blames on "terrorists".

Mursi's supporters call it a massacre and say those who died were praying peacefully when troops opened fire. Many of Egypt's 84 million people have been shocked by the shootings, graphic images of which have appeared on state and private news channels and social media. The incident occurred just three days after 35 persons were killed in clashes between pro and anti-Mursi demonstrators across the country. — Reuters 

Moscow, July 12
Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden today told rights activists he would seek asylum in Russia, in his first encounter with the outside world since becoming marooned at a Moscow airport three weeks ago.

The meeting at the Sheremetyevo airport with rights groups and lawyers appeared an attempt by Snowden to find a way out of an increasingly difficult situation as he seeks to escape US espionage charges for leaking sensational details of widespread US surveillance activities.

Participants, including representatives of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, told reporters after the meeting that Snowden told them he wanted asylum in Russia since he could not fly out of the country without travel documents.

They also said that the 30-year-old had vowed not to harm the United States, apparently in response to a key Kremlin condition that he stop leaking damaging information about Washington's spy programme.

Snowden has been holed up at the airport's transit zone since arriving on a flight from Hong Kong on June 23 before his US passport was revoked. Human Rights Watch representative Tanya Lokshina told reporters agency that Snowden said "he wants to stay here".

“As far as I understand, he is seriously ready to obtain political asylum in Russia," ruling party lawmaker Vyacheslav Nikonov, who also attended the meeting, told reporters.

The Kremlin swiftly responded Snowden could stay in the country if he stops revealing confidential US information, reiterating the position set out by President Vladimir Putin. — AFP

Washington, July 12
The US has asked India to deliver the commercial promise of the historic civil nuclear agreement between the two countries.

"For my Indian colleagues, I would emphasise the importance of delivering on the commercial promise of this agreement -- to put it in the American vernacular, we need to finish what we started," Geoffrey Pyatt, US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, said at a meeting held on the sidelines of the 38th annual US India Business Council (USIBC) yesterday.

"The 2005 nuclear deal, the successful collaboration that produced the 2008 Nuclear Suppliers Group exception and the Obama Administration's rapid negotiation of reprocessing arrangements completed in 2010 are illustrations of what we can accomplish when we work together in the spirit of shared enterprise," he said.

India and the US are now tantalisingly close to the first commercial contracts between India's Nuclear Power Corporation and a major US nuclear supplier, Pyatt said.

"The prompt conclusion of these early commercial contracts should be a priority for both our governments and would be an important signal to sceptics that the US-India strategic partnership is living up to its promise and delivering real benefits for people in both our countries," Pyatt said in his remarks.

He said the defence relationship between the two countries have increased tremendously in recent years. — PTI

Medan, July 12
Indonesian police today hunted for over 100 inmates who escaped from an overcrowded jail after setting it ablaze in riots that left five dead, as security personnel regained control of the prison.

Inmates began rampaging through the jail in Medan city on Sumatra island yesterday afternoon, setting alight fires and hurling bottles at guards in anger over power cuts and water shortages at the facility. The Tanjung Gusta jail was engulfed in towering flames and scores of firefighters battled through the night to douse them.

Over 150 prisoners, including militants, escaped and the police and soldiers are still desperately hunting for around 100 convicts after recapturing several dozen overnight.

Five persons -- three prisoners and two prison staff -- had died in the riots, the deputy minister of Justice and Human Rights Denny Indrayana said. The two prison staff had become trapped in their burning office, he added. — AFP

United Nations, July 12
In her first speech since the Taliban in Pakistan tried to kill her for advocating education for girls, Malala Yousufzai celebrated her 16th birthday on Friday at the United Nations, appealing for compulsory free schooling for all children.

Wearing a pink head scarf, Malala told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and nearly 1,000 students from around the world attending a Youth Assembly at UN headquarters in New York that education was the only way to improve lives.

"Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution," she said. Malala was shot in the head at close range by gunmen in October as she left school in Pakistan's Swat Valley, northwest of the country's capital Islamabad, after campaigning against the Islamist Taliban efforts to deny women education.

She presented Ban with a petition signed by nearly 4 million people in support of 57 million children who are not able to go to school and demanding that world leaders fund new teachers, schools and books and end child labour, marriage and trafficking. — Reuters