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India-born Mamnoon Hussain, a close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was today elected as the 12th President of Pakistan for a five-year term by an overwhelming majority.
Taliban gunmen storm Pak prison; free 250
EU envoy meets Mursi, says he’s in good health
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Savita effect: Irish Prez signs first abortion bill into law
Massive explosions rock Florida gas plant, 8 hurt
Berlusconi’s case hearing begins
Taliban gunmen storm Pak prison; free 250 WikiLeaks: Manning guilty of espionage Washington, July 30 With the full backing of the Obama administration, Israel and Palestine have begun final status negotiations with their representatives concluding the first round of talks here today.
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Agra-born Mamnoon Hussain is 12th Pakistan President
India-born Mamnoon Hussain, a close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was today elected as the 12th President of Pakistan for a five-year term by an overwhelming majority. Hussain (73), who beat his only rival Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), will assume charge after incumbent Asif Ali Zardari steps down at the end of his five-year term on September 8. Born in Agra on December 23, 1940, Mamnoon has been associated with PML-N since 1993 and served as Governor of Sindh for a brief period of six months in 1999. He lost the post after the then Army Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf toppled the PML-N government in a military coup in October 1999. He owns a textile business in Karachi and has contracts with wealthy industrialists and entrepreneurs. He was elected president of the Karachi Chamber and has influence over a set of Karachi-based businessmen. The new President was elected by an electoral college made up of members of the two houses of parliament and assemblies in Pakistan's four provinces. Given its dominance in parliament, PML-N was guaranteed a walkover even before the main opposition party, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), announced it was boycotting the vote to protest the Supreme Court's decision to unilaterally advance the election date from August 6 to July 30. (With agency inputs)
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Taliban gunmen storm Pak prison; free 250
Peshawar, July 30 The gunmen launched their attack around midnight with a series of heavy explosions before firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, a senior police official said. During the attack on the Central Prison in Dera Ismail Khan of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province bordering the restive South Waziristan agency, the militants killed six policemen, six Shia prisoners and two private security guards, he said. "Five more policemen and two civilians were injured in the attack," said deputy commissioner Amir Khattak. Officials said at least 247 prisoners were missing after the attack and a search for the fugitives continued who were suspected to be taken away by the militants. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that over 100 militants, including several suicide bombers, participated in the massive jail break. "We lost two of our men in the fight," Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said, adding that the militants had achieved their targets and their operation was successful. The jail holds up to 5,000 prisoners, including over 250 militants and high-profile rebels involved in attacks on security forces and sectarian killings. Shaukat Yousafzai, spokesman for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, said, "The army has been called in to counter the militant attack." However, Yousafzai said he has no information of the prisoners' escape. — PTI
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EU envoy meets Mursi, says he’s in good health
Cairo, July 30 European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton revealed little about what she called a "friendly, open and very frank" two-hour conversation with Mursi, after she was flown to an undisclosed location to visit him. "I've tried to make sure that his family knows he is well," said Ashton, who has emerged as one of the only figures accepted by both sides as a potential mediator in a conflict that has plunged the most populous Arab state into violent confrontation. Media has speculated about why the military-backed rulers would have allowed her to meet the ousted leader, who had been kept incommunicado for a month. She denied that she carried an offer to Mursi of "safe exit" if he were to renounce his claim to the presidency. Many people have suggested such an arrangement could be part of a deal that would allow Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood to leave the streets and join an army-backed "road map" to civilian rule, but would require Mursi to abandon his mandate as Egypt's first elected leader. — Reuters
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Savita effect: Irish Prez signs first abortion bill into law
London, July 30 President Michael D Higgins signed into law the Government's Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill. The bill, overwhelmingly passed by both houses of Irish Parliament this month, permits abortions only in cases where doctors deem the woman's life at risk from continued pregnancy. The law comes in the wake of the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar (31) on October 28 last year of blood poisoning as a result of a miscarriage. An inquest into her death earlier this year heard how she was repeatedly denied a potentially life-saving abortion. The new legislation, which replaces 146 years’ old British-era law, also permits abortions to alleviate life-threatening conditions, including a woman's own threat to commit suicide if refused a termination. Till recently, Ireland's only legislation on abortion was a handed-down British law from 1867, outlawing the practice with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The new maximum sentence is 14 years. — PTI
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Massive explosions rock Florida gas plant, 8 hurt
Tavares (US), July 30 John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said early today that there were no fatalities despite massive blasts that ripped through the Blue Rhino propane plant late yesterday night. Officials initially scrambled to find over 24 employees after the explosions. "Management is comfortable saying all of those they knew were there tonight have been accounted for," he said. Fire Chief Richard Keith said possible causes of the explosion may be either equipment malfunction or possibly human error. Sabotage was not suspected. The Blue Rhino plant, which is northwest of Orlando, refilled propane tanks typically used for barbecues and other uses. There were some 53,000 20-gallon tanks at the plant yesterday. — AP
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Berlusconi’s case hearing begins
Rome, July 30 If five top judges rule against the former PM in the first definitive conviction in many of the court cases, it would mark the end of two decades in which Berlusconi has dominated Italian politics. It could also plunge the government - an uneasy coalition of Enrico Letta's centre-left Democratic Party and Berlusconi's centre-right People of Freedom - into crisis and bring renewed uncertainty to the country. — Reuters |
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Taliban gunmen storm Pak prison; free 250 Peshawar, July 30 The gunmen launched their attack around midnight with a series of heavy explosions before firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, a senior police official said. During the attack on the Central Prison in Dera Ismail Khan of
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province bordering the restive South Waziristan agency, the militants killed six policemen, six Shia prisoners and two private security guards, he said. "Five more policemen and two civilians were injured in the attack," said deputy commissioner Amir
Khattak. Officials said at least 247 prisoners were missing after the attack and a search for the fugitives continued who were suspected to be taken away by the
militants. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that over 100 militants, including several suicide bombers, participated in the massive jail break. "We lost two of our men in the fight," Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said, adding that the militants had achieved their targets and their operation was successful. The jail holds up to 5,000 prisoners, including over 250 militants and high-profile rebels involved in attacks on security forces and sectarian killings.
Shaukat Yousafzai, spokesman for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, said, "The army has been called in to counter the militant attack." However, Yousafzai said he has no information of the prisoners' escape. — PTI
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WikiLeaks: Manning guilty of espionage
Fort Meade, July 30 Manning will still face a lengthy prison term for his breaches of the espionage act when a sentencing hearing begins tomorrow. The US government was pushing for the maximum penalty for ‘serious breach’
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Israel, Palestine launch US-backed peace talks
Washington, July 30 The Israelis led by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molcho, and the Palestinians led by Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat and Mohammad Shtayyeh, met several times in Washington last evening and today, which was described by US Secretary of State John Kerry, as constructive and positive. Kerry played a key role in the talks with US President Barack Obama dropping by during one of the meetings this morning. — PTI
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Musharraf to be indicted in Benazir Bhutto murder case on Aug 6 2014 Senate polls in US: Republicans to field 10 Indian-Americans Visa bonds issue divides UK coalition Queen’s Kolkata footman returns to India Berlusconi’s case hearing begins |
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Tavares (US), July 30
