The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Venue change: Miss World 2013 contestants pose during the opening ceremony in Bali on Sunday. Days of Muslim hardline protests forced the venue to be moved from Jakarta. — AFP

4 Afghan intel agents dead in suicide attack: Policemen stand near a crater at the scene of a suicide attack in Maidan Shar, capital of Wardak province, on Sunday. At least four Afghan intelligence agents were killed and more than 100 persons were wounded. All five suicide attackers involved have been killed by security forces. — Reuters

Nasheed faces run-off
after split result
Male, September 8
Former Maldivian leader Mohamed Nasheed will face a run-off election on September 28 after his win in the presidential poll ended without a majority, provisional results showed on Sunday, nearly 20 months after his removal ignited months of unrest.

Palace guards ‘pointed guns’ at Prince Andrew
London, September 8
In a case of mistaken identity, armed police pointed guns at Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II's son, and ordered him to put his hands up in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, a media report said today.

UK ruling party MP quits over visa bond
London, September 8
A prominent British MP, who shot to fame when she became the youngest member of Parliament a decade ago, has decided to quit politics over her party's increasingly toughening stance on immigration. Sarah Teather, belongs to ruling coalition partner Liberal Democrats.

Oz teen becomes youngest to fly around the world solo
Melbourne, September 8
Around the world in 70 days! A 19-year-old Australian pilot has broken the world record for the youngest person to fly a single-engine aircraft solo around the globe. Ryan Campbell began his journey 10 weeks ago from Wollongong, in southern New South Wales, and has spent 200 hours flying through 14 different countries.

Bangla Premier Hasina’s India visit uncertain
Dhaka, September 8
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's planned visit to India later this month has become uncertain as India "failed" to ensure signing of the Teesta water sharing deal and passage of the land boundary agreement, media here reported today.

Pentagon ‘planning’ 3-day bombing blitz on Syria

Washington, September 8
The Pentagon is gearing for a three-day attack on Syria, longer than it originally had planned, with a heavy barrage of missile strikes followed by more attacks on targets that it misses to destroy with the opening salvos, a leading US newspaper reported today.

The planning for intense attacks over a three-day period reflects the growing belief in the White House and the Pentagon that the US needs more firepower to inflict even minimal damage on Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, which have been widely dispersed over the last two weeks, the Los Angeles Times reported, quoting US officials as saying.

Two US officers said the White House asked for an expanded target list in recent days to include many more than the 50 or so targets on the initial list.

As a result, Pentagon planners are weighing whether to use Air Force bombers, in addition to five warships now on patrol in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from hundreds of miles offshore, well out of range of Syrian air defences.

"There will be several volleys and an assessment after each volley, but all within 72 hours and a clear indication when we are done," the paper quoted one officer familiar with the planning.

The stepped-up military planning comes as US President Barack Obama and his aides prepared to press their own offensive to seek public support, as well as Congressional votes for authorisation to use military force to punish Assad's government for alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians on August 21. — PTI

UK firms supplied chemicals

London: British companies sold poisonous chemicals to the Bashar al-Assad-led Syrian Government that could have been used in the alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus, killing around 1,400 persons, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday. During the period of July 2004-May 2010, the British Government had issued five licences to two companies that allowed them to sell to Syria sodium fluoride, a chemical used to make sarin, the report said. The British government Saturday admitted that the chemical was delivered to Syria, it added. — IANS

Gas victims secretly flown to UK for tests: Report

London, September 8
Britain's definitive claims that the deadly gas sarin was used in Syria have been linked to a secret fact-finding mission. A senior Syrian opposition leader has revealed that some of the victims of last month's alleged chemical attack in the country were secretly flown to the UK for medical tests.

According to a 'Sunday Times' report, Ahmad Asi al-Jarba, the president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, has claimed that traces of sarin were found in up to three people hit by the attack in Ghouta, eastern Damascus, on August 21.

Al-Jarba confirmed he was aware of a "small number" of victims who had been flown to the UK for treatment. — PTI

Nasheed faces run-off after split result

Male, September 8
Former Maldivian leader Mohamed Nasheed will face a run-off election on September 28 after his win in the presidential poll ended without a majority, provisional results showed on Sunday, nearly 20 months after his removal ignited months of unrest.

Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected President, was forced from office in February 2012 in what his supporters call a coup. The turmoil tarnished the Indian Ocean archipelago's image as a tropical holiday paradise.

Maldives presidential election

Nasheed wins, but fails to secure required vote in first round

Incumbent leader Waheed performs worst in poll

President forced out in 2012, country plunged into turmoil

Run-off scheduled for September 28 between Nasheed and Yameen

Nasheed, running against three rivals, had secured 45.45 per cent of the total votes polled, according to the early results, Election Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek told reporters.

He missed a required majority of 50 per cent, as the votes were split among the other three contenders.

Nasheed's main rival, Abdulla Yameen, a half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled for 30 years and was considered a dictator by opponents and rights groups, polled 25.35 per cent, the preliminary results showed.

Gasim Ibrahim, a resort tycoon, media business owner and formerly a finance minister under Gayoom, secured 24.07 per cent, while Nasheed's successor and incumbent leader Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik performed the worst, with just 5.13 percent.

Nasheed and Abdulla Yameen will face each other in a run-off election on September 28, the election commissioner confirmed.

The election commission will release final results of the first round on September 14, Thowfeek said.

"Any boxes needed to be recounted will be recounted within this time and if required, adjustments made. Counting will be done in the presence of observers and representatives of candidates," he said.

Nasheed unseated Gayoom in a run-off election in 2008.

Analysts and human rights defenders say the Maldives has been in limbo since Nasheed's resignation, prompting a voter turnout of 88 per cent, up from 85 per cent in the 2008 vote. Nasheed was forced to resign in 2012 after mutinying police and military forces armed Opposition demonstrators and gave him an ultimatum.

The Maldives, a sultanate for almost nine centuries before becoming a British protectorate, held its first fully democratic vote in 2008 with Nasheed defeating Gayoom, an autocrat who was then Asia's longest-serving leader. — Reuters

Palace guards ‘pointed guns’ at Prince Andrew

London, September 8
In a case of mistaken identity, armed police pointed guns at Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II's son, and ordered him to put his hands up in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, a media report said today.

For a tense half a minute, the Queen's 53-year-old son was in danger of being shot dead by officers paid to protect him and his family, the Daily Express reported.

Last night, a internal inquiry was being carried out into the extraordinary incident, which took place last Wednesday, two days after a trespassing and burglary incident took place at Buckingham Palace.

Royal protection officers were said be "jittery" after a genuine intruder had been found in the palace's state rooms two days earlier.

"On Wednesday, September 4, two uniformed officers approached a man in the gardens of Buckingham Palace to verify his identity. The man was satisfactorily identified. No weapons were drawn and no force was used," a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.

Two days before this incident, the police said a man was arrested inside the palace on suspicion of burglary, trespass and criminal damage. A second man was arrested outside on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary. — PTI

UK ruling party MP quits over visa bond

London, September 8
A prominent British MP, who shot to fame when she became the youngest member of Parliament a decade ago, has decided to quit politics over her party's increasingly toughening stance on immigration.

Sarah Teather, belongs to ruling coalition partner Liberal Democrats. She described party leader Nick Clegg's support for a UK Home Office plan for some immigrants, including those from India, to pay a £1,000 deposit when applying for visas as the final straw that left her feeling "desolate" and "catastrophically depressed".

"It was an absolutely black moment. I couldn't even move from my seat when I read it. I was so depressed I couldn't even be angry. I was utterly desolate," says the MP from Brent in north London, explaining her decision to step down from the House of Commons in 2015.

Her decision to quit comes just a week before the Lib Dem annual conference and will come as a blow to Clegg. "Of course we are disappointed by Sarah's decision," a party spokesperson said.

The Liberal Democrats have a proud record in government, including cutting taxes for working people by £700 and lifting the poorest paid out of tax altogether, helping businesses create a million jobs; investing billions more in schools to help the poorest children and introducing radical plans for shared parental leave, the party said.

"Sarah was a part of this when she served as a minister in the coalition, as well as playing a key role in ending Labour's disgraceful policy of locking up children for immigration purposes," the spokesperson added. — PTI

Oz teen becomes youngest to fly around the world solo

Melbourne, September 8
Around the world in 70 days! A 19-year-old Australian pilot has broken the world record for the youngest person to fly a single-engine aircraft solo around the globe. Ryan Campbell began his journey 10 weeks ago from Wollongong, in southern New South Wales, and has spent 200 hours flying through 14 different countries.

His flight clocked up more than 44,448 km in just 70 days in a single engine plane, 'ABC News' reported.

The ambitious teen took off on June 30 and landed back in Wollongong yesterday where he was greeted by dozens of his supporters.

Campbell broke the existing world record set by 21-year-old American Jack Wiegand earlier this year.

Campbell said although he faced many challenges, there are moments he will never forget.

"I'd come out of cloud and out of ice, stressed and worried, and immediately looked ahead and I just saw the tip of Greenland," he said.

"You know, I'd been over water for hours and here's these massive brown, rugged mountains covered in snow and ice and glaciers," Campbell said.

Campbell will now fly back to his home town of Merimbula on the south coast of New South Wales.

Ryan completed his first solo flight at the age of 15, and by 18 he had obtained his commercial pilot's licence, according to 'Australian Geographic'. — PTI

Bangla Premier Hasina’s India visit uncertain

Dhaka, September 8
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's planned visit to India later this month has become uncertain as India "failed" to ensure signing of the Teesta water sharing deal and passage of the land boundary agreement, media here reported today.

According to diplomatic sources, Hasina's second bilateral visit "will be fruitless because India has nothing to offer though she has addressed India's major concerns and created an opportunity to take the relationship to the next level".

'Daily Star' newspaper said Hasina might cancel her New Delhi tour as "India failed to ensure signing of the (much expected) Teesta water sharing deal and passage of the land boundary agreement in Parliament". — PTI