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Germany summons British envoy over spy claims
Rajat Gupta challenges $13.9 m insider trading fine
Bollywood enters White House
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1 killed, 8 injured in blasts near China’s Communist Party office
Musharraf freed after 6 months of house arrest
Graft case filed against former Pak PM Ashraf
Yasser Arafat was ‘murdered with polonium’
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Germany summons British envoy over spy claims
Berlin, November 6 It is believed to be the first time that the German foreign ministry has called in a British ambassador since the end of World War II. In contrast to the summoning of US ambassador John B Emerson by foreign minister Guido Westerwelle nearly two weeks ago to lodge a complaint over alleged tapping of chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone by the National Security Agency, McDonald was "requested" to visit the ministry for a meeting. The head of the European department in the ministry, who held discussions with McDonald yesterday, conveyed to him the German government's disapproval of the use of the British embassy for surveillance operations, as reported by The Independent newspaper and demanded an explanation from the British government, the ministry said in a statement. McDonald was told by the official that "snooping into communications from the premises of a diplomatic mission is a violation of international law," the statement said. The Independent reported yesterday that documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and aerial photographs suggested the existence of a listening post on the roof of the British embassy, which is only a few hundred metres away from the chancellery and the German parliament. Aerial photographs of the British embassy showed on its roof a potential eavesdropping base enclosed inside a white, cylindrical tent-like structure, which cannot be easily seen from the streets, the newspaper said. The structure housing hi-tech eavesdropping equipment has been operating since the embassy, which was built after the German reunification, opened in 2000. Britain's spying nest had a striking resemblance to spying equipment used in UK intelligence agency's (Government Communications Headquarters) Cold War listening post in West Berlin, which was used to intercept East German and Soviet communications, the paper said. The disclosures of alleged British spying on the German government provoked angry reaction from German politicians. If the allegations were proved, the EU should convene an emergency summit to consider imposing sanctions on Britain, Bernd Riexinger, co-chairman of the opposition Left party said. Wolfgang Bosbach, Home Affairs spokesman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called for the signing of a "no Spy" agreement with Britain similar to an agreement currently being negotiated with the United States.
— PTI snooping allegations
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Rajat Gupta challenges $13.9 m insider trading fine
In a brief filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday, Gupta’s lawyers argued that the district court “abused” its discretion in imposing the statutory maximum civil penalty on Gupta of $13.9 million, which is triple the benefit hedge-fund manager Raj Rajaratnam had obtained from the tips Gupta allegedly passed on to him. The lawyers said the penalty was excessive in light of Gupta, 64, already facing a $5 million fine and two-year prison sentence in a parallel criminal insider trading case. “In fixing the amount of Gupta’s civil penalty, the court failed to consider - as it was required to do - the deterrent effect of the other penalties it had imposed... “And without even considering the deterrent effect of the substantial criminal sentence it had already imposed, the court further ordered Gupta to pay the statutory maximum civil penalty of $13.9 million, even though Gupta himself never traded on the information and made no money from any of the trades,” the lawyers said. The district court had also permanently barred Gupta from associating with brokers, dealers, and investment advisors, permanently enjoined him from future violations of the securities laws, and permanently barred him from serving as an officer or director of a public company. Gupta’s lawyers argued that the district court abused its discretion in fashioning the permanent injunctions and fixing the civil penalty, and its “imposition of these remedies should be reversed.” “Instead of protecting the investing public, these injunctions serve only to punish and stigmatize Gupta,” his lawyers said. “There is no permissible justification for the three permanent injunctions imposed on Gupta. Imposing permanent injunctions without a permissible justification was an abuse of discretion, and the order of injunctive relief should be reversed.” Harvard-educated Gupta was indicted in October 2011 and charged in a superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy and five counts of securities fraud. — PTI
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Washington, November 6 Michelle, who led the Diwali celebrations at the White House for the first time, lit the ‘diya’ amidst chanting of Vedic mantras. In 2009, President Barack Obama attended the Diwali celebrations for the first time at the White House. “This holiday is celebrated by members of some of the world’s oldest religions not just here in America but across the globe. Diwali is a time for celebration... As Barack and I learned during our visit to India, it’s a time to come together with friends and family, often with dancing and good food,” she said. “Diwali is also a time for contemplation and reflection. It’s a time for us to think about our obligations to our fellow human beings, particularly those who are less fortunate than we are. And as we light the diya - the lamp - we recommit ourselves to the triumph of light over darkness, of good over evil,” she said before lighting the ‘diya’. Michelle was garlanded by Mythili Bachu, the Chair for the Council of Hindu Temples of North America, amidst applause from a select Indian-American audience. “We got to practice a little Bollywood this afternoon,” she told the audience at the East Room. Giving some of the poses from the Bollywood dances she did earlier in the day, Michelle said she danced along with the kids who were seated in the front rows of the East Room. “We had a wonderful time. It was the first time that we did Bollywood in the State Room here at the White House,” she said amidst applause from the audience, which comprised of the who’s who of the Indian-American Community members and those in the Obama Administration. Obama has the distinction of appointing the largest number of Indian-Americans in any presidential administrations yet. — PTI
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1 killed, 8 injured in blasts near China’s Communist Party office
Beijing, November 6 Among the eight injured, one was seriously wounded. Eyewitnesses said that the blasts were caused by explosives placed on a minivan. A big explosion was heard and heavy smoke and flames were seen, said Liu Guoliang, an eyewitness who was driving from west to east on the Yingze overpass. Liu saw a minivan blasted with heavy smoke and spread a lot of debris at the scene when he waited for traffic lights in front of the office building, Xinhua said. The accident is suspected to be caused by self-made bombs as steel beads were scattered at the scene, the report said. The site of accident has been cordoned. Police are investigating the case.
— PTI
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Musharraf freed after 6 months of house arrest
Two days after a court here granted him bail in a case related to the killing of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Musharraf submitted two surety bonds of Rs 1 lakh each. His lawyer Ilyas Siddiqui said, "Musharraf is a free man now." The 70-year-old former President has been under house arrest at his sprawling farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad and aides said the notification declaring it a "sub-jail" would be withdrawn soon. "The sub-jail will be denotified soon. Musharraf will hold a media briefing soon," Aasia Ishaque, spokesperson for his All Pakistan Muslim League party, told PTI. However, staff from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail continued to be deployed at the farmhouse in Chak Shehzad. APML leaders and supporters gathered outside the farmhouse and distributed sweets. A large media contingent too was present. Ahmed Raza Kasuri, a senior member of Musharraf's legal team, said his release was not part of any deal. Besides the Lal Masjid case, Musharraf has been granted bail in three other cases registered against him over the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation and the imposition of emergency in 2007. The cases were filed after he returned to Pakistan from self-exile in March to revive his political career. However, a court barred him from contesting polls for life. — PTI
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Graft case filed against former Pak PM Ashraf
Late last month, NAB’s new Chairman Qamar Zaman Choudhry approved the filing of a case against Ashraf. The charges date back to Mr Ashraf’s tenure as Power Minister during 2008-11. NAB had the case ready for a long time but was unable to proceed as the post of Chairman was vacant for several months. Nine firms have been accused of receiving over
Rs 22 billion as a mobilisation advance from the government to commission “rental power projects” but most of them did not set up the plants. A few firms installed the plants but after an inordinate delay. Ashraf allegedly received kickbacks and commissions when he was Power Minister and he was given the nickname “Raja Rental” for his role in the scam. In March 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that the contracts for the power plants were non-transparent and rescinded them. Mr Ashraf, an agriculturist-turned-politician, served as premier from June 2012 to March 16 this year. Earlier, he served as Power Minister under former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani.
— PTI
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Yasser Arafat was ‘murdered with polonium’
"We are revealing a real crime, a political assassination," she said. A team of experts, including from Lausanne University Hospital's Institute of Radiation Physics, opened Arafat's grave in the West Bank city of Ramallah last November, and took samples from his body to seek evidence of alleged poisoning. "This has confirmed all our doubts," said Suha Arafat, who met members of the Swiss forensic team in Geneva on Tuesday. "It is scientifically proved that he didn't die a natural death and we have scientific proof that this man was killed." — Reuters
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B’desh seeks extradition of Zia’s son from UK Indians confined 19 Filipino women in villa Maldives set for Presidential polls US woman recounts 11-year captivity World’s most expensive car is priced £4.6m
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