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Russia rebuffs West on Crimea amid talks
Students at UK varsity want Imran sacked as Chancellor
TTP ‘threatens’ Musharraf’s lawyers with beheading
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Migrant Indians among most enterprising in UK: Report
US plans $280 m military aid to Pakistan, cuts civilian aid
161 yrs later, NYT prints a correction to 'Slave' story
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Russia rebuffs West on Crimea amid talks
Paris/Kiev, March 5 US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today held direct talks on Ukraine in Paris on the sidelines of an international meeting on Lebanon, diplomats said. Kerry and Lavrov held informal discussions along with their British, French and German counterparts over coffee after lunch at the French presidential palace, a US State Department official said. A Western diplomatic source said the talks centred around the crisis in Ukraine and lasted for several minutes. It was the first time Kerry and Lavrov had met since a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine was ousted, prompting the de facto takeover of the Crimean peninsula by pro-Moscow forces. Western governments are pressing Lavrov to hold direct talks with the acting Ukrainian Foreign Minsiter during his time in Paris. Meanwhile, the European Union offered Ukraine's new pro-Western government 11 billion euros in financial aid in the next couple of years provided Kiev reaches a deal with the International Monetary Fund. Germany, the EU's biggest economy, also promised bilateral financial help. Ukraine's new finance minister, Oleksander Shlapak, caused a fall in the Ukrainian bond and currency markets by saying his economically shattered country may start talks with creditors on restructuring its foreign currency debt. And the US Defense Department, in an apparent attempt to signal resolve to Moscow, announced military measures to support eastern European NATO allies adjoining Russia and Ukraine. Russia and the West are locked in the most serious battle since the end of the Cold War for influence in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic with historic ties to Moscow that is a major commodities exporter and strategic link between East and West. Ukraine pulled out of a trade deal with the EU under Russian pressure last year, sparking months of protests in Kiev and the February 22 ouster of President Viktor Yanukovich, a Russian ally. Ukraine says Russia has occupied Crimea, where its Black Sea fleet is based, provoking an international outcry and sharp falls in financial markets on Monday, though they have since stabilised. The foreign ministers of Russia, the United States, Britain, and Germany met their French counterpart and French President Francois Hollande in Paris to try to start a diplomatic process to defuse the crisis. But diplomats said it was not clear whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would take the crucial step of attending
talks with Ukraine's new foreign minister, a member of a government Moscow has described as illegitimate. US Secretary of State John Kerry left the meeting at Hollande's office without making any statement. Earlier, Lavrov repeated Moscow's assertion, ridiculed by the West, that the troops that have seized control of the Black Sea peninsula are not under Russian command.
— Reuters Russia sold $11.3 bn to support rouble
Moscow: Russia on Wednesday revealed it sold a record $11.3 billion in foreign currency to support the rouble on March 3, during a "Black Monday" of panic selling over the crisis in Ukraine which analysts say rattled the Kremlin. The Russian central bank sold foreign currency to buy rubles and prevent the Russian currency from falling further in value, after the market reacted with shock to parliamentary approval for President Vladimir Putin's request to allow military action in Ukraine. ‘No control’ over pro-Moscow force in Crimea
Madrid: Russia on Wednesday said it has no authority over pro-Moscow forces that have taken de-facto control of the Ukraine's majority-Russian Crimean Peninsula. A day after US President Barack Obama said Russia was "not fooling anybody" over its role in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted the armed troops were not taking orders from the Kremlin. "If they are the self-defence forces created by the inhabitants of Crimea, we have no authority over them," Lavrov told a news conference.
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Students at UK varsity want Imran sacked as Chancellor
The student's union at the University of Bradford in northern England will vote on a motion calling for Imran to step down later this month. Mohsin Tanveer, a law student who tabled the motion, said graduates felt neglected and Khan should choose between his political career and his position at the university. "He has continuously missed graduation ceremonies which is his utmost duty as chancellor," Tanveer said. "Nobody is against him. Students are unhappy with him for not fulfilling his duties, its best for both parties that he stand down," he said. But Bradford vice-chancellor professor Brian Cantor appeared to defend Imran. "Our chancellor has a major political role in Pakistan, a country which has serious problems with terrorism, education and poverty," Cantor said in a statement. "While I understand that it is frustrating for students that Imran has not attended an award ceremony at Bradford for some time, I have urged students to be sympathetic to the situation in Pakistan and the responsibility Imran has to improving the state of the country." "I have appealed to the better nature of our student body to be more supportive of the work Imran has to carry out as a politician," he said. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader is the fifth Chancellor of Bradford University. He was appointed to the post in 2005 and his formal duties include conferring students with their degrees at two annual congregations over five days. His predecessors include former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who rarely missed a ceremony. — PTI In line of fire
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TTP ‘threatens’ Musharraf’s lawyers with beheading
The lawyers produced a handwritten letter, allegedly sent to them by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in the special court conducting the former President's high-treason trial. Musharraf's counsel Ahmad Raza Kasuri said TTP has threatened his client's legal team including himself, Anwar Mansoor and Sharifuddin Pirzada. Kasuri read out the letter, signed as "people of South and North Waziristan", in the court. "We cannot go ahead with this case in these conditions," he said, before reading out the letter. "Dear Sirs, we request that the three of you stop representing Musharraf otherwise we will destroy your children and behead all of you," the letter said. Musharraf's lawyers also submitted an application from him, seeking permission to travel abroad for treatment and also to attend to his "seriously ailing mother". Musharraf stated that his mother is 94 years old, residing in Dubai and she is suffering from a number of serious ailments. "She has been in and out of the hospital and is under constant medical supervision. I consider it imperative to see her and ensure that she is being properly looked after." Similar requests have been denied by the court in the past. Kasuri said the court, which has been set up at the National Library here, should move to a safer location after the suicide attack on a local court in Islamabad on Monday that killed 11 persons, including a judge. An application has been filed in this regard by the lawyers. However, prosecutor Akram Sheikh Advocate argued that the courts work even during war. Justice Faisal Arab said that the file of the case could not be closed and dumped in the record room in view of any threat. "We are conscious of our responsibility, if the case comes before the court, it has to be proceeded, we cannot leave our job for any threat of life," Arab said. (With inputs from
PTI)
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US First Lady honours Indian acid attack victim
Washington, March 5 Obama and the large crowd at the State Department auditorium was moved and touched when Laxmi, a standard-bearer of the movement to end acid attacks, recited a poem recounting her experience on the occasion yesterday. "You haven't thrown acid on my face; you threw it on my dreams. You didn't have love in your heart; you had acid in it," Laxmi recited soon after receiving the prestigious award along with several other women from different parts of the world including Afghanistan and Fiji. The original poem was in Hindi. Laxmi was 16 when an acquaintance threw acid on her face while she waited at a bus stop in New Delhi's busy Khan Market in 2005, disfiguring her permanently. Her attacker, a friend's 32-year-old brother, threw the acid to destroy Laxmi's face after she refused to respond to his romantic advances. Recognition for her effort through this award, is a great encouragement and motivation for the girls and women of India, many of whom still are not able to speak out against the atrocities inflicted upon them, Laxmi said soon after receiving the award. "After this award, girls of India would think, if Laxmi can do this, I can also raise my voice against injustice," Laxmi told PTI in an interview. Last year, Nirbhaya, the courageous 23-year-old girl whose brutal gang rape and murder on a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012 triggered widespread protests, was honoured with the award. — PTI
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Migrant Indians among most enterprising in UK: Report London, March 5 The report titled 'Migrant Entrepreneurs: Building Our Businesses, Creating Our Jobs', found that migrant entrepreneurs are behind one in seven of all UK companies and that Irish, Indian, German, American and Chinese make up the top performing nationalities. Ireland leads the charge with 48,854 founders running their own businesses across the UK, followed by India with 32,593 and Germany with 30,755. Around half a million people from 155 countries have launched businesses in the UK and these migrant-founded companies are responsible for creating 14 per cent of all jobs, it said. "The majority of the public appreciate the value of migrant entrepreneurs, yet our politicians and media send out negative signals that risk alienating this vital group of job creators," said Luke Johnson, Centre for Entrepreneurs chairman and serial entrepreneur. "Given the huge contribution of migrant entrepreneurs, we are calling upon the media and politicians to join us in celebrating those who come to our country and launch businesses," he added. The report coincides with a BBC revelation that the UK government held back a politically sensitive migrant impact report, that suggested the impact of extra migrants on the country's workforce is weaker than what government has claimed. According to the 'Migrant Entrepreneurs' report, the entrepreneurial activity among the migrant community was found to be nearly double that of UK-born individuals, with 17.2 per cent having launched their own businesses, compared to 10.4 per cent of those born in Britain. They are also, on an average, eight years younger than indigenous entrepreneurs at 44 years-old compared to 52. — PTI Adding to wealth
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US plans $280 m military aid to Pakistan, cuts civilian aid
Washington, March 5 Marred by financial constraints, the Obama administration has proposed to substantially cut civilian aid to Pakistan to $446 million for the next fiscal year as against $703 million in 2013, which among other things the State Department argued is aimed at improving ties with India. "Pakistan will remain a key player in US counter terrorism and nuclear nonproliferation efforts in FY 2015, as well as in our long-term objectives of economic development and stability in the region," the State Department said in its annual budget proposals to the Congress.
— PTI
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161 yrs later, NYT prints a correction to 'Slave' story
New York, March 5 The old article, which was published after Northup managed to free himself from captivity, started circulating online as '12 Years A Slave' won at the Oscars. A reader noted that the article spelled Northup's name incorrectly in two places following which the paper printed a correction. "An article on Jan 20, 1853, recounting the story of Solomon Northup, whose memoir '12 Years A Slave' became a movie 160 years later that won the best picture Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday night, misspelled his surname as Northrop. And the headline misspelled it as Northrup.
— PTI
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4 Indians killed in road mishap in Saudi Arabia Forced by starvation, woman kills two sons in Pak Frenchman convicted for running Qaida website 6 Pak soldiers killed in IED blast 
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London, March 5
Pervez Musharraf's lawyers today told a court that the Pakistani Taliban had threatened them with beheading if they continued to represent the former military dictator and called for a change in the venue of his high-profile treason trial.
