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Obama vows Western unity ahead of Ukraine crisis talks
Egyptian court sentences 529 Morsi supporters to death
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New letter gives first-hand account of Titanic disaster
Pak-TTP talks for release of Gilani’s son begin today
Kidnapped Pak Sikh duo released
Decision on NDMA status after LS polls, says Sharif
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Obama vows Western unity ahead of Ukraine crisis talks
The Hague, March 24 In Ukraine itself, the country's acting President announced that its troops had been given orders to withdraw from Crimea after the fall of another military base to Kremlin troops. "Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people, we're united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far," Obama told journalists at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. Obama then headed to The Hague where he has called an emergency Group of Seven summit to discuss what steps to take in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. Russian troops have rapidly overrun the flashpoint Black Sea peninsula since the fall of a pro-Moscow government in Kiev a month ago. "The national security and defence council has reached a decision, under instructions from the defence ministry, to conduct a redeployment of military units stationed in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," acting Ukraine President Oleksandr Turchynov told lawmakers in the face of the latest seizure. A senior official in the pro-Russian regional government later said all troops loyal to Ukraine had left their bases in Crimea. A top NATO commander had warned yesterday that the Western military alliance was carefully watching massive Russian troop formations on the eastern border of Ukraine that could theoretically make a push across the vast ex-Soviet country at any point. Paratroopers and armoured personnel carriers stormed the naval base in Feodosia with vehicles seen leaving the base carrying Ukrainian marines whose hands had been tied. Russia's takeover of Crimea has forced Western leaders to rethink their relationship with Moscow after a post-Cold War period in which they sought to usher Russia into the broader international community. The growing crisis will dominate the summit in The Hague originally set up to discuss nuclear security. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) for what may be their most tense talks to date. It will be their first meeting since Washington imposed financial restrictions on the most powerful members of Putin's inner circle for their decision to resort to force in response to the fall of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin regime after three months of sometimes deadly protests. British Prime Minister David Cameron said leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, minus current G8 chair Russia, must discuss the permanent expulsion of Russia from the group, which it was admitted to in 1998 as a reward for choosing a democratic post-Soviet course.
— AFP India, BRICS oppose sanctions against Russia
New Delhi: India on Monday joined other BRICS nations in opposing Western sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. "The escalation of hostile language, sanctions and counter-sanctions, and force does not contribute to a sustainable and peaceful solution, according to international law, including the principles and purposes of the united Nations Charter,'' the BRICS Foreign Ministers said in a statement issued at the end of their meeting at The Hague on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit.
— TNS
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Egyptian court sentences 529 Morsi supporters to death
Cairo, March 24 The court in Minya sentenced 529 activists of the Muslim Brotherhood, to which 62-year-old Morsi belongs, to death. They were convicted, among other charges, of the murder of the deputy commander of the Matay district police station in Minya, in southern Egypt. The court also acquitted 16 other defendants. Ahram Online reported it was the largest set of death sentences handed to defendants in the modern history of Egypt. Defence lawyer Muhammad Shubeib said the verdict will be appealed. He also complained that he had no chance to present his case and the ruling was issued after two sessions only. Authorities cracked down heavily on the Islamists after the dispersal of pro-Morsi sit-ins in Rabea al Adawiya and Nahda squares in Cairo last August. Hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested since. More than 150 suspects were in court for the trial, the others were convicted in absentia. Morsi was ousted by the military last July following mass street protests against his government. He is facing four separate trials and the Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organisation with authorities punishing any public show of support for it. A second group of 700 Morsi supporters is due to go on trial tomorrow.
— PTI
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Ukraine pulls out forces from Crimea
Kiev, March 24 The dramatic but seemingly inevitable announcement came after the fall of another Ukrainian base in Crimea and as world leaders gathered in The Hague for a security summit dominated by concerns over the most explosive East-West standoff since the Cold War. "Europe and America are united in our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people, we're united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far," US President Barack Obama told reporters shortly after landing in the Netherlands. A top commander in NATO had warned yesterday that the Western military alliance was carefully watching massive Russian troop formations on the eastern border of Ukraine that could theoretically make a push across the vast ex-Soviet country at any point. Moscow has denied any such plans despite President Vladimir Putin's open ambition to resurrect vestiges of the Soviet empire and stamp his authority over eastern European nations that sought protection from the West following the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. But the Kremlin has made clear it intends to "protect" compatriots in the Russifies southeastern swaths of Ukraine that it says have been victimised by violent nationalists since last month's rise to power of a pro-European team. Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov sombrely told top lawmakers that both servicemen and their families would now be relocated to the mainland.
— AFP
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New letter gives first-hand account of Titanic disaster
London, March 24 Written in French and dated August 8, 1955 -- more than 43 years after the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean -- the letter is from a French woman named Rose Amelie Icard who survived the disaster. The letter describes scenes of "horror" and "sublime heroism" as passengers tried to escape the sinking vessel. Icard is believed to have been a maid to a wealthy American passenger called Martha Stone, the widow of the president of Canadian telephone company Bell Cie. The pair escaped in a lifeboat and were rescued by the Carpathia vessel before being taken to New York. It is thought that Icard wrote the letter to the daughter of another woman whose mother also survived the disaster. The letter, written in blue ink, is addressed to a woman believed to be called Madame Ausein, 'The Telegraph' reported. The letter emerged after a user of online community Reddit requested help in translating a set of letters written by Icard that he bought at an auction around two years ago. In the letter, Icard wrote how even 43 years after the tragedy on April 15, 1912, she still had nightmares. "Towards eleven o'clock, Mrs Stone and I went to bed. Three quarters of an hour later, as the liner was cruising at full speed, a terrifying shock threw us out of bed," Icard wrote in the letter. She later helped Stone dress and the duo went to the deck. "At this moment we witnessed unforgettable scenes where horror mixed with the most sublime heroism. Women, still in evening gowns, some just out of bed, barely clothed, dishevelled, distraught, scrambled for the boats," she wrote. "Firm and calm, in the throng, officers and sailors were taking the women and children by the arm and directing them towards the lifeboats," Icard wrote. She also talked of scenes on board as wives were put aboard lifeboats, leaving their husbands on board to die with the sinking vessel. At one point, the crew sung a hymn to help lift the passengers’ spirits before the lifeboats were lowered, she wrote. — PTI Horror & heroism
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Pak-TTP talks for release of Gilani’s son begin today
Peshawar, March 24 Rustam Shah, a member of the state-committee, said today the Pakistan government has completed its homework for pursuing talks with the banned militant outfit likely to take place tomorrow at an undisclosed location. He said the government has also prepared a list of demands and would present it before the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 'shura' during the meeting. The demands include the recovery of Syed Ali Haider Gilani and Shahbaz Taseer, the sons of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilan and slain Punjab Governor Salman Taseer respectively. The committee would also seek the recovery of Islamia College University Vice Chancellor Ajmal Khan. Rustam said the government team is planning to hold the talks tomorrow and had the weather not turned for the worse, the meeting could have taken place today. The Taliban committee's representative Professor Ibrahim said he was in continuous contact with the government's negotiators.
— PTI Key demands
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Kidnapped Pak Sikh duo released
Peshawar, March 24 The two Sikhs have been released after a local 'jirga' of tribal elders negotiated with the unknown captors. Some insiders, however, said that a huge amount of ransom was paid to secure the release. The
captives, Savendar Singh and Anand Singh, were kidnapped from Dera
Ismail Khan on February 11 by unknown assailants.
— PTI
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Decision on NDMA status after LS polls, says Sharif Islamabad, March 24 Speaking to the media after a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of a two-day nuclear summit at The Hague, Sharif said he had directed his team to talk to all stakeholders and develop consensus on the matter. He admitted that the decision to grant "MFN" (most-favoured nation) status to India was postponed because of a lack of consensus, Dawn News reported. "We also deferred this due to elections in India because we did not want to favour single political party in India," Sharif added. A media report had said that the main stumbling block was the Foreign Ministry here. Though the ministry denied such claims, but analysts say the Ministry wants to extract its own pound of flesh before granting the NDMA status to India. — PTI
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Royal Mail issues stamp of WW-II hero Noor Pak CJ asks for report on threat to Karachi temple Pak court summons ISI chief in missing person case Opposition concedes defeat in Maldives vote 
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