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Afghans defy Taliban threat, vote to choose Prez
Pak Christian couple gets death for blasphemy
Thai ‘Red Shirts’ rally to support beleaguered PM
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Gas row: Russia seeks over $11 bn in debt from Ukraine
20 killed in Nigerian mosque attack
Turkey keeps YouTube ban
Fighting over woman kills 23 in Egypt
UK allows Indian prisoner to perform father’s rites
Indian priest in US to be deported for molestation
India: US cop’s arrest not linked to diplomat case
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Afghans defy Taliban threat, vote to choose Prez
Kabul, April 5 The Taliban had rejected the election as a foreign plot and urged their fighters to target polling staff, voters and security forces, but there were no major attacks reported during the day. The head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani told AFP turnout was better than expected, without giving figures, but lower in rural districts than cities. "We have had reports of ballot papers running low in some areas and have ordered regional and provincial centres to supply extra material," he said. Polling stations started to close at 5:00 pm, though officials said that people already in line would still be allowed to vote. In Kabul, hit by a series of deadly attacks during the election campaign, hundreds of people lined up in the open air to vote despite heavy rain and the threat of violence. "I'm not afraid of Taliban threats, we will die one day anyway. I want my vote to be a slap in the face of the Taliban," housewife Laila Neyazi, 48, told AFP. Poll security was a major concern following the attacks in Kabul, most recently a suicide bombing on Wednesday that killed six police officers. But a fatal blast was reported in Logar province, where one person was killed and two wounded according to Mohammad Agha district chief Abdul Hameed Hamid. IEC chief Nuristani said attacks or fear of violence had forced 211 of a total 6,423 voting centres to remain closed. — Agencies
Election commission runs out of ballot papers
Kabul: There was a shortage of ballot papers that left many voters still queueing to cast their vote with polling due to close, as the organisers appeared unprepared for a high turnout. The Independent Election Commission ordered voting to be extended by at least an hour, with ballot papers being dispatched where they were needed for people to vote for a successor to President Hamid Karzai. |
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Pak Christian couple gets death for blasphemy
Lahore, April 5 The verdict was pronounced at the district jail, where the trial was held for eight months owing to security reasons. Shafqat, 44, and his wife Shagufta sent a blasphemous text message insulting Prophet Muhammad, according to the FIR lodged against them on the complaints of cleric Malik Muhammad Hussain and a former Gojra tehsil bar president Anwar Mansoor Goraya. They were arrested on July 25 last year. —PTI |
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Thai ‘Red Shirts’ rally to support beleaguered PM
Bangkok, April 5 About 1,00,000 pro-government activists are expected to mass on the edge of Bangkok. Earlier, "Red Shirts" had said 5,00,000 supporters would enter the city. More than 3,000 policemen and soldiers are being deployed for the mass rally that came following political violence in which 24 people were killed and several others wounded since anti-government campaign was launched in November last year. The "Red Shirts" or the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship - as the group is formally known - have vowed to support Yingluck, facing legal cases which could see her dismissal from office. The anti-government protesters from People's Democratic Reform Committee have occupied the city's sprawling Lumpuni park near the financial district for weeks now. — PTI
Oppn leader calls for final battle
Bangkok: Top Thai protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban on Saturday asked anti-government activists to prepare for the “final battle” to be triggered by the ouster of embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. |
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Gas row: Russia seeks over $11 bn in debt from Ukraine
Moscow, April 5 Miller said this week's annulment of the so-called Kharkiv accords, which gave Ukraine cut-price Russian gas until 2017 in exchange for access to the Crimea's port facilities, means that Kiev should pay the sum total of this discount back. "The sum of the discount granted in the time that the Kharkiv accords were valid was $11.4 billion. That is the sum that the Russian government, the Russian budget did not receive," Miller told Russian television. The discount was a de-facto advance payment by Moscow for the future lease on Black Sea Fleet's facilities in the Crimean port of Sevastopol - annexed by Russia with the rest of the peninsula - and so must be paid back, he added. "Russia was paying for the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine... towards prolonging the agreement. That is, Russia was paying an advance. Therefore, the $11.4 billion is a debt that Ukraine has accrued to Russia," he said. Tensions between Moscow and Kiev have been running high since Russia annexed Crimea last month in defiance of the international community after pro-European demonstrators ousted Ukraine's pro-Kremlin leaders. Cutting discounts which had been in place, Russia hiked its gas price for Ukraine by 80 per cent last week to USD 485.50 per 1,000 cubic metres, reflecting its deep displeasure with the ex-Soviet nation's new westward course. Gazprom is also seeking immediate payment for all recent gas deliveries to Ukraine, valued at over $2.2 billion. Moscow has repeatedly shown readiness to use gas as a lever in conflicts with Ukraine, which remains dependent on imports from its resource-rich former Soviet master to keep the country running. — AFP
Ukraine threatens to move court
Kiev: Ukrainian Prime Minister Asreniy Yatsenyuk on Saturday said Russia’s two rate increase in gas price in three days were a form of "economic aggression" aimed at punishing Ukraine's new leaders and it would take its energy-rich neighbour to arbitration court. Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom this week raised the price of Ukrainian gas by 81 per cent — to $485.50 from $268.50 for 1,000 cubic
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20 killed in Nigerian mosque attack
Yobe, April 5 Civil servant Musa Ibrahim said the gunmen struck before dawn Saturday as residents of Buni Gari village were gathering for the first prayer of the day. The village is about 100 km south of the Yobe state capital of Damaturu in an area that has been attacked many times. — PTI |
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Turkey keeps YouTube ban
Istanbul, April 5 The court in the capital Ankara yesterday lifted a March 27 government decision blocking access to YouTube. But it later reversed the decision, saying the block would remain in place until the audio recordings allegedly showing top-level security talks on Syria are removed. — AFP |
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Fighting over woman kills 23 in Egypt
Cairo, April 5 Longstanding tensions between Bani Hilal tribesmen and the Nubian Dabudiya family emerged after the woman was accosted on Thursday, the interior ministry said. — AFP |
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UK allows Indian prisoner to perform father’s rites
London, April 5 Joginder Paul Kashyap, serving a default prison sentence over non-payment of a confiscation order at Oakwood prison near the West Midlands city of Wolverhampton, was given immediate permission this week to be "chief mourner" and have his handcuffs removed to take part in the rituals of the Hindu funeral. The 57-year-old had originally been told by the prison that he could only attend the cremation while handcuffed and accompanied by two guards. He launched judicial review proceedings and a judge ruled earlier this week that the original decision was wrong. "The claimant's handcuffs are to be removed in accordance with the terms set out in the Schedule to this Order," reads the court order by Justice Leggatt. — PTI
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Indian priest in US to be deported for molestation
Washington, April 5 Father Leo Charles Koppala pleaded guilty on March 17 to criminal sexual conduct charges involving a 12-year-old girl and is likely to be deported to India, according to local CBS News. Koppala, 47, was a priest of the Nellore Diocese in Andhra Pradesh in South India where he reportedly helped raise money to support an orphanage, according to Fairmont Sentinel. Koppala was charged in the case in June 2013 and could have faced up to 36 years in prison. He had been placed on administrative leave from the Diocese of Winona in southern Minnesota since June 10, 2013, but was permanently terminated from the ministry after the sentence, the CBS said. — IANS
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India: US cop’s arrest not linked to diplomat case New York, April 5 The Indian consulate here said that any suggestions that the arrest of New York Police Department (NYPD) officer Manny Encarnacion was connected in any way to Khobragade's detention were "ridiculous". The consulate said the NYPD officer was detained after his baggage was found to contain a few rounds of "live ammunition" when the bags were screened at New Delhi airport, prior to him boarding the flight. "In India, this is a violation of the Arms Act. Indeed, he was released on bail immediately and is currently in India awaiting a court date to resolve the case," the statement issued here said. Encarnacion, 49, was arrested on March 11 at Indira Gandhi International Airport after three bullets were found in his checked luggage. — PTI
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21 injured in earthquake Musharraf's plea rejected Morsi back in court Man in jail over Indian's death
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Afghans voted in large numbers today to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai.
Bangkok, April 5
