The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Russia holds first May Day parade on Red Square since Soviet days Trade unionists march against background of Ukraine crisis \| Moscow mayor: It’s patriotic wave Moscow, May 1 Russia staged a huge May Day parade on Moscow's Red Square for the first time since the Soviet era on Thursday, with workers holding banners proclaiming support for President Vladimir Putin after the seizure of territory from neighbouring Ukraine. Thousands of trade unionists marched with Russian flags and flags of Putin's ruling United Russia party onto the giant square beneath the Kremlin walls, past the red granite mausoleum of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin. Many banners displayed traditional slogans for the annual workers' holiday, like: "Peace, Labour, May". But others were more directly political, alluding to the crisis in neighbouring former Soviet republic Ukraine, where Russian troops seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula in March, precipitating the biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War. "I am proud of my country," read one. "Putin is right," said another. Unlike Kremlin leaders in Soviet times, Putin did not personally preside at the parade from atop the mausoleum. But he carried out another Soviet-era tradition by awarding "Hero of Labour" medals to five workers at a ceremony in the Kremlin. He revived the Stalin-era award a year ago. Putin has described the breakup of the Soviet Union as a tragedy and overturned decades of post-Cold War diplomacy in March by declaring Russia's right to intervene in former Soviet countries to protect Russian speakers. Laws have been changed to make it easier for Russia to annex territory from other former Soviet states and for inhabitants of other parts of the old Soviet Union to get Russian citizenship. Since the annexation of Crimea, pro-Moscow gunmen have seized territory in eastern Ukraine and Putin has massed tens of thousands of troops on the frontier. He denies he is planning an invasion but proclaims the right to launch one if necessary to defend Russian speakers. May Day, always an important date in the Soviet calendar and still a major holiday for Russians, has been marked by rallies in other parts of Moscow since the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of 1991, but until now parades were kept off Red Square. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin told Rossiya 24 TV from Red Square that more than 100,000 people had marched through it. "This is not by chance, because there is a patriotic uplift and a good mood in the country," he said. Russian television also showed footage of a May Day parade in Crimea's capital Simferopol, with Russian flags and banners reading "Crimea is Russia. Welcome home." "We are sure that the current patriotic uplift in Crimea will spill over into the whole Russian Federation," Interfax news agency quoted Crimea's pro-Moscow leader Sergei Aksyonov as telling journalists. Russia seized the peninsula last month after a pro-Russian Ukrainian president was toppled in February. — Reuters Reviving tradition Russian President Vladimir Putin revived Soviet-era tradition by awarding ‘Hero of Labour’ medals to five workers at a ceremony in the Kremlin. He revived the Stalin-era award a year ago. Putin has described the breakup of the Soviet Union as a tragedy and overturned decades of post-Cold War diplomacy in March by declaring Russia's right to intervene in former Soviet countries to protect Russian speakers. Laws have been changed to make it easier for Russia to annex territory from other former Soviet states and for inhabitants of other parts of the old Soviet Union to get Russian citizenship. May Day has been marked by rallies in other parts of Moscow since the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of 1991, but until now parades were kept off Red Square.
	From Hong Kong to Istanbul, protests mark Labour Day Istanbul, May 1 The Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul today, as tens of thousands of people hit the streets around the world to mark International Labour Day. In tense Istanbul, the police dispersed hundreds of protesters who tried to defy a ban on demonstrations on the city's Taksim Square on the anniversary of clashes that spawned a nationwide protest movement. The square has been the scene of protests that have dogged the government for months. After giving a final warning, hundreds of riot police backed up by water cannon moved in on protesters in the Besiktas district as they tried to breach the barricades leading up to the symbolic square, according to an AFP reporter. Rallies also took place across Asia, including in Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taipei and Seoul, where the annual protest was expected to take a sombre tone in the wake of the South Korean ferry disaster. Russian workers, meanwhile, were to parade on Red Square for the first time since 1991 - the latest Soviet tradition to be revived as a wave of patriotism sweeps the country. May Day was a key date in the Soviet calendar, with elaborate celebrations involving ranks of marching athletes, soldiers and workers on the Moscow square, but in recent years the annual demonstrations have been relegated to a city highway. In Cambodia, security forces armed with sticks and batons forcibly dispersed dozens of May Day protesters near Phnom Penh's Freedom Park, according to an AFP photographer. Several people were beaten. The park, opened by the government in 2010 as a designated area for people to air their grievances, was closed off by police with barbed wire as the authorities seek to clamp down on protests against long-ruling strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Indonesian police said some 33,000 workers were set to rally across the capital Jakarta. Unions said up to two million workers would be out in force to demand better working conditions in Southeast Asia's most populous nation, although in previous years the numbers have come in much lower than such forecasts. "Demonstrations will be held nationwide but the biggest will be in Jakarta, with around 33,000 workers," police spokesman Rikwanto told AFP, adding that 18,000 police officers would be out on the streets. — AFP
	Ukraine detains Russian military attaché for spying Kiev, May 1 Ukraine ordered the expulsion of Russia's military attaché, saying it had caught him "red-handed" receiving classified information on the country's cooperation with NATO during an armed uprising. The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday the diplomat had been detained a day earlier and declared persona non grata. Ukraine's security service said he was a Russian intelligence officer who had been collecting intelligence on "Ukrainian-NATO military and political cooperation". "On April 30, he was caught red-handed receiving classified material from his source," said Maryna Ostapenko, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's security service, the SBU. She described the source as a colonel in the Ukrainian armed forces. Ukraine says Russia stands behind the fall of towns and cities over the past month in the country's industrial east to pro-Russian separatists, often involving well-organised masked gunmen in military fatigues. Ostapenko said the attaché had been handed over to the Russian embassy and ordered to leave, though she was not sure if he had yet done so. — Reuters
	Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs targets of violence in US, says Obama Washington, May 1 US President Barack Obama has acknowledged that even today a number of people from the South Asian origin — particularly those from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities — are becoming victims of hate crimes in America. "Even today, South Asian Americans, especially those who are Muslim, Hindu and Sikh, are targets of suspicion and violence," Obama said in a presidential proclamation that recognised the contribution of Asian-Americans in the socio-political and economic milieu of the country. "Like America itself, the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community draws strength from the diversity of its many distinct cultures -- each with vibrant histories and unique perspectives to bring to our national life,” Obama said. “Asian Americans, native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have helped build, defend and strengthen our nation -- as farm workers and railroad laborers; as entrepreneurs and scientists; as artists, activists, and leaders of government. They have gone beyond, embodying the soaring aspirations of the American spirit," Obama said. Noting that May marks 145 years since the final spike was hammered into the transcontinental railroad, an achievement made possible by Chinese labourers, who did the majority of this backbreaking and dangerous work, Obama said this May, they would receive long-overdue recognition as they are inducted into the Labor Hall of Honor. "Generations of Asian Americans, native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders have helped make this country what it is today," he said. "Yet they have also faced a long history of injustice -- from the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and its devastating impact on the history, language and culture of native Hawaiians; to opportunity-limiting laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1924; to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II," he said. Obama reiterated his determination to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would modernise the legal immigration system, create a pathway to earned citizenship for undocumented immigrants, hold employers accountable, and strengthen the border security. — PTI India struggles to protect minorities: US report Washington: A US Congressional panel on religious freedom, which was instrumental in the visa ban on Narendra Modi, has said that despite its status as a pluralistic and secular democracy, India has struggled to protect minority communities or provide justice to them. In its latest annual report, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom has rued that the US has enforced its law on visa ban on foreign individuals involved in violation of religious freedom only once on Modi and as such it urged the State Department to expand such a visa ban. — PTI
	US rules out mediation Washington, May 1 The US has ruled out any mediation on the Kashmir issue as long as India rejects such a proposal and asked Pakistan to avoid employing militancy as an instrument of state policy. "As long as India rejects any actual medication, there's not much we can do in that regard specifically," Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins said. — PTI
	Gerry Adams held over notorious IRA murder Antrim (UK), May 1 The Northern Ireland police today questioned Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, a chief negotiator in the Irish peace process, over the notorious IRA murder of a woman suspected of being an informant in 1972. The 65-year-old republican leader was arrested last night over the killing of mother-of-ten Jean McConville after voluntarily attending a police station in Antrim, Northern Ireland, for an interview. Adams strongly rejected any involvement in the murder, one of the most infamous incidents in Northern Ireland's violent history, saying in a statement that the allegations were "malicious". "While I have never disassociated myself from the IRA and I never will, I am innocent of any part in the abduction, killing or burial of Mrs McConville," he said. Sinn Fein was once the political arm of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary group, which waged a bloody campaign over three decades for British-controlled Northern Ireland to become part of Ireland. The party now shares power with the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the devolved government in Belfast. It is also represented in the Irish parliament in Dublin. Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said Adams's arrest was "politically motivated", as it came three weeks ahead of local and European Parliament elections. McConville, a 37-year-old widow with ten children, was snatched from her home in west Belfast, becoming one of more than a dozen so-called "disappeared" of the conflict. She had been shot in the back of the head. The IRA accused her of being an informer for the British army, although a police watchdog later found no evidence to support the claim. McConville's son Michael, who was 11 years old when he saw his mother dragged away, said he was pleased that the police were "doing their job". However, he admitted in a BBC interview that he still refused to name the people he saw taking his mother, saying he still feared reprisals. — AFP
	Jo’burg to get first gurdwara after 8-yr battle Johannesburg, May 1 The first full-fledged gurdwara is to be built here following an eight-year battle with mainly white South African residents of an upmarket suburb. The Parkmore Residents Association had consistently lodged objections to the construction of the gurdwara on land donated by African-born Sikh businessman Harbinder Singh Sethi. The gurdwara has been run on a temporary basis so far. But now the City of Johannesburg has agreed to rezone the property to allow construction of a place of worship. Sethi said construction work on the 15-million-rand gurdwara would start within the next two months. The Parkmore community had also objected to the construction of the gurdwara, with its 91 members alleging that Sethi had initially said he would build a house on the land but then used it for temple facilities. — PTI
	Pak mosque named after man who shot Punjab Guv Taseer Islamabad, May 1 A mosque in the suburbs of the Pakistani capital has been named after the person who shot dead former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, drawing strong condemnation from his family and the country's civil society. Taseer was shot 27 times and killed by Mumtaz Qadri, a member of his own security detail, at the posh Kohsar Market on January 4, 2011, in Islamabad for standing up for a Christian girl accused of blasphemy. Qadri has become a divisive figure in Pakistan as he is hailed as a "hero" by some and denounced as murderer by others. The mosque is in Ghori Town, a housing society near on way to the airport. Although the mosque was built nearly three years ago, it drew attention only this week after a resident tweeted about it. "The mosque was built to pay tribute to the man. The construction of the mosque, named after Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, began in October 2011. It is complete now and we have been offering prayers here since last one year," mosque's prayer leader Mohammad Ashfaq Sabri told PTI. "Please report the facts," Sabri said. Reports say efforts are not to expand the mosque to cater to the large number of people who pray there. The news of Mumtaz Qadri mosque comes just after it came to light that the Lal Masjid here has named its library after slain Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. The late Governor's daughter Sheherbano Taseer expressed her disgust at the development. "This is disgusting. There's a Mumtaz Qadri mosque being built in VIP Ghouri Town in Faizabad," she tweeted. Many twitter users in Pakistan have spoken out against naming the mosque after Qadri. — PTI