The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Geo TV’s licence suspended for 15 days Channel serves notice on Inter Services Intelligence over charges of being anti-state Afzal Khan in Islamabad The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Friday suspended Geo TV’s licence for 15 days and fined it Rs 10 million following a complaint filed by the Ministry of Defence. The fine has to be paid before the expiry of the suspension period. The channel had accused the chief of Pakistan’s premier spy agency — Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) — of being responsible for an assassination attempt on its anchor Hamid Mir in Karachi last April. Mir was on his way to office from the Karachi airport when some unidentified assailants opened fired on his car. Mir survived despite getting six bullets in the abdomen. The Ministry of Defence spokesman when asked to comment said its legal experts were examining the decision. In a counter, though an unprecedented move, the Geo and the Jang Group said it had served a legal notice on the powerful spy agency for defamation over accusations of being anti-state. It has also given the ISI 14 days to issue a public apology. The PEMRA order was issued by newly appointed interim chairperson Pervaiz Rathore. The order stated that in case of the non-payment of fine, the suspension of the licence will continue. The authority further decided that in case of repeated violation by Geo News, proceedings for the revocation of the licence will be initiated. A Geo News spokesman said the PEMRA had already been punishing the channel, adding that the broadcast remains shut in 90 per cent of the areas in Pakistan for the last 45 days. Geo News has already apologised and had incurred Rs 2 billion loss. Also, Geo News neither provided any evidence nor was its stance heard by the PEMRA, he said. “The Geo and the Jang Group (have) served a legal notice on the Ministry of Defence, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the PEMRA for defaming and maligning the group," the channel said in a report published in a newspaper owned by the media house. All field offices of the PEMRA have been directed to implement the decision with immediate effect. PEMRA's private member Asrar Abbasi, while speaking to Express News, said the decision was taken by the government members alone and not the entire regulatory body. He also claimed that the PEMRA rules don't permit the appointment of a caretaker head. The group spokesman said: "Over 8,000 journalists, workers and professionals attached to the group and their families are not only being harassed, but also attacked and tortured across Pakistan." In April, the Defence Ministry had demanded that the licence of Geo News be suspended after it reported that the ISI was behind the shooting of one of senior journalist Hamid Mir. Since the dispute began, Geo News has been taken off the air in several parts of the country or been moved to obscure slots on the channel lineup by the cable operators, allegedly under pressure from the military, according to the lawsuit. The distribution of the parent group’s newspapers has also been also disrupted. Amnesty condemns suspension of broadcast London: The Pakistan government's move to hand out a 15-day suspension to Geo TV for publicly criticising powerful spy agency ISI was a politically motivated attack on freedom of expression and media, a prominent human rights body said on Friday. Facebook blocks Pakistani rock band’s page Islamabad: Facebook has blocked the popular pages of a liberal Pakistani rock band and others that criticise the Taliban at the request of the government, angering activists campaigning against censorship in the Islamic country. Rock band "Laal" formed in 2007 and are known for their progressive politics. But it has been inaccessible to users from inside Pakistan since Wednesday. — Agencies
	Gunman kills one at Christian college in US Seattle, June 6 The police were searching on Friday for what drove a man armed with a shotgun to open fire at a small Christian college in Seattle, killing one person and wounding two others before he was subdued by a group of students and arrested. The Seattle Police Department said via Twitter that Aaron Ybarra, 26, had been booked into King County Jail for the shooting at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, but did not offer an explanation for any motive for the attack. The lone suspect, who was not a student, entered an academic building of the university in the late afternoon and shot three people, the police said. He was disarmed as he paused to reload his gun and was pepper-sprayed by a student security guard. A fourth person was wounded in the struggle with the gunman, the police said. — Reuters
	Afghan presidential poll front runner survives attack Kabul, June 6 Abdullah Abdullah, front runner in Afghanistan's presidential election, escaped assassination on Friday when two bombs blew up outside a hotel where he had just staged a rally, killing six persons. The midday blasts, one caused by a suicide bomber, destroyed a car in Abdullah's convoy, police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said. One of the dead was a bodyguard. Twenty-two persons were injured. Television images showed the charred remains of the car alongside shattered shop fronts in a densely populated western district of Kabul. "When I was leaving the rally from the People's Islamic Unity Party, our car was hit by a roadside bomb and destroyed,"Abdullah said at another rally soon afterwards. Abdullah, a former leader of the opposition to the Islamist Taliban, came first in the largely peaceful first round of the poll to replace Hamid Karzai, winning 45 per cent of the vote. Former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani scored 31.6 per cent and the run-off between the two leaders is set for June 14. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Abdullah but the Taliban, seeking to set up an Islamic state, have vowed to disrupt the election. They could not be reached by phone. It was the most serious attempt on Abdullah's life since the start of the presidential race and the first such attack close to a rally. In February, he survived an assault on his convoy as he was travelling between the capital and the eastern city of Jalalabad. — Reuters
	North Korea detains one more American tourist Seoul, June 6 North Korea said on Friday that it had detained an American tourist for violating its laws after entering the secretive state in April, bringing the number of US citizens held by Pyongyang to three. Pyongyang has detained a number of US citizens in recent years, using them as a tool to extract visits by high-profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton, for propaganda means. North Korea periodically accuses the US of military hostility and conspiracy to overthrow its leadership. The two states have been locked in a tense diplomatic conflict over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes. The latest American to be held was being questioned by authorities for conduct inappropriate for the purpose of his visit as a tourist, state media reported on Friday. The North's KCNA news agency named him as Jeffrey Edward Fowle and said he entered the country on April 29. It gave no further details. A State Department official said Washington was aware of reports that a third US citizen had been detained in North Korea. — Reuters
	Sharif ‘not too happy’ with India visit: Report Islamabad, June 6 Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif is "not too happy" with the way India handled his visit to New Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, a media report claimed today quoting an unnamed leader of the ruling PML-N party. A senior Pakistan Muslim League (N) member told Dawn News that Sharif felt belittled when there was no joint press conference after the one-on-one meeting between the two Prime Ministers. Short of that, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's delegation was expecting a joint communique, but none was issued and instead New Delhi unilaterally released a press statement which did not carry Islamabad's stance, the report said. "Sharif is not too happy at his reception in India during his visit there to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi," the report said citing his party colleague. India's statement had only a passing reference to Sharif and did not appropriately acknowledge the importance of his presence, the PML-N member reportedly said. The "abrupt and inadequate" press release by New Delhi,he claimed, forced Sharif to hold a press conference of his own — where he read out a carefully-worded statement so that "whatever was achieved by his visit to India might not go waste". He said Pakistan was now pinning hopes on secretary-level talks — agreed upon by Pakistan and India during Sharif's visit — for some breakthrough in improving relations with India. — PTI
	Putin meets Ukraine leader at World War-II D-Day event Both seek ceasefire between Kiev forces, pro-Russian separatists France, June 6 The leaders of Russia and Ukraine held their first talks on Friday since Moscow annexed Crimea, discussing ways to end their four-month conflict in a brief encounter during commemorations in France of the World War- II D-Day landings. French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel brought together Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president-elect Petro Poroshenko for a 15-minute meeting before they joined other dignitaries for lunch. The meeting was the culmination of weeks of secret diplomacy by French officials to try to break the ice in the most serious European security crisis since the end of the Cold War. Hollande's office said Putin and Poroshenko shook hands and agreed that detailed talks on a ceasefire between Kiev government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine would begin within a few days. They also discussed steps such as Russian recognition of Poroshenko's election as well as economic relations. Poroshenko was photographed looking unsmiling and earnest as he stood with Putin and Merkel. "It was a normal, serious exchange between two leaders," an official in Hollande's office said. "This marks tentative progress which he (Hollande) welcomes, particularly given this occasion so symbolic for peace." In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesman said the two leaders urged a "speedy end to the bloodshed in southeastern Ukraine as well as to fighting on both sides". 'Informal talks' with Obama A White House official said Putin and Obama, who had avoided contact with the Russian leader while the two were in Paris on Thursday - also spoke to each other before the lunch. "It was an informal conversation - not a formal bilateral meeting," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.— Reuters 15 pro-Russian rebels killed An aide to the Ukrainian interior minister says 15 pro-Russian rebels were killed in clashes with government troops at a border crossing with Russia. Anton Herashchenko said Ukrainian border guards clashed earlier in the day with armed men who came from Russia in trucks and an infantry vehicle and tried to cross the border at Marynivka village in eastern Ukraine.

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Suicide bombers, fighting kill 36 in northern Iraq
Mosul: Twin suicide bombings targeting Iraq's Shabak minority and fighting between security forces and militants killed 36 persons in the northern province of Nineveh on Friday, officials said. The two suicide bombers blew up vehicles in Shabak village of Al-Muwaffaqiyah, east of the city, killing four persons and wounding 45, police and medical officials said. AFP

Pak clerics declare honour killing un-Islamic
Islamabad: A leading organisation of clerics in Pakistan has issued a fatwa declaring honour killing un-Islamic amid reports of such cases in the country, including that of a woman who was stoned to death for marrying the person of her choice. The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) issued a fatwa on Thursday which said such killings were generally devoid of any legal or Islamic justification. PTI

China denounces Tibet’s exile leader
Beijing: China’s foreign ministry denounced the prime minister of Tibet’s government-in-exile on Friday as a separatist who had never done a good thing in his life, in a sign that Beijing is unlikely to resume talks anytime soon. Lobsang Sangay said he was hopeful Chinese President Xi Jinping would resume formal talks and soften China’s handling of Tibet. But the unusually harsh comments by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman suggested the chances of that happening were remote. Reuters

Suspect in Canada shooting arrested
Moncton: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said on Friday that they had arrested the suspect in the New Brunswick shooting that left three Mounties dead and two others injured. Paul Greene, a spokesman with the RCMP, says Justin Bourque was arrested on Friday. AP

MQM chief back in custody after hospital visit
London: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, who has been arrested by the British police on charges of money laundering, on Friday returned to Scotland Yard custody after spending three days in a hospital. Hussain was arrested on June 3 from his north London home. He had been allowed to appear for some tests at Wellington Hospital in London. pti

Former Thailand Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang frees pigeons after he was released from Bangkok's Remand Prison on Friday. Reuters

Tibetan filmmaker reported set free in China
Beijing: Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen, who made a 2008 documentary about Tibetan nomads expressing discontent over China's rule, has been released from a Chinese prison after serving a six-year sentence for separatism, his production company said.Wangchen, 40, was freed on Thursday, Switzerland-based Filming for Tibet said. AP

Thai Junta detains anti-coup activist
Bangkok: Thai security forces have tracked down and detained an activist who helped organise protests against last month’s military coup from comments he posted on the internet, officials said on Friday. Sombat Boonngamanong was caught in Chonburi province east of Bangkok late on Thursday, traced via the internet network he was using, said an official. Reuters