The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Australia foils Islamic State’s beheading plot, 15 detained Sydney, September 18 Militants connected with radical group Islamic State were planning to behead a member of the public in Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Thursday, after hundreds of police men raided homes in a sweeping counter-terrorism operation. Abbott said there was a “serious risk from a terrorist attack” days after Australia raised its national terror threat level to “high” for the first time, citing the likelihood of attacks by Australians radicalised in Iraq or Syria. Australia is concerned over the number of its citizens believed to be fighting overseas with militant groups, including a suicide bomber who killed three persons in Baghdad in July and two men shown in images on social media holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers. More than 800 police were involved in the pre-dawn security operation in Sydney and Brisbane, which was described as the largest in Australian history and resulted in the detention of 15 persons, the police said. Abbott told a news conference that members of the radical group had planned to conduct a public beheading. “That’s the intelligence we received,” he said. Media reported that the plans included snatching a person at random in Sydney and executing them on camera draped in the group’s black flag. “The exhortations, quite direct exhortations, were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIS to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country,” Abbott said, referring to the group otherwise known as Islamic State that has seized large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq. Sydney man Omarjan Azari, 22, appeared in court after the raids. He has been charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and will remain in custody until a hearing in November, authorities said. — Reuters IS seizes 21 villages in northern Syria Beirut: IS fighters backed by tanks have captured 21 Kurdish villages over the past 24 hours in northern Syria near the Turkish border, prompting civilians to flee their homes amid fears of retribution by the extremists sweeping through the area, activists said. For more than a year, the Islamic State and Kurdish militias have been locked in a fight in several pockets of northern Syria. —AP IS posts video of captive British journalist BEirut: The IS released a video on Thursday of a British freelance photojournalist, John Cantlie, in which he says he is being held captive. In the video posted on YouTube, Cantlie, wearing an orange jumpsuit, speaks to the camera in the style of a news report and promises to reveal in a series of programmes the "truth" about the IS that has seized parts of Iraq and Syria. There was no immediate threat to his life apparent in the video. — AFP
	New York City to pay $2.25 lakh to Indian girl over lawsuit New York, September 18 In a significant legal victory for the daughter of an Indian diplomat, the City of New York has agreed to pay her $2,25,000 to settle a lawsuit she brought against it after she was jailed for a day and suspended from her school on suspicion of sending obscene emails to her teacher. Krittika Biswas has in turn agreed to dismiss all claims against the city, the Board of Education and officials of the New York Police Department who had arrested and detained her in 2011. US District Judge John Koeltl in the Southern District of New York said in his order that the City of New York agrees to pay Biswas $2,25,000 in “full satisfaction of all claims” and in consideration for the payment Biswas “agrees to dismissal of all claims” against the defendants. He said the parties in the case “desire to resolve the issues” raised in the litigation “without further proceedings and without admitting any fault or liability.” Biswas's lawyer Ravi Batra said in a statement the “honour” of Biswas, Indian diplomats and India had been has been “vindicated” with the court order. The settlement acknowledged that Biswas was an “honour student” at the time of her “false arrest.” He said Biswas joins him in “thanking” the Indian- American community, former ambassadors Prabhu Dayal and Meera Shanker and her former classmates and teachers whose “support” helped her in her legal fight. — PTI Diplomat’s daughter Krittika Biswas, the daughter of an Indian diplomat, had filed the lawsuit seeking $1.5 million in damages for her wrongful imprisonment and suspension from school. She was detained and arrested in February 2011 on the grounds that she had sent "offensive and sexually threatening" emails to her teachers in Queens's John Browne High School.
	Thai PM ‘sorry’ for bikini remarks after Brit murder Bangkok, September 18 Thailand’s junta chief apologised today for suggesting tourists in bikinis could be more vulnerable to attack, comments which caused an international outcry following the brutal murder of two British holidaymakers. Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who is also Prime Minister, yesterday drew condemnation after questioning the safety of women tourists in the kingdom in off-the-cuff comments to government officials. “They think our country is beautiful and is safe so they can do whatever they want, they can wear bikinis and walk everywhere,” Prayut said. But “can they be safe in bikinis... unless they are not beautiful?” The remarks came just two days after the battered bodies of British tourists David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found on the southern resort island of Koh Tao. In a rare public moment of contrition from the army chief, Prayut said he did not mean to cause distress. “I’m sorry that it hurt people,” Prayut said. — AFP
	Ukrainian prez seeks military aid from US to fight Russia Moscow, September18 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appealed for more US assistance, including arms, in a warmly received appearance before the US Congress on Thursday, but the latest offer of American help did not include the weaponry he is seeking. “Please understand me correctly. Blankets, night-vision goggles are also important. But one cannot win the war with blankets.” He added: “Even more, we cannot keep the peace with a blanket.” Drawing cheers from members who want to arm the former Soviet state, Poroshenko declared his forces "need more military equipment, both lethal and non-lethal — urgently need." Given the honour of a speech to the joint houses of Congress reflecting US support for his country's fight against Russian-backed separatists, he said Washington should slap more sanctions on Moscow and give Ukraine a special security status. While Russain President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Western sanctions against Russia violated the principles of the World Trade Organisation. — Reuters Russia 'moves' troops into Crimea Kiev: Kiev on Thursday accused Moscow of massing its troops into annexed Crimea on the Ukraine border. "According to our information, almost all military units of the Russian Federation stationed in the north of occupied Crimea... were pushed to the administrative border with Ukraine along with all their equipment and ammunition," a defence spokesman said.— AFP BBC reporters 'beaten up' in Russia Moscow: A team of BBC journalists was assaulted in southern Russia while researching a story about soldiers "being killed at the Ukraine border," the company said on Thursday after lodging a protest with Russian authorities. The three reporters were working in the southern city of Astrakhan when they were "assaulted by unidentified men in a coordinated attack," BBC said.— AFP
	Honour Killing Pak girl stoned to death by brother Lahore, September 18 In a case of honour killing, a man allegedly stoned to death his sister for having an affair with a youth in Punjab province of Pakistan, where about 860 women became victims of such crime last year. The accused, Iftikhar Ahmed, hit his sister Aasia Bibi (21) with bricks, killing her on the spot after he found her with a youth from the neighbourhood on the rooftop of their house in Kasur district, about 60 km from Lahore, last night, the girl's father said in the police complaint. The girl's paramour had managed to escape from the spot. Disapproving his son's action, the father said, "I loved my daughter. She could have been admonished." Raids are being conducted to arrest Ahmed, the police said. In May, a pregnant woman (25) was brutally beaten and stoned to death outside the high court in Lahore by her father and brothers for marrying the man of her choice. — PTI
	Floods batter Pak Punjab, PoK Afzal Khan in Islamabad Khushia (64) doesn’t know what awaits him as he looks at his flood-ravaged brick house in Talwandi village of Sialkot district. Nullah Deg has uprooted many like him. Sumeira, who has been rescued by the army from her village along the Jhang-Sargodha road, sits in a camp with her three children without having any clue about her husband and two other children. In Haveli in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK), Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif couldn’t find words for the dozens of families losing their homes and relatives. Floods in India and Pakistan have forced the nuclear rivals to make goodwill gestures to each other. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had cancelled the foreign secretaries-level talks last month, took the initiative to express anguish at the sufferings of people of both sides of the the Line of Control (LoC) and offered all possible help to PoK in this hour of distress. Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif appreciated the offer and reciprocated it with similar feelings for people of Srinagar and other areas. The Modi government took a step further to allow a Pakistani delegation to visit the Chenab basin in Himachal Pradesh next week in order to dispel longstanding Pakistani suspicions that India was diverting the Chenab to use its waters for agriculture purposes in violation of the historic 1960 Indus Basin Water Treaty. The floods have disrupted bus service and trade between Muzaffarabad, capital of PoK, and Srinagar across the Line of Control (LoC). The 79-km road is battered by torrential rains and landslides. Like Modi, Sharif also first visited Haveli in PoK and promised to build a rail link between Islamabad and Muzaffarabad. Many areas in PoK and central Punjab were affected by rains, windstorms and landslides in the first week of September. Life is returning to normal at a slow pace in these areas just like in Srinagar and other parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The authorities here have, however, warned against the possibility of more rains and landslides.
	India committed to reviving SAARC: Rajnath Kathmandu, September 18 SAARC countries are facing common challenges and they should cooperate with each other to address them, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said, underlining that India is committed to reviving the grouping as a major forum to promote active regional collaboration. “SAARC will be an appropriate platform for meeting the common challenges of the region... The member countries should cooperate with each other to address them,” Singh said after arriving here to attend the SAARC Home Ministers’ conference. He said India since ancient time believed in the ideology of ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (the whole world is one family) and wanted to maintain very cordial relations with all its neighbours, especially the SAARC member countries. “We can't change our neighbours, we can only change our friends,” Singh said. On India’s ties with Nepal, the Home Minister said, "We have very old historical, cultural and geographical relations with the country.” Before leaving for Kathmandu, Singh had said PM Narendra Modi had demonstrated his out-of-the-box thinking by inviting leaders of all SAARC nations for the swearing-in ceremony. "It shows the level of importance the government in New Delhi attaches to its immediate neighbours and SAARC nations,” he said. “SAARC is an important forum where the members seek to promote the welfare of the people in South Asia and strengthen collective self-reliance,” he said. During the 6th SAARC Home Ministry-level meeting tomorrow, Singh is expected to flag issues like cross-border terrorism. — PTI
	B'desh empowers House to impeach apex court judges Dhaka, September 18 Bangladesh's parliament unanimously amended the Constitution restoring an old provision allowing itself to impeach the Supreme Court judges, defying calls from lawyers and political groups to review the decision. The ruling Awami League-led parliament last night passed the 16th Amendment Bill by 327-0, restoring the provision of original 1972 constitution allowing parliament to impeach the Supreme Court judges for "misconduct and incapacity" and to make the higher judiciary "accountable" to the legislature. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which boycotted the general elections and has no representation in parliament, opposed the move saying it was intended to "control" the apex court's activities by keeping the judges in a state of "fear". Under the new provision, an SC judge could be removed by a resolution with a two-third majority in parliament on the basis of a government probe.— PTI
	Nigerian building collapse death toll rises to 80 Lagos, September 18 The death toll from a collapsed guesthouse at a megachurch in Nigeria's financial capital Lagos has risen to 80 after more bodies were pulled from the rubble, rescuers said today. The guesthouse at popular preacher and televangelist TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) came down last Friday, leaving scores trapped in the debris. "The death toll is now 80. We recovered 10 more bodies yesterday evening while the number of those rescued stands at 131," said Ibrahim Farinloye, of the National Emergency Management Agency. The identities of the victims were yet to be ascertained because the church, whose officials denied rescue workers access in the first three days, was not co-operating, he added. "The church has refused to furnish us with the identities and nationalities of those in the building when it caved in," he told AFP. Rescue operations had been due to finish yesterday but Farinloye said the search had been extended. Some 300 South Africans were said to be visiting the church at at the time of the incident and the country's President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday that 67 had died. Joshua is one of Nigeria's most well-known Pentecostal preachers and is referred to by followers across the world as "The Prophet" or "The Man of God". He claims to work miracles, including raising people from the dead and healing the sick, and foreseeing disasters. He has yet to comment directly on the deaths and has suggested a low-flying aircraft or Boko Haram militants were to blame for the collapse. The Lagos state government has ordered urgent structural integrity tests on all buildings in the sprawling SCOAN compound, including the main church, which Joshua says was designed by the Holy Spirit. — AFP