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35 People injured, 64,500 affected in China earth quake
Beijing: A 6.6-magnitude quake jolted China’s Xinjiang Uygur region early Saturday, injuring at least 35 people and affecting over 64,500 others.
The temblor also killed over 2,000 livestock due to collapsed sheds while a large number of houses were toppled, Xinhua reported.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC), the temblor’s epicentre was located in a mountainous area along the border of Hejing and Xinyuan countie
The quake, which struck at 5.07 am, was followed by several aftershocks of magnitude 3 to 4, said government authorities in Ili Kazak prefecture, located in the west of Xinjiang Uygur region.
Strong tremors were felt widely in the region, shaking many residents out of their beds early morning and causing temporary blackouts.
The quake also triggered landslides and caused cave-ins on several national and regional highways in Xinjiang, bringing traffic to a halt.
The CENC has launched an emergency response following the quake and local authorities have sent work teams and organised rescue efforts in the affected areas.
According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, losses and damage resulting from the quake were still being assessed and relief efforts were underway Saturday.
Relief goods, including tents and quilts were dispatched to the quake-hit areas.
The quake-hit region, located about 3,500 metres above the sea level, has been geologically active throughout history, said experts.
The temblor also killed over 2,000 livestock due to collapsed sheds while a large number of houses were toppled, Xinhua reported.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC), the temblor’s epicentre was located in a mountainous area along the border of Hejing and Xinyuan countie
The quake, which struck at 5.07 am, was followed by several aftershocks of magnitude 3 to 4, said government authorities in Ili Kazak prefecture, located in the west of Xinjiang Uygur region.
Strong tremors were felt widely in the region, shaking many residents out of their beds early morning and causing temporary blackouts.
The quake also triggered landslides and caused cave-ins on several national and regional highways in Xinjiang, bringing traffic to a halt.
According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, losses and damage resulting from the quake were still being assessed and relief efforts were underway Saturday.
Relief goods, including tents and quilts were dispatched to the quake-hit areas.
The quake-hit region, located about 3,500 metres above the sea level, has been geologically active throughout history, said experts.
Eastern United States Storms Leave 13 Dead, Many Without Power - Online News
WASHINGTON — Millions across the mid-Atlantic region sweltered Saturday in the aftermath of violent storms that pummeled the eastern U.S. with high winds and downed trees, killing at least 13 people and leaving 3 million without power during a heat wave.
Power officials said the outages wouldn’t be repaired for several days to a week, likening the damage to a serious hurricane. Emergencies were declared in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, the District of Columbia and Virginia, where Gov. Bob McDonnell said the state had its largest non-hurricane outage in history, as more storms threatened. “This is a very dangerous situation,” the governor said.
In West Virginia, 232 Amtrak passengers were stranded Friday night on a train that was blocked on both sides by trees that fell on the tracks, spending about 20 hours at a rural station before buses picked them up. And in Illinois, storm damage forced the transfer of dozens of maximum-security, mentally ill prisoners from one prison to another.
In some Virginia suburbs of Washington, emergency 911 call centers were out of service; residents were told to call local police and fire departments. Huge trees fell across streets in Washington, leaving cars crunched up next to them, and onto the fairway at the AT&T National golf tournament in Maryland. Cell phone and Internet service was spotty, gas stations shut down and residents were urged to conserve water until sewage plants returned to power.
The outages were especially dangerous because they left the region without air conditioning in an oppressive heat. Temperatures soared to highs in the mid-90s in Baltimore and Washington, where it had hit 104 on Friday.
“I’ve called everybody except for the state police to try to get power going,” said Karen Fryer, resident services director at two assisted living facilities in Washington. The facilities had generator power, but needed to go out for portable air conditioning units, and Fryer worried about a few of her 100 residents who needed backup power for portable oxygen.
The stranded train passengers spent more than 20 hours on the train after they stopped around 11 p.m. on Friday at a station near rural Prince, W.Va.
Brooke Richart, a 26-year-old teacher from New York City, said she was among the stuck passengers. To pass the time, she read half a book, talked to the people around her and took walks outside the train.
“We tried to walk up the side of the mountain to see if anyone could get cell service. We didn’t have cell service the entire time we were down there,” she said.
Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said the passengers were picked up by buses, which departed by 8:20 p.m. Saturday. The buses will travel to the stations along the original route, dropping off passengers along the way.
The stranded passengers on the train bound from New York to Chicago had lights, air conditioning and food the entire time, Kulm said. He wasn’t aware of any injuries or health problems.
Richart was traveling to her hometown of Cincinnati. She said the ride had mostly been smooth, with a few delays, before they stopped in Prince. The storm had already passed through by the time they stopped.
She said the train attendants and her fellow passengers were extremely nice – watching each others’ children and sharing food.
She said her family had a hard time figuring out where she in conversations with Amtrak customer service representatives. But by the time the buses arrived, her father had also come to pick her up and drive her the rest of the way.
“It gets a little trying,” she said. “Thankfully we could go in and out of the train because we were there so long. If you wanted to stretch your legs or take a walk, you could do that.”
The storm did damage from Indiana to New Jersey, although the bulk of it was in West Virginia, Washington and suburban Virginia and Maryland. At least six of the dead were killed in Virginia, including a 90-year-old woman asleep in bed when a tree slammed into her home. Two young cousins in New Jersey were killed when a tree fell on their tent while camping. Two were killed in Maryland, one in Ohio, one in Kentucky and one in Washington.
Illinois corrections officials transferred 78 inmates from a prison in Dixon to the Pontiac Correctional Center after storms Friday night caused significant damage, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Stacey Solano said.
No one was injured, Solano said. Generators are providing power to the prison, which is locked down, confining remaining inmates to their cells.
Utility officials said it could take at least several days to restore power to all customers because of the sheer magnitude of the outages and the destruction. Winds and toppled trees brought down entire power lines, and debris has to be cleared from power stations and other structures. All of that takes time and can’t be accomplished with the flip of a switch.
“This is very unfortunate timing,” said Myra Oppel, a spokeswoman for Pepco, which reported over 400,000 outages in Washington and its suburbs. “We do understand the hardship that this brings, especially with the heat as intense at is. We will be working around the clock until we get the last customer on.”
Especially at risk were children, the sick and the elderly. In Charleston, W.Va., firefighters helped several people using walkers and wheelchairs get to emergency shelters. One of them, David Gunnoe, uses a wheelchair and had to spend the night in the community room of his apartment complex because the power – and his elevator – went out. Rescuers went up five floors to retrieve his medication.
Gunnoe said he was grateful for the air conditioning, but hoped power would be restored so he could go home.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s under a rock some place. When you get used to a place, it’s home,” he said.
More than 20 elderly residents at an apartment home in Indianapolis were displaced when the facility lost power due to a downed tree. Most were bused to a Red Cross facility to spend the night, and others who depend on oxygen assistance were given other accommodations, the fire department said.
Others sought refuge in shopping malls, movie theaters and other places where the air conditioning would be turned to “high.”
In Richmond, Va., Tracey Phalen relaxed with her teenage son under the shade of a coffee-house umbrella rather than suffer through the stifling heat of her house, which lost power.
“We’ll probably go to a movie theater at the top of the day,” she said.
Phalen said Hurricane Irene left her home dark for six days last summer, “and this is reminiscent of that,” she said.
Others scheduled impromptu “staycations” or took shelter with friends and relatives.
Robert Clements, 28, said he showered by flashlight on Friday night after power went out at his home in Fairfax, Va. The apartment complex where he lives told his fiancee that power wouldn’t be back on for at least two days, and she booked a hotel on Saturday.
Clements’ fiancee, 27-year-old Ann Marie Tropiano, said she tried to go to the pool, but it was closed because there was no electricity so the pumps weren’t working. She figured the electricity would eventually come back on, but she awoke to find her thermostat reading 81 degrees and slowly climbing. Closing the blinds and curtains didn’t help.
“It feels like an oven,” she said.
At the AT&T National in Bethesda, Md., trees cracked at their trunks crashed onto the 14th hole and onto ropes that had lined the fairways. The third round of play was suspended for several hours Saturday and was closed to volunteers and spectators. Mark Russell, the PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and competition, couldn’t remember another time that a tour event was closed to fans.
“It’s too dangerous out here,” Russell said. “There’s a lot of huge limbs. There’s a lot of debris. It’s like a tornado came through here. It’s just not safe.”
The outages disrupted service for many subscribers to Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest when the storm cut power to some of Amazon Inc.’s operations. The video and photo sharing services took to Twitter and Facebook to update subscribers on the outages. Netflix and Pinterest had restored service by Saturday afternoon.
Source: Huffpost
Power officials said the outages wouldn’t be repaired for several days to a week, likening the damage to a serious hurricane. Emergencies were declared in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, the District of Columbia and Virginia, where Gov. Bob McDonnell said the state had its largest non-hurricane outage in history, as more storms threatened. “This is a very dangerous situation,” the governor said.
In West Virginia, 232 Amtrak passengers were stranded Friday night on a train that was blocked on both sides by trees that fell on the tracks, spending about 20 hours at a rural station before buses picked them up. And in Illinois, storm damage forced the transfer of dozens of maximum-security, mentally ill prisoners from one prison to another.
In some Virginia suburbs of Washington, emergency 911 call centers were out of service; residents were told to call local police and fire departments. Huge trees fell across streets in Washington, leaving cars crunched up next to them, and onto the fairway at the AT&T National golf tournament in Maryland. Cell phone and Internet service was spotty, gas stations shut down and residents were urged to conserve water until sewage plants returned to power.
The outages were especially dangerous because they left the region without air conditioning in an oppressive heat. Temperatures soared to highs in the mid-90s in Baltimore and Washington, where it had hit 104 on Friday.
The stranded train passengers spent more than 20 hours on the train after they stopped around 11 p.m. on Friday at a station near rural Prince, W.Va.
Brooke Richart, a 26-year-old teacher from New York City, said she was among the stuck passengers. To pass the time, she read half a book, talked to the people around her and took walks outside the train.
“We tried to walk up the side of the mountain to see if anyone could get cell service. We didn’t have cell service the entire time we were down there,” she said.
Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said the passengers were picked up by buses, which departed by 8:20 p.m. Saturday. The buses will travel to the stations along the original route, dropping off passengers along the way.
The stranded passengers on the train bound from New York to Chicago had lights, air conditioning and food the entire time, Kulm said. He wasn’t aware of any injuries or health problems.
Richart was traveling to her hometown of Cincinnati. She said the ride had mostly been smooth, with a few delays, before they stopped in Prince. The storm had already passed through by the time they stopped.
She said the train attendants and her fellow passengers were extremely nice – watching each others’ children and sharing food.
She said her family had a hard time figuring out where she in conversations with Amtrak customer service representatives. But by the time the buses arrived, her father had also come to pick her up and drive her the rest of the way.
“It gets a little trying,” she said. “Thankfully we could go in and out of the train because we were there so long. If you wanted to stretch your legs or take a walk, you could do that.”
The storm did damage from Indiana to New Jersey, although the bulk of it was in West Virginia, Washington and suburban Virginia and Maryland. At least six of the dead were killed in Virginia, including a 90-year-old woman asleep in bed when a tree slammed into her home. Two young cousins in New Jersey were killed when a tree fell on their tent while camping. Two were killed in Maryland, one in Ohio, one in Kentucky and one in Washington.
Illinois corrections officials transferred 78 inmates from a prison in Dixon to the Pontiac Correctional Center after storms Friday night caused significant damage, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Stacey Solano said.
No one was injured, Solano said. Generators are providing power to the prison, which is locked down, confining remaining inmates to their cells.
Utility officials said it could take at least several days to restore power to all customers because of the sheer magnitude of the outages and the destruction. Winds and toppled trees brought down entire power lines, and debris has to be cleared from power stations and other structures. All of that takes time and can’t be accomplished with the flip of a switch.
“This is very unfortunate timing,” said Myra Oppel, a spokeswoman for Pepco, which reported over 400,000 outages in Washington and its suburbs. “We do understand the hardship that this brings, especially with the heat as intense at is. We will be working around the clock until we get the last customer on.”
Especially at risk were children, the sick and the elderly. In Charleston, W.Va., firefighters helped several people using walkers and wheelchairs get to emergency shelters. One of them, David Gunnoe, uses a wheelchair and had to spend the night in the community room of his apartment complex because the power – and his elevator – went out. Rescuers went up five floors to retrieve his medication.
Gunnoe said he was grateful for the air conditioning, but hoped power would be restored so he could go home.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s under a rock some place. When you get used to a place, it’s home,” he said.
More than 20 elderly residents at an apartment home in Indianapolis were displaced when the facility lost power due to a downed tree. Most were bused to a Red Cross facility to spend the night, and others who depend on oxygen assistance were given other accommodations, the fire department said.
Others sought refuge in shopping malls, movie theaters and other places where the air conditioning would be turned to “high.”
In Richmond, Va., Tracey Phalen relaxed with her teenage son under the shade of a coffee-house umbrella rather than suffer through the stifling heat of her house, which lost power.
“We’ll probably go to a movie theater at the top of the day,” she said.
Phalen said Hurricane Irene left her home dark for six days last summer, “and this is reminiscent of that,” she said.
Others scheduled impromptu “staycations” or took shelter with friends and relatives.
Robert Clements, 28, said he showered by flashlight on Friday night after power went out at his home in Fairfax, Va. The apartment complex where he lives told his fiancee that power wouldn’t be back on for at least two days, and she booked a hotel on Saturday.
Clements’ fiancee, 27-year-old Ann Marie Tropiano, said she tried to go to the pool, but it was closed because there was no electricity so the pumps weren’t working. She figured the electricity would eventually come back on, but she awoke to find her thermostat reading 81 degrees and slowly climbing. Closing the blinds and curtains didn’t help.
“It feels like an oven,” she said.
At the AT&T National in Bethesda, Md., trees cracked at their trunks crashed onto the 14th hole and onto ropes that had lined the fairways. The third round of play was suspended for several hours Saturday and was closed to volunteers and spectators. Mark Russell, the PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and competition, couldn’t remember another time that a tour event was closed to fans.
“It’s too dangerous out here,” Russell said. “There’s a lot of huge limbs. There’s a lot of debris. It’s like a tornado came through here. It’s just not safe.”
The outages disrupted service for many subscribers to Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest when the storm cut power to some of Amazon Inc.’s operations. The video and photo sharing services took to Twitter and Facebook to update subscribers on the outages. Netflix and Pinterest had restored service by Saturday afternoon.
Source: Huffpost
Indians Are More More Dangerous Than Taliban
In a survey conducted in Pakistan, citizens felt that India is a bigger threat than Taliban and Al Qaeda. Six in ten Pakistanis felt that India is threat to them as they feel that Indians are always having a negative opinion towards them.
While negative opinion is prevailing among Pakistan in many countries across the globe, Pak is the only country having negative feeling on India. Since 2009, Pakistan has identified India as a top threat than any other terrorist outfit. However, 54% people opted for better relations with India in 2011 and the percentage has now reached to 62% in 2012. Two thirds of Pak's people want to improve bilateral ties with India. Results for the survey in Pakistan are based on 1,206 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted March 28 to April 13, 2012.
On the flip side, around 60% of Indians are also having negative opinion towards Pakistan. Countries like China, Japan and Muslim nations like Egypt and Jordan are also having negative feeling towards Pak. The survey is conducted by Pew Research Centre's Global Attitudes Project.
While negative opinion is prevailing among Pakistan in many countries across the globe, Pak is the only country having negative feeling on India. Since 2009, Pakistan has identified India as a top threat than any other terrorist outfit. However, 54% people opted for better relations with India in 2011 and the percentage has now reached to 62% in 2012. Two thirds of Pak's people want to improve bilateral ties with India. Results for the survey in Pakistan are based on 1,206 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted March 28 to April 13, 2012.
On the flip side, around 60% of Indians are also having negative opinion towards Pakistan. Countries like China, Japan and Muslim nations like Egypt and Jordan are also having negative feeling towards Pak. The survey is conducted by Pew Research Centre's Global Attitudes Project.
Night 8.44 PM Is Right Time For Married Couples
The study of around 3000 people found that an average married couple settles down together and get emotional by 8.44pm every day. After attending a day long gruelling work and domestic schedules, that will be right time for them to get bonded.
Generally, couple in urban areas settle down at home by 8.05 pm and takes further 39 minutes to forget stresses and strains of office work, the study revealed. From 8.44pm, one will get only an hour time to bond with their loved one before attending other chores like preparing meals and washing dishes. Though the findings are not surprising, one can understand that these long work hours will affect the relationship. In an Indian society, domestic works are attended my women mostly which will make men relax earlier than their partner.
Average Indian couple should really work smarter to get more time from 8.44pm to gel with their better halves. Alarming divorce rates are the results of improper time spend together in a relation.
(Inputs from a survey conducted in London and Delhi)
Generally, couple in urban areas settle down at home by 8.05 pm and takes further 39 minutes to forget stresses and strains of office work, the study revealed. From 8.44pm, one will get only an hour time to bond with their loved one before attending other chores like preparing meals and washing dishes. Though the findings are not surprising, one can understand that these long work hours will affect the relationship. In an Indian society, domestic works are attended my women mostly which will make men relax earlier than their partner.
(Inputs from a survey conducted in London and Delhi)
United State Supreme Court upholds 'Obamacare'
The US Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the heart of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, handing him a huge election-year political victory and keeping in force the legislative centerpiece of his term, a law aimed at covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans.
The decision means the historic overhaul – opposed by virtually all Republicans including Mitt Romney, Mr Obama’s challenger – will continue to go into effect over the next several years, affecting the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their medical care.
The decision, written by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, sided with Obama on the centerpiece of the law, which requires all Americans to have health insurance or face a federal fine.
By letting the law stand, the decision keeps the United States on a course toward joining all other major developed countries in guaranteeing health care for all its citizens.
Republicans, with an eye on the upcoming presidential election, were quick to respond.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision sets the stakes for the November election. Now, the only way to save the country from ObamaCare’s budget-busting government takeover of health care is to elect a new president,” party Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.
The case was the most closely watched one before the court since a 2000 ruling resulted in George W. Bush being declared the winner of the presidential election.
Both Mr Obama and Mr Romney were expected to comment on the decision later Thursday from Washington, with Mr Obama scheduled to speak at the White House around midday.
Polls show a majority of Americans do not support the health care overhaul, which, ironically, was based on a plan put in place in Massachusetts when Romney was governor there. The Massachusetts law has been widely supported by residents since it took effect in 2006.
While Mr Romney defends the Massachusetts plan, he has said such changes should be left to the individual states and not be imposed by the federal government. He has promised to revoke the health care overhaul if he wins the White House in November.
After the ruling, Republican campaign strategists said Romney will use it to continue campaigning against “Obamacare” and attacking it as a tax increase.
“Mr Obama might have his law, but the GOP (Republican Party) has a cause,” said veteran campaign adviser Terry Holt. “This promises to galvanize Republican support around a repeal of what could well be called the largest tax increase in American history.”
The law’s centerpiece takes effect in 2014, at the same time that the law would prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to people with existing health problems. Most experts had said the coverage guarantee would balloon costs unless virtually all people joined the insurance pool.
Most Americans already are insured. The law provides subsidies to help uninsured middle-class households pay premiums and expands federal health care for poor people.
An estimated 26 million people will remain without health coverage once the law is fully implemented, including illegal immigrants, people who don’t sign up and elect to face the fine instead, and those who can’t afford it even with the subsidies.
The court did find problems with the law’s expansion of Medicaid – federal-state health coverage for the poor – but even there, it said the expansion could proceed as long as the federal government does not threaten to withhold states’ entire Medicaid allotment if they don’t take part in the law’s extension.
The court’s four liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, joined Roberts in the decision. Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.
The decision means the historic overhaul – opposed by virtually all Republicans including Mitt Romney, Mr Obama’s challenger – will continue to go into effect over the next several years, affecting the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their medical care.
The decision, written by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, sided with Obama on the centerpiece of the law, which requires all Americans to have health insurance or face a federal fine.
By letting the law stand, the decision keeps the United States on a course toward joining all other major developed countries in guaranteeing health care for all its citizens.
Republicans, with an eye on the upcoming presidential election, were quick to respond.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision sets the stakes for the November election. Now, the only way to save the country from ObamaCare’s budget-busting government takeover of health care is to elect a new president,” party Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.
Both Mr Obama and Mr Romney were expected to comment on the decision later Thursday from Washington, with Mr Obama scheduled to speak at the White House around midday.
Polls show a majority of Americans do not support the health care overhaul, which, ironically, was based on a plan put in place in Massachusetts when Romney was governor there. The Massachusetts law has been widely supported by residents since it took effect in 2006.
While Mr Romney defends the Massachusetts plan, he has said such changes should be left to the individual states and not be imposed by the federal government. He has promised to revoke the health care overhaul if he wins the White House in November.
After the ruling, Republican campaign strategists said Romney will use it to continue campaigning against “Obamacare” and attacking it as a tax increase.
“Mr Obama might have his law, but the GOP (Republican Party) has a cause,” said veteran campaign adviser Terry Holt. “This promises to galvanize Republican support around a repeal of what could well be called the largest tax increase in American history.”
The law’s centerpiece takes effect in 2014, at the same time that the law would prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to people with existing health problems. Most experts had said the coverage guarantee would balloon costs unless virtually all people joined the insurance pool.
Most Americans already are insured. The law provides subsidies to help uninsured middle-class households pay premiums and expands federal health care for poor people.
An estimated 26 million people will remain without health coverage once the law is fully implemented, including illegal immigrants, people who don’t sign up and elect to face the fine instead, and those who can’t afford it even with the subsidies.
The court did find problems with the law’s expansion of Medicaid – federal-state health coverage for the poor – but even there, it said the expansion could proceed as long as the federal government does not threaten to withhold states’ entire Medicaid allotment if they don’t take part in the law’s extension.
The court’s four liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, joined Roberts in the decision. Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.
Punish Abu Jundal if he is guilty of 26/11 - Family
Mumbai terror attack plotter Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal’s family has expressed desire to meet their son to confirm his identity, saying if Jundal is guilty, he must be punished.
Jundal’s cousin said that he should be punished but his family members must not be troubled. “The government should conduct a DNA test of Jundal and his parents to confirm his identity,” he said.
Earlier, Jundal was taken to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Wednesday night for a medical examination. He remains in the custody of the Delhi Police.
Sources say Jundal is the highest ranked Indian in terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba and his questioning is proving to be a key link in establishing the involvement of Pakistan state actors in the Mumbai terror attacks.
Jundal had his origins in Maharashtra’s Beed district before he went to Pakistan for training.
Meanwhile, Pakistan hit back at India over allegation that Pakistani state institutions were involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Coming to the defence of the ISI, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik dismissed India’s charges and claimed that the allegations against the intelligence agency were baseless.
Rubbishing 26/11 Mumbai terror attack plotter Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal’s claims of ISI’s involvement in the 26/11 attacks, Malik said that the intelligence agency protects Pakistan and is not involved in carrying out terror strikes.
Malik blamed Home Minister P Chidambaram of “unnecessarily targeting ISI” and claimed that all the allegations against Pakistan till now have been proven to be false. He pointed out that Jundal was an Indian citizen and there was no involvement of Pakistan in the November 2008 Mumbai carnage. He countered the Indian allegation by saying that Pakistan cannot be blamed for Jundal’s action.
Chidambaram had on Wednesday said that that Jundal admitted to the involvement of Pakistani state agencies in the 26/11 attacks. Reacting to Malik’s note on Tuesday, Chidambaram said that India was willing to share information about Jundal with Pakistan and reiterated that India had been tracking down the 26/11 plotter for over a year before he was apprehended.
Meanwhile, reports say Jundal’s father is a heart patient and his condition deteriorated after he came to know about his son’s arrest. Jundal is presently under Delhi police’s custody and is being interrogated for conspiring 26/11 attacks. Jundal has confessed of working under the guidance of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and directing Ajmal Kasab from Karachi control room during the attacks.
Jundal’s cousin said that he should be punished but his family members must not be troubled. “The government should conduct a DNA test of Jundal and his parents to confirm his identity,” he said.
Earlier, Jundal was taken to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Wednesday night for a medical examination. He remains in the custody of the Delhi Police.
Sources say Jundal is the highest ranked Indian in terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba and his questioning is proving to be a key link in establishing the involvement of Pakistan state actors in the Mumbai terror attacks.
Jundal had his origins in Maharashtra’s Beed district before he went to Pakistan for training.
Rubbishing 26/11 Mumbai terror attack plotter Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal’s claims of ISI’s involvement in the 26/11 attacks, Malik said that the intelligence agency protects Pakistan and is not involved in carrying out terror strikes.
Malik blamed Home Minister P Chidambaram of “unnecessarily targeting ISI” and claimed that all the allegations against Pakistan till now have been proven to be false. He pointed out that Jundal was an Indian citizen and there was no involvement of Pakistan in the November 2008 Mumbai carnage. He countered the Indian allegation by saying that Pakistan cannot be blamed for Jundal’s action.
Chidambaram had on Wednesday said that that Jundal admitted to the involvement of Pakistani state agencies in the 26/11 attacks. Reacting to Malik’s note on Tuesday, Chidambaram said that India was willing to share information about Jundal with Pakistan and reiterated that India had been tracking down the 26/11 plotter for over a year before he was apprehended.
Meanwhile, reports say Jundal’s father is a heart patient and his condition deteriorated after he came to know about his son’s arrest. Jundal is presently under Delhi police’s custody and is being interrogated for conspiring 26/11 attacks. Jundal has confessed of working under the guidance of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and directing Ajmal Kasab from Karachi control room during the attacks.
It’s Surjeet being released not Sarabjit: Zardari’s spokesman
Hours after reports emerged that Pakistan was to free Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, the presidential spokesman on Tuesday night clarified that authorities had taken steps for the release of another Indian prisoner named Surjeet Singh who has been jailed for three decades.
“I think there is some confusion. First, it is not a case of pardon. More importantly, it is not Sarabjit. It is Surjeet Singh, son of Sucha Singh. His death sentence was commuted in 1989 by President (Ghulam) Ishaq (Khan) on the advice of (then premier) Benazir Bhutto,” presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.
Law Minister Farooq Naek on Tuesday conveyed to the Interior Ministry that Surjeet Singh had completed his life term in jail and ought to be released and sent back to India, Babar said.
“Keeping him in jail any longer will be illegal confinement,” he added. Any references to President Asif Ali Zardari in the entire matter were ‘out of context’, the presidential spokesman said.
Surjeet Singh, currently being held in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, has been in Pakistani captivity for over 30 years.
He was captured near the border with India on charges of spying during the era of military ruler Zia-ul-Haq.
Earlier on Tueday, Pakistani news channels had reported that President Zardari had converted Sarabjit Singh’s death sentence to life imprisonment and directed authorities to release him if he had completed his prison term.
Official sources too had said that steps had been initiated for Sarabjit’s release. In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna had thanked Zardari for the steps purportedly taken for Sarabjit’s release.
Sarabjit, 49, too is currently being held at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore and has been on death row for over 20 years.
Sarabjit was convicted and sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in Punjab in 1990 that killed 14 people.
He had sent a fresh clemency appeal to President Zardari last month. Though Sarabjit was set to be hanged in 2008, Pakistani authorities put off his execution indefinitely after former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened.
His family has said he wandered across the border in an inebriated condition and was arrested by Pakistani authorities.
A little over a month ago, ailing Pakistani virologist Khalil Chishti, detained in Rajasthan for nearly two decades on the charge of involvement in a murder, was freed on the orders of India’s Supreme Court so that he could meet his family in Karachi.
“I think there is some confusion. First, it is not a case of pardon. More importantly, it is not Sarabjit. It is Surjeet Singh, son of Sucha Singh. His death sentence was commuted in 1989 by President (Ghulam) Ishaq (Khan) on the advice of (then premier) Benazir Bhutto,” presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.
Law Minister Farooq Naek on Tuesday conveyed to the Interior Ministry that Surjeet Singh had completed his life term in jail and ought to be released and sent back to India, Babar said.
“Keeping him in jail any longer will be illegal confinement,” he added. Any references to President Asif Ali Zardari in the entire matter were ‘out of context’, the presidential spokesman said.
Surjeet Singh, currently being held in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, has been in Pakistani captivity for over 30 years.
Earlier on Tueday, Pakistani news channels had reported that President Zardari had converted Sarabjit Singh’s death sentence to life imprisonment and directed authorities to release him if he had completed his prison term.
Official sources too had said that steps had been initiated for Sarabjit’s release. In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna had thanked Zardari for the steps purportedly taken for Sarabjit’s release.
Sarabjit, 49, too is currently being held at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore and has been on death row for over 20 years.
Sarabjit was convicted and sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in Punjab in 1990 that killed 14 people.
He had sent a fresh clemency appeal to President Zardari last month. Though Sarabjit was set to be hanged in 2008, Pakistani authorities put off his execution indefinitely after former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened.
His family has said he wandered across the border in an inebriated condition and was arrested by Pakistani authorities.
A little over a month ago, ailing Pakistani virologist Khalil Chishti, detained in Rajasthan for nearly two decades on the charge of involvement in a murder, was freed on the orders of India’s Supreme Court so that he could meet his family in Karachi.
Free Sarabjit, Krishna requests Pak
India Wednesday welcomed the release of Surjeet Singh from a Pakistani jail and renewed its “request” to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to also free Sarabjit Singh and all Indian prisoners who had completed their sentences.
“I have seen media reports about release from imprisonment in Pakistan, of Surjeet Singh, son of Sucha Singh. I welcome this decision and further renew our request to the president of Pakistan to release Sarabjit Singh who has been in custody for well over two decades and is serving a death sentence,” said External Affairs Minister SM Krishna.
The appeal came after Pakistan’s apparent volte-face about releasing Sarabjit Singh. On June 26, the Pakistani media had carried reports of Sarabjit getting a presidential pardon. However, Islamabad clarified late evening that it was not Sarabjit but Surjeet Singh, his fellow inmate at Kot Lakhpat jail, who would be released.
Krishna urged the government of Pakistan to take a “sympathetic and humanitarian view” of Sarabjit’s case.
“I also appeal to the government of Pakistan to release all Indian nationals who have completed their prison term,” he added.
“I have seen media reports about release from imprisonment in Pakistan, of Surjeet Singh, son of Sucha Singh. I welcome this decision and further renew our request to the president of Pakistan to release Sarabjit Singh who has been in custody for well over two decades and is serving a death sentence,” said External Affairs Minister SM Krishna.
The appeal came after Pakistan’s apparent volte-face about releasing Sarabjit Singh. On June 26, the Pakistani media had carried reports of Sarabjit getting a presidential pardon. However, Islamabad clarified late evening that it was not Sarabjit but Surjeet Singh, his fellow inmate at Kot Lakhpat jail, who would be released.
“I also appeal to the government of Pakistan to release all Indian nationals who have completed their prison term,” he added.
Great Miracle: Man Hanging in Mid-Air for 45 hours
World renowned Japanese-American magician Cyril Takayama on his maiden visit to India enthralled the citizens with his nail biting gravity defying stunt. He hung in the mid-air for about 45 hours on 15th of June 2012 in Carter Road, Mumbai.
City's heavy traffic hadn't frightened Cyril and he looked completely at ease facing the hot sun and when heavy vehicles cruised below him. The onlookers were thrilled witnessing a truly magical act and the netizens were left awestruck watching the rare magic moment.
Cyril is currently in India to promote his magic shows. Initially, he was skeptical about the response he would get in India for his tricks. But now, he is overwhelmed will the media coverage and appreciation he has been getting. And this famous magician promises to come back again and again, to bring more of his surprises.
City's heavy traffic hadn't frightened Cyril and he looked completely at ease facing the hot sun and when heavy vehicles cruised below him. The onlookers were thrilled witnessing a truly magical act and the netizens were left awestruck watching the rare magic moment.
Iran prez Ahmadinejad to leave politics when term ends :Online News Report
A German newspaper is reporting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he will end his political career when his second term ends next year.
Ahmadinejad was quoted on Saturday as saying in an interview with Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that he plans to return to academia.
He said that, though he might engage in political activity at a university, “I will not found any political party or group.”
Ahmadinejad can’t run in Iran’s June 2013 elections because of term limits. Asked whether, like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, he envisions returning to the presidency at a later date, he replied: “No, eight years are enough.”
Ahmadinejad last year lost a power struggle with Iran’s ruling system, which had helped him rise from Tehran’s city hall to the presidency.
Ahmadinejad was quoted on Saturday as saying in an interview with Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that he plans to return to academia.
He said that, though he might engage in political activity at a university, “I will not found any political party or group.”
Ahmadinejad last year lost a power struggle with Iran’s ruling system, which had helped him rise from Tehran’s city hall to the presidency.
Reporter from news website heckles Obama :Online News
A reporter of a Washington-based conservative news website, whose publisher and CEO is an Indian-American, has ‘discourteously’ interrupted US President Barack Obama several times during his speech on immigration. “Why’d you favour foreigners over Americans?”
Neil Munro, reporter of website Daily Caller shouted, interrupting Obama in the middle of his speech on immigration.
“Excuse me, sir, but it’s not time for questions,” Obama responded. “Are you going to take questions?” Munro asked.
“Not while I’m speaking,” said Obama, who like many present at the event including the White House correspondents, was taken by surprise by sharp exchange of words.
Munro, who was carrying a temporary pass for access to the White House, interrupted Obama several times during his speech, which the White House Correspondent Association (WHCA) president Caren Bohan termed as discourteous.
“I didn’t ask for an argument. I’m answering your question,” Obama said during another interruption. Indian-American Neil Patel, who was chief policy advisor to the former Vice-President Dick Cheney, is the co-founder and publisher of The Daily Caller.
“The President today announced a very controversial policy and does not want to answer tough questions about it. Neil Munro is a veteran Washington reporter who today tried his best to time his question to be first as the President was wrapping up his remarks. He in no way meant to heckle the President of the United States,” Patel said in a statement.
Munro, in his statement, said that he had no intention to disrupt the President. “I timed the question believing the president was closing his remarks, because naturally I have no intention of interrupting the President of the United States,” he said.
However, other White House correspondents who were covering the event disagreed with the version of Munro, who is part of the White House’s in-town press pool.
After Friday’s incident he might very well lose his access to the President and to the White House.
“That is something that our board has not yet discussed,” Bohan said. “Many reporters who were at today’s Rose Garden event disagree with Munro’s characterisation of events, noting that few, if any, reporters aside from Munro thought the President had concluded his remarks,” The Politico reported.
While it is usual for the political leaders, including Obama being heckled at public event, this is rarest of the rarest event that a member of the White House Press Corps heckled the US President.
Tony Fratto, who was deputy press secretary to former president George W Bush, called for Munro to be banned from the White House. “Reporters don’t interrupt presidential statements. Period,” Fratto wrote on Twitter.
He said that reporters ‘can/do/should shout questions AFTER a statement or a presser’ but said interrupting a president is ‘anarchy & rude’.
Neil Munro, reporter of website Daily Caller shouted, interrupting Obama in the middle of his speech on immigration.
“Excuse me, sir, but it’s not time for questions,” Obama responded. “Are you going to take questions?” Munro asked.
“Not while I’m speaking,” said Obama, who like many present at the event including the White House correspondents, was taken by surprise by sharp exchange of words.
Munro, who was carrying a temporary pass for access to the White House, interrupted Obama several times during his speech, which the White House Correspondent Association (WHCA) president Caren Bohan termed as discourteous.
“I didn’t ask for an argument. I’m answering your question,” Obama said during another interruption. Indian-American Neil Patel, who was chief policy advisor to the former Vice-President Dick Cheney, is the co-founder and publisher of The Daily Caller.
Munro, in his statement, said that he had no intention to disrupt the President. “I timed the question believing the president was closing his remarks, because naturally I have no intention of interrupting the President of the United States,” he said.
However, other White House correspondents who were covering the event disagreed with the version of Munro, who is part of the White House’s in-town press pool.
After Friday’s incident he might very well lose his access to the President and to the White House.
“That is something that our board has not yet discussed,” Bohan said. “Many reporters who were at today’s Rose Garden event disagree with Munro’s characterisation of events, noting that few, if any, reporters aside from Munro thought the President had concluded his remarks,” The Politico reported.
While it is usual for the political leaders, including Obama being heckled at public event, this is rarest of the rarest event that a member of the White House Press Corps heckled the US President.
Tony Fratto, who was deputy press secretary to former president George W Bush, called for Munro to be banned from the White House. “Reporters don’t interrupt presidential statements. Period,” Fratto wrote on Twitter.
He said that reporters ‘can/do/should shout questions AFTER a statement or a presser’ but said interrupting a president is ‘anarchy & rude’.
Japan Prime Minister orders nuclear restart: Reports
Japan ordered nuclear reactors back online Saturday, defying public sentiment against atomic power following last year’s meltdowns at Fukushima sparked by the quake-tsunami, reports said.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, seeking to head off a summer energy crunch, told Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO) to re-fire two idled reactors at its Oi plant serving the industrial heartland of western Japan, the Jiji news agency and the Nikkei online news said.
Noda on Saturday received approval for the restarts from Issei Nishikawa, the pro-nuclear power governor of central Fukui prefecture, which hosts the plant.
The premier then met three ministers — the minister of economy, trade and industry, the minister in charge of the nuclear accident and the chief cabinet secretary.
“Now that we have the approval from the autonomous body where the reactors are relocated, the four ministers (including Noda) concerned made the decision to restart the reactors,” Noda said, according to Jiji and Nikkei.
Nishikawa told the prime minister he was happy with the restarts after he received safety assurances on Friday from the operator.
“We reached the agreement to help stabilise livelihoods and industry in Kansai (western Japan),” Nishikawa told reporters.
The controversial move comes amid fears that electricity demand will outstrip supply as temperatures soar and air-conditioners get cranked up, further crimping Japan’s wobbly economic recovery.
The nod from Nishikawa was the final link in the chain for Noda, who has become a vocal advocate of nuclear power being brought back into the energy mix for resource-poor but electricity-hungry Japan.
The country’s 50 working reactors — which along with the four crippled units at Fukushima contributed around a third of Japan’s electricity before the disaster — have been offline since the last one was shuttered in early May.
Public opposition in the aftermath of the tsunami-sparked meltdowns at Fukushima in March 2011 left Japan’s political classes tip-toeing around the issue of restarts.
Radiation was spread over homes and farmland in a large area of northern Japan when the massive tsunami swamped cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, seeking to head off a summer energy crunch, told Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO) to re-fire two idled reactors at its Oi plant serving the industrial heartland of western Japan, the Jiji news agency and the Nikkei online news said.
Noda on Saturday received approval for the restarts from Issei Nishikawa, the pro-nuclear power governor of central Fukui prefecture, which hosts the plant.
The premier then met three ministers — the minister of economy, trade and industry, the minister in charge of the nuclear accident and the chief cabinet secretary.
“Now that we have the approval from the autonomous body where the reactors are relocated, the four ministers (including Noda) concerned made the decision to restart the reactors,” Noda said, according to Jiji and Nikkei.
Nishikawa told the prime minister he was happy with the restarts after he received safety assurances on Friday from the operator.
The controversial move comes amid fears that electricity demand will outstrip supply as temperatures soar and air-conditioners get cranked up, further crimping Japan’s wobbly economic recovery.
The nod from Nishikawa was the final link in the chain for Noda, who has become a vocal advocate of nuclear power being brought back into the energy mix for resource-poor but electricity-hungry Japan.
The country’s 50 working reactors — which along with the four crippled units at Fukushima contributed around a third of Japan’s electricity before the disaster — have been offline since the last one was shuttered in early May.
Public opposition in the aftermath of the tsunami-sparked meltdowns at Fukushima in March 2011 left Japan’s political classes tip-toeing around the issue of restarts.
Radiation was spread over homes and farmland in a large area of northern Japan when the massive tsunami swamped cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi.
‘Tibetan National Uprising Day’ plans muted by China clampdown
As the anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile, March 10 has traditionally been a flashpoint for unrest in China’s vast Tibetan-inhabited regions.
But the monks at Taersi Buddhist Monastery in the northwestern province of Qinghai have no plans to mark the day their revered spiritual leader fled Tibet following a failed uprising against China’s rule in 1959.
“No, no, we have no activities planned to commemorate this day,” said one monk at Taersi, home to more than 3,000 monks and one of the most influential institutions in the Dalai Lama’s Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
“Right now our monastery is under strict supervision, it is not proper to speak of such things at this time,” the monk told AFP, refusing to give his name out of fear for his safety.
Chinese authorities launched a huge security clampdown ahead of the sensitive anniversary, known in Tibetan areas as ‘uprising day’.
It comes after a year in which more than 20 Tibetans, most of them monks, have set fire to themselves to protest Beijing’s rule, sparking international condemnation of what critics call religious and cultural repression.
Beijing has heaped blame for the incidents on the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, accusing the 76-year-old Buddhist leader and his followers of plotting to create ‘turmoil’ in China’s Tibetan-inhabited areas.
Tibetan Buddhist clergy are under particularly close scrutiny — the government closely monitors their activities, stationing its representatives in monasteries and nunneries in the region and organising ‘political re-education’ classes.
Nonetheless, photographs of the Dalai Lama, often banned in China’s Tibetan-inhabited regions, are on open display in some of the vast halls at Taersi, also known by its Tibetan name of Kumbum monastery.
Visitors are shown locked rooms where monks bow and pray before even more photographs of the spiritual leader.
Monks in Taersi said security surrounding the monastery has been heavy since March 2008, when deadly riots erupted in Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, and spread to other areas.
But while there have been a number of self-immolations in neighbouring Sichuan province, only one has been reported in Qinghai, which has a relatively large population of other ethnic groups including the dominant Han Chinese.
“What is particularly significant I think is that there haven’t been any self-immolations in the Tibetan autonomous region, which is after all an area where half of Tibetans live,” said Barry Sautman, an expert on Tibetan issues.
He said there was a difference between ‘those areas that are multi-ethnic or urban, or quasi-urban’, where most of the self-immolations had occurred, and the sparsely populated countryside where very few Han people live.
Beijing insists that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and have benefited from improved living standards brought on by China’s economic expansion.
At the Taersi monastery, there is little evidence of any ethnic tensions, and the Tibetan monks say they coexist peacefully with their Han Chinese and ethnic Mongolian counterparts.
But they are also highly aware of the debate surrounding their revered spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in Beijing. “We are awaiting his return to Tibet,” said one.
“The government accuses him of wanting Tibetan independence, but the Dalai Lama has always said he wants more autonomy for Tibet, he wants something like the ‘one country, two systems’ China gave Hong Kong.”
But the monks at Taersi Buddhist Monastery in the northwestern province of Qinghai have no plans to mark the day their revered spiritual leader fled Tibet following a failed uprising against China’s rule in 1959.
“No, no, we have no activities planned to commemorate this day,” said one monk at Taersi, home to more than 3,000 monks and one of the most influential institutions in the Dalai Lama’s Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
“Right now our monastery is under strict supervision, it is not proper to speak of such things at this time,” the monk told AFP, refusing to give his name out of fear for his safety.
Chinese authorities launched a huge security clampdown ahead of the sensitive anniversary, known in Tibetan areas as ‘uprising day’.
Beijing has heaped blame for the incidents on the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, accusing the 76-year-old Buddhist leader and his followers of plotting to create ‘turmoil’ in China’s Tibetan-inhabited areas.
Tibetan Buddhist clergy are under particularly close scrutiny — the government closely monitors their activities, stationing its representatives in monasteries and nunneries in the region and organising ‘political re-education’ classes.
Nonetheless, photographs of the Dalai Lama, often banned in China’s Tibetan-inhabited regions, are on open display in some of the vast halls at Taersi, also known by its Tibetan name of Kumbum monastery.
Visitors are shown locked rooms where monks bow and pray before even more photographs of the spiritual leader.
Monks in Taersi said security surrounding the monastery has been heavy since March 2008, when deadly riots erupted in Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, and spread to other areas.
But while there have been a number of self-immolations in neighbouring Sichuan province, only one has been reported in Qinghai, which has a relatively large population of other ethnic groups including the dominant Han Chinese.
“What is particularly significant I think is that there haven’t been any self-immolations in the Tibetan autonomous region, which is after all an area where half of Tibetans live,” said Barry Sautman, an expert on Tibetan issues.
He said there was a difference between ‘those areas that are multi-ethnic or urban, or quasi-urban’, where most of the self-immolations had occurred, and the sparsely populated countryside where very few Han people live.
Beijing insists that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and have benefited from improved living standards brought on by China’s economic expansion.
At the Taersi monastery, there is little evidence of any ethnic tensions, and the Tibetan monks say they coexist peacefully with their Han Chinese and ethnic Mongolian counterparts.
But they are also highly aware of the debate surrounding their revered spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in Beijing. “We are awaiting his return to Tibet,” said one.
“The government accuses him of wanting Tibetan independence, but the Dalai Lama has always said he wants more autonomy for Tibet, he wants something like the ‘one country, two systems’ China gave Hong Kong.”
Pakistan charges Osama bin Laden’s widows
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has charged Osama bin Laden’s three widows with illegally entering and living in the country, the interior minister said Thursday.
The three women have been in Pakistani detention since May last year, when U.S. commandos raided the house where they, bin Laden and several of their children were staying. The commandos shot and killed bin Laden, and then buried his body at sea.
Rehman said the three had been charged in court, but he did not say when. It was unclear if they had a lawyer.
He said their children were free to leave Pakistan, but could stay with their mothers for the duration of the trial.
A Pakistani legal expert contacted about the case, Hashmat Habib, said the maximum punishment the women could receive was five years in jail. One of their relatives has reportedly visited Pakistan recently to urge authorities to let them leave the country. The decision to charge them could be a formal part of that process.
One of the women is known to be from Yemen, another from Saudi Arabia. The nationality of the third woman is unclear.
Bin Laden, the subject of a massive international manhunt, had been living in the Pakistani army town of Abbottabad for around five years before the CIA traced his whereabouts. The unilateral American raid humiliated and angered the Pakistani army, which has also faced uncomfortable questions over why it wasn’t aware of bin Laden’s presence.
A government commission is investigating the affair, but few expect it to come up with many answers. Its members have interviewed the wives. Last month, the government destroyed the three-story compound the bin Laden clan was living in, removing a concrete reminder of the country’s association with the world’s most wanted man.
The three women have been in Pakistani detention since May last year, when U.S. commandos raided the house where they, bin Laden and several of their children were staying. The commandos shot and killed bin Laden, and then buried his body at sea.
Rehman said the three had been charged in court, but he did not say when. It was unclear if they had a lawyer.
He said their children were free to leave Pakistan, but could stay with their mothers for the duration of the trial.
A Pakistani legal expert contacted about the case, Hashmat Habib, said the maximum punishment the women could receive was five years in jail. One of their relatives has reportedly visited Pakistan recently to urge authorities to let them leave the country. The decision to charge them could be a formal part of that process.
One of the women is known to be from Yemen, another from Saudi Arabia. The nationality of the third woman is unclear.
A government commission is investigating the affair, but few expect it to come up with many answers. Its members have interviewed the wives. Last month, the government destroyed the three-story compound the bin Laden clan was living in, removing a concrete reminder of the country’s association with the world’s most wanted man.
Syrian rebels reject Annan’s call for dialogue
Cairo/Beirut: Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, said he would urge President Bashar al-Assad and his foes to stop fighting and seek a political solution, drawing angry rebukes from dissidents.
“The killing has to stop and we need to find a way of putting in the appropriate reforms and moving forward,” Annan said on Thursday in Cairo ahead of his trip to Damascus on Saturday.
Syrian dissidents reacted with dismay and said government repression had destroyed prospects of a negotiated deal. More than 7,500 people have been killed in a year-long crackdown on an uprising against Assad, according to the United Nations.
“We reject any dialogue while tanks shell our towns, snipers shoot our women and children and many areas are cut off from the world by the regime without electricity, communications or water,” said Hadi Abdullah, contacted in the city of Homs.
Another activist said Annan’s call for dialogue sounded “like a wink at Bashar” that would only encourage Assad to “crush the revolution”.
UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, on a separate mission to Syria, said she was “devastated” by the destruction she had seen in the Baba Amr district of Homs city, and wanted to know what had happened to its residents, who endured a 26-day military siege before rebel fighters withdrew a week ago.
Amos is the first senior foreign official to visit Baba Amr since the government assault.
As world pressure on Syria mounted, the deputy oil minister announced his defection, the first by a senior civilian official since the start of the uprising. Abdo Hussameldin, 58, said he knew his change of sides would bring persecution on his family.
Two rebel groups later said four more high-ranking military officers had defected over the past three days to a camp for Syrian army deserters in southern Turkey.
Lieutenant Khaled al-Hamoud, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA), said by telephone the desertions brought to seven the number of brigadier generals who had defected.
In Damascus, the authorities continued to crack down on Assad opponents, with government forces shooting and wounding three mourners at a funeral for an army defector that turned into a protest against the president, locals said.
Opposition sources and residents say protests in the capital are driven by inflation and the plunging value of the Syrian pound.
“The killing has to stop and we need to find a way of putting in the appropriate reforms and moving forward,” Annan said on Thursday in Cairo ahead of his trip to Damascus on Saturday.
Syrian dissidents reacted with dismay and said government repression had destroyed prospects of a negotiated deal. More than 7,500 people have been killed in a year-long crackdown on an uprising against Assad, according to the United Nations.
“We reject any dialogue while tanks shell our towns, snipers shoot our women and children and many areas are cut off from the world by the regime without electricity, communications or water,” said Hadi Abdullah, contacted in the city of Homs.
Another activist said Annan’s call for dialogue sounded “like a wink at Bashar” that would only encourage Assad to “crush the revolution”.
Amos is the first senior foreign official to visit Baba Amr since the government assault.
As world pressure on Syria mounted, the deputy oil minister announced his defection, the first by a senior civilian official since the start of the uprising. Abdo Hussameldin, 58, said he knew his change of sides would bring persecution on his family.
Two rebel groups later said four more high-ranking military officers had defected over the past three days to a camp for Syrian army deserters in southern Turkey.
Lieutenant Khaled al-Hamoud, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA), said by telephone the desertions brought to seven the number of brigadier generals who had defected.
In Damascus, the authorities continued to crack down on Assad opponents, with government forces shooting and wounding three mourners at a funeral for an army defector that turned into a protest against the president, locals said.
Opposition sources and residents say protests in the capital are driven by inflation and the plunging value of the Syrian pound.
Death toll of British soldiers in Afghanistan passes 400
British mission in Afghanistan will continue despite the loss of six soldiers who were caught in a huge explosion
The British mission in Afghanistan will continue despite the loss of six soldiers who were caught in a huge explosion that destroyed their armoured vehicle, defence officials have said.
If, as expected, the men are confirmed to have been killed in the blast, it will take the death toll of British personnel killed in Afghanistan to 404. It will also represent the biggest single loss of UK life in a single incident in Afghanistan since 2006, when an ageing RAF Nimrod crashed in the country shortly after mid-air refuelling, with the loss of all 14 people aboard.
Passing the symbolic milestone of 400 deaths would refocus attention on the reason for the presence of British troops in Afghanistan, the timetable for their removal and the capability of the Afghan army and police force to keep the country secure once coalition troops have left.
Defence officials said the deaths would have no effect on strategy or tactics deployed by British troops. If anything, it would encourage military commanders to stay the course, they said. However, officials indicated ministers were well aware of war weariness among the public.
An investigation is under way to find out what caused the explosion that wrecked the Warrior vehicle as it patrolled the border of Helmand and Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday. The force of the blast led to early speculation that the vehicle was hit by an old mine, possibly from the Soviet era, but an initial examination of the Warrior suggested it was probably a large Taliban roadside bomb.
The bodies of the soldiers were still being extracted from the wreckage last night in an operation hampered by bad weather, defence officials said. The soldiers are expected to be named on Thursday.
David Cameron described the loss of the men – who were described by the Ministry of Defence as missing, believed killed – as a “desperately sad day for our country”. He said it was a “reminder of the huge price that we are paying for the work we are doing in Afghanistan and the sacrifice that our troops have made and continue to make”.
But the prime minister pointed out that the men were carrying out important work to prevent Afghanistan becoming a haven for al-Qaida to plan attacks on the UK or its allies.
Five of the soldiers presumed dead were from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
At Battlesbury barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire, where the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment is based, the news was broken to families and friends of the missing men.
Service personnel past and present, army families and townsfolk arrived at the gates to lay flowers and express their sadness.
Stacey McLaughlin, 21, whose husband, John, is to fly to Afghanistan in April laid flowers with their daughter, three-year-old Olivia-Mai. Speaking through tears, she said: “They are true heroes. This loss will be felt badly by all the soldiers out there and the families back home. I just hope John comes back home safely when he goes out there.”
Hayley Dymek, 22, whose husband, Private Darren Dymek, 24, is in Afghanistan with the Yorkshire regiment, said: “I panicked this morning when I first heard that six soldiers had been killed. But then I found out that the families had been informed, so I knew Darren was safe. This really brings home the dangers of what they are doing out there.”
Downing Street said last month that British troops would end their lead combat role in Afghanistan by the end of next year. This will lead to Afghan security forces being in sole charge of combat operations against insurgents by the end of 2014, when most of Britain’s 9,500-strong contingent will have returned home. The timeframe may well be shortened at the Nato summit in Chicago in May.
However, Nato commanders in Afghanistan have told Downing Street and the White House that they want to keep levels of International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) as high as possible between now and the end of the “fighting season” next year – September 2013.
They insist this is the best way of ensuring the country does not descend into chaos before the final withdrawal of combat troops. If Cameron agreed to Nato’s proposal, about 9,000 UK troops would remain in Helmand until autumn next year.
They would be under more pressure too. Sixteen thousand US Marines are withdrawing from Helmand within months, and although Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, has said Britain would not “backfill”, Afghan forces are unlikely to be able to shoulder the burden of security alone.
Privately, commanders also warn the Isaf coalition could disintegrate if either country signals an early exit. “That is the biggest danger for Afghanista,” said one. “A hasty and chaotic exit must be avoided.” But political pressure is mounting on both sides of the Atlantic to accelerate the drawdown.
The loss of the British soldiers this week is bound to raise questions about their resources. Cameron accepted there was a need to make sure personnel had all the equipment they needed to keep them “as safe as possible”.
But the MoD was quick to quash suggestions that the vulnerability of the Warrior could be blamed for the deaths. Warrior had been upgraded throughout its service in Iraq and Afghanistan to try to combat the threat from roadside bombs and mines. A £1bn upgrade of the vehicle was announced at the end of last year to extend the life of the vehicle to 2040 and beyond but the MoD stressed this was not in response to “any identified deficiencies” in its armour.
A spokesman said: “Warrior provides some of the highest levels of protection available but sadly no armoured vehicle can provide absolute protection from the very largest explosions.”
The chief of the defence staff, General Sir David Richards, said the men were doing “a dangerous but important job”, adding: “Increasingly the Afghans themselves are taking the lead in providing security across Helmand. This transition is allowing Afghans to gain the confidence to reject the Taliban and live normal lives.”
Some experts remain unconvinced. Gareth Price, senior research fellow on the Asia programme at Chatham House, suggested the explosion could have been designed to send a message to the Afghan people that the national army could not guarantee their safety.
Anthony Glees, director of the centre for security and intelligence studies at the University of Buckingham, said: “The fact that these people were killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) might suggest not just that this is a very dangerous place but that the Afghans aren’t particularly good at delivering security.”
The British mission in Afghanistan will continue despite the loss of six soldiers who were caught in a huge explosion that destroyed their armoured vehicle, defence officials have said.
If, as expected, the men are confirmed to have been killed in the blast, it will take the death toll of British personnel killed in Afghanistan to 404. It will also represent the biggest single loss of UK life in a single incident in Afghanistan since 2006, when an ageing RAF Nimrod crashed in the country shortly after mid-air refuelling, with the loss of all 14 people aboard.
Passing the symbolic milestone of 400 deaths would refocus attention on the reason for the presence of British troops in Afghanistan, the timetable for their removal and the capability of the Afghan army and police force to keep the country secure once coalition troops have left.
Defence officials said the deaths would have no effect on strategy or tactics deployed by British troops. If anything, it would encourage military commanders to stay the course, they said. However, officials indicated ministers were well aware of war weariness among the public.
The bodies of the soldiers were still being extracted from the wreckage last night in an operation hampered by bad weather, defence officials said. The soldiers are expected to be named on Thursday.
David Cameron described the loss of the men – who were described by the Ministry of Defence as missing, believed killed – as a “desperately sad day for our country”. He said it was a “reminder of the huge price that we are paying for the work we are doing in Afghanistan and the sacrifice that our troops have made and continue to make”.
But the prime minister pointed out that the men were carrying out important work to prevent Afghanistan becoming a haven for al-Qaida to plan attacks on the UK or its allies.
Five of the soldiers presumed dead were from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
At Battlesbury barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire, where the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment is based, the news was broken to families and friends of the missing men.
Service personnel past and present, army families and townsfolk arrived at the gates to lay flowers and express their sadness.
Stacey McLaughlin, 21, whose husband, John, is to fly to Afghanistan in April laid flowers with their daughter, three-year-old Olivia-Mai. Speaking through tears, she said: “They are true heroes. This loss will be felt badly by all the soldiers out there and the families back home. I just hope John comes back home safely when he goes out there.”
Hayley Dymek, 22, whose husband, Private Darren Dymek, 24, is in Afghanistan with the Yorkshire regiment, said: “I panicked this morning when I first heard that six soldiers had been killed. But then I found out that the families had been informed, so I knew Darren was safe. This really brings home the dangers of what they are doing out there.”
Downing Street said last month that British troops would end their lead combat role in Afghanistan by the end of next year. This will lead to Afghan security forces being in sole charge of combat operations against insurgents by the end of 2014, when most of Britain’s 9,500-strong contingent will have returned home. The timeframe may well be shortened at the Nato summit in Chicago in May.
However, Nato commanders in Afghanistan have told Downing Street and the White House that they want to keep levels of International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) as high as possible between now and the end of the “fighting season” next year – September 2013.
They insist this is the best way of ensuring the country does not descend into chaos before the final withdrawal of combat troops. If Cameron agreed to Nato’s proposal, about 9,000 UK troops would remain in Helmand until autumn next year.
They would be under more pressure too. Sixteen thousand US Marines are withdrawing from Helmand within months, and although Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, has said Britain would not “backfill”, Afghan forces are unlikely to be able to shoulder the burden of security alone.
Privately, commanders also warn the Isaf coalition could disintegrate if either country signals an early exit. “That is the biggest danger for Afghanista,” said one. “A hasty and chaotic exit must be avoided.” But political pressure is mounting on both sides of the Atlantic to accelerate the drawdown.
The loss of the British soldiers this week is bound to raise questions about their resources. Cameron accepted there was a need to make sure personnel had all the equipment they needed to keep them “as safe as possible”.
But the MoD was quick to quash suggestions that the vulnerability of the Warrior could be blamed for the deaths. Warrior had been upgraded throughout its service in Iraq and Afghanistan to try to combat the threat from roadside bombs and mines. A £1bn upgrade of the vehicle was announced at the end of last year to extend the life of the vehicle to 2040 and beyond but the MoD stressed this was not in response to “any identified deficiencies” in its armour.
A spokesman said: “Warrior provides some of the highest levels of protection available but sadly no armoured vehicle can provide absolute protection from the very largest explosions.”
The chief of the defence staff, General Sir David Richards, said the men were doing “a dangerous but important job”, adding: “Increasingly the Afghans themselves are taking the lead in providing security across Helmand. This transition is allowing Afghans to gain the confidence to reject the Taliban and live normal lives.”
Some experts remain unconvinced. Gareth Price, senior research fellow on the Asia programme at Chatham House, suggested the explosion could have been designed to send a message to the Afghan people that the national army could not guarantee their safety.
Anthony Glees, director of the centre for security and intelligence studies at the University of Buckingham, said: “The fact that these people were killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) might suggest not just that this is a very dangerous place but that the Afghans aren’t particularly good at delivering security.”
US media: Romney takes Ohio in Super Tuesday drama
Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney won the key Ohio vote on Super Tuesday, snatching victory from rival Rick Santorum in a nail-biting finish, US media projected.
A win in Ohio, a key battleground state on the road to the White House, handed Romney a fifth Super Tuesday victory as he fights to secure the party’s nomination to be the Republican challenger in the November elections.
CNN and Fox News predicted he won by 38 percent of the vote, over 37 per cent for Santorum, with 96 per cent of precincts reporting.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich was in third at 15 per cent, and Texas congressman Ron Paul was in fourth place at nine per cent.
The four candidates are vying for the right to take on Democratic President Barack Obama in November.
Ohio has symbolic importance. As a big state with an industrial base, a strong rural community, and a notoriously fickle electorate, it is a crucial swing state that will be a key battleground in the general election.
Amazingly, not one Republican nominee has gone on to win the presidential race without also carrying Ohio on election day.
Romney claimed Super Tuesday wins in Idaho, Massachusetts, Ohio, Vermont and Virginia, according to US media projections. Santorum won contests in three states — North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Gingrich earned a landslide win in Georgia, where voters elected him to Congress for 20 years. Results were still pending in the last of 10 Super Tuesday states, Alaska.
A win in Ohio, a key battleground state on the road to the White House, handed Romney a fifth Super Tuesday victory as he fights to secure the party’s nomination to be the Republican challenger in the November elections.
CNN and Fox News predicted he won by 38 percent of the vote, over 37 per cent for Santorum, with 96 per cent of precincts reporting.
The four candidates are vying for the right to take on Democratic President Barack Obama in November.
Ohio has symbolic importance. As a big state with an industrial base, a strong rural community, and a notoriously fickle electorate, it is a crucial swing state that will be a key battleground in the general election.
Amazingly, not one Republican nominee has gone on to win the presidential race without also carrying Ohio on election day.
Romney claimed Super Tuesday wins in Idaho, Massachusetts, Ohio, Vermont and Virginia, according to US media projections. Santorum won contests in three states — North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Gingrich earned a landslide win in Georgia, where voters elected him to Congress for 20 years. Results were still pending in the last of 10 Super Tuesday states, Alaska.
Romney gains strength ahead of Super Tuesday
Mitt Romney closed in on Rick Santorum in Ohio and picked up a crucial endorsement in Virginia on Sunday as he grows in strength ahead of “Super Tuesday,” the biggest day yet in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is tied with Santorum at 32 per cent support from likely voters in the Ohio Republican primary, the most important of the 10 state nominating contests on Tuesday.
Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator who is a social conservative with a strong blue-collar message, had been leading in polls in the economically hard-hit Midwestern state by double digits in recent weeks.
Santorum needs an Ohio win to prove he remains a threat to Romney after losing Michigan and Arizona to him last week.
But Romney’s five straight victories in Maine, Michigan, Arizona, Wyoming and Washington state have given him a burst of momentum despite some serious reservations about him from conservatives who have flirted with a variety of alternatives.
Senior Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom was cautious about Romney’s prospects in Ohio, saying the campaign was more concerned about getting enough delegates to eventually seal the nomination.
“I don’t think any state is a must-win. I think the only must-do on a candidate’s checklist is getting 1,144 delegates,” he told reporters on Romney’s plane.
Adding to his momentum in the race to become the challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election, Romney picked up the endorsement of Eric Cantor, the conservative No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives.
Cantor is from the Super Tuesday state of Virginia, where only Romney and libertarian Representative Ron Paul are on the ballot because Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich failed to meet all the requirements for qualifying.
“He is the guy I believe that will be our nominee and we will have a clear choice as a country as far as the vision forward in growing this economy with Mitt’s plan versus that of the president’s record,” Cantor said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a fiscal conservative, also endorsed Romney. Oklahoma votes on Tuesday as well and Santorum has been in the lead there.
An NBC News/Marist poll on Sunday gave Santorum support of 34 percent of likely Ohio primary voters while Romney got 32 per cent.
Santorum has emphasized his social conservative views on contraception and abortion that arguably have distracted attention from his economic message.
SPLITTING THE CONSERVATIVE VOTE Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Santorum suggested the presence of another conservative in the race, Gingrich, was holding him back because it is splitting the conservative vote.
He stopped short of calling on Gingrich to pull out of the Republican nomination race.
Asked about Ohio, Santorum said he would do “very, very well” but did not predict victory.
“It’s a tough state for us only because of … the money disadvantage. But we’ve got a great grassroots campaign. We’re hanging in there,” Santorum said.
“It’s always harder when you’ve got two conservative candidates out there running in the race. … We have the anti-Romney vote, if you will. Both Gingrich and I are out there slugging away. We just need to show that we are the best candidate to go head to head,” he said.
Super Tuesday offers something for Romney and all his remaining competitors as they search for a path forward. A rich trove of 419 nominating delegates is available.
Gingrich is placing his hopes on a victory in his home state of Georgia to get him back in the 2012 race. He leads there by double digits.
Gingrich had a brief period as the front-runner but was staggered by a loss to Romney in Florida on Jan. 31 and has been searching for a comeback since then.
“I thought it was vital to the campaign, and we focused on it and as a result despite a lot of money spent against me, we’re doing very well and I think we’re going to win decisively,” Gingrich told CNN’s “State of the Union.”TOI
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is tied with Santorum at 32 per cent support from likely voters in the Ohio Republican primary, the most important of the 10 state nominating contests on Tuesday.
Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator who is a social conservative with a strong blue-collar message, had been leading in polls in the economically hard-hit Midwestern state by double digits in recent weeks.
Santorum needs an Ohio win to prove he remains a threat to Romney after losing Michigan and Arizona to him last week.
Senior Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom was cautious about Romney’s prospects in Ohio, saying the campaign was more concerned about getting enough delegates to eventually seal the nomination.
“I don’t think any state is a must-win. I think the only must-do on a candidate’s checklist is getting 1,144 delegates,” he told reporters on Romney’s plane.
Adding to his momentum in the race to become the challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election, Romney picked up the endorsement of Eric Cantor, the conservative No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives.
Cantor is from the Super Tuesday state of Virginia, where only Romney and libertarian Representative Ron Paul are on the ballot because Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich failed to meet all the requirements for qualifying.
“He is the guy I believe that will be our nominee and we will have a clear choice as a country as far as the vision forward in growing this economy with Mitt’s plan versus that of the president’s record,” Cantor said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a fiscal conservative, also endorsed Romney. Oklahoma votes on Tuesday as well and Santorum has been in the lead there.
An NBC News/Marist poll on Sunday gave Santorum support of 34 percent of likely Ohio primary voters while Romney got 32 per cent.
Santorum has emphasized his social conservative views on contraception and abortion that arguably have distracted attention from his economic message.
SPLITTING THE CONSERVATIVE VOTE Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Santorum suggested the presence of another conservative in the race, Gingrich, was holding him back because it is splitting the conservative vote.
He stopped short of calling on Gingrich to pull out of the Republican nomination race.
Asked about Ohio, Santorum said he would do “very, very well” but did not predict victory.
“It’s a tough state for us only because of … the money disadvantage. But we’ve got a great grassroots campaign. We’re hanging in there,” Santorum said.
“It’s always harder when you’ve got two conservative candidates out there running in the race. … We have the anti-Romney vote, if you will. Both Gingrich and I are out there slugging away. We just need to show that we are the best candidate to go head to head,” he said.
Super Tuesday offers something for Romney and all his remaining competitors as they search for a path forward. A rich trove of 419 nominating delegates is available.
Gingrich is placing his hopes on a victory in his home state of Georgia to get him back in the 2012 race. He leads there by double digits.
Gingrich had a brief period as the front-runner but was staggered by a loss to Romney in Florida on Jan. 31 and has been searching for a comeback since then.
“I thought it was vital to the campaign, and we focused on it and as a result despite a lot of money spent against me, we’re doing very well and I think we’re going to win decisively,” Gingrich told CNN’s “State of the Union.”TOI
Vladimir Wins Russia President Elections
Vladimir Putin won a resounding victory in Russia’s presidential election on Sunday, exit polls showed, securing a new six-year term in the Kremlin and a mandate to deal with opposition protests after a vote that opponents said was marred by fraud.
Two television exit polls, released after voting ended at 1700 GMT, forecast the prime minister would win 59.3 and 58.3 percent of the votes, easily enough to make a runoff against the second-placed candidate unnecessary.
His nearest rival, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, fell short of 20 percent in both exit polls. Zyuganov said his party would not recognise the official results of the election, calling it “illegitimate, dishonest and untransparent.”
Putin’s swiftly dismissed fraud allegations, which will be repeated at opposition protests starting on Monday.
“This is the cleanest election in Russia’s entire history,” said Stanislav Govorukhin, his campaign chief. “The violations our rivals and the opponents of our president will now speak of are laughable.”
Official results are not expected from most polling stations until Monday.
But Putin, 59, was expected to portray his return to the presidency after four years as prime minister as strong public backing against the protesters, whom he has portrayed as a minority and pawns of foreign governments.
A huge crowd of mostly young Putin supporters gathered in a square outside the Kremlin after dark, waving Russian flags. Hundreds of buses that brought them to the capital in a well organised show of force stood by.
The former KGB spy is also expected to return to the Kremlin with tough fighting talk against the West, a trademark of his first presidency and election campaign. Economists said a key test of Putin’s return would be how far he was ready to go to reform an economy heavily dependent on energy exports.
But Putin’s opponents said voting in many parts of the vast country was skewed in his favour and vowed to press on with the biggest protests since he rose to power 12 years ago.
“We do not consider these elections legitimate,” said Vladimir Ryzhkov, a leader of the opposition protesters, who plan a new rally against Putin in Moscow for Monday.
Support in the Provinces
Despite the growing opposition, mainly among well-educated and relatively well-off young professionals in big cities, Putin’s support remains high in the provinces and his victory had not been in doubt.
The main challenge for the man credited by many Russians credit with rebuilding the country’s image and overseeing an economic boom, was to win outright in the first round.
This he achieved by a clear margin. The exit polls put Zyuganov on target to win about 18 percent, and nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, ex-parliamentary speaker Sergei Mironov and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov were all under 10 percent.
Some voters said Putin, who has portrayed himself as a man of action and guardian of stability, was the tough national leader the world’s biggest country and energy producer needed.
“I voted for Putin because he was a good president (from 2000-08) and our children were looked after and that’s all. That’s how I feel,” said Maria Fedotova, a 92-year-old grandmother in fur coat and hat, flanked by relatives.
Putin has remained Russia’s dominant leader and its most popular politician since stepping aside in 2008 to make way for his ally, Dmitry Medvedev, because he was barred from a third straight term by the constitution.
But some voters are tired of his macho antics, such as horse riding bare-chested, and a system that concentrates power in his hands. They fear he could win another term in six years and rule until 2024 – almost as long as Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
“They are stealing our votes,” said Valentin Gorshun, a patient in Moscow hospital number 19, where more than 90 percent of votes went to United Russia party in December.
“It is probably the same at all hospitals,” he said. “I think they are preparing a huge falsification. Emperor Putin has decided everything.”
Widespread Allegations of Fraud
Vote monitors from the opposition and bloggers posted allegations of election rigging across the country of 143 million. Golos, an independent monitoring group, said it had registered at least 3,100 reports of violations nationwide.
An Interior Ministry spokesman denied there had been any major violations. Election officials also dismissed reports of widespread fraud in a parliamentary election on December 4 which triggered the opposition protests.
Thousands of opposition activists as well as an international observer mission were also monitoring the polls.
The opposition protests were sparked by the disputed December 4 election, but anger was focused at Putin, who bungled the September 24 announcement of his presidential bid by appearing simply to inform Russians that he would rule for another six years.
Putin, who will not formally take office until early May, now faces huge economic and political challenges.
“It’s a watershed – Russia faces decline and stagnation unless they really kick-start reforms, and push forward an ambitious reform agenda,” said Tim Ash, head of emerging markets research at Royal bank of Scotland in London.
Two television exit polls, released after voting ended at 1700 GMT, forecast the prime minister would win 59.3 and 58.3 percent of the votes, easily enough to make a runoff against the second-placed candidate unnecessary.
His nearest rival, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, fell short of 20 percent in both exit polls. Zyuganov said his party would not recognise the official results of the election, calling it “illegitimate, dishonest and untransparent.”
“This is the cleanest election in Russia’s entire history,” said Stanislav Govorukhin, his campaign chief. “The violations our rivals and the opponents of our president will now speak of are laughable.”
Official results are not expected from most polling stations until Monday.
But Putin, 59, was expected to portray his return to the presidency after four years as prime minister as strong public backing against the protesters, whom he has portrayed as a minority and pawns of foreign governments.
A huge crowd of mostly young Putin supporters gathered in a square outside the Kremlin after dark, waving Russian flags. Hundreds of buses that brought them to the capital in a well organised show of force stood by.
The former KGB spy is also expected to return to the Kremlin with tough fighting talk against the West, a trademark of his first presidency and election campaign. Economists said a key test of Putin’s return would be how far he was ready to go to reform an economy heavily dependent on energy exports.
But Putin’s opponents said voting in many parts of the vast country was skewed in his favour and vowed to press on with the biggest protests since he rose to power 12 years ago.
“We do not consider these elections legitimate,” said Vladimir Ryzhkov, a leader of the opposition protesters, who plan a new rally against Putin in Moscow for Monday.
Support in the Provinces
Despite the growing opposition, mainly among well-educated and relatively well-off young professionals in big cities, Putin’s support remains high in the provinces and his victory had not been in doubt.
The main challenge for the man credited by many Russians credit with rebuilding the country’s image and overseeing an economic boom, was to win outright in the first round.
This he achieved by a clear margin. The exit polls put Zyuganov on target to win about 18 percent, and nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, ex-parliamentary speaker Sergei Mironov and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov were all under 10 percent.
Some voters said Putin, who has portrayed himself as a man of action and guardian of stability, was the tough national leader the world’s biggest country and energy producer needed.
“I voted for Putin because he was a good president (from 2000-08) and our children were looked after and that’s all. That’s how I feel,” said Maria Fedotova, a 92-year-old grandmother in fur coat and hat, flanked by relatives.
Putin has remained Russia’s dominant leader and its most popular politician since stepping aside in 2008 to make way for his ally, Dmitry Medvedev, because he was barred from a third straight term by the constitution.
But some voters are tired of his macho antics, such as horse riding bare-chested, and a system that concentrates power in his hands. They fear he could win another term in six years and rule until 2024 – almost as long as Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
“They are stealing our votes,” said Valentin Gorshun, a patient in Moscow hospital number 19, where more than 90 percent of votes went to United Russia party in December.
“It is probably the same at all hospitals,” he said. “I think they are preparing a huge falsification. Emperor Putin has decided everything.”
Widespread Allegations of Fraud
Vote monitors from the opposition and bloggers posted allegations of election rigging across the country of 143 million. Golos, an independent monitoring group, said it had registered at least 3,100 reports of violations nationwide.
An Interior Ministry spokesman denied there had been any major violations. Election officials also dismissed reports of widespread fraud in a parliamentary election on December 4 which triggered the opposition protests.
Thousands of opposition activists as well as an international observer mission were also monitoring the polls.
The opposition protests were sparked by the disputed December 4 election, but anger was focused at Putin, who bungled the September 24 announcement of his presidential bid by appearing simply to inform Russians that he would rule for another six years.
Putin, who will not formally take office until early May, now faces huge economic and political challenges.
“It’s a watershed – Russia faces decline and stagnation unless they really kick-start reforms, and push forward an ambitious reform agenda,” said Tim Ash, head of emerging markets research at Royal bank of Scotland in London.
16 People Dead and 60 Injured in Poland Train Crash
AT least 16 people have been killed and 26 seriously injured after two trains collided in Poland.
Rescuers worked through the night to cut through mangled wreckage to reach victims trapped in the front carriages.
Another 27 people were also injured, though less seriously.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has described the smash 50 miles from Krakow as the “worst catastrophe in years”.
He said: “Our feelings are with the victims and their families.”The express trains involved in the crash carried just over 350 people in total.
Officials said one train rammed into the other while it was stopping at Szczekociny station.
It was unclear why one of the trains was on the wrong track.Army helicopters were deployed to fly out those most seriously injured while a fleet of 450 emergency vehicles, 100 policemen and dozens of volunteer firefighters clawed at the wreckage.
Polish media showed images from the site of green and white train cars mangled and knocked off the tracks.Mr Tusk added: “Even more dramatic than the pictures are the facts.”This is our most tragic train disaster in many, many years.”
Rescuers worked through the night to cut through mangled wreckage to reach victims trapped in the front carriages.
Another 27 people were also injured, though less seriously.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has described the smash 50 miles from Krakow as the “worst catastrophe in years”.
Officials said one train rammed into the other while it was stopping at Szczekociny station.
Polish media showed images from the site of green and white train cars mangled and knocked off the tracks.Mr Tusk added: “Even more dramatic than the pictures are the facts.”This is our most tragic train disaster in many, many years.”