Germany tightens asylum rules to limit refugee influx

Berlin, Jan 29, 2016, AFP:

Germany moved to tighten its asylum laws to slow a record migrant influx as Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to bridge deep European rifts over the crisis in talks with Italy's Matteo Renzi today.

Late yesterday, Merkel's coalition government, after months of wrangling, hammered out a deal to limit numbers by blocking some migrant family reunifications and declaring three North African nations "safe countries of origin."

The agreement means citizens of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia will have little chance of gaining political asylum, echoing steps Germany took for several Balkans countries last year.

Germany will also block family reunifications for two years for rejected asylum seekers who can't be deported because they face the threat of torture or the death penalty in their own country.

Merkel's cabinet should sign off on the measures next week before parliament passes them into law, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said today.

After a decade in power, Merkel has come under fierce pressure to reverse her open-arms migrant policy, with emotions heightened after a rash of sex assaults in Cologne on New Year's Eve police blamed on North Africans.

Merkel has seen her long-stellar poll ratings slide ahead of three state elections in March. A poll published today by news weekly Focus found that 40 percent of respondents want Merkel to resign.

Across Europe, debate has raged on how to handle the biggest migrant wave since World War II, with Sweden and Finland announcing plans to deport tens of thousands of failed asylum seekers.

Several eastern European countries have sealed their borders, and Hungary's hardline Prime Minister Victor Orban reiterated today that "migration is a security issue", linking it to "the threat of terrorism and crime".

Bulgarian Prime Minister Bokyo Borisov has demanded the closure of the external borders of the passport-free Schengen area, arguing that rather than spend money on migrants, Europe should stop them from coming.

In Germany, the inflow has fallen from thousands to hundreds a day in recent weeks as winter sets in, and the government is desperate to keep it that way.

"Perhaps the weather was particularly bad this year, the meteorologists will tell us one day," said Merkel's migrant policy coordinator Peter Altmaier.

"But above all, we must seize the window of opportunity that has opened ... Our goal must be for refugees numbers not to rise again after the end of the winter storms but for them to keep going down."

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3 ISIS sympathisers arrested by NIA after being deported from UAE

New Delhi, Jan 29, 2016, PTI:

Three Indian sympathisers of ISIS, who were deported from UAE for allegedly being on a mission to carry out terror attack in India and some other countries, were arrested by NIA tonight.

Adnan Hussain, who hails from Karnataka, Mohammad Farhan, from Maharashtra, and Sheikh Azhar Al Islam, from Jammu and Kashmir, were arrested by NIA after registering a case here, official sources said.

The trio were deported from UAE and they were detained by the NIA upon their arrival in the IGI airport last night. They will be produced in a court tomorrow.

The three suspects along with other unknown associates were allegedly involved in a conspiracy to identify, motivate, radicalise, recruit and train Indian citizens located both in India and other countries for planning and executing terrorist attacks in India and in other friendly countries, sources said.

The youths believed to be members of the Abu Dhabi module of the ISIS. On September 15, 2015, the UAE had deported four Indians suspected to have links with ISIS.

The UAE had also sent back last year a 37-year-old woman Afsha Jabeen alias Nicky Joseph who was allegedly involving in recruiting youths for ISIS. In January 2015, Salman Mohiuddin of Hyderabad was arrested when he was preparing to board a flight to Dubai on way to Syria via Turkey.

According to Indian intelligence agencies, a total of 23 Indians have so far joined the ISIS of whom six were reportedly killed in different incidents in Iraq-Syria. Among the 23 are two absconding members of the banned Indian Mujahideen who had gone from their hideouts in Pakistan.

The dead were identified as Athif Vaseem Mohammad (Adilabad, Telangana), Mohammad Umar Subhan (Bengaluru), Maulana Abdul Kadir Sultan Armar (Bhatkal, Karnataka), Saheem Farooque Tanki (Thane), Faiz Masood (Bengaluru) and Mohammad Sajid alias Bada Sajid (Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh).

Around 150 Indians are under surveillance for their alleged online links with ISIS.

As many as 30 other Indians, who were radicalised by ISIS elements, were prevented from travelling to the conflict zone in the Middle-East.

Among those who are currently fighting for ISIS include two youths from Kalyan in the outskirts of Mumbai, an Australia-based Kashmiri, one youth from Telangana, one from Karnataka, one Oman-based Indian and another Singapore-based Indian.

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4 dead, 18 hurt in Saudi mosque bombing: state TV

Riyadh, Jan 29, 2016 (AFP)

Four people were killed and 18 wounded today when a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Shiite-populated eastern Saudi Arabia, state media said.

The Al-Ekhbariya news channel quoted an interior ministry spokesman as giving the new toll, up from two dead and seven wounded earlier.

Residents said the mosque belonged to the minority Shiite community. In a written statement, the ministry said security personnel prevented two bombers from getting inside the Al-Rida mosque in the Mahasen neighbourhood of Al-Ahsa city during the main weekly prayers.

"When security approached to intercept them, one of them responded by blowing himself up at the mosque entrance while an exchange of fire took place with another," it said.

"He was injured and arrested. A suicide belt was found in his possession." Since deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State group last year against Shiite mosques in the kingdom's east, security has been increased, including with the presence of community guards who inspect visitors to houses of worship.

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Facebook aims to block private gun sales

San Francisco, Jan 30, 2016, (AFP):

Facebook has set out to block people from using the leading social network and its Instagram photo-sharing service for private gun sales.
Although Facebook doesn't participate in outright gun sales, it has been a forum for negotiations, and it intends to put an end to that.

The California-based social network yesterday updated its policy for managing regulated goods to prohibit people who aren't gun dealers from using Facebook to offer guns for sale or negotiate private sales of firearms.

"Over the last two years, more and more people have been using Facebook to discover products and to buy and sell things to one another," Facebook head of product policy Monika Bickert said in an email response to AFP.

The policy change will not affect licensed gun dealers who tout their wares on the social network, which is used by 1.59 billion people monthly.

Facebook has similar restrictions on regulated goods such as prescription and illegal drugs.

Facebook and Instagram in 2014 restricted posts about buying or selling guns to users 18 years of age or older.

The social network has been under political pressure in the United States to prevent posts that could result in people sidestepping gun-buying laws or background checks.

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Strong 7.0-magnitude quake strikes eastern Russia: USGS

Moscow, Jan 30, 2016, AFP:

A strong earthquake of at least a 7.0 magnitude struck in Russia's Far East today, US and Russian scientists said, sending tremors across the coastal peninsula.

The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 0325 GMT at a depth of 160 kilometres (100 miles), about 95 kilometres northeast of the Russian town of Yelizovo in the mountainous Kamchatka Krai region. It put the magnitude at 7.0.

The Russian Academy of Sciences said on its website the first tremor, which it said measured 7.3 in magnitude, was followed minutes later by a 5.2 magnitude aftershock.

Residents of regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky felt the earth tremble, a spokesman for the local branch of the Academy told Russia's Interfax news agency.

The quake struck in an area close to the "Ring of Fire", an arc of fault lines that circle the Pacific Ocean which is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The National and Pacific Tsunami Warning Centers said there was no risk the earthquake had caused a tsunami.

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British Muslim woman found guilty of joining ISIS

London, Jan 29, 2016, PTI:

A British Muslim woman who took her 14-month-old baby to Syria was today found guilty of being a member of Islamic State (ISIS), becoming the first UK woman to be convicted after returning from the strife-torn country.

Tareena Shakil, 26, had told the court that she was unaware of the evil associated with ISIS and simply wanted to live under Sharia law.

But at the end of a two-week trial in Birmingham Crown Court, the jury concluded that she was guilty of terrorism related activity.

"ISIS is a dangerous organisation and, at the moment, she should be treated as a dangerous individual," a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said.

The jury was shown her tweets, messages and photographs, including images of the black flag of ISIS and passages calling on people to "take up arms".

Shakil dressed up her toddler son for pictures wearing an ISIS-branded balaclava after secretly running away to Syria in October 2014.

She told her family she was going on a package holiday to Turkey and instead travelled to Syria, where she remained for several months.

Her defence team claimed she had been "groomed" by ISIS recruiters who had preyed on her vulnerability following the collapse of her marriage.

She described in detail her days in Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS in Syria in court.
She claims to have become disillusioned and frightened and on January 6 this year she left with her child and bribed a taxi driver USD 50 to take her to the border.

Shakil flew back into the UK and was arrested by British police at Heathrow airport in early February.

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'Tsunami of money' from S Arabia funding 24,000 Pak madrassas

Washington, Jan 30, 2016, (PTI)

About 24,000 'madrassas' in Pakistan are funded by Saudi Arabia which has unleashed a "tsunami of money" to "export intolerance", a top American senator has said adding that the US needs to end its effective acquiescence to the Saudi sponsorship of radical Islamism.

Senator Chris Murphy said Pakistan is the best example of where money coming from Saudi Arabia is funnelled to religious schools that nurture hatred and terrorism.

"In 1956, there were 244 madrassas in Pakistan. Today, there are 24,000. These schools are multiplying all over the globe. These schools, by and large, don't teach violence. They aren't the minor leagues for al-Qaeda or ISIS. But they do teach a version of Islam that leads very nicely into an anti-Shia, anti-Western militancy.

"Those 24,000 religious schools in Pakistan – thousands of them are funded with money that originates in Saudi Arabia," Murphy said in an address yesterday to the Council on Foreign Relations, a top American think-tank.

According to some estimates, since the 1960s, the Saudis have funnelled over USD 100 billion into funding schools and mosques all over the world with the mission of spreading puritanical Wahhabi Islam.

As a point of comparison, researchers estimate that the former Soviet Union spent about USD 7 billion exporting its communist ideology from 1920-1991.

"Less-well-funded governments and other strains of Islam can hardly keep up with the tsunami of money behind this export of intolerance," Murphy said.

"The uncomfortable truth is for all the positive aspects of our alliance with Saudi Arabia, there is another side to Saudi Arabia that we can no longer afford to ignore as our fight against Islamic extremism becomes more focused and more complicated," he said.

"The United States should suspend supporting Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen, at the very least until we get assurances that this campaign does not distract from the fight against IS and al-Qaeda, and until we make some progress on the Saudi export of Wahhabism," he said.

Murphy demanded that Congress should not sign off on any more US military sales to Saudi Arabia until similar assurances are granted. He said that the political alliance between the House of Saud - Saudi Arabia's ruling royal family - and orthodox Wahhabi clerics is as old as the nation, resulting in billions funnelled to and through the Wahhabi movement.

The vicious terrorist groups that Americans know by name are Sunni in derivation, and greatly influenced by Wahhabi and Salafist teachings, Murphy said adding that leaders of both Democratic and Republican parties should avoid the extremes of this debate, and enter into a real conversation about how America can help the moderate voices within Islam win out over those who sow seeds of extremism.

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Seven email chains sent from Clinton's private server withheld

Washington, Jan 30, 2016, (PTI)

The US State Department has withheld release of "seven email chains" sent from former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's private server, admitting for the first time that her home server contained closely guarded government secrets.

The State Department will be denying in full seven email chains found in 22 documents, representing 37 pages.  "These documents were not marked classified at the time that they were sent," the State Department Spokesman John Kirby said.

He added that the department was now investigating whether the information in them was classified at the time it passed through her private email account run on a server in her home.

"The documents are being upgraded at the request of the Intelligence Community because they contain a category of top secret information," Kirby said.

"We have worked closely with our inter-agency partners on this matter, and this dialogue with the inter-agency is exactly how the process is supposed to work," he said.

Further, Kirby said another 18 emails which comprised of eight distinct email chains between Clinton and US President Barack Obama, are also being withheld in full from the State Department's release of documents.

"The decision to withhold presidential correspondence from State's Freedom of Information Act production of former Secretary Clinton's emails was widely covered months ago," he said.

"They are entirely separate and distinct from the emails in today's release that were upgraded to top secret, secret, or confidential, and I'm not going to speak again to the content of that email traffic," Kirby said.

The announcement came three days before the Iowa caucuses, when the first votes are cast for the presidential nominations.

The Clinton campaign demanded that all of her emails be released by the State Department.
"We firmly oppose the complete blocking of the release of these emails. Since first providing her emails to the State Department more than one year ago, Hillary Clinton has urged that they be made available to the public. We feel no differently today," said Brian Fallon, secretary of Hillary for America National Press.

"This flies in the face of the fact that these emails were unmarked at the time they were sent, and have been called 'innocuous' by certain intelligence officials," Fallon said.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus said, "with even more emails on her secret server found to contain 'Top Secret' information, Hillary Clinton has removed all doubt that she cannot be trusted with the presidency."

"Hillary Clinton's attempt to skirt government transparency laws by relying exclusively on an unsecure email server in her basement put our national security and diplomatic efforts at risk," Priebus said.

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Marshalls to open March legal assault on nuclear powers

The Hague, Jan 30, 2016, (AFP)

The tiny Marshall Islands will seek in March to persuade the UN's highest court to take up a lawsuit against India, Pakistan and Britain which they accuse of failing to halt the nuclear arms race.

The International Court of Justice -- founded in 1945 to rule on legal disputes between nations -- announced late Friday dates for separate hearings for the three cases between March 7 to 16.

In the cases brought against India and Pakistan, the court will examine whether the tribunal based in The Hague is competent to hear the lawsuits.

The hearing involving Britain will be devoted to "preliminary objections" raised by London.
A decision will be made at a later date as to whether the cases can proceed.

In 2014, the Marshall Islands -- a Pacific Ocean territory with 55,000 people -- accused nine countries of "not fulfilling their obligations with respect to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament."

They included China, Britain, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States. The government based in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro said by not stopping the nuclear arms race, the countries continued to breach their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) -- even if the treaty has not been by signed by countries such as India and Pakistan.

The Marshall Islands had decided to sue the world's nuclear heavyweights as "it has a particular awareness of the dire consequences of nuclear weapons," it said.

Between 1946 and 1958 the United States conducted repeated nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, Majuro's representatives said in papers filed in court.

But the court only admitted three cases brought against Britain, India and Pakistan because they already recognised the ICJ's authority.

In March 2014, the Marshall Islands marked 60 years since the devastating hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll, that vapourised an island and exposed thousands in the surrounding area to radioactive fallout.

The 15-megaton test on March 1, 1954, was part of the intense Cold War nuclear arms race and 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Bikini Islanders have lived in exile since they were moved for the first weapons tests in 1946.
When US government scientists declared Bikini safe for resettlement, some residents were allowed to return in the early 1970s.

But they were removed again in 1978 after ingesting high levels of radiation from eating local foods grown on the former test site. 

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US warship patrols disputed South China Sea

Washington, Jan 30, 2016, (PTI)

An American warship today patrolled the disputed South China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, "to challenge excessive maritime claims" that restrict the rights and freedoms of the US and others.
The daring freedom of navigation operation by the US, mainly aimed at China, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in a lead story.

"A US warship conducted a patrol Saturday around an island in the South China Sea claimed by China and two of its neighbors, another in a series of operations intended to challenge Beijing's maritime and territorial claims in the region," the daily said.

The Pentagon confirmed its operation in South China Sea. "I can confirm the Department of Defense conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea on Jan 30 (Jan 29 EST), specifically in the vicinity of Triton Island in the Paracel Islands, to challenge excessive maritime claims," Commander Bill Urban, a Pentagon spokesman, told PTI in response to a question.

This operation challenged attempts by the three claimants, China, Taiwan and Vietnam, to restrict navigation rights and freedoms around the features they claim by policies that require prior permission or notification of transit within territorial seas, he said. The excessive claims regarding Triton Island are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention.

"During the operation, the USS Curtis Wilbur, transited in innocent passage within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island," Urban said, adding that this operation was about challenging excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights and freedoms of the US and others, not about territorial claims to land features.

According to the daily, the operation lasted about three hours, during which there were no Chinese army or navy seen in the area. "We saw nothing that was unusual in terms of the reaction," a senior defense official was quoted as saying.

The US takes no position on competing sovereignty claims between the parties to naturally-formed land features in the South China Sea, Urban reiterated.

However, Urban said that US does take a strong position on protecting the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all countries and that all maritime claims must comply with international law.

"No claimants were notified prior to the transit, which is consistent with our normal process and international law," he said. This operation demonstrates, as US President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter have stated, the US will fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows.

"That is true in the South China Sea, as in other places around the globe," Urban said.
Since 1979, the US Freedom of Navigation program has demonstrated non-acquiescence to excessive maritime claims by coastal states all around the world. The program includes both consultations and representation by US diplomats and operational activities by US military forces. 

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33 Greece-bound migrants drown off Turkish coast

Ankara, Jan 30, 2016 (AP)

Turkey's state-run news agency says at least 33 people, including five children, have drowned in the Aegean Sea after their Greece-bound boat capsized off the Turkish coast.
Anadolu Agency says coast guards rescued 75 others from the sea today near the resort of Ayvacik en route to the Greek island of Lesbos.

The agency has identified the survivors as natives of Afghanistan, Syria and Myanmar.
The International Organization for Migration says 218 people have died this year while trying to cross by sea from Turkey to Greece.

Turkey is hosting an estimated 2.5 million refugees from Syria.
In November, Turkey agreed to fight smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants into Europe.

In return, the EU has pledged 3 billion euros (USD 3.25 billion) to help improve the refugees' conditions. 

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British MPs may have to comply with Sharia law

London, Jan 30, 2016 (PTI)

 British lawmakers may have to comply with the Sharia law including an alcohol ban when they move out of the Westminster Palace which is set to undergo much- needed repairs as the new complex they will shift into is governed by the Islamic law.
A UK parliamentary committee searching for a new temporary home for the House of Commons away from the Palace of Westminster has identified Richmond House, home to the UK's Department of Health, as a favoured option.

But the building in the Whitehall political hub of London was transferred to finance an Islamic bond scheme of "Sukuk" two years ago, and a condition of its lease is that it cannot be used for purposes not sanctioned by Sharia law.

An official told The Times newspaper that under terms of the deal agreed with the UK Treasury, the sale of alcohol is among activities explicitly forbidden.

"It is true. If MPs want to use Richmond House they'd better give up any hopes it will include a bar," he said.

MPs and peers were told this week that they are likely to have to move out of the Palace of Westminster entirely for at least six years to allow for a four-billion pounds overhaul of the crumbling neo-Gothic pile.

According to the newspaper, parliamentarians will have to leave behind at least 10 licensed bars and restaurants, each well-stocked with competitively priced drinks.

The Richmond House complex, just north of the existing parliamentary estate, has been narrowed down as a favoured options as it can easily be taken within a security cordon and could comfortably accommodate a temporary debating chamber.

In July 2014, UK Chancellor George Osborne had announced that the Treasury was launching the first Islamic bond in a western financial centre.

The 200 million pounds bonds, known as Sukuk, would help make Britain "the western hub of Islamic finance" and the "undisputed centre of the global financial system", he said.

The offer was more than 10 times oversubscribed as central banks and sovereign wealth funds in Gulf states snapped up bonds that pay just over two per cent annually for five years.

Devout Muslims cannot buy traditional government bonds because they pay interest.
Sukuk, an Islamic alternative, permit guaranteed returns if they are linked to rental payments.

In the Treasury version, three government buildings — including Richmond House — are being used to finance the products. To ensure that the Sukuk were fully compliant with Sharia, the Treasury agreed to conditions on the properties' use including a ban on the sale of alcohol.

"The committee is looking at a range of options and no final decision has been taken. It is aware that Richmond House is under a bond," a spokesperson for the joint committee on the Palace of Westminster said.

The 182-year-old Palace of Westminster currently has eight bars in its premises. 

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Ex-strongman Rajapaksa's son arrested in Lanka

Colombo, Jan 30, 2016 (PTI)

 Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's son was arrested today along with four other people over money laundering allegations.

Yoshitha Rajapaksa, the second son of ex-strongman Mahinda was, arrested and quizzed this morning by the police's Financial Crimes Division (FCID) at the Sri Lankan Navy headquarters, a navy spokesman said.

He and four others have been arrested on money laundering allegations, police said in a statement.

Yoshitha, who is a navy officer, is the first immediate family member of former President Mahinda to be arrested since his shock defeat at the hands of Maithripala Sirisena in the polls last year.

He was quizzed in connection with TV channel Carlton Sports Network (CSN) which had close links with the Rajapaksa sons.

CSN was controversially handed over Sri Lankan cricket's television broadcast rights under the Rajapaksa regime. The broadcast rights had been the preserve of the state television until then.

Nishantha Ranatunga, who was CSN's CEO, was also among those arrested. He was also the Secretary of the Cricket governing body.

Sri Lanka witnessed a huge political change in the beginning of last year when Sirisena trounced Rajapaksa in the January 8 presidential race, ending his 10-year-rule.

Rajapaksa in August tried to stage a dramatic comeback as prime minister as Sri Lanka voted to elect a 225-member Parliament.

However, Rajapaksa's hopes were dashed as Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) won a closely- fought election to form a national unity government.

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People like Trump should have no voice: Randi Zuckerberg

New Delhi, Jan 30 , 2016, (PTI)

Taking a dig at the US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, former Facebook executive Randi Zuckerberg today said technology has given voice to not only voiceless but also to people like the Republican leader "who should not have a voice at all".

Trump recently stirred a controversy when he called for barring all Muslims from entering the United States.

Speaking at the Economic Times Global Business Summit here, Randi said technology has given voice to voiceless and played a key role in revolutions like Arab Spring.

"At the same time when you give a voice to the voiceless, you also give a voice to people who have hateful things to say and people like Trump who probably shouldn't have a voice at all," she said.

Randi, sister of Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, worked at Facebook for seven years and now runs her own digital marketing venture.

Her brother Mark too had last month differed with Trump when he pledged that Muslims will always be welcome on Facebook and said he "will fight to protect your rights and create a peaceful and safe environment" for them.

Randi, a Harvard graduate, said she has worked on projects like presidential elections, disaster relief response and global events strategy.

"I am excited about the opportunity of tech to give people a voice. I witnessed Arab Spring, global elections first hand. I have witnessed how governments have become more transparent and more accountable because of technology," she said.

Randi said technology gives basic human dignity and hope as people can get access to education, healthcare and good governance in the remote parts using their telephones.

"Now of course at the same time, this can be scary or threatening to those who have a vested interest in keeping society the same," she added. 

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Pak to complete Pathankot probe soon, report to be out: Sharif

Lahore, Jan 30, 2016 (PTI)

Pakistan will soon complete its investigation into the Pathankot terror attack and make it public, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said today, even as he acknowledged that the incident had a negative impact on Indo- Pak ties.

The attack disturbed the talks with India which were "going in the right direction" after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, he said.

"The investigation into the Pathankot incident is underway and we will make its findings public soon," he said while talking to reporters here.

"Whatever facts come out we will bring them forth before everyone," he said. Sharif vowed that Pakistan would go to any length to uncover the alleged use of its soil in the January 2 attack on the air base in Pathankot by suspected JeM terrorists.

"It is our responsibility to uncover if our soil was used in the attack. We will do this and the ongoing investigations will soon be completed," he said.

The terrorists were being defeated and in desperation, they were carrying out isolated acts to make their presence felt, he said, adding that the remaining ones will also be eliminated.

Meanwhile, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said none of the 'suspects' arrested in connection with the attack have been charged.

"The investigation team is probing the matter and its findings will be made public," Sanaullah told reporters.

Responding to a question whether any link of Jaish-e- Mohammad (JeM) has been established with the attack, he said: "The investigation team is also probing this."

Sharif had formed a six-member committee headed by Additional Inspector General of Punjab's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) to investigate the attack in which seven security personnel were killed. 

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French foreign minister's son charged with forgery

Paris, Jan 30, 2016 (AFP)

Thomas Fabius, son of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, has been charged with forgery in connection with his passion for gambling, judicial sources said today.

He was also named as a "temoin assiste" -- an intermediary status between that of a witness and someone who has been charged -- in connection with fraud, tax laundering, breach of trust and misuse of corporate assets, with the information confirmed by a source close to the case.

The 34-year-old son of France's top diplomat has run into a raft of legal problems over his passion for gambling, with an investigation into his financial affairs opened in late 2011 following a complaint by French bank Societe Generale.

The bank accused him of writing a forged email while in Morocco, allegedly from his bank adviser, which allowed a Moroccan casino to believe he was about to receive 200,000 euros, a source close to the investigation said.

Investigators have also been looking into his 2012 acquisition of a 300-square-metre (3,200-square-foot) apartment on Boulevard Saint-Germain, a chic neighbourhood in the heart of Paris, for seven million euros (USD 7.6 million at today's exchange rate).

But Thomas Fabius has always insisted the property was legally purchased, partly through his winnings and partly by means of a bank loan.

He is also wanted in the United States for allegedly writing bounced cheques at a Las Vegas casino, with a Nevada prosecutor issuing a warrant for his arrest at the end of October although it is not enforceable outside of the United States.

According to the arrest warrant, which was seen by AFP, he is accused of writing cheques for more than USD 3.5 million (3.2 million euros) to cover gambling debts in several Las Vegas casinos in May 2012, with the prosecutor saying the money was for casino chips and high-value plaques.

In one instance, using a chequebook issued by Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, he had written out three cheques to the luxury casino hotel The Palazzo amounting to a million dollars, the US prosecutor said.

A source close to the case, however, said they were not cheques but "IOUs written on paper which have been authorised for payment."

Often photographed at high-flying parties, Thomas Fabius has reportedly spent millions of dollars in casinos in the past.

In mid-December, he was questioned as part of a probe into forgery, fraud and money laundering, police sources told AFP.

Approached by AFP today, Fabius' entourage declined to comment on the case. His father, Laurent Fabius, was appointed French foreign minister on May 16, 2012.

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Air India bomber released from Canadian prison

Toronto, Jan 27, 2016, (PTI)

Inderjit Singh Reyat, the lone person convicted for the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing that killed all 329 people on board, was today released from prison in Canada after serving two decades behind bars.

Reyat was convicted of perjury in 2010 for lying to the court in 2003 during the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted in the terrorist attack.

The flight was operating on the Montreal, Canada–London, UK–Delhi, India route.
A spokesman for the Parole Board of Canada confirmed Reyat's statutory release after serving two-thirds of a nine-year sentence for his involvement in one of the deadliest airline attacks in history.

A mechanic migrated from Punjab, Reyat bought the dynamite, detonators and batteries that took the lives of 329 passengers on Air India's Flight 182, which exploded over the coast of Ireland on its way to Heathrow Airport in London.

The second exploded at Japan's Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo.

In 1991, Reyat was convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of two baggage handlers. He served 10 years for that crime. He also got five years for another manslaughter charge in the Air India bombing.

Reyat got nine years for perjury, the longest such sentence ever given in Canada, although he was given credit for time served awaiting trial. His sentence began on January 7, 2011.

Patrick Storey, Pacific regional manager of the Parole Board of Canada, said Reyat has reached his statutory release date.

"A statutory release is not a discretionary release. It's an automatic release mandated by law," The Globe and Mail quoted Storey as saying.

"So his statutory release date is Janaury 27, 2016, and he reaches the end of his sentence on August 6, 2018....[Wednesday] is the two-thirds mark in his sentence."

Storey said the parole board had no option but to allow the release and a hearing was not held.
Reyat has been ordered to abide by several conditions set by the parole board, including having no contact with victims' families or alleged former co-conspirators, and no political activities.

Storey said the board imposed eight conditions, including one that is seldom used, restricting where Reyat can live.

"He's required to reside at a community correctional centre or a community residential facility, or other residential facility approved by the Correctional Service of Canada," he said.

"So in other words he can’t go home, he has to go to a halfway house."
Reyat also cannot associate with anyone involved in criminal activity, or who has extremist or political views.

Storey said the conditions will apply until the end of Reyat's sentence in 2018.

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Trump steals the show by skipping Republican debate

Washington, Jan 28, 2016, (IANS)

Defying conventional wisdom, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has refused to reconsider his decision to skip the party debate before the first crucial nominating contests and in the process become the talk of the talk shows.

As pundits discussed whether his move to sit out Thursday night's Fox News debate four days  before the Iowa caucuses would hurt him or help him, Trump said Wednesday he'd move forward with his own competing event.

His "tremendous" rally at Drake University in Des Moines at the same time as his Republican rivals gather for the debate just two miles away will raise money for wounded veterans, he said.

Suggesting that television networks have made millions of dollars in advertising on debates he's participated in, Trump said he doesn't mind debating, but "I just don't like being used."

"Fox was going to make a fortune off this debate. Now they're going to make much less," said the billionaire real estate mogul on another show on the conservative show as the anchor vainly tried to cajole him to reconsider.

Escalating his long-running feud with Megyn Kelly, Trump lashed out at the Fox News anchor whom he has accused of treating him "unfairly" for questioning him on his past derogatory remarks about women at the first Republican debate in August.

Calling it a "conflict of interest" Trump demanded that Kelly be not allowed to moderate Thursday night's debate. But Fox News declined to give in. Kelly will be one of the three moderators at the debate.

"I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly," said Trump. "I don't think she's good at what she does and I think she's highly overrated. And frankly, she's a moderator; I thought her question last time was ridiculous."

Kelly herself weighed in that Trump skipping the debate would "probably be a bad decision" while conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh lauded him for "controlling the media."

But despite Trump's continued attacks against her, Kelly said he is a "breath of fresh air" in politics.
"He doesn't care about P.C. culture," Kelly said in an interview with Time magazine published on Wednesday. "It's a breath of fresh air."

Kelly who spoke to Time on Tuesday, just hours before Trump announced his plan to skip Thursday night's Fox News debate, said her network can't give in to "terrorizations toward any of our employees."

Trump's other Republican presidential rivals also lost no time in criticising him. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said Trump's decision reminds him of "a 13-year-old arguing."

Texas Senator Ted Cruz challenged Trump to debate him Saturday night in Sioux City, Iowa. But Trump laughed off Cruz's call to debate, saying in a message on Twitter that if they did it the contest should be held in Canada, where Cruz was born.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio called Trump's decision to skip the debate, and Cruz's one-on-one challenge an "interesting sideshow."

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WHO under pressure to stop Zika virus

CHICAGO/GENEVA, Jan 28, 2016, Reuters

The World Health Organization will hold a special session on Thursday on the Zika virus as the U.N. agency comes under pressure for quick action against the infection linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil that is spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan was set to address the agency's executive board in Geneva as countries took new steps on Wednesday to try to stop the mosquito-transmitted virus linked to the dangerous birth defect called microcephaly.

The United States said it will block people who have visited regions impacted by the virus from donating blood in a bid to fight its spread.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is working with other federal agencies, blood collection establishments and industry organizations to quickly implement "donor deferral measures for travelers who have visited affected regions in order to protect the blood supply in the United States."

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said her country must wage war against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the virus, focusing on getting rid of the insect's breeding grounds. The mosquito thrives in dense tropical cities, and Rousseff called for the elimination of stagnant water spots where it lives and reproduces.

U.S. researchers called on the WHO to take swift action. Georgetown University researchers urged Chan to heed the lessons of Ebola and called on the WHO to convene a special emergency session of health and infectious disease experts to consider declaring Zika a serious health crisis that endangers international public health.

Just convening the meeting would focus attention on funding and research, they said in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The WHO's leadership admitted last April to serious missteps in its handling of the Ebola crisis, which was focused mostly on three West African countries and killed more than 10,000 people. Some critics have said the WHO's slow response played a major role in allowing the epidemic to balloon into the worst Ebola outbreak on record.

AIRLINES OFFER REFUNDS

Airlines are reacting to concern among pregnant women about travel to affected countries.
Chile-based LATAM Airlines, Latin America's largest carrier, said it would offer refunds or the opportunity to change destination to pregnant women and their traveling companions with international flights booked to Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and other affected countries.

U.S. airline United Airlines expanded its program allowing customers with reserved tickets for travel to impacted regions to postpone their trips or obtain refunds with no penalty.

A tropical climate, dense cities, poor sanitation and slipshod construction provided ideal conditions for mosquito breeding grounds and the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil's northeast, across the country and to more than 20 others throughout the Americas.

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.

Recent models for how the disease is spreading predict "significant international spread by travelers from Brazil to the rest of the Americas, Europe, and Asia," Dr. Daniel Lucey, an infectious disease expert, and Lawrence Gostin, a global health law expert, wrote in the viewpoint article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Lucey said only Chan had the authority to convene an emergency meeting of top experts on the International Health Regulations' Emergency Committee to consider declaring Zika a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern."

"That in my view clearly needs to happen, and should have happened already," Lucey said. Convening the meeting would allow for global coordination of travel advisories, research priorities and infection control measures, he said.

There was word of more cases outside the affected region among travelers who had been to those countries. Portugal said five people tested positive after recent trips to Brazil.

Four similar cases were reported in New York, as well as single cases in California, Minnesota, Virginia and Arkansas among people who had traveled to the affected region.

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Images suggest N Korea may be preparing missile launch

Tokyo, Jan 28 , 2016, AFP:

North Korea may be preparing a long-range ballistic missile launch, Japanese media said rsday, following a nuclear test this month that raised international alarm and sparked a diplomatic clash between Washington and Beijing.

Imagery collected over the past several days suggested the launch from the western Dongchang-ri site could come in about a week, Kyodo News said, citing a Japanese government source it did not identify.

Increased movements of people and vehicles were seen around the launch site, which has now apparently been covered over, national broadcaster NHK said, citing a source familiar with Japan-South Korea relations.

The United States regularly monitors North Korea from space while Japan itself began its own satellite monitoring of the country in 2003. North Korea is banned under UN Security Council resolutions from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology, although repeated small-range missile tests have gone unpunished.

The development parallels events in December 2012, when Pyongyang put a satellite into orbit with its Unha-3 carrier. Eight days before the 2012 launch, the North also put up a covering over the facility to hide the work from the view of satellites, NHK said.

The international community condemned the 2012 launch as a disguised ballistic missile test, resulting in a tightening of UN sanctions, despite Pyongyang's claim that it was a scientific mission.  The reported preparation of a missile launch came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity over possible further sanctions against Pyongyang for conducting its fourth nuclear test earlier this month.

Pyongyang said the blast was a miniaturised hydrogen bomb, though experts have largely dismissed the claim. Washington is pushing for a strong United Nations response, including enhanced sanctions.

But China, North Korea's chief diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, is reluctant, despite ties becoming strained in recent years as Beijing's patience wears thin with its neighbour's ambitions for nuclear weapons. US Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday and said they had agreed to mount an "accelerated effort" to try to resolve their differences on a new resolution.

But Kerry, who said nuclear-armed North Korea poses an "overt threat, a declared threat to the world", acknowledged that the two had not agreed on the "parameters of exactly what it would do or say".

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