A Syrian rebel fighter holds a position in the southern Syrian town of Maaret al-Numan in front of the army base of Wadi Deif. (AFP/DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS)

The United States on Thursday accused Syria of using chemical weapons against the rebels, and announced it would offer “military support” to the forces battling President Bashar al-Assad.

The declaration — alleging that up to 150 people have been killed in chemical weapons attacks — means that Syria has crossed what President Barack Obama has called a “red line” in the crisis.

But Washington has not yet decided whether to implement a no-fly zone over Syria, where more than 90,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2011, according to the United Nations.

“Our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year,” deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said in a White House statement.

“The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date,” he said.
“The president has been clear that the use of chemical weapons — or the transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups — is a red line for the United States,” Rhodes noted.

“The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has.”

In a conference call with reporters, Rhodes said that Washington had shared its information with Russia about the use of chemical arms, but that Moscow had not yet agreed that Assad should step down.

Rhodes did not say if the United States was moving towards directly arming the rebels battling Assad, but said Obama “will be consulting with Congress on these matters in the coming weeks.”

“The United States and the international community have a number of other legal, financial, diplomatic, and military responses available,” he said.

“We are prepared for all contingencies, and we will make decisions on our own timeline.”

“We’re going to act very deliberately,” Rhodes said, though noting that both the use of chemical weapons, and the increased involvement of

Hezbollah and Iran in the conflict, had “added an element of urgency” to the process.

“The president has made a decision about providing more support to the opposition. That will involve providing direct support to the (rebel) Supreme Military Council. That includes military support,” Rhodes said, without offering details. Senior Republican US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham welcomed the administration’s move on the issue, but said in a statement that “more decisive actions” were now needed to end the spiralling violence in Syria.  “It’s been reported to me by reliable sources that the president… has decided, he’s reached the conclusion that they used chemical weapons, and that they are going to provide arms to the rebels,” McCain told reporters.
(Channel News Asia)

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Nitish Calls Alliance With BJP ‘Difficult’ – Signals Split

Nitish Kumar

Ahead of its weekend review, the JD(U) on Friday gave clear signs yet again of an emerging split with BJP, saying there are problems and the situation is “difficult” even as a senior party leader lashed out at BJP. Returning from a two-day “Seva Yatra” for consultations with the JD(U) leadership on Saturday over the alliance issue, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said, “The situation is such that there are problems (in continuing the alliance).”

“They ask blessings for life but the medicine is for death. That is the crux of the problem,” he told reporters in Patna. He was replying to a question whether it is going to be the end of the 17-year alliance between JD(U) and BJP. He said the situation is difficult and what is to be done in this difficult situation is being discussed by all.

“On the one hand, some are giving suggestions that it is such an old alliance that it should continue. On the other hand, the conditions are such that there are problems,” Kumar said. While party Chief Sharad Yadav appeared hopeful of a rapprochement, sources in the party described the situation as “a point of no return”. In a clear indication of things to come, party general secretary Shivanand Tiwari accused BJP of “forcing” JD(U) to come out of NDAby projecting Narendra Modi.

“BJP wants that the blame for breaking the alliance comes on JD(U) but the fact is otherwise. We had made our stand clear long time back. Our opinion on Modi was well-known. We never invited Modi in Bihar for any election that the NDA fought there,” Tiwari said.

“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had also made his opinion about Modi’s projection clear without naming him at the party’s national executive in Delhi some time back. Even after this, they made him the campaign committee chief and projected him as their leader. They are forcing us to quit the NDA,” Tiwari told PTI.

On BJP asking JD(U) leaders to exercise restraint, Tiwari said, “They (BJP) want to force us out of the alliance. That is why they did this knowing well the stand of their oldest ally.” BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had earlier said, “We hope that at least their (JD(U)) senior leaders should ask their other leaders to exercise restraint on the language they use”. The view among a number of JD(U) leaders is, however, that after Modi’s projection and the hype surrounding his elevation, “no other options are left” than parting ways.

Asked about possibility of any rapprochement with BJP, Yadav, however, said, “Why not? Options are still not
closed.”
(Times of India)

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Musharraf Gets Bail In Key Case

A defence lawyer says a court has granted bail to Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in a case involving his allegedly unconstitutional 2007 decision to fire senior judges.

But Malik Qamar Afzal says that despite Tuesday’s court ruling, Musharraf must stay under house arrest due to another case against him, which relates to the 2006 killing of an ethnic Baluch nationalist leader. He says Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan for about nine years after staging a 1999 military coup, will be a free man if he gets bail in connection with that case.

The retired general was arrested in April, weeks after he returned to Pakistan after four years in self-imposed exile. He’d hoped to make a political comeback, but authorities did not let him contest May 11 elections.
(Times of India)

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Reformists’ Hopeful As Iran Votes For New President

Iranians on Friday voted for a new president in an election that reformists hope to win with the conservatives driven by division, four years after the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Dozens of men and women, in separate queues, were seen outside polling stations as they opened at 8am (0330 GMT). Voting continues until 6pm but that could be extended if there is a big turnout.  More than 50.5 million people are eligible to vote for the man — no women candidates were approved — to succeed Ahmadinejad, who is barred from standing for a third consecutive term under the constitution.  At the same time as choosing a new president from six candidates, voters will also pick municipal councillors.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has called for a large turnout but not publicly, stated his preference for any single candidate, voted early.

“Inshallah (God willing), the Iranian people will create a new political epic. I advise all people to vote,” said the Iranian leader after casting his ballot.  He also attacked US criticism of the credibility of the presidential poll.

“The hell with you…” who do not agree with the way the election is being run, Khamenei said on national television. “The Iranian people… will do what is in their interest.”

His remarks were echoed by Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, head of the hard-line Guardians Council electoral watchdog, who said voters “were poking their fingers in the eye of the enemy.”

If no candidate secures more than half of the votes to win outright today, a second round will be held a week later.
(Times of India)

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India To Be World’s Most Populous Country By 2028 – UN

India’s population is expected to surpass China’s around 2028, according to a UN report launched Friday.

The report, ‘World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision’, has projected that the global population will touch 9.6 billion by 2050, with most growth in developing regions, especially Africa.

“The current world population of 7.2 billion is projected to increase by almost one billion within the next 12 years, reaching 8.1 billion in 2025 and 9.6 billion in 2050,” said a statement from the UN office in Delhi.

Much of the overall increase between now and 2050 is projected to take place in high-fertility countries, mainly in Africa, as well as countries with large populations such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the US.

India’s population will continue to grow for several decades to around 1.6 billion and then decline slowly to 1.5 billion in 2100.

The population of China, on the other hand, is expected to start decreasing after 2030, possibly reaching 1.1 billion in 2100.

“Although population growth has slowed for the world as a whole, this report reminds us that some developing countries, especially in Africa, are still growing rapidly,” said Wu Hongbo, the UN Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs.

The report projects longer lives around the world as life expectancy is projected to increase in developed and developing countries in future years.

“The 20th century witnessed the most rapid decline of mortality in human history. For the world as a whole, life expectancy at birth rose from 47 years in 1950-55 to 69 years in 2005-10,” it said.

The report’s figures are based on a comprehensive review of available demographic data from around the world, including the 2010 round of population censuses.
(new Indian express)

On Thursday, North Korea proposed talks to normalise commercial projects, including a joint industrial zone it shut down at the height of tension in early April.

North Korea’s moves come ahead of a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday in California.  North Korea’s actions, including its latest nuclear test in February and threats to attack South Korea and the United States are likely to be high on the agenda.

North Korea had stopped responding to calls on the Red Cross hotline in March. Another hotline, used by military officials, remains down.

“We appreciate the fact that the South side promptly and positively responded to the proposal made by us for holding talks between the authorities of both sides,” the North’s official KCNA news agency quoted a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea as saying. The two Koreas have not held talks since February 2011. South Korea has proposed cabinet level talks on June 12 in Seoul to discuss a range of issues including commercial projects and families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War.

In response, the North invited South Korea to a working-level meeting on Sunday in the border city of Kaesong, where South Korean companies employed 53,000 North Korean workers to make cheap household goods until the North ordered it closed.

Later on Thursday, South Korea used the restored hotline to accept the proposal for working-level talks but suggested they be held at the Panmunjom truce village straddling the border.

It also suggested the talks include preparatory work for the ministerial-level meeting.

Tension escalated on the peninsula after the United Nations imposed new sanctions on North Korea for its February 12 nuclear test, the country’s third.

North Korea also said two months of joint U.S.-South Korean military drills that ended in late April were a prelude to an invasion. The international community condemned North Korea for its threats. China, the North’s major diplomatic ally, was also critical.

China told a North Korean delegation that visited Beijing late last month that North Korea should stop conducting nuclear tests and focus on economic development, a source with knowledge of the talks told Reuters.
(Euro News)

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Bissau Leader’s New Cabinet Retains Military Influence

BISSAU (Reuters) – Guinea-Bissau’s interim leader appointed a new cabinet late on Thursday, adding a number of smaller parties to the government ahead of elections promised by the end of 2013 but leaving the military in charge of the key defence and interior ministries.

Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo was named caretaker president of the tiny West African nation – a known narcotics trafficking hub – under an agreement between regional bloc ECOWAS and a military junta which staged a coup in April 2012.

Armed Forces Chief General Antonio Indjai, who is suspected of leading the coup and held power briefly before Nhamadjo’s appointment, is still widely seen as the nation’s most powerful man.

The European Union and a diplomatic grouping of Portuguese-speaking nations have refused to recognise Nhamadjo’s administration and called for the creation of a more inclusive government to lead the country to elections.

Nhamadjo on Thursday reappointed transitional Prime Minister Rui Duarte Barros to head the 34-member government and retained Interior Minister Antonio Suca Ntchama and Defence Minister Celestino de Carvalho, both considered close to Indjai.The U.S. Department of Justice in April accused Indjai of plotting to traffic cocaine to the United States and sell weapons to Colombia’s FARC rebels, after a months-long undercover operation that ensnared a former navy chief.

Repeated coups, political assassinations and a civil war in the former Portuguese colony have weakened its law enforcement and paved the way for the Colombian cartels to use it as a transhipment hub for tonnes of narcotics destined for Europe and the United States.

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Musharraf To Be Tried  At His Farmhouse In Judges Case

A Pakistani court on Thursday allowed the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for sacking and detaining dozens of judges in 2007 to be conducted at his farmhouse that has been declared a “sub-jail”.

The Islamabad high court said anti-terrorism court Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi could conduct 69-year-old Musharraf’s trial at his farmhouse in the suburb of Chak Shahzad. The court gave its ruling after its registrar and Zaidi reviewed security arrangements at the farmhouse.

Islamabad had no anti-terrorism courts till recently and the court was created specifically for Musharraf’s trial. The chief commissioner of Islamabad had recently issued a notification for conducting Musharraf’s trial at his farmhouse but it was later withdrawn after Zaidi raised concerns about his security.

Zaidi had sought the establishment of a courtroom within Musharraf’s farmhouse and a bulletproof vehicle for his personal use due to security concerns associated with the high-profile case.

Reports said the administration of Islamabad had set up the courtroom and asked the cabinet division to provide a bulletproof car to the judge.

The administration of Islamabad recently recommended that Musharraf’s trial should be held at his farmhouse because he would be exposed to threats every time he was driven from his residence to the court complex in the heart of Islamabad.

The Pakistani Taliban has issued at least two videos in which they threatened to kill Musharraf for carrying out operations against militants during his rule.

Prosecutors have so far submitted an interim “challan” or charge sheet against Musharraf and a copy of this will be provided to the former president’s lawyer, officials said.

He is facing charges over the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation and the imposition of emergency in 2007.

A court has also barred Musharraf from contesting elections for the rest of his life.

His All Pakistan Muslim League party has said Musharraf will remain in the country to face the charges against him.
(Times of India)

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The inauguration of the Sri Lanka – UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (UNREDD) programme was held in Colombo last week under the patronage of the Minister of Environment and Renewable Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha. The Minister is seen here in conversation with the UN Resident representative in Sri Lanka Subinay Nandy. Pictures by Saman Kariyawasam

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BJP meeting: Party Plays Down Advani’s Absence In Goa On Day 1

BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said that senior party leader L. K. Advani will arrive in Goa on Saturday to attend the national executive meeting and the media should not read too much about the delay in his arrival. Speculation has been rife after it became apparent that Advani will not arrive in Goa on Friday. Speaking to reporters outside the venue of national executive meeting, Naidu said Advani is not able to come to Goa on Friday because of ‘health reasons’. There was speculation in the media about Advani’s delayed arrival.

“There is no need to read too many things in everything,” Naidu said.

Replying to queries from the media about a few other BJP senior leaders skipping the national executive meeting, Naidu said they are not able to attend the meeting due to prior engagements and that there is nothing new in that. BJP national spokesman Prakash Javdekar said that Advani is not angry about speculation that Modi will be projected as chief of election campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to reporters earlier, BJP national vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said chances are that Lok Sabha elections can happen this year, “so election strategy will be discussed at the BJP national executive meeting in Goa during the three-day event beginning June 7”. Besides election strategy, the agenda will include issues like internal security of the nation, downturn in the economy, corruption, etc. The national executive will also deliberate on the upcoming elections in the six states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Mizoram. Naqvi too dismissed recent reports of a rift between Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Lal Krishna Advani. He said both are respected leaders of the BJP and that the party is united as one to oust the corrupt Congress-led regime at the Centre.
(Times of India)

Russia Could Supply Fighter Jets To Syria

Russia could supply 10 ultra-modern MiG-29 fighter jets to Syria under a possible contract being discussed with a visiting delegation from Damascus, Interfax reported on Thursday.
Russia could supply 10 ultra-modern MiG-29 fighter jets to Syria under a possible contract being discussed with a visiting delegation from Damascus, Interfax reported on Thursday.
The Russian news agency quoted MiG Corporation director general Sergei Korotkov as saying that the details of the contract were now under discussion.
“There is a Syrian delegation in Moscow at the moment. We are determining the details of this contract,” Interfax quoted Korotkov as saying.
“I think that they will be delivered to Syria,” he added in apparent reference to the MiG-29 fighters, which are one of the most modern jets used in the Russian air force today.
The Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies said the contract involved 10 fighters but gave no other details.
Russia has defended its past arms deliveries to Syria by saying it was only fulfilling contracts signed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government before the current conflict broke out more than two years ago.
The Interfax report was issued moments before President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov told news agencies that he was not aware of new arms contracts being agreed with Syria at this time.
Ushakov said that as far as he was aware, “Russia does not intend to conclude any new contracts,” without making a direct reference to the MiG-29 report. The United States and European powers have repeatedly urged Russia to halt its supply of weapons to Assad’s regime, which is Moscow’s most significant remaining ally in the Middle East. Russia last year was forced to take back a shipment of repaired attack helicopters and their spare parts destined for Syria after the shipment was detected off the coast of Britain.
(Channel News Asia)

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China In Spotlight As US Defence Chief Arrives In Asia

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Singapore on Friday for an Asia-Pacific security conference at which he is expected to press China on cyber attacks and reaffirm Washington’s strategic shift to the region. The Pentagon chief is expected to urge Beijing to agree to “rules of the road” to mitigate cyber threats after a US report found evidence of a broad Chinese spying campaign against top US defence contractors and government agencies.
“The United States knows where many of these incursions come from,” Hagel told reporters on his plane as he travelled to the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual international security conference in the city state. “It’s pretty hard to prove that they are directed by any specific enemy but we can tell where they come from and we’ve got to be honest about that.” His comments came after a Pentagon report found that Chinese hackers have gained access to secret designs for a slew of sophisticated US weapons programs, possibly jeopardising the US military’s technological edge.
During his four-day stay in Singapore, Hagel is expected to meet many of his Asian counterparts although there will be no high-level talks with the Chinese. However, Pentagon officials said he would have the opportunity to speak with Chinese military officials on the sidelines of the talks. General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Beijing in April and Hagel has invited his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan to Washington in August, while President Barack Obama is set to meet with new Chinese leader Xi Jinping next week in California.
At last year’s Shangri La Dialogue, then US defence secretary Leon Panetta announced that the majority of the US naval fleet would gradually be shifted to the Pacific region as part of the pivot towards Asia. “The focus is really follow-through this year,” a senior defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said ahead of Hagel’s visit, his first to Asia since taking over in February. “Last year, we were sharing with the region the new strategic guidance. This year is really about showing that that strategic guidance, the rebalance, is under way,” the official told reporters.
While in Singapore, Hagel is due to pay a visit to the USS Freedom, the first of the new Littoral Combat Ships that will be based out of the port. The ship deployments are touted as part of the US strategic focus on Asia.
(Channel News Asia)

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No Differences With Sonia Gandhi – PM

Rejecting reports of a rift between him and Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday asserted that there was no truth in it as the two worked together almost on all issues.
“In all truthfulness, there is no difference of opinion between me and the Congress president,” he told reporters on his way back from the five-day visit to Japan and Thailand.
“We work together on almost every issue and where consultations are needed, I consult the Congress president,” he said.
He was responding to a question about perception of a trust deficit and divergences between him and Gandhi.
“This perception that on certain issues there were differences of opinion, there is no truth in that,” he said.
He was also asked whether Gandhi had nudged him against his wishes to get the resignation of Ashwani Kumar as law minister and whether he faced a tough situation when CBI director Ranjit Sinha named a joint secretary in the PMO as having made changes in the agency’s affidavit to the Supreme Court on Coalgate but the Prime Minister did not spell out his response to this.
(Times of India)

A police station, schools and cars in several suburbs of the Swedish capital were the latest victims of Thursday night’s public disorder.

Stockholm is one of the richest cities among countries that are part of the international economic organisation – the OECD. However, Sweden has the fastest growing inequality of any OECD nation.

Some 15 percent of Sweden’s population is foreign-born. Immigrant communities are the worst affected by youth unemployment and poverty.Although the Nordic country is known for its generous welfare system, benefits have been reduced and taxes lowered during the seven years centre-right Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has been in charge.

In addition, anti-immigrant party the Sweden Democrats are third in the polls ahead of a general election next year.

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Syria Government May Attend Geneva Peace Talks With Opposition

Russia says the Syrian government has agreed in principle to attend a peace conference in Geneva next month.
The talks are being set up by Russia and the US to bring Syria’s government and opposition together.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday.
Moscow is continuing to stress any insistence from the opposition that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad go is not helpful.
Referring to this stipulation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said: “The meetings in Madrid and Istanbul were not promising. They (the opposition) put forward a pre-condition of resignation of the President and shaping a ‘government’ under the UN supervision.”
The opposition are questioning the effect of any government presence in Geneva.
“We would like to know whether this delegation is empowered to make decisions including the transfer of power to this interim government that is fully powered to make decisions. That is not clear,” said Louay Safi, a member of the Syrian National Coalition.
For the moment, the majority of the fighting is taking place in the strategic town of Qusayr near the border with Lebanon.
The UN has warned there could be three million Syrian refugees by 2014. – Euro news

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Obama Says US Faces Real Threat From  Radicalised Individuals

Citing Wisconsin gurdwara shootout last year that killed six Sikh worshippers, the US President Barack Obama, has expressed concern over increasing instances of acts of violence inside the country by home grown terrorists.
“We face a real threat from radicalised individuals here in the United States. Whether it’s a shooter at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, a plane flying into a building in Texas, or the extremists who killed 168 people at the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, America has confronted many forms of violent extremism in our history,” Obama said on Thursday.
“Deranged or alienated individuals — often US citizens or legal residents — can do enormous damage, particularly when inspired by larger notions of violent jihad. And that pull towards extremism appears to have led to the shooting at Fort Hood and the bombing of the Boston Marathon,” Obama said. “So that’s the current threat — lethal yet less capable al-Qaida affiliates; threats to diplomatic facilities and businesses abroad; homegrown extremists. This is the future of terrorism. We have to take these threats seriously, and do all that we can to confront them,” Obama said
“But as we shape our response, we have to recognise that the scale of this threat closely resembles the types of attacks we faced before 9/11,”  he said.
Later in a fact sheet on domestic radicalisation, the White House said even as the US guards against dangers from abroad, one cannot neglect the daunting challenge of terrorism from within our borders.
“This threat is not new, but technology and the internet have increased its frequency and lethality. To address this threat, the President’s administration did a comprehensive review in 2011. The best way to prevent violent extremism is to work with the American Muslim community, which has consistently rejected extremism,”  it said.
“Our communities must work together to understand the signs of radicalisation, and partner with law enforcement when an individual is drifting towards violence. And these partnerships can only work when we respect that Muslims are a fundamental part of the American fabric,” the White House said. Times of India

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Exiled Cleric Praises UK Soldier’s Killer

A Syrian-born Islamist cleric who taught one of the attackers accused of hacking to death an off-duty British soldier Lee Rigby on a London street praised the attack for its ‘courage’ and said Muslims would see it as a strike on a military target.
In an interview in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, where he has lived since being banished from Britain in 2005, Omar Bakri founder of banned British Islamist group Al Muhajiroun, told Reuters he knew suspect Michael Abebolajo a decade ago. “When I saw the footage I recognised the face immediately,” Bakri told Reuters. “I used to know him. A quiet man, very shy, asking lots of questions about Islam.”
“What surprised me is the quiet man, the man who is very shy, decided to carry out an attack against a British soldier in the middle of the day on street in the in east London. It’s incredible. When I saw that, honestly I was very surprised — standing firm, courageous, brave. Not running away. Rather, he said why he carried it out and he wanted the whole world to hear it.” The attack has been vociferously condemned by Muslim organisations across Britain.
Adebolajo, 28, a British-born convert from a Christian Nigerian immigrant family, went by the nickname Mujahid (warrior) after taking up Islam as a teenager in a suburb on the northeast outskirts of London.
He was filmed after the attack with his hands still covered with the blood of Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby, 25. Clutching a butcher’s knife and meat cleaver, he said the killing was revenge for British participation in wars in foreign countries.        Times of India

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Syrian Regime To Attend Peace Talks

President Bashar Assad

The Syrian government has agreed “in principle” to attend a conference proposed byRussia and the United States on ending the Arab country’s conflict, Russia’s foreign ministry said Friday.
It was the first confirmation that President Bashar Assad’s government would be willing to take part in the talks with the opposition.
But despite the announcement from Moscow, one of Assad’s staunchest allies, Damascus has not offered any definitive statement on the proposed talks.
Russia and the US joined efforts earlier this month to convene an international conference to bring representatives of Assad’s regime and the opposition to the negotiating table. The aim of the talks would be to establish the outlines of a transitional government as a way out of the crisis.
More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war. The US-Russian plan, similar to the one set out last year in Geneva, calls for talks on a transitional government and an open-ended ceasefire.
The Moscow announcement came after days of talks there between Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad and Russian officials.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in televised remarks Friday that the Syrian government has “agreed in principle” to participate in the conference in Geneva, which is expected within two weeks.
“We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from the Syrian government in Damascus to participate in the international conference, in the interest of Syrians themselves to find a political solution,” Lukashevich said.
He added, however, that it is impossible to set the date for the conference at this point because there is “no clarity about who will speak on behalf of the opposition and what powers they will have.”
Lukashevich also said Moscow “was not encouraged”  by the results of recent meetings of members of the Syrian National Coalition, the country’s main opposition group that has called on Assad to step down.
In Turkey, where the Syrian National Coalition is holding a three-day conference, an opposition figure expressed doubts over Moscow’s announcement, questioning why Damascus has said nothing on the subject.
“We are very supportive of the (US-Russian) initiative. Our fear is that the regime is not going to negotiate in good faith. We would like to hear enough (from Damascus) to know that they are serious about these negotiations,” said Louay Safi, a member of the opposition coalition.               Times of Times

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The New York Times quotes unnamed US officials as saying the missiles could be used to counter any potential future foreign military intervention in Syria.

Without confirming details, Russia’s foreign minister said Russian supplies did not break any international rules.
It comes amid growing alarm that chemical weapons may be being used in Syria, something US President Barack Obama has said would be “a red line”. Meanwhile efforts continue to arrange an international conference on Syria.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Mr. Lavrov in Sochi on Friday to discuss the plans for the conference, which would aim to bring together the Syrian opposition and members of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. At a news briefing, Mr Ban said it was important to “not lose momentum” on the drive towards holding a peace conference and dates for it were being “actively discussed”. Mr. Lavrov said a resolution could only be found through “an inclusive all-Syrian dialogue with participation of all Syrian forces, without any external intervention, as soon as possible”. Also on Friday, the UN’s refugee agency said more than 1.5m Syrians were now registered as refugees, with the true figure likely to be much higher.

“Refugees tell us the increased fighting and changing of control of towns and villages, in particular in conflict areas, results in more and more civilians deciding to leave,” UNHCR said in a statement.
(Courtesy: BBC)
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Pakistan Mosques Hit By Deadly Blasts

Two explosions in the Malakand region of north-west Pakistan have killed at least 13 people, officials say.
The bombs went off near two mosques in Bazdarra village, close to the tribal areas that border Afghanistan.

The Assistant Commissioner of Malakand, Abdullah Mashal said more than 30 people were injured in the blasts. He told the BBC that 15 of the injured were in a critical condition and being taken to hospitals in Mardan and Peshawar. An eyewitness, Shahid Ali, told the Associated Press news agency that the explosions came just as Friday prayers were starting.

“Many people are buried under the rubble,” he said. No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. Pakistanis voted in a general election on 11 May, with Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League set to become prime minister for a third time.
(Courtesy: BBC)
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West Bengal Class III Student Dies After Teacher Smashes His Head Against Wall

A nine-year-old student, whose teacher had dashed his head on wall for not doing his lessons, has died of injuries in hospital.
The class III student, Bapi Joardar, of Nirdheshkhali Shishu Shiksha Kendra in South24 Parganas district had his head dashed against a wall by lady teacher Champa Mondal on April 15 for not doing his lessons, police sources said on Friday.

The injured student was admitted to a hospital here from where he was referred to the National Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata where he died on Thursday night, the sources said. The teacher, who was in her early thirties and was with the school for about 3 to 4 years, was arrested on Friday, they added.
(Courtesy: Times of India)
–

Obama Names New Acting IRS Chief

Daniel I. Werfel

President Obama appointed Daniel I. Werfel, the controller of the Office of Management and Budget, to be the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the White House announced Thursday.

Mr. Werfel, who manages much of the day-to-day operations at the budget office, will replace Steven Miller, who was fired this week as the agency’s interim director in the scandal over its targeting of conservative groups.
The White House said in a statement that Mr. Werfel would begin his new job on Wednesday.

“Danny has proven an effective leader who serves with professionalism, integrity and skill,” Mr. Obama said in the statement. “The American people deserve to have the utmost confidence and trust in their government, and as we work to get to the bottom of what happened and restore confidence in the IRS, Danny has the experience and management ability necessary to lead the agency at this important time.”

Another top official at the IRS also announced his departure Thursday. Joseph H. Grant, the acting commissioner of the tax exempt and government entities division, said he would retire on June 3.

At the budget office, Mr. Werfel has been the administration’s point man on one of the thorniest political problems in the last six months: the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration.

As controller, Mr. Werfel is responsible for making sure that the departments and agencies of the federal government adhere to the sequestration law.

Now, the president is charging him with another difficult task: overseeing the IRS in the middle of a scandal. Republicans — and some Democrats — have made clear that they intend to hold numerous hearings over the next several months, and it will be Mr.
Werfel’s job to comply with their demands even as he keeps the agency running.

Mr. Werfel, 42, is a long time civil servant who has worked deep in bureaucracy, far from the political arena.
Before managing the implementation of the sequester, for instance, Mr. Werfel helped to implement the complicated American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Mr. Obama’s stimulus legislation. The selection of such a technocrat — a well-liked one who also served in the George W. Bush administration, no less — seemed designed to pre-emptively defuse partisan criticism.

Josh Bolten, who served as Mr. Bush’s chief of staff and budget director, praised Mr. Werfel as a “smart choice” to help restore faith in the I.R.S. following the revelations that officials there targeted conservative groups.

“He was always, in my experience, very professional, careful, non-ideological,” Mr. Bolten said. “He’s not easily intimidated. He’s low ego. He’s just going to tell it straight like it is. It’s not that he’s bipartisan. He’s nonpartisan.”
Officials said Mr. Werfel had agreed to serve in the position until the end of the year.

The president then would have to name another acting commissioner or nominate someone to permanently lead the agency. That nomination would be subject to Senate confirmation.

(Courtesy: New York Times)

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UPA Should Declare Its PM Candidate First: BJP

BJP  said last Friday that the Congress-led UPA should declare its Prime Ministerial candidate first and whether Rahul Gandhi is a stakeholder for the top job or not. While insisting that BJP Parliamentary Board will take a decision regarding its PM candidate at an appropriate time BJP national general secretary and former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah said, since UPA was in power, it should first take a decision in this regard.

“I am a BJP worker. I don’t have any individual thinking. BJP Parliamentary Board will take a decision at the right time,” Shah said when asked whether the party will project Narendra Modi as its PM candidate.

“UPA is in power, let them first decide whether their prince (Rahul Gandhi) is a stakeholder for the top job or he will be the Prime Minister. Let UPA first decide, after that the Opposition’s case comes in question,” he said.

Stressing that the Congress will face defeat in the upcoming general elections, Shah said, “One thing I know is that elections will be between Congress and BJP, and Congress in its entire history, will get the lowest number of seats this time around.
(Courtesy: Times of India)

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US$ 1 Million Worth Jewels Stolen In Cannes

More than US$ 1 million worth of jewels due to be lent to movie stars at the Cannes film festival were stolen from a hotel room in the French Riviera town, a police source said.
The jewels were in the safe of the room rented by an employee of Chopard, a luxury jeweller, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The incident at the hotel in central Cannes took place on the night of Thursday to Friday as the festival got under way, drawing thousands of movie stars, film industry executives and journalists to the fabled resort.
(Courtesy: New York Times)

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim offered a preview of the movement’s potential Wednesday when he rallied a huge display of citizen power in Kuala Lumpur estimated to number up to 100,000 people. Anwar says his opposition will push a nationwide campaign to dispute last Sunday’s election in which it won a majority of the popular vote but still lost to the 56-year-old government, which he accuses of massive electoral fraud.

Any move to overturn the result looks doomed to fail, with the opposition accusing the Election Commission and courts of being in the government’s pocket. But the drive could lead to instability in the multi-ethnic country if Anwar, who has battled the Barisan Nasional (National Front) government for 15 years, can deliver promised “proof” of fraud, said pollster Ibrahim Suffian.

“If the opposition can produce meaningful evidence of fraud, the government may fall into a crisis of legitimacy,” said Ibrahim, who runs independent opinion researchers Merdeka Centre. That would further squeeze Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose standing in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the power behind Barisan, is less than clear.

Besides losing the popular vote, the coalition ceded a number of parliamentary seats, prompting speculation over whether Najib would face a leadership challenge in party elections by year-end. In much-analysed comments after the election, influential former hard-line leader Mahathir Mohamad expressed disappointment with Najib’s performance. “Of course, the people will question his capacity and his strategies,” Mahathir said, adding “the party may take action, as happened with Abdullah”.

He was referring to former premier Abdullah Badawi, who was dumped by UMNO following a weak 2008 election showing, in a party putsch spearheaded by Mahathir that brought Najib to power. Barisan, which is dominated by ethnic Malays, has controlled parliament for decades while a small and ineffectual opposition has largely looked on. But Barisan, accused of corruption and authoritarianism, suffered unprecedented losses in 2008 to its reform-minded rivals, prompting Najib to subsequently woo disaffected minorities in a bid to win back support.

That appears to have failed, with the nation’s economically powerful Chinese, who make up 25 per cent of Malaysia’s 28 million people, rejecting his government in unprecedented numbers Sunday. Najib poured fuel on the fire after the election by appearing to blame Chinese for his disappointing showing. “We are more polarised and fragmented than ever,” political scientist Faisal Hazis said, adding that Najib faced a “dilemma” in healing the divisions.

A key factor for the polarisation is Barisan’s long time use of race politics, and in particular, advantages given to Malays in business, education and other spheres. The policies irritate minorities and are blamed for a brain drain and curbing national competitiveness.

Najib has made limited reforms, but Faisal said only dumping the system outright was likely to win back voters including middle-class Malays who feel the policies mainly benefit a Malay elite. “Najib has lost their trust. Only a big gesture can win them back,” Faisal said.
Analysts said Najib also may need to head off questions about his legitimacy by addressing problems in the electoral system, which had already sparked massive demonstrations in recent years. Though Najib has called for an effort to heal the widening political and social schisms; analysts say that will be difficult as he must appease UMNO conservative forces who already have lashed out at voters who abandoned Barisan.

Such forces are more used to “retribution rather than reconciliation”, said Ibrahim. “This means reforms will have to take a back seat”.

Najib, however, is believed well-placed to ride out any leadership challenge, which analysts said would only play into the opposition’s hands. “If there was an attempt to challenge Najib, it could cause the government to collapse as Anwar is ready to pounce,” said Mustafa Ishak, politics head for the National Council of Professors.

UMNO parliament member Nur Jazlan Mohamed told AFP that Najib has already briefed coalition members on plans to refocus government resources on cities, where many of the most disaffected voters are, in a bid to win back support. (Channel News Asia)
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India To Commission Its First Supersonic Naval Fighter Squadron

India on Saturday will commission its first-ever squadron of naval supersonic fighters, the MiG-29K “air superiority” jets, which will eventually operate from the decks of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (Admiral Gorshkov) as well as the indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC).

Defence minister A.K. Antony will do the honours at the ceremony at the naval airbase INS Hansa in Goa, which will also mark the diamond jubilee celebrations of the fleet’s “air arm” of the force. While celebrations are certainly in order, it also underlines the lack of long-term strategic planning and timely decision-making in the country.

The MiG-29Ks — the first 16 of the 45 fighters ordered from Russia for over US$2 billion will constitute the INSAS 303 “Black Panthers” squadron — began arriving in India a couple of years ago but the 44,570-tonne Gorshkov will be ready for delivery only by end-2013 after being refurbished in Russia for US$2.33 billion.

Similarly, the 40,000-tonne IAC being built at Cochin Shipyard will not be handed over to the Navy anytime before 2018, derailing the force’s long-standing ambition to operate two full-fledged carrier battle groups (CBGs) by 2015. The 65,000-tonne IAC-II, in turn, remains merely on the drawing board as of now. As earlier reported by TOI, India’s only solitary carrier, the 54-year-old INS Viraat, is currently out of action while undergoing yet another life-extension refit.

Moreover, it has only 11 Sea Harrier jump-jets left to operate from its deck, with no replacement of the fighters possible. All this when the recent Pentagon report on China’s growing military might holds Beijing is pursuing a robust carrier building programme after inducting its first carrier, the, the 65,000-tonne Liaoning, in September last year. “China is likely to build multiple aircraft carriers over the next decade,” it said.

China, of course, will take some years to master the highly-complex art of operating its J-15 fighters from a moving airfield on the high seas and then transforming the entire package into a potent offensive weapons platform. India, in contrast, has been in the business of operating “flattops” for five decades now, commissioning as it did its first carrier INS Vikrant with Sea Hawk jets way back in 1961.

It has long been realized that CBGs prowling on the high seas project power like nothing else on the globe. It’s no wonder that as part of its impending pivot towards Asia-Pacific, the US plans to deploy at least six of its 11 CBGs — each American carrier is over 94,000 tonne and capable of handling 80-90 fighters — in the region. Asia-Pacific has emerged as the new strategic theatre for rivalry between US and China, with India too jostling for space with the latter in the Indian Ocean region.

However, India will be able to deploy two potent CBGs only after 2018 when INS Vikramaditya and IAC are able to operate together. This, however, does not detract from the sheer capabilities of the MiG-29Ks.

With mid-air refuelling and an extended combat radius of operations as well as BVR (beyond visual range) and guided anti-ship missiles, MiG-29Ks will provide a “four-fold capability jump” over the Sea Harriers, say officers.

The MiG-29Ks, with a range of 1,300km and a service ceiling of 58,000-feet, are capable of STOBAR (short takeoff but arrested recovery) operations. They are armed with R-73 and RVV-AE guided air-to-air missiles, Kh-35E anti-ship missiles, KAB 500KR/OD TV guided bombs and S-8KOM rockets. (Times of India)

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Woman Pulled From Rubble In Bangladesh Factory Disaster

A woman has been rescued from the collapsed factory building in Bangladesh after 17 days. Local television stations broadcast live images of emergency service workers pulling the woman from the rubble.

However, the death toll from the tragedy has climbed to over 1000. It is believed that more bodies might still be trapped two weeks after the Rana Plaza complex accident occurred.

The disaster near the capital Dhaka is said to have been triggered when generators were started up during a blackout. Focus has been placed on Western retailers who use the impoverished country as a source of cheap goods. The garment industry worth almost €15 billion accounts for 80% of the South Asian country’s exports.

The Bangladeshi government has blamed the owners and builders of the eight story complex for using shoddy materials. The European Union has threatened punitive measures in order to press Dhaka to improve safety standards for the 4 million people who work in the garment industry. (Euro News)

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Syria Ready For UN To Investigate Chemical Arms

Syria has agreed to receive a United Nations team to investigate claims of the use of chemical weapons in the country’s conflict. That is according to its deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Muqdad. The Syrian government first asked for the inquiry shortly after accusing opposition rebels of using chemical weapons at Khan al-Assal near Aleppo on March 23. Muqdad’s permission for the UN investigation comes after Israel reportedly targeted military sites near the capital Damascus. Meanwhile Syria mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, stays on in his role which has prevented UN action to halt the two-year-old civil war. (Euro News)

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Nations Agree To New Chemical Ban, Export Controls

UN officials and delegates say more than 120 nations agreed to tighter controls on several chemicals and hazardous waste, including a gradual ban on a flame retardant and some new export requirements for other substances.

ut they say an effort to rein in use of construction material Chrysotile asbestos and a powerful herbicide, Paraquat, fell short at a two-week summit of delegates to three main international treaties.

The heads of two UN agencies and other officials told reporters Friday the summit was ending with agreement to phase-out the commonly used flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD, but exempted some uses in buildings.

The officials and delegates say the summit approved tighter requirements for disclosing information about exports of insecticide Azinphos-methyl, two flame retardants, PentaBDE and OctaBDE, and a fabric protector, PFOS. (Times of India)

Portraits of opposition party PAS candidates (top) and banners (C) with the logo of Barisan National party hang above a street in Kuala Lumpur. (AFP/Roslan Rahman)

Malaysia’s general election is too close to call just two days before hotly anticipated polls, according to a survey released Friday that indicated large numbers of voters were still undecided.
The upstart opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim looked set to win at least 89 of parliament’s 222 seats in Sunday’s vote, compared to 85 for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling coalition, said leading polling organisation Merdeka Centre.
But Merdeka Centre added that its analysis of all 222 constituencies indicated another 46 seats were up for grabs, with the final two likely going to independent candidates. At least 112 seats are required to form a government.
“The numbers point to neither side having a clear advantage. Whoever controls the majority of those (undecided) seats will win the country’s elections on Sunday,” the centre’s director Ibrahim Suffian told AFP.
Malaysians have eagerly awaited the election ever since 2008 polls in which a newly united opposition made unprecedented inroads against the once-invincible ruling bloc that have tightly controlled the country since independence.
The Merdeka Centre also said a survey found that 42 percent of respondents believed the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Pact) alliance “should be given the chance to govern the country” while 41 percent said “only Barisan Nasional can govern”.
The rest of those polled were undecided or refused to respond.
However, Ibrahim said Barisan (National Front) still “has the edge” due to structural biases built into the electoral system by Barisan over the decades, and its control of traditional media.
Pakatan won 47 percent of the nationwide vote in 2008, but just over a third of parliament.
The charismatic Anwar was once heir-apparent to Barisan but, a 1998 power struggle ended with him jailed for six years on sex charges widely criticised as trumped up by his rival, then-premier Mahathir Mohamad.

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Madagascar President Rajoelina to stand in July poll

President Andry Rajoelina rose to prominence as a disc-jockey.

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina has registered his candidacy for July’s election, despite previously insisting that he would not stand.
His name appears on a list released by the electoral authorities of 41 approved presidential candidates.
Mr. Rajoelina, backed by the army ousted Marc Ravalomanana from power in 2009, plunging the island nation into four years of political turmoil.
Under regional pressure, both men agreed not to contest July’s poll.
But a special adviser to Mr. Rajoelina said the deal was broken when Mr. Ravalomanana’s wife, Lalao, decided to stand.
“Now the competition is open to everyone,” Augustin Andriamananoro told the Reuters news agency.
Mrs. Ravalomanana returned in March from South Africa, where she and her husband fled after he was forced out from power.
The authorities in Madagascar have blocked several attempts by Mr. Ravalomanana to come back, citing fears of unrest.
Former President Didier Ratsiraka, 76, who went into exile for several years after losing a disputed election to Mr. Ravalomanana in 2002, is also on the list of candidates.
Mr. Rajoelina rose to prominence as a disc-jockey before entering politics.
The 2009 coup has left Madagascar isolated by the international community and deprived of foreign aid. – BBC
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India-Pakistan Panel Lays Down Guidelines For Prisoners

Consular access should be granted within three months and prisoners repatriated within a month of their sentences being completed, an India-Pakistan judicial panel that visited three jails in Pakistan have recommended.
The panel, which met with Indian prisoners lodged in Pakistan, comprised Justice (Retd) A. S. Gill and Justice (Retd.) M. A. Khan from India, and Justice (Retd.) Abdul Qadir Chaudhry, Justice (Retd.) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Justice (Retd.) Mian Muhammad Ajmal from Pakistan.
The team visited the District Jail Malir in Karachi, the Adiyala Jail in Rawalpindi and the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore between April 26 and May 1, 2013.
The panel, which concluded its visit just a day before Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh died in Lahore after being attacked in Kot Lakhpat, recommended that the Consular Access Agreement of May 2008 between the two countries “be implemented in letter and spirit and consular access be provided within three months of the arrest”.
Complete details of the charges and a copy of court’s judgment of the sentence must be shared in each case, said a statement.
“The prisoners must be repatriated within one month of confirmation of national status and completion of sentences.”
According to the panel, there were 29 Indian prisoners who had completed their sentence more than a month ago in the Karachi jail. It recommended that they be released and repatriated before May 17, 2013.

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US Considering Arms For Syria Rebels

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has acknowledged his government is no longer ruling out arming Syrian rebels.
It is the first time a senior US official has said openly that the US is reconsidering its opposition to supplying weapons to rebel forces.
President Barack Obama – who rejected such a proposal, last year – said the US was now looking at “all options”.
Meanwhile, allegations are emerging that Syrian forces carried out summary executions near the city of Banias. – BBC

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Bhutto Murder-case Prosecutor Shot Dead In Islamabad

Gunmen have shot dead the prosecutor investigating the murder of Pakistan’s ex-leader Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated in 2007.
Police said Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was ambushed as he was driving from his Islamabad home to a court hearing in the Bhutto case in Rawalpindi.
Police have not speculated on a reason for the shooting.
Chaudhry Zulfiqar was also the top prosecutor in a case related to the attacks in Mumbai, India, in 2008. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been accused of failing to provide adequate security for Bhutto at the time of her death.
Mr. Musharraf, who recently returned to Pakistan after living abroad, is being held under house arrest while the claims against him are investigated. He denies the allegations.
No-one has ever been convicted over the murder of Ms. Bhutto.
Police said Chaudhry Zulfiqar was on his way to the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi for a hearing on Friday morning when his car was ambushed.
The attackers on a motorcycle sprayed the car with bullets, badly injuring the prosecutor who later died in hospital.
A hospital spokesman said Chaudhry Zulfiqar had been hit by more than seven bullets from the front and side, including one to the head.
A woman pedestrian also died after being hit by Chaudhry Zulfiqar’s car after the driver lost control of it, officials said.
Police Supt Jameel Hashmi said one of the prosecutor’s bodyguards was injured in the incident had showed “great valour”.
“We have got evidence from several witnesses but we cannot disclose anything at this stage,” he added.
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Injured Pakistani Prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay On Ventilator

A Pakistani prisoner who was attacked in a jail in Jammu early this morning has been put on ventilator, according to the medical bulletin released just a short while ago. Sanaullah Ranjay is admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital in Chandigarh where he was airlifted to earlier today.
The 54-year-old was assaulted with bricks by an ex-soldier convicted of murder when inmates were gardening, officials said.
According to the bulletin, Sanaullah is suffering from head injuries with a large fracture and there is severe fluid accumulation in his brain. Doctors say a decision on surgery will be taken only after his condition stabilizes.
Pakistan has said India must allow Sanaullah “on humanitarian grounds” to return home for treatment. “This obvious retaliation to the death of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh is condemnable,” said a statement from the Pakistan foreign ministry.
India has given Pakistan consular access and has also suggested a meeting of authorities from both countries to suggest measures to avoid “such tragic incidents in future.”
The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered an inquiry into the assault on the Pakistani prisoner and the jail superintendent has been suspended.
The cases of Sarabjit Singh and Sanaullah Ranjay have provoked tension between India and Pakistan. After being attacked by the opposition and Sarabjit’s family for being too soft on Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday said, “The criminals responsible for the barbaric and murderous attack on Sarabjit Singh must be brought to justice.”
Today, Pakistan responded with equally strong words, asking India to “investigate the matter thoroughly and punish the perpetrators of this atrocity.” Pakistan has said India must allow Sanaullah “on humanitarian grounds” to return home for treatment. “This obvious retaliation to the death of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh is condemnable,” said a statement from the Pakistan foreign ministry.
India has given Pakistan consular access and has also suggested a meeting of authorities from both countries to suggest measures to avoid “such tragic incidents in future.”

Mukesh Ambani with daughter Isha Ambani
at CNN-IBN heroes event

Reliance Industries BSE -3.19 % boss Mukesh Ambani, who was assigned Z-level security last week, got his first taste of state-provided security on Thursday after a contingent of 33 men of the Central Reserve Police Force formally took over the task of guarding him in Mumbai, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, Glock semi-automatic pistols and bullet-proof jackets. A senior home ministry official told ET that Ambani, who is the first private individual to be given Z-level security, will have 13 CRPF personnel at any point of time, with one of them even travelling in the front passenger seat of his car. “Two Maruti Gypsy vehicles have been provided to Ambani to act as an escort and pilot vehicle for his personal car,” the official said.
Explaining the security detail, this official said, “out of the 33 men allocated to Ambani, not more than seven can be on leave at any point, leaving 26 to be always present for security duties. Two of these 13 men at any point of time will act as his Personal Security Officers (PSOs)… The cover is however only for Mukesh Ambani and not his family,” the official said.
A source in the CRPF said the onus of taking the CRPF personnel along with him wherever he travels will be on Ambani, which means that the business tycoon will have to bear the cost of the travel and lodging of CRPF personnel when he travels out of Mumbai. Ambani is supposed to pay close to 15 lakh every month to the government for the security cover, besides bearing the expenditure of constructing living barracks for these 33 men. The CRPF source said the force is right now short-staffed to provide Ambani a separate set of security-men when he travels to Delhi or any other city outside Mumbai. “In due course, however, we plan to keep a small contingent of CRPF men ready in Delhi to handle his security when he comes here.” The home ministry order directing CRPF to take over Ambani’s security does not clearly specify if the security cover has to be restricted to Mumbai, implying he has to be protected across India.
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Syrian Officials Deny Use Of Chemical Weapons

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Two Syrian officials denied Friday that government forces had used chemical weapons against rebels, Damascus’ first response to U.S. assertions that it had.
On Thursday, the White House and other top Obama administration officials said that U.S. intelligence had concluded with “varying degrees of confidence” that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its civil war.
In the Syrian capital however, a government official said President Bashar Assad’s military “did not and will not use chemical weapons even if it had them. “He instead accused opposition forces of using them in a March attack on the village of Khan al-Assad outside of the northern city of Aleppo.
Both sides have accused each other of the deadly attack. The official said the Syrian army had no need for using chemical weapons “because it is capable of reaching any area in Syria it wants” without them. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.
Sharif Shehadeh, a Syrian lawmaker, said the Syrian army “can win the war with traditional weapons” and has no need for chemical weapons. Syria’s official policy is not to confirm nor deny it has chemical weapons.
Shehadeh called the U.S. claims “lies” and likened them to false accusations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction — claim U.S. policymakers had used to justify the invasion of that country in 2003. “What is being designed for Syria now is similar to what happened in Iraq when Colin Powell lied in the Security Council and said Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction prior to the U.S. invasion and occupation of that country,” he said.
President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons would be a “red line” that could result in a significant military response. But the administration said on Thursday that the new revelation won’t immediately change its stance on intervention.
On the streets of Damascus, the two-year old conflict dragged on Friday, with government troops pushing into two northern neighborhoods, triggering heavy fighting with rebels as they tried to advance under air and artillery support, activists said. The drive was the latest in a days-long offensive by government forces in and around the capital, an apparent bid to secure Assad’s main stronghold against rebel challenges. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting between rebels and soldiers backed by pro-government militiamen was concentrated in the Jobar and Barzeh areas. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said troops also bombarded the nearby neighborhood of Qaboun with mortars and multiple rocket launchers.
State-run news agency SANA said troops killed five rebels in clashes near the main mosque in Jobar. It added that many other “terrorists,” the term the government uses for rebels, were killed in the area and the nearby neighborhood of Zamalka. The regime has largely kept the rebels at bay in Damascus, although opposition fighters control several suburbs of the capital from which they have threatened the heart of the city. Last month, government troops launched a campaign to repel the opposition’s advances near the capital, deploying elite army units to the rebellious suburbs and pounding rebel positions with airstrikes.
The Observatory also reported clashes in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, between rebels and Kurdish gunmen in the contested Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood. It also said there was fighting around the sprawling Abu Zuhour air base in the northwestern Idlib province.
Syria’s conflict started with largely peaceful protests against Assad’s regime in March 2011 but later degenerated into a civil war, which has left an estimated 70,000 dead.
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Hospital Building Collapses in India; Many Feared Trapped

BHOPAL: Up to 35 people, mostly patients were feared trapped after part of a hospital roof caved in on Friday in the central Indian city of Bhopal, officials and eyewitnesses said.
Rescuers moved in heavy machinery to cut through the crashed roof of the female surgical ward of Kasturba Hospital, hospital spokesman Vinodanand Jha told AFP.
“Twelve to 15 patients are feared trapped and a relief operation is on,” Jha said, adding that rescuers had already dug out five survivors.
Debris showered on the ward’s inmates, trapping them after the roof tumbled at around 2:30 pm (0900 GMT), Jha said.
He was unable to say how the accident occurred in the hospital, which is run by the state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
“Right now, relief operations are our priority and then we will try to find out how the accident happened,” he said.
A staffer for the ambulance service said the roof collapsed without any warning and fell “in a shower of debris of bricks and mortar”.
“It happened very suddenly,” the worker, who did not give his name, told AFP by phone.
Bhopal witnessed the world’s worst industrial disaster in 1984 when tonnes of lethal toxic gas leaked from a Union Carbide pesticides plant, killing tens of thousands of city dwellers.
US-based Dow is the parent company of Union Carbide. (AFP)
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Chinese Troops Have Pitched Tents 19 kms Beyond Ladakh Region

Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma

NEW DELHI: The Indian government today told a Parliamentary Committee that Chinese troops have pitched tents 19 kms deep inside the Indian territory in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir and that efforts are underway to ensure that the status quo is maintained.
Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and some other senior officials informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence that India has deployed forces to “keep a close watch on the border”, sources told PTI.
Sharma and other officials appeared before the Committee after BJP members Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Prakash Javadekar wanted to know the actual ground situation in Depsang sector of Ladakh where the Chinese incursion took place in Daulat Beg Oldie area a week ago.The meeting of the committee was cut short as members were dissatisfied with the insufficient information provided by the officials and they were asked to report back at the next meeting on May 30 with appropriate and exact details of the situation.
The officials told the Committee that Indian Army patrols reported on April 16 the presence of Chinese People’s Liberation Army in Depsang, pitching tents 19 km inside the LAC, the sources said.
They told the panel that as per the established mechanisms, the issue has been taken up at the level of flag meetings and through diplomatic channels to maintain status quo and resolve the issue through existing mechanisms. The Defence Ministry officials told the Committee that China disputes the international boundary with India and there is no commonly delineated LAC between the two countries.
They said there are a few areas along the border where India and China have differing perceptions of the LAC, the sources said. Incidents of transgression due to differences in the perception of LAC are taken up with the Chinese side through established mechanisms such as border personnel meetings, flag meetings, hotlines and diplomatic channels, the officials told the panel. The agenda for today’s was welfare of armed forces personnel but the issue related to incursion in Ladakh was added after Naqvi and Javadekar demanded to get the clear picture of the situation and on how the government is handling it. Naqvi and Javadekar wrote to Standing Committee Chairman Raj Babbar yesterday, saying the situation in Ladakh is “very serious” but the government is not taking it seriously.

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Imran Terms ‘System Of Oppression’ Major problem

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman, Imran Khan

MULTAN: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman, Imran Khan on Friday criticized his political opponents pledging greater reforms after being voted to power.
Addressing an election rally in Jalalpur Peerwal, Khan said that the PTI would eliminate politics of Thana (police station) as no MNA would be able to get an SHO of his own choice posted, adding that those who would lodge a fake FIR would be sent to jail. “I come here to rid the people of politics of Patwaris, villagers will themselves decide who should be appointed as Thanaydar (SHO) in their area,” Khan said.
Taking a dig at Mian Nawaz Sharif, the PTI chief said Shahbaz Sharif responded to his challenge to Nawaz for debate. He said that rulers plundered the nation over the last five years and the country’s major problem was the system of oppression. Khan said that those robbers who had been elected to assemblies would be sent to jail.

A mass protest in India against rapes

A five-year-old girl is battling for her life after being allegedly kidnapped and repeatedly raped by a neighbour in the Indian capital, Delhi. The girl was taken hostage on Monday and attacked in a locked room for over 48 hours, police said.
Reports say she was rescued by a passer-by who heard her cries on Wednesday. No arrests have been made. The gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus in December sparked protests across India. In a separate development, police in Delhi say they are also looking for a group of men who allegedly gang-raped a 19-year-old woman on Wednesday night.
Reports say the woman, who works as a domestic helper, was offered a lift in a vehicle by the men and then allegedly sedated and raped.
-BBC

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French Hostage Family Released In Cameroon

A French family of seven has been released unharmed after a three-month kidnap ordeal in North Cameroon. The group, which included four children, was seized in February while on holiday.
Gunmen claiming to be from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram later released a video and threatened to kill the hostages if their demands to release Muslim militants being held there were not met. The family was abducted by a group of armed men on motorcycles in Dabanga, around 10 km from the Nigerian border. The group was on holiday in the Waza national park.
- Euronews
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West will pay For Supporting Al Qaeda  Assad

President of Syria Bashar Al Assad

Syrian television viewers have watched their President give a rare interview accusing the West of supporting al Qaeda militants in the country’s civil war.
Talking on a pro-government TV channel, President Bashar al Assad warned the militants would turn against their backers and strike in the heart of Europe and the US. Throughout the interview the president maintained a righteous tone: “We have no choice but to be victorious, otherwise Syria will vanish…”
Assad reserves some of his strongest criticism for Jordan and accused it of allowing thousands of fighters to cross into Syria and join the conflict. He also warned the violence could easily spread across to Syria’s neighbour.
Recognising what it called the ‘deteriorating situation’ Washington is to send 200 troops to Jordan to help the kingdom boost its defences.
– Euronews

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Anger Over Greek ‘Blood Strawberry’ Shootings

Protests have erupted in Greece after migrants were shot at over a pay dispute. Around 200 workers of mostly Bangladeshi origin confronted supervisors over unpaid wages when guns were pulled on them at the Nea Manolada strawberry farm.
This is not the first incident of its kind. Anti-foreign sentiment has risen alongside unemployment in Greece where migrants make up 40 percent of the informal workforce. Nikos Papageorgiou of the Communist Party’s labour organisation said: “We must stop closing our eyes to this. We must react together to policies that are against workers.”
A ‘Blood Strawberries’ social media campaign has been created. It calls for a boycott on fruit from the Nea Manolada farm.
Five years ago, workers from the same farm staged a strike and there were also reports of attacks. Currently seven of the 28 wounded are still in hospital. The owner of the farm has been arrested, but three suspects in the shooting are still at large.
– Euronews

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Two planets that may support life discovered

An artist_s depiction of Kepler-62f

Two planets that may be able to support some sort of life have been discovered using NASA’s Kepler space telescope.
Called Kepler 62e and 62f, the two planets are beyond our solar system and in the Lyra constellation – 1,200 light years away. They are believed to be the right size and the right distance away from their parent star to possibly have water, which could make it possible for some sort of life to flourish.
About 700 planets have been discovered outside of Earth’s solar system since 1995 – but many are beyond the so-called habitable zone, an area that would be too hot or too cold for liquid water, which is considered essential for supporting life.
- Euronew

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Bahrain Clashes Continue Ahead of F1 Grand Prix

An anti-government protest in Bahrain

Heavy clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces have continued into the night in Bahrain, ahead of Sunday’s F1 Grand Prix. Demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres, and police fired tear gas and stun grenades, as violence over the past week intensified.
The main opposition society al-Wefaq has called for a big protest on Friday. Other activists have demanded that F1 bosses cancel the race due to Bahrain’s poor human rights record.
In a joint statement, motorsport’s world governing body and Formula One management said the race should go ahead as planned.

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