Militants involved in robberies: Wasan

TrendPK.com

KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wasan said on Tuesday that Jihadi (militant) group is involved in big robberies in the city, TrendPK reported.

The minister said that 133 target killers and more than 60 extortionists have been arrested.

While talking with media after a meeting on controlling street crimes in the city, he said that it is a big challenge and it is the priority of the government to control the street crimes.

He also said that 14 persons, who were kidnapped for ransom, have been recovered. TrendPK

Japan PM likely to resign on Aug 30

Unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan will likely resign on Aug. 30, his economics minister said on Tuesday, but who will succeed him as Japan confronts a nuclear crisis and a long list of economic difficulties remained up in the air.

The race to become Japan s sixth leader in five years was blown wide open on Monday when former foreign minister Seiji Maehara, 49, decided to run.

That cut sharply into the chances of Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, a fiscal conservative. The support base for the two men overlaps in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) — and whoever is elected next week as leader of the party with control of the lower house will become prime minister.

Japan s new leader will have to grapple with a soaring yen that threatens exports, step up efforts to rebuild from the March earthquake and tsunami and end a radiation crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant — all while trying to curb public debt and cure the ills of a fast-ageing society.

But concerns run deep as to whether the next prime minister will fare any better than his predecessors in the face of a divided parliament and ruling party split by policies and personal feuds.

“The chances of a stable government capable of doing the bold and decisive things needed to deal with the problems in Tohoku (northeast Japan) and revitalise Japan are very, very low,” said Columbia University professor Gerry Curtis. He ssuggested the next government could also be shortlived.

Kan, whose voter support has sunk below 20 percent, pledged in June to step down after achieving certain tasks. With key bills expected to pass this week, the DPJ is set to pick a successor on Aug. 29. One of those bills, to promote renewable energy sources such as solar power, was approved by a lower house panel on Tuesday.

U.S. moves WikiLeaks soldier Manning to Kansas jail

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration, under criticism for its treatment of the U.S. soldier accused of leaking secret documents that appeared on the WikiLeaks website, is transferring the detainee to a Kansas jail.

Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s general counsel, said on Tuesday that Bradley Manning was being moved from a Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, to a detention facility at the Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas military base.

“Given the length of time he’s been in pretrial confinement at Quantico … and given what the likely period of pretrial confinement in the future … we reached the judgment this would be the right facility for him,” Johnson told reporters in a hastily announced briefing at the Pentagon.

Officials declined to say when the transfer would take place but suggested it would be soon.

Manning is being held during the investigation of charges involving reams of sensitive diplomatic and military documents he is accused of leaking while posted as an intelligence analyst in Iraq.

The documents’ publication on the WikiLeaks website was a blow to U.S. diplomacy as allies and adversaries saw themselves mocked or second-guessed in secret diplomatic cables.

U.S. military officials did not say when Manning’s trial might begin. “We are probably months off from a trial,” Johnson said.

Manning’s lawyers have complained that the 23-year-old soldier was mistreated at the Virginia Marine brig.

Kept alone in his cell 23 hours per day, the Pentagon said he had been forced to sleep naked and woken repeatedly during the night to ensure he is safe. The Pentagon said this had happened only a few times.
Last month, President Barack Obama said he had been assured by the Pentagon that Manning’s treatment was appropriate.

Manning will be placed in a single cell in Ft. Leavenworth, officials said, but said he would not receive abusive treatment.

Gaddafi forces killed 10,000 in Libya

TRIPOLI: Forces loyal to embattled Libyan ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has killed at least 10,000 people during the ongoing fighting in the North African country, opposition says.

Libya’s National Transition Council said on Tuesday that another 30,000 were wounded and 20,000 more are still missing, AFP reported.

The revolutionary council, headed by Libya’s former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, plans to lead the country to an election.

Jalil was among the first high-profile Libyan figures to join protesters following Gaddafi regime’s brutal crackdown on the opposition. AGENCIES

Libya coalition launches 22 Tomahawk strikes: US

WASHINGTON: A coalition of countries conducting air strikes against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces launched 22 Tomahawk missiles in the last 24 hours, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

France sends envoy to Libyan rebel stronghold

LONDON: France has sent a special envoy to the rebel city of Benghazi to liaise with the interim administration, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Auction set for William and Kate sweet dispensers

VIENNA: If you’ve ever wanted to eat sweets disgorged from the chests of royalty, your time has come.

PEZ, the Austrian company whose candy dispensers are known around the world, has created a special pair in the likeness of Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton ahead of next month’s royal wedding.

Fans of the royal couple or of Pez figurines can submit offers on the eBay for Charity auction platform from April 7 to 17. Proceeds will go to a charity supported by the couple, the company said on Tuesday.

PEZ makes around 80 million dispensers and 4.6 billion sweets a year, but unlike other popular models the William and Kate figurines will not dispense sweets through their mouths.

“The whole head bends back,” the spokeswoman said.

The smiling figure of Kate wears blue while William dresses in black with a red tie.

“The figure of Prince William has a lot more hair than in real life,” the spokeswoman said. AGENCIES

Four children die in Derbyshire house fire

LONDON: Four children, all aged under ten, have died in a house fire in rural Derbyshire, police said on Tuesday.

Firefighters were called to the house in the village of Hulland Ward, near Ashbourne, at 11.30pm on Monday night.

Firefighters found the bodies of two boys, aged nine and four, and two girls, aged six and two, after the blaze on Highfield Road was extinguished. A 45-year-old woman is being treated for smoke inhalation.

An eyewitness said the semi-detached house appeared to have been severely damaged with its windows broken.

“At this stage there is no obvious sign of what caused the fire,” said a police spokesman.
“There is currently a joint investigation ongoing between Derbyshire Constabulary and Derbyshire Fire Service to establish the cause of the fire, which at this time is still unknown,” he added.

Four fire engines tackled the house fire. “The fire was well developed on arrival,” said a spokeswoman for the fire service.

Roadside bomb kills 3 pilgrims in Iraq

BAGHDAD: A roadside bomb killed three pilgrims and wounded 18 in Baghdad ahead of a religious event, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source said on Tuesday.

A police source said three people were killed and 19 wounded by the explosion in the western Baghdad district of Ghazaliya.

Another roadside bomb wounded 14 Shi’ite pilgrims in Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, the Diyala province operations centre said.

Shi’ite pilgrims have been gathering around Iraq ahead of Ashura on Friday, which commemorates the death of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussein at the battle of Kerbala in 680. AGENCIES

New AIDS cases fall by one fifth in a decade: UN

GENEVA: The number of new cases of HIV/AIDS has dropped by about one-fifth over the past decade but millions of people are still missing out on major progress in prevention and treatment, the UN said on Tuesday.

In 2009, 2.6 million people contracted the HIV virus that causes AIDS, a decline of 19 percent over the 3.1 million recorded in 2001, said UNAIDS, the UN agency spearheading the international campaign against the disease.

About half of the 60 million people who caught HIV/AIDS since the start of the pandemic 30 years ago have died, added the agency.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe urged caution over the growing impact of prevention measures and medical treatment highlighted in the 2010 global report on the AIDS epidemic.

“We have halted and begun to reverse the epidemic. Fewer people are becoming infected with HIV and fewer people are

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