Lahore: A Pakistani court has issued a bailable arrest warrant against a top jail official for failing to appear before it in connection with the 2013 murder case of Indian national Sarabjit Singh. Taking strong notice of the officer's conduct, an Additional District and Sessions Judge directed the Lahore Police chief to ensure the appearance of the official in the court. The judge said there had been 'little' progress in Sarabjit's case. Suspects Amir Tamba and Mudassar had been indicted in the murder case. They were fellow prisoners of Sarabjit and allegedly tortured him to death in May 2013.
Google boss responds to 7-year-old's job letter
London: India-born Google CEO Sundar Pichai surprised a 7-year-old British girl by personally responding to her hand-written job application. Chloe Bridgewater from the town of Hereford in England was so fascinated with her tablet and the idea of robots that she decided to apply for a job in Google. She listed out her computer skills as well as an interest in a workplace that had bean bags and slides in her letter addressed to `Dear google boss'. “Thank you so much for your letter. I'm glad that you like computers and robots, and hope that you will continue to learn about technology,“ Pichai wrote back to her.
Taliban abduct 52 civilians in Afghanistan
Kabul: Taliban militants have abducted 52 civilians in Jawzjan province of Afghanistan, an official said. "Armed militants abducted the civilians from some villages in Darzab district and took them to an unknown location," Xinhua news agency reported. According to the official, the local administration was making efforts to secure their safe release. Taliban militants have not made any comment in this regard so far.
Mob kills eloped lovers after storming police station
Kabul: An armed mob in Afghanistan killed a woman and her lover after storming the police stateion. The couple were kept in the police station after their arrest. Three policemen were also injured in the attack. The woman, Fatiha, 18, was married against her will and eloped with Hedayatullah, from a neighbouring village. The police caught and arrested them and kept in the station. Within hours an armed mob formed at the police station, led by Fatiha's husband and his family, including her brothers and cousins. The authorities said there were only 30 police officers at the station facing a mob of 250 to 300.
10 sentenced to death for Egypt stadium massacre
Cairo: An Egyptian court sentenced to death 10 persons over charges of murder and violence for the 2012 stadium massacre that left over 70 people dead. The clashes took place on February 1, 2012 during a game between Port Said-based al-Masry soccer club and Cairo-based al-Ahly, of which supporters were attacked with knives, swords, clubs, stones, bottles, resulting in the death of 74 people and injuring 200 others. The Port Said criminal court in June 2015 sentenced to death 11 people, one of them in absentia, in a retrial. A total of 73 people have been tried on charges of violence and murder, 21 were acquitted while senior political or sports officials received sentences of a few years in jail.
Dutch MP calls Moroccans `scum' in rally
Amsterdam: Firebrand Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders launched a stinging attack on the country's Moroccan population, calling some “scum” and saying he wanted to make The Netherlands “ours again.” Wilders has been fighting an election. “The Moroccan scum in Holland... once again not all are scum ... but there is a lot of Moroccan scum in Holland who make the streets unsafe, mostly young people... and that should change,” Wilders said. Muslim organisations reacted strongly to the remarks, calling his comments “reprehensible.”
N Korean leader's half-brother murdered
Kuala Lumpur/Seoul: The estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been murdered in Malaysia, a South Korean source said. Kim Jong-nam, in his 40s, the older half-brother of Kim Jong-un, spent a significant amount of his time outside North Korea and had spoken out against his family's dynastic control. Seoul's TV Chosun reported Kim had been poisoned with a needle by two women believed to be North Korean operatives. Police official Fadzil Ahmat said the cause of Kim's death had not been determined yet. “So far there are no suspects,” Fadzil said.
Need ‘solid evidence’ to back UN move to ban Azhar: China
Beijing: Ahead of its strategic dialogue with India, China said “solid evidence” was needed for it to back efforts to get Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar banned by the United Nations. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and China’s Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui will hold a new round of strategic dialogue in Beijing on February 22, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said. The two sides would have an in-depth exchange of views on the international situation and other regional and global issues of mutual interest in the strategic dialogue, which is an important communication mechanism between India and China, he said.
Irrfan Khan's 'No Bed of Roses' banned in Bangladesh
Los Angeles: A film based on late Bangladeshi writer and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed, starring and co-produced by Indian actor Irrfan Khan has been banned in Bangladesh. According to a report, script for 'No Bed of Roses' was approved by the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation's (BFDC) Joint Venture Preview Committee, on March 8, last year. Once completed, the film was previewed by the board on February 12, 2017, and received a No Objection Certification on February 15. However, a day later, it sent the production a letter stating that the certificate had been cancelled due to a letter from the Bangladesh Information Ministry. Khan said, "I am really surprised to know that the government of Bangladesh has blocked the film. This is a humane story that deals with complex male and female relationships in a subtle and balanced way. What harm will it cause to the society if seen? The movie tells the story about Ahmed, who divorced his wife of 27 years and married an actress 33 years his junior.”
China's 'Silk Road' project in Lanka delayed
Colombo: China has delayed a planned $1.1 billion investment in a port on its modern-day "Silk Road" until Sri Lanka clears legal and political obstacles to a related project, sources familiar with the talks said. Heavily indebted Sri Lanka needs the money, but payment for China's interests in Hambantota port could be delayed by several weeks or months, the sources added. After signing an agreement last December, state-run China Merchants Port Holdings had been expected to buy an 80 per cent stake in the southern port before an initial target date of January 7. Beijing also has a separate understanding with Colombo to develop a 15,000-acre industrial zone in the same area, a deal that Sri Lanka was hoping to finalize later.
