World

A court in Pakistan has given a 24-year-old man, Imran Ali, four death sentences for raping and murdering a six-year-old girl last month.

Zainab Ansari's body was found in a rubbish dump in the city of Kasur, south of Lahore, on 9 January. Her murder triggered outrage across the country, including riots against alleged police incompetence in which two protesters died.

The victim's father was in court to hear the verdict, amid heavy security. Zainab's killer has also been linked by police and the chief minister of Punjab province to the murders and assaults of other girls in the area.

Ali's alleged crimes stretch back at least a year and angry residents say authorities should have been quicker to identify him as the perpetrator.

Ali will be tried over the rest of the cases later, government prosecutor Ehtisham Qadir Shah told Reuters news agency. Dozens of witnesses testified against Ali in the trial, where forensic evidence including DNA and polygraph tests were also presented.His lawyer had withdrawn from the case after Ali confessed, reports say.

Ali was handed death sentences for kidnapping, rape, murder and an act of terrorism, a life sentence for sodomy and a large fine. He now has a 15-day window in which he may appeal against the verdict.

Source : BBC

If you’ve heard of Maldives, a South Asian country southwest of Sri Lanka in the Arabian Sea, you may know it as an island paradise. But severe political crisis erupted there Feb. 5 when President Yameen Abdul Gayoom of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) declared a state of emergency.

Security forces stormed the Supreme Court and arrested two of its five sitting judges, and sealed parliament, arresting two members of the opposition. As his term comes to a close, Gayoom is cracking down on the opposition. Numerous opposition leaders are in jail and others fear arrest, as he attempts to continue ruling as a strongman, despite court opposition.

Can Maldives have free and fair elections in November? How are China and India involved? Will the international community intervene? Here are five things you need to know.

How did this all begin?

The crisis began in 2012 when loyalists of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom forced Mohamed Nasheed — the first democratically elected president of Maldives — to resign and sentenced him to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges. In 2009, Nasheed made an international splash when he held the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting, with all attendees in scuba gear, to illustrate the dangers of climate change to the low-lying island state. At that year’s Copenhagen summit, he pledged to make Maldives the world’s first carbon-neutral state.

Maumoon Gayoom is Yameen Gayoom’s half brother and founder of the PPM, and he ruled Maldives with an iron fist for 30 years. Nasheed claims that he was forced to resign at gunpoint in a military coup. The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention to be in violation of international law. In 2013, Yameen Gayoom assumed power with his half brother’s support after an election fraught with delays and irregularities.

Since 2016, Nasheed has sought political asylum in Britain. He was in Sri Lanka during the recent ruling, when the Supreme Court vacated his conviction, which would allow him to return. He has said he will run for office in November. In the event that he cannot run, Nasheed has said that he will back an opposition candidate.

How does the Supreme Court’s ruling threaten Yameen Gayoom’s power?

The arrests come after the Supreme Court ruled that two of the president’s actions were unconstitutional. First, it ruled unanimously that Gayoom had wrongly imprisoned nine high-profile opposition figures and that they must be released. Those include retired Col. Mohamed Nazim, a former defense minister, who many Maldivians believe was framed, and Ahmed Adeeb, Gayoom’s former vice president. The court found that prosecutors and judges were forced to conduct “politically motivated” investigations.

In these most recent arrests, the government also took into custody 80-year-old Maumoon Gayoom, who has been running his own PPM faction after being stripped of the leadership position in 2016. In March 2017, he joined the opposition coalition in an effort to restore democracy and ensure free and fair elections.

Second, the court ruled that Yameen Gayoom had wrongly removed 12 legislators from their seats in November when they defected from the ruling party. The court order restored these seats, which would have cost him his parliamentary majority.

Maldives’s entire opposition is now united in a coalition dedicated to removing the younger Gayoom — in no small part because of his strongman behavior. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, Gayoom has fired two police chiefs after police said they would uphold the court’s orders. Now, his administration claims that it stormed the Supreme Court to avert a coup.

What does the state of emergency do?

The 15-day state of emergency grants all powers to the president. It allows security forces to detain individuals and limits the reach of parliament and the Supreme Court. Numerous constitutional rights have been suspended, including parliament’s authority to remove the president, the Supreme Court’s ability to determine disputes related to impeachment, and the Criminal Procedure Code. Normally, parliament can legally impeach the president or the court could issue a warrant for his arrest if he commits crimes or violates the constitution. But the state of emergency prevents the president from being forcibly removed and gives him the authority to keep opposition leaders imprisoned.

What implications does this have for the November elections?

Maldives’s parliament has been sealed by the army, though its opening was scheduled for Feb. 5. Although the emergency lasts only 15 days, it could be extended. It also gives Gayoom time to replace the judges.

The Supreme Court’s three remaining judges have reversed the court’s original ruling so that the convictions against nine opposition leaders hold. They have said that anyone criticizing its decision will be in contempt of court. Nasheed risks arrest if he returns. The 12 legislators the Supreme Court had restored to parliament still theoretically have their seats, but this may not last. Nor does it matter, while parliament is sealed.

Will the international community intervene?

Nasheed has asked that India lead an international effort to enforce the original court orders. However, the Indian government appears reluctant to send in its military. What’s more, Maldives’s once-strong relationship with India has been strained by China’s increasing economic influence.

In December, China and Maldives signed a free-trade agreement despite the opposition’s disapproval. The 1,000-page document passed in parliament with less than an hour of discussion. China has invested in numerous infrastructure projects, such as the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge between the international airport and Male, the capital of Maldives, and a 1,000-apartment housing project. There are rumors that China may eventually pursue a naval base in Maldives, following its first overseas base in Djibouti. Not surprisingly, China is opposed to Indian intervention.

Aside from China, the international community seems unanimous in condemning Gayoom’s regime. The U.S. National Security Council tweeted that the government must respect the rule of law, freedom of expression and democratic institutions. U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called the recent events in Maldives an “all-out assault on democracy.” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres has urged the government of Maldives to lift the emergency order. The U.N. Security Council was expected to address the issue Thursday.

But what the international community will do remains unclear. Nasheed is urging that India send an envoy, along with its military, to free the judges and political prisoners. This will allow the arrested politicians to run for office in November. He has also asked the United States to stop all the regime leaders’ financial transactions that go through U.S. banks.

But China’s implicit support for Gayoom’s regime complicates the situation; the country holds veto power in the Security Council.

If Gayoom’s government continues to jail the opposition and control state institutions, free and fair elections remain unlikely.

Nayma Qayum is an assistant professor and chair of the Asian Studies department at Manhattanville College.

(Washington Post)

A fire broke out at the most important shrine in Tibetan Buddhism - the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa.

Footage posted online showed flames billowing from the roof and what appeared to be at least one gutted pagoda.

Chinese state media said the blaze started late on Saturday and was soon put out. No casualties were reported.

The extent of damage to the sprawling compound is unclear. State media said there was no damage to cultural relics.

Tibet, the remote and mainly-Buddhist territory known as the "roof of the world", is governed as an autonomous region of China.

The Jokhang monastery is more than 1,000 years old and is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Reports say that Chinese authorities quickly tried to block footage and images of the fire appearing on social media.

Beijing maintains tight control of news reports from Tibet, where Buddhist sites have been a focal point for separatist unrest in the past.

The fire comes as Tibetans celebrate Losar, their traditional new year, which began on Friday.

Tibet has had a tumultuous history, during which it has spent some periods functioning as an independent entity and others ruled by powerful Chinese and Mongolian dynasties.

China sent in thousands of troops to enforce its claim on the region in 1950. Some areas became the Tibetan Autonomous Region and others were incorporated into neighbouring Chinese provinces.

China says Tibet has developed considerably under its rule.

But rights groups say China continues to violate human rights, accusing it of political and religious repression - something Beijing denies.

 Source : BBC

Leaders of South Africa's governing ANC party are due to meet to decide the future of President Jacob Zuma. The National Executive Committee (NEC) is likely to ask him to step down.

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged on Sunday that the issue was causing "disunity and discord". Zuma, 75, faces a number of corruption charges after nine years in power.

"We know you want closure", Ramaphosa told a crowd marking 100 years since the birth of the country's first black president, Nelson Mandela. An NEC meeting was called off last week following direct talks between Zuma and Ramaphosa, who is the deputy president as well as the new leader of the party.

Zuma has resisted increasing pressure to quit since December, when Ramaphosa replaced him as leader of the ANC (African National Congress). Correspondents say that if the NEC agrees to recall Zuma, it would be very difficult for him to resist.

Ramaphosa has pledged to tackle the corruption that has marred Zuma's time in office. He urged South Africans to restore the values that Mr Mandela - also known as Madiba - stood for, and said those who had stolen state assets would be brought to justice.

"We must work together as Madiba taught us to push back the frontiers of poverty, unemployment and inequality," he said.

Zuma's presidency has been overshadowed by allegations of corruption.

In recent years his links to the wealthy India-born Gupta family, who are alleged to have influenced the government, have caused his popularity to plummet.Both Zuma and the Guptas deny the allegations.

 Source : BBC

Sixty-six people have been killed in a passenger plane crash in Iran, airline company officials say. The Aseman Airlines plane, en route from Tehran to the south-western city of Yasuj, came down in the Zagros mountains. The Red Crescent deployed search and rescue teams to the site near the city of Semirom in Isfahan province.

Flight EP 3704 left Tehran at 08:00 local time (04:30 GMT) and disappeared from radar about an hour later. The aircraft crashed on Dena Mountain, 22km (14 miles) from Yasuj, news channel Irinn reported.

The plane was a French-made twin-engine turboprop ATR 72-500. Those on board were 60 passengers, two security guards, two flight attendants and the pilot and co-pilot.

"After searches in the area, unfortunately we were informed that the plane crashed. Unfortunately, all our dear ones lost their lives in this incident," airline spokesman Mohammad Tabatabai said.

A child was among the victims, emergency services head Pir Hossein Kulivand was quoted as saying. Bad weather had hampered rescue efforts. Emergency teams had to travel to the crash site by land rather than using a helicopter, Mr Kulivand said.

Source : BBC

The UN chief has called "for an immediate and unconditional de-escalation of violence" after Israel launched intensive air raids on what it called Iranian bases in Syria, raising tensions in the region.

"All concerned in Syria and the region have a responsibility and must abide by international law and relevant Security Council resolutions," Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Saturday.

"The secretary-general is following closely the alarming military escalation throughout Syria and the dangerous spillover across its borders," the UN chief's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The Israeli army on Saturday launched "large-scale" attacks inside Syria after intercepting what it said was an Iranian drone that entered occupied Golan Heights and the subsequent downing of an Israeli fighter jet by Syrian air defence forces.

The UN chief's reaction came after Russia, which intervened in support of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, said they were "seriously concerned" by the confrontation.

"We urge all parties involved to exercise restraint and to avoid any actions that could lead to an even greater complication of the situation," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"We consider it necessary to unconditionally respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and other countries of the region," it added.

Source : Al Jazeera

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has suggested Filipinos avoid using condoms because they “aren’t pleasurable” in the latest of many wisecracks that have outraged rights advocates and social welfare groups.

Duterte told returning overseas workers, mostly women, to use “free” contraceptive pills and illustrated his point by putting a wrapped piece of candy to his mouth.

“Here, try eating it without unwrapping it,” he said.

“Eat it. That’s what a condom is like.”

Health advocates have for years pushed for use of condoms in the country of 100 million people to reduce unintended pregnancies, the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

They say despite attempts by the Catholic church to restrict access to condoms they have helped reduce the country’s high maternal mortality rate.

Duterte’s comments came only days after women’s and rights groups condemned the former provincial mayor for encouraging soldiers to shoot female rebels in their genitals.

“Tell the soldiers…there’s a new order from the mayor. We won’t kill you. We will just shoot your vagina,” he had told a group of former communist rebels.

“If there is no vagina, it would be useless,” he said, appearing to imply that women are useless without their genitals.

Carlos Conde, the representative for Human Rights Watch in the Philippines, said it is irresponsible for the president to downplay the importance of condoms at a time when the Philippines is experiencing the fastest growing epidemic of HIV in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Instead of criticising condoms as a pleasurable inhibitor Duterte should take meaningful action to protect the health of Filipinos by backing urgently needed policy changes to expand the accessibility and use of condoms in the Philippines,” Conde said.

Since taking office in 2016 Duterte has shrugged off outrageous comments, including telling a group of Indian and Filipino business leaders in New Delhi in January that he would like to attract visitors to the Philippines by offering “42 virgins”.

While campaigning for the presidency he joked about wanting to be first in line to rape a kidnapped Australian missionary because she was “beautiful".

He later apologised and said he did not intend to disrespect women.

In July 2017 he made rape jokes while talking about Miss Universe.

Earlier, he told soldiers battling Muslim fighters in the besieged southern city of Marawi they could rape up to three women a day without getting punished.

Often when challenged for making outrageous remarks Duterte has insisted he was just joking.

But his rule has been defined by violence, including a crackdown on drugs that has left more than 14,000 mostly poor Filipinos dead, the largest number of civilian deaths in Asia for decades.

Among his most colourful remarks was that fish in Manila Bay would grow fat from the bodies of drugs users and addicts.

A cutting-edge scientific analysis shows that a Briton from 10,000 years ago had dark brown skin and blue eyes.

Researchers from London's Natural History Museum extracted DNA from Cheddar Man, Britain's oldest complete skeleton, which was discovered in 1903. University College London researchers then used the subsequent genome analysis for a facial reconstruction.

It underlines the fact that the lighter skin characteristic of modern Europeans is a relatively recent phenomenon. No prehistoric Briton of this age had previously had their genome analysed.

As such, the analysis provides valuable new insights into the first people to resettle Britain after the last Ice Age. The analysis of Cheddar Man's genome - the "blueprint" for a human, contained in the nuclei of our cells - will be published in a journal, and will also feature in the upcoming Channel 4 documentary The First Brit, Secrets Of The 10,000-year-old Man.

Cheddar Man's remains had been unearthed 115 years ago in Gough's Cave, located in Somerset's Cheddar Gorge. Subsequent examination has shown that the man was short by today's standards - about 5ft 5in - and probably died in his early 20s.

The Natural History Museum researchers extracted the DNA from part of the skull near the ear known as the petrous. At first, project scientists Prof Ian Barnes and Dr Selina Brace weren't sure if they'd get any DNA at all from the remains.

But they were in luck: not only was DNA preserved, but Cheddar Man has since yielded the highest coverage (a measure of the sequencing accuracy) for a genome from this period of European prehistory - known as the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age.

They teamed up with researchers at University College London (UCL) to analyse the results, including gene variants associated with hair, eye and skin colour.

They found the Stone Age Briton had dark hair - with a small probability that it was curlier than average - blue eyes and skin that was probably dark brown or black in tone.

This combination might appear striking to us today, but it was a common appearance in western Europe during this period.

Cheddar Man's genome reveals he was closely related to other Mesolithic individuals - so-called Western Hunter-Gatherers - who have been analysed from Spain, Luxembourg and Hungary.

Source : BBC

Cyril Ramaphosa was elected president of South Africa by parliament Thursday, his elevation was guaranteed after Jacob Zuma resigned the presidency late Wednesday night.

Following the vote on the floor of the National Assembly, Ramaphosa accepted words of praise from supporters and overt electoral threats from opposition leaders — then stood at the same podium where, 22 years ago, he shepherded the ratification of South Africa's constitution.

Ramaphosa, 65, promised to "continue to improve the lives of our people," and said he would "work very hard to try to not disappoint the people of South Africa."

It was a clear indication he plans to take the country in a different direction than his predecessor. On Friday night Ramaphosa will deliver his first State of the Nation Address, which he said would outline his plans to fight corruption in the country.

Bangladeshi police have clashed with thousands of protesters, as opposition leader Khaleda Zia was jailed for five years for corruption.

Zia, a former prime minister, denies misusing international funds donated to a charitable children's trust. The jail sentence may mean the 72-year-old is barred from parliamentary polls due later this year.

The case is one of dozens pending against Zia, a long-time rival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Zia has described the charges against her as politically motivated. As she went into court, she told weeping relatives: "I will be back. Do not worry and be strong", according to the Daily Star.

The verdict was read out in a court in Dhaka after police used tear gas to disperse thousands of her supporters. Several police officers were injured in the violence, reports said.

Zia was led away to jail minutes after the verdict, bdnews24 reported. Her son Tarique Rahman was given 10 years in jail in absentia as he is in London. The same jail term was handed down to four of her aides.

The trial against Ms Zia centred around $252,000 (£182,000) intended for an orphanage trust set up when she was prime minister. She was found guilty of embezzling the funds.

Source : BBC

At least 17 people are dead after a 19-year-old man opened fire at a high school campus in Parkland, Florida, police have said.

The suspect has been named as Nikolas Cruz, 19, and is a former student at the school who had been expelled.

As the attack unfolded students were forced to hide as police swooped in on the building.

It is one of the deadliest school shootings since 26 people were killed at a Connecticut school in 2012.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters Cruz killed three people outside the school, before entering the building and killing another 12.

Two people later died after being taken to hospital.

"It's catastrophic. There really are no words," Sheriff Israel tweeted later.

Dr Evan Boyar of Broward Health told reporters late on Wednesday that 17 people total had been taken to area hospitals.

He added that Cruz was among those treated and was released into police custody. Three people remained in a critical condition and three others were in stable condition, he said.

The victims are still being identified. Sheriff Israel said a football coach was among the dead but no names have been released.

How the attack unfolded

On Wednesday, the local public school district tweeted that "students and staff heard what sounded like gunfire" just before the end of the day at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Witnesses said that the suspect pulled a fire alarm before the violence erupted.

Police and SWAT team members swarmed the campus and began clearing students from the school in Parkland, about an hour north of Miami, as parents and ambulances converged on the scene.

Cruz, who had been expelled for "disciplinary reasons", was taken into custody without incident in the nearby town of Coral Springs about an hour after he left the high school, according to police.

"We have already begun to dissect his websites and things on social media that he was on and some of the things... are very, very disturbing," Sheriff Israel said.

"Just a horrible day for us," said Robert Runcie, the superintendent of the county's school district.

'Worst nightmare'

Many students said they thought it was a drill after hearing the fire alarm go off shortly before the shooting.

Students told US media they hid under desks, in closets or barricaded doors as loud shots rang out.

One student, Bailey Vosberg, said: "I heard what sounded like fireworks and I looked at my friend and he asked me if I heard that."

"Immediately, I knew. I didn't say anything to him, I just hopped over the fence and I went straight to the road that our school is located on - and as I got there there was just Swat cars and police units, police vehicles just flying by, helicopters over the top of us."

Caesar Figueroa, a parent, told CBS News his daughter was hiding in a closet when she called him.

He told the news outlet earlier that he told her not to call him because he did not want the gunman to hear her voice.

"It's the worst nightmare not hearing from my daughter for 20 minutes, it was the longest 20 minutes of my life," Figeuroa said.

A teacher told WSVN that she hid in a closet with 19 students for 40 minutes - and that the school had undergone training for such a situation six weeks ago.

One of US President Donald Trump's top aides has resigned amid abuse claims from his two ex-wives. White House staff secretary Rob Porter said "these outrageous allegations are simply false" as he announced he would step down.

The accusations were first reported in the Daily Mail and include accounts of physical and emotional abuse.

The White House would not comment on a report that Porter, 40, failed to receive security clearance.

His ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, both recounted stories of Porter's alleged misconduct.

His first spouse, Holderness, said the White House aide had been verbally and physically abusive.

Holderness, a US government analyst, said Porter had kicked her on their 2003 honeymoon in the Canary Islands.

She also alleged he punched her in the face while they were on holiday a couple of years later in Florence, Italy.

 Holderness supplied a photo of herself with a black eye to the media.

Willoughby, a motivational speaker, told the Daily Mail she was married to Porter from 2009-13. She wrote about her experiences in a blog post entitled Why I Stayed

Source : BBC