Under Islamic Law Voting is A Sin

Fringe preacher Anjem Choudary is trying to discourage Muslims from voting in elections by claiming the act is a ‘sin’ under Islamic law.

Mr Choudary’s group is promoting a campaign on social media with the hashtag #StayMuslimDontVote and has released a series of videos aimed at discouraging young Muslims from taking part in the democratic process.
Despite having become adept at marshalling repeated media coverage, Mr Choudary is a fringe figure in British Islam.
“Almost all major Muslim organisations say it is a civic obligation for us to participate in the electoral process because we have an opportunity to make our societies better, not just for Muslims but for everyone,” Talha Ahmad from the Muslim Council of Britain said last month.
A number of grassroots campaigns have been set up by mainstream groups to encourage British Muslims to go to the polls, however.
One group, YouElect, aims to promote voter registration and political engagement among followers of the religion.
“This year more than ever it is vital you participate by voting at election time,” the group says on its website.
“With continuing economic uncertainty, unemployment concerns, possible cuts in social services, civil liberty issues, rising inequality, inconsistent foreign policy and rising Islamophobia it is important to ensure you support the right candidate.”
Choudary’s call ironically comes as voters go to the polls in Nigeria; a country where half the population is made up of Muslims.
Just 47% of Muslims were estimated to have voted in 2010 – a figure partly accounted for by the religion’s younger than average demographic. General turnout at that election was around 65%.
With the election race looking closer than ever, the UK’s nearly three million followers of Islam could play a key role in the final result; YouElect estimates that the Muslim vote could be crucial in 32 constituencies.
There are only 26 ethnic minority MPs, or 4% of the total number, according to the House of Commons library. There are now eight Muslim MPs, three of whom are, for the first time, women.

Nigeria: PVC Better Than US Voter Card

The Ambassador of the United States to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, has applauded the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission to use the Permanent Voter Card in the general elections which commenced on Saturday.

The ambassador, who spoke with journalists at the International Conference Centre, venue of the National Collation Centre of the election results, on Sunday said Nigeria’s PVC involved superior technology which his state of Virginia in the US needed to copy.

He said, “I am very impressed by the decision of INEC to use technology in this election. The Permanent Voter Cards are very high-tech.

“They are more high tech than my voter card from the state of Virginia in the US. My voter card does not have biometric. It does not have my fingerprint. The high-tech gives the process more integrity.

“I congratulate INEC on taking the part of High-tech. I think we need to come and study it so that we can use it in my country.”

The ambassador expressed hope that INEC would address the challenges experienced in the use of card readers and move forward.

Entwistle, who said he monitored the elections in Abuja, expressed satisfaction over the patience and dedication of Nigerians to the smooth conduct of the exercise.

He said, “I was extremely impressed. On Saturday, I went to number of places in the FCT. Every place I went, I was impressed by the patience and dedication of the Nigerian voter. I found that inspirational.”

Entwistle further said Nigerians had reminded the world of how beautiful democracy was.

He said the expectation of the American government “is that the Nigerian people will win”.

He added that his country’s government would be willing to work with anybody who emerged as winner of the presidential election.

He said, “I mean they (the people) will get what they want which of course is a transparent, credible and non-violent election. We look forward to working with whatever government emerges from the election.”

Yemen Explained As Proxy War Is On The Way

Rebels in Yemen have seized an air base outside the critical southern port city of Aden – a development which spells disaster for those loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

But as the country descends into further chaos, the civil war is increasingly drawing in parties from across the entire region, and the battles lines, allegiances and even which countries are involved is becoming increasingly hard to understand.
Well organised and powerful, the rebels are a group of Shia Muslims from the Zaidi sect known as the Houthis.
Last month they drove President Hadi out of the Yemeni capital Sana’a, and while they now have a strong presence in the country’s north they are week – and heavily opposed – by many Sunni tribes across the rest of the country.
President Hadi came to power in elections after anti-government protests saw his now Houthi-backed predecessor President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down in 2011.
That transition was overseen by a host of neighbouring countries, and his rule is backed by the UN.
The Sunni government – and neighbouring Sunni countries – reject the Houthi rebels’ move into Sana’a in September 2014 as a military coup.
Al-Qaeda is well-embedded in Yemen’s south and south-east, and during the civil war has staged repeated deadly attacks under the guise of its local affiliate al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
AQAP’s involvement cannot be described as sectarian, however – the militant group opposes both President Hadi’s government and the Houthi rebels.
And the picture has been confused further by the rise in late 2014 of a Yemeni branch of Isis. Though still small, it wishes to oppose its extreme version of Sunni Islam and opposes the government, the Houthis – and AQAP.
Isis is accused of carrying out a mass suicide bombing on Shia mosques in Sana'a last week that killed at least 137 people.
The greatest danger with the situation in Yemen, Jon Altman of US-based Centre for Strategic & International Studies told BBC News, is that it becomes “a proxy war between the Gulf Co-operation Council states and Iran”.
That league of Arab states includes Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia – among others – backs President Hadi’s government. The Saudi leadership, in particular, does not want to see a Shia Muslim country established on its southern border.
On Wednesday afternoon Saudi military officials confirmed that heavy weapons including artillery had been moved to bolster areas near its Yemeni border – but insisted “this is only to defend the country”.
Iran, meanwhile, is reported to have begun supporting the Houthi rebels militarily. While rebels officially deny this, there are unconfirmed reports of trained Iranian pilots flying Yemeni planes and senior Houthi figures sighted in Iran.
On Tuesday, President Hadi asked the UN Security Council to authorise a military intervention by the Gulf Cooperation Council “to protect Yemen and to deter the Houthi aggression”.
The US and UK have evacuated their diplomatic staff from the country – and even a small US military base was recently disbanded after AQAP took over a town nearby.
But at the moment it remains – internationally at least – a war of words. Saudi Arabia said today that “if the Houthi coup does not end peacefully, we will take the necessary measures for this crisis to protect the region”, still leaving open the possibility of a de-escalation.
Security analyst Aimen Deen from the think tank Five Dimensions said: “The pressing question is whether the Royal Saudi Air Force will intervene to prevent Aden from falling to the Houthis. All indications are that the Saudis are preparing militarily to answer this question, but the political decision is not yet taken.”
Yemeni officials have confirmed that forces “allied with the Shia rebels” have taken over the Aden airport.
President Hadi has fled his palace home in the city for an undisclosed location, suggesting the government expects the Houthi advance to continue. Officials said he was still coordinating his forces’ response.
The takeover of Aden, the country's economic hub, would mark the collapse of what is left of President Hadi's grip on power, according to the Associated Press.
Also on Wednesday, senior government figures including defence minister Maj Gen Mahmoud al-Subaihi and his top aide were taken by rebels and transferred to Sana’a.
It seems likely the Houthi rebels will focus on attempts to return President Hadi to house arrest, though reports are emerging that he may already have fled the country.
Rebels already control Yemen’s state TV station, which has issued extraordinarily a public appeal for President Hadi’s capture and offered a bounty of nearly $100,000 (£67,000).
If the Houthis continue to establish a tighter grip on power, the Arab countries currently backing President Hadi will face a tough decision. As opposed as they are to the idea of the government falling, an all-out war in Yemen would have no certain outcome, no clear exit strategy – and no simple solution.

Nigeria: PVC Card Reader’s supplier Arrested

Alhaji Sani Musa, the owner of ACT Technologies, the company that supplied the PVCs and the card readers, has been arrested and detained by DSS officials since Tuesday.
“Perhaps, the believe is that he may have the codes for the card readers, which is preposterous. Alhaji Musa has also been accused of colluding with the APC to rig the elections.

Woman Who Tried To 'Boil Her Husband' Jailed For Four Years

A woman who tried to "boil her husband" by pouring scalding water over him after being told they were "getting divorced" has been jailed for four years.

Ken Gregory, 65, was the victim of a horrific domestic abuse attack which left him with first and second degree burns to his back and scalp after his wife Teresa Gilbertson, a former special constable, poured boiling water over his head in their bungalow in Peterborough last year. The scars from the assault remain and may never fade.
The court heard that the attack had been a “very deliberate attempt to boil her husband.”
Prosecutor Thomas Brown said: “The marriage had become extremely strained and there were underlying difficulties concerning money, the conduct of Teresa Gilbertson and her unrealistic expectation of what he could provide.
“She was demanding money for doing housework and to buy cars.”
On the day of the attack, Gilbertson went to make a cup of tea but returned with a two-litre jug of freshly boiled water, which she poured over her husband's head, causing "excruciating pain."
Roger Harrison, mitigating, said Gilbertson had been provoked when Mr Gregory said, “That’s it, we’re getting divorced.”
Gilbertson, 60, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and, as well as a jail sentence, was given a seven year restraining order preventing her from approaching Mr Gregory.
During the sentencing, Judge Peter Murphy said it was a “very sad case” but said he saw “no trace of remorse” in her.
The court heard that the attack “destroyed” Mr Gregory’s trust and “caused depression”.
Speaking out after the conviction, Gregory said that it was important to challenge the stigma surrounding men who are victims of abuse.
The retired BT manager said: “I had never imagined something like this would happen to me.
“As a man who is a bit older and who isn’t exactly small, there is a perception that you can’t be a victim of domestic violence.
“But it should be the same message that they put out for women many years ago: don’t be frightened, you don’t have to put up with it.”
Statistics produced by ManKind Initiative, which campaigns for male abuse victims, show that 38 per cent of domestic abuse victims are male.
Chair of ManKind Mark Brookes told The Independent, "While Mr Gregory's case is awful we should not be overly surprised that domestic abuse can happen to men too. We need a real sea change in public attitude and recognition in that domestic abuse can affect anyone."
"There are still too many barriers that men face in feeling comfortable in coming forward and getting help," he added.
According to the charity, men in particular suffer because of lack of awareness and lack of social services to support them.
Mr Gregory met Gilbertson met through ballroom dancing following the death of Mr Gregory’s first wife of more than 30 years in 2008.
They are now in the process of getting divorced.

BBC Top Gear Presenter Jeremy Clarkson To Be Sacked

Jeremy Clarkson’s BBC career will be terminated on Wednesday with the Breakfast Show host Chris Evans being approached to take over his role on Top Gear, it has been reported.

The presenter’s future with the corporation has remained in limbo for a fortnight since his suspension following what was described as “a fracas” with producer Oisin Tymon.
But the Daily Telegraph reports that the director general Lord Hall will announce the star’s sacking following its internal investigation.
It reports that the inquiry, led by BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie, has concluded that Clarkson verbally abused Mr Tymon for 20 minutes before launching a 30-second physical assault on the producer at a luxury Yorkshire hotel.
Despite feeling he has been left with no alternative but to sack Clarkson, Lord Hall is expected to thank Mr Clarkson for shaping the Top Gear brand and praise him as a “brilliant broadcaster”.
According to the paper senior BBC executives are attempting to convince Mr Evans to take over his role.
Mr Evans has previously ruled himself out of the running, saying: “I can categorically say I am not and will never be running for office. Please discount my candidacy.”
Mr Clarkson left his London flat in a taxi around 4.40pm and when asked if he had heard from the BBC, he told reporters: “Nothing. Not a sausage.”
It is thought Clarkson may sign for American network Netflix, which is becoming increasingly popular with global TV audiences.
Lord Hall last night could not be reached for comment.
A BBC spokesman said: “No decision has been made. When we have an outcome, we will announce it.”

Germanwings Plane Crash

The search operation to recover a Germanwings plane that crashed in the French Alps yesterday killing all 150 people on board has resumed. Here are the latest updates: 

• New evidence suggests the plane's unexplained descent took at least 18 minutes, not eight
• A Spanish woman who lived in Manchester is believed to have died on the flight
• The Foreign Secretary announced that it is “likely” British nationals were on board
• Witnesses have described the “picture of horror” on the mountainside
• A damaged but “useable” black box has been recovered from the scene
• Most passengers were German, including 16 pupils from the same school
• Other victims were from Spain, Australians, the Netherlands, Turkey, Denmark, Japan and Israel
• Germanwings crew members refused to fly yesterday for personal reasons
• Investigators have not ruled out any cause but terrorism is not considered likely

Grief and disbelief permeated homes and workplaces as far away as Kazakhstan and Australia on Monday night as stories of the 150 victims began to emerge.

a minute ago

Harrowing pictures of the empty arrivals gate at Dusseldorf airport yesterday have emerged, as shocked passengers stared at the gate where the Germanwings passengers had been due to arrive.

Germanwings has not yet issued the full passenger manifest confirming the nationalities of the 150 victims but this is what has been announced by Germanwings and foreign governments so far.

 

67 Germans, confirmed by Germanwings. 

Around 40 Spaniards, based on last names

3 Kazakhs, confirmed by the government 

2 Japanese, confirmed by the government 

2 Colombians, confirmed by the government. 

2 Australians, confirmed by the government 

1 Dutch, confirmed by the government. 

1 Dane, confirmed by the government. 

1 Turk, confirmed by the government. 

1 Israeli, confirmed by the government. 

1 Mexican, probable but unconfirmed

British citizens, 'likely' but unconfirmed

The French military scrambled a Mirage jet fighter to investigate soon after 10.30am, when the pilots had stopped responding by radio but officials have not revealed what the pilot of that plane saw.

Radar logs of the Barcelona to Dusselfdorf flight show that at 10.29am yesterday, the plane was at its cruising height of  28.524 feet over the Mediterranean, our correspondent John Lichfield writes.

At 10.30am it had dropped to 26,453 feet. One minute later, it was at 24,380 feet.

For the next 17 minutes, it shed around 1,000 feet of height a minute before vanishing from radar contact soon after 10.48am. It is believed to have crashed a few minutes later.

The cockpit voice recorder currently being examined is only one of the plane's two black boxes. It records conversations between the pilot and co-pilot and any alarm signals that may have sounded.

The other black-box, the flight data recorder, is still missing. 

An Airbus A320 passenger jet flew into the side of a mountain in the French Alps after skimming the mountain tops in a steep descent that killed all 150 people on board.

French newspaper l'Express reports that five policemen spent the freezing night at the crash site to protect it from members of the public, the press and possible looters.There are fears that two wolf packs living in the area could be attracted to the bodies. 

The German town that lost 16 school students and two teachers flying home from an exchange trip is in mourning today.

Lara Beer,14, said she waited for her best friend Paula at the train station until she gave up waiting and went home.

“Then my parents told me Paula was dead,” she told The Associated Press.

The Joseph Koenig Gymnasium in Haltern was closed today as pupils mourned.

The accident investigation bureau is expected to announce its first findings today at a press conference at 4pm Paris time (3pm in the UK).

Evidence emerged today that the unexplained, gradual dive to destruction of Germanwings Flight 9525 took at least 18 minutes, not eight.

A mother from Manchester and her seven-month-old baby are believed to be among the 150 passengers and crew feared dead after a Germanwings plane crashed in the French Alps.

 

 

 

 

Isis Triple Suicide Attack Kills More Than 100 Worshippers And Injures Hundreds

At least 100 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured today after three suicide bombers believed to be Isis members targeted two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

Shockwaves were sent through the Shia rebel-controlled Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques at midday on Friday, the holiest day for Muslims.
Isis, the extremist group which has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria since last summer, quickly claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement released on Twitter. 
Conflicting death and injury tolls have emerged from the scene in Sanaa, with a medical source telling Reuters that 126 people have died. Press Association cited Shia television channel reports stating there were as many as 137 fatalities and 345 wounded.
Both mosques are known to be used mainly by supporters of the Shia Muslim Houthi group which has seized control of the government.
Witnesses said that at least two suicide bombers entered the Badr mosque. One detonated his explosive belt and the second targeted the panicked crowd who tried to escape the destruction.
Extremely graphic images released by Reuters show victims with their limbs blown off, bodies on the floor and children and men being carried out of the mosques dead or with severe injuries.
One witness at the al-Hashoosh mosque, located in Sanaa’s northern district, said that he was thrown two meters away by the powerful bomb blast. Falling shards of glass from the shattered windows added to the injuries of worshippers.
“The heads, legs and arms of the dead people were scattered on the floor of the mosque,” Mohammed al-Ansi told The Associated Press, adding, “blood is running like a river.”
Terrified volunteers used blankets to wrap the bodies and laid them on the floor before they were taken away in a truck.
The critical situation has even prompted hospitals to urge citizens to donate blood so they can meet medical demands of those with life-threatening injuries.
The attacks follow a shooting yesterday that killed 13 people in the southern city Aden between the Shia Houthis and rival troops loyal to Yemen’s president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled there earlier this year and remains under house arrest.
Hadi is disputed by de facto leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, President of the Revolutionary Committee and head of the Shia Houthis.
Shia Houthi militants have seized the capital since September after migrating from northern stronghold regions. They now control nine of 21 provinces in Yemen.

At Least 19 Killed At Bardo Museum In Tunis

Security officials have killed two gunmen to end a standoff at a leading Tunisian Museum where 17 tourists and one police officer were fatally killed.

Tunisian Prime Minister, Habib Essid, has said that 19 people were killed, including 17 tourists from Italy, Germany, Poland and Spain, at the Bardo Museum in the capital, Tunis.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that two British tourists were among those shot dead.
Another 22 tourists were injured and another two Tunisian men, Mr Essid said.
The policeman was killed as security forces attempted to save those held hostage inside, according to the interior ministry.
Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said on Radio Mosaique that the standoff is now over, and the hostages are believed to be free.
Describing the shooting as a "terrorist attack", Mr Aroui told reporters earlier today that "two or more terrorists armed with Kalashnikovs" killed seven foreigners at the Bardo Museum in the capital, Tunis.
Amateur video footage believed to be from the scene appears to show Tunisian forces surrounding the museum. 
Live television footage showed tourists running for shelter, covered by security forces aiming rifles into the air.
Images reportedly taken by a hostage which emerged on social media appeared to show around 30 tourists gathered inside a room adorned with mosaics.
Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi is due to make a public statement to the nation shortly, spokesman Moez Sinaoui said.
The UK Foreign Office said it was unable to confirm reports that two Britons were among the dead.
A spokesman said: "We are urgently looking into the serious situation in Tunisia."
At least three Polish citizens and two Italians were wounded in the attack, according to the countries' respective officials.

An official at the Italian foreign ministry in Rome added that around 100 Italians were in the area and had been taken to safety by Tunisian police.
French Prime Minister Manuel Carlos Valls has said France would help its former colony in the wake of the tragic attack.
"We are condemning this terrorist attack in the strongest terms," Valls said speaking after a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.
"We are standing by the Tunisian government. We are very alert about how the situation is evolving," he added.
French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement minutes after the crisis ended: "It is not by chance that today's terrorism affects a country that represents hope for the Arab world. The hope for peace, the hope for stability, the hope for democracy. This hope must live."
Earlier, the TAP state media agency reported that gunshots broke out at the country's parliament at midday.
A witness near the parliament told Reuters a large police presence was moving to evacuate the government building.
The incident marks the first attack on a tourist site in years in Tunisia, since its shaky young democracy was founded in 2011.
Built in the 15th century, the museum stands adjacent to the national Parliament building, and includes one of the world's largest collections of Roman mosaics.
It is unclear who the attackers are. However, Tunisia has struggled with violence by Islamic extremists in recent years, who emerged after the country's 2011 uprising against autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.
The attack is likely to damage Tunisia's efforts to revive its tourism industry.
It comes the day after Tunisian security officials confirmed the death in neighbouring Libya of a leading suspect in Tunisian terror attacks and the killings of two opposition figures in Tunisia.

Welcome To Execution Island Where Foreigners Are Sent To Die

Nusakambangan Island is a land of many names. To some, it’s known as the “Indonesian Alcatraz,” an island fortress where the baddest members of Indonesian society are sequestered, imprisoned and executed by firing squad.

To others, it’s “the most feared island in Indonesia,” named for its notorious, punishing collection of prisons, founded in 1908 and now holding more than 2,000 souls in four separate facilities. Others see its natural wonders, proclaiming this island prison Indonesia’s “new holiday resort.”
And then there’s the name that’s most apt for a pair of Australians who led the Bali Nine drug smuggling racket: “Execution Island.” That’s the fate that awaits Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were convicted in 2006 of recruiting seven others to smuggle 18 pounds of heroin from Indonesia back to Australia.
While the seven got lesser sentences, Chan and Sukumaran arrived on the island early Wednesday. Within the next few days, barring a last-minute reprieve, they will face death by firing squad along with other foreigners from Brazil, France, Ghana and Nigeria.
The case has roiled Australia, which doesn’t have the death penalty, spawning countless newspaper articles, outraging Prime Minister Tony Abbott and sparking a diplomatic crisis. Abbott predicted, according to the Telegraph, that relations between Australia and Indonesia were going to go through a “very difficult period. … We frankly are revolted by the prospect of these executions.
Millions of Australians feel quite angry” and “sick in the guts.” Added the country’s foreign minister: “I am sure that Indonesia understands it will have consequences.
The consequences will be felt most severely for Chan and Sukumaran, who have spent the past decade inside a Bali prison.
When they arrive at the island, which is inhabited by drug dealers, murderers and political opposition figures, they will find a land of brutality and beauty. The island is awash in one of the world’s most biodiverse fauna and flora, some of which is extinct on the other islands.
But despite the island’s ecological wonders, that isn’t what has made it famous.
For those condemned to die, the execution usually goes like this: The inmates are taken deep into the woods at midnight, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. They are blindfolded. Then they are told to sit or crouch down.
Once immobilized, a dozen gunmen take aim and shoot them in the chest. If the prisoner survives, the Herald noted, “the commander will shoot him or her point-blank in the head.”
“Their death zone is known as Nirbaya, about three kilometers [about two miles] south of the jail, up a winding narrow dirt track,” one report on the island quoted by the Herald said. “The area itself is fringed by a mandarin and orange orchard.”
The imagery is fitting for the island — a place teeming with life, but also haunted by death. It’s a place where the act of killing is conducted with brisk efficiency.
“We are ready to carry out the executions,” Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasona Laoly said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Executions for drug offenses have stirred continuing controversy, but Indonesia has some of the strictest drug laws in the world and has no reservations over executing foreigners regardless of diplomatic fallout.
“I will say this firmly: Don’t interfere with the executions, because it is our sovereign right to exercise our laws,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said last week. “Our law still recognizes the death penalty.”
And it exercised that right in January. That was when a Norwegian and a Brazilian national, who was found to have nearly 30 pounds of cocaine inside his paraglider, were killed by firing squad on the feared island. Both countries pulled out their ambassadors in the tense aftermath.
The island was also the site of one of the country’s most infamous executions: the death of the Bali bombers. In 2002, the men plotted a terrorist attack which killed 202 people in Bali. So, in 2008, American journalist Peter Gelling ventured out to the far-flung island in a “small, wooden boat” to visit the condemned in their final weeks.
“After we pulled into the dock, a motorcycle taxi took us down the dilapidated coastal road to Batu Prison, designated as the most secure on the island. At its entrance, the deputy warden greeted us as a herd of goats ambled by.”
Weeks later, the bombers were dead, killed on what seems to some to be a wondrous vacation spot. “The whole experience was rather surreal,” Australian journalist Mark Forbes told the Sydney Morning Herald.
 “Aside from the security and having to pass through several barred doors, it was like a holiday trip, with the boat trip, sunny weather, and people joking and laughing. It didn’t feel like you had just walked into the last stop for these men before their executions.”

14 Years Old Boy To Be Hanged After Brutally Tortured Into False Confession In Pakistan

A young man whose alleged crime was committed when he was only 14, and who says he was subjected to police torture, is due to hang this week in Pakistan, after the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre.

Shafqat Hussain claims that when he was 14, the Karachi police brutally tortured him for nine days until he confessed to a crime he did not commit: the kidnapping and murder of a seven-year-old child who had disappeared. No evidence other than his confession was presented to the court. That was in 2004. He lost an appeal against the conviction in 2007, and today the Sindh High Court dismissed an appeal for a stay of execution.
Like the execution of minors convicted of murder, the use of torture is forbidden under Pakistani law.
The moratorium on hanging was lifted after 145 people, 132 of them schoolchildren, were massacred at a school in Peshawar in December. Today, the state executed 12 people, the largest single day of executions since December.
An educationally subnormal Kashmiri and the youngest of seven, Mr Hussain dropped out of school at 13, barely able to read or write. He moved to Karachi to join an elder brother, Manzoor, and worked as a caretaker. A year later, after the disappearance of a child from the building where he worked, he was arrested.
Fatima Bhutto, a grand-daughter of the late Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, said, “The boy was held in solitary confinement, his genitals electrocuted and he was burnt with cigarette butts. The policemen interrogating him removed three of his fingernails... He was told he would never escape custody or his torturers until he confessed to a crime he did not commit.”
Shafqat’s brother, Manzoor, told the BBC: “When I asked him about torture in custody, he started shivering and wet his pants. He put both his hands on his head and started crying, saying, ‘Don’t ask, I can’t tell you what they did.’ ”
When the moratorium was debated in December, lawyers acting for Hussain raised the issue of his age at the time of the murder. The Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, halted his execution and promised an inquiry. But when the moratorium was actually lifted, an order for Hussain’s execution one week later was issued, even though the tests demanded by the minister had yet to be carried out.
Mr Khan, arguing that Shafqat Hussain’s sentence had been handed down by the anti-terrorist courts and that President Mamnoon Hussain had already dismissed his appeal for clemency, said that the issue of his execution “should not be politicised”.

A 27 Man Acquitted Of Raping 13-Year-Old Girl In Sweden

A man has been acquitted of raping a 13-year-old girl in Sweden because she looked “well-developed”.

The victim said she met her alleged attacker, who has not been named, in a park near Stockholm after she ran away from her foster home last year.
The girl had no money, no mobile phone or place to stay when she got talking to the 27-year-old man and he invited her to his house nearby “for a drink”, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported.
When arrested, the defendant initially denied that the girl had visited his home but later admitted they had sex after police found traces of his semen on her underwear.
He was charged with statutory rape, which applies to any adult having sex with children under the age of 15 in Swedish law.
But both Västmanland District Court and the Svea Court of Appeal have now thrown out the charges because the legislation also states that a defendant must “know” or have “reasonable grounds to believe” that the child is under age.
After viewing video evidence including the teenager’s police interviews, judges in both cases decided that she had a “well-developed body” and carried herself in a way that did not reflect her age, the Expressen newspaper reported.
The suspect could therefore not have known that she was under the legal age and was innocent, they ruled.
Göran Landerdahl, the girl’s lawyer, told the Swedish TT news agency that he planned to take the case to Sweden’s Supreme Court and hoped to set a precedent for future similar claims.
“Judges read newspapers too, so perhaps someone will realize that there are irregularities in this case,” he said according to a translation by the Local.
Speaking to Aftonbladet, he argued that anyone having sex with someone who looked “borderline” legal without checking how old they are must be held to account.
The case has sparked outrage in Sweden and generated extensive public debate about rape laws, child protection and the age of consent.
In Sweden that age is 15 – the same as France and Denmark – while in Austria, Italy and Germany has it at 14.
In 2013, the British Government said it had no plans to change the legal benchmark of 16 after a leading public health expert called for it to be lowered to 15.

The World's Highest-Paid Model Gisele Bundchen Is Retiring From The Catwalk

The world’s highest-paid model in living history Gisele Budnchen is reportedly retiring from the catwalk in April.

According to the Brazilian publication Moda Estadao, the 34-year-old model will bow out at Colcci spring 2016 show during Sao Paolo Fashion Week next month. Apparently, it is Budnchen’s dream to end her 20 years of catwalk career in her native country, where she was first discovered by Elite modelling agency when she was just 14.
But Bundchen still has a promising future ahead. She has topped Forbes’ highest paid models list for the past eight years -said to be earning $47m (approx. £32m) in this past year alone- and she has spent more than half of her life in the fashion game, meaning she knows all the right people. Also, she has powerful language skills, speaking English, Italian, Spanish, her native Portuguese and some French and German too, proving that it takes more than just good looks to get to the top.
The Brazilian beauty will continue to front numerous high-profile editorials and campaigns for the likes of Chanel No.5, Stuart Weitzman, Balenciaga and H&M, as well as her own footwear and lingerie labels. She will also continue to work as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations.
Her retirement from the catwalk, however, doesn’t come as complete surprise, as the mother-of-two and wife of American footballer Tom Hardy, has decreased her catwalk appearances in recent year. Walking most recently for Colcci in November, with whom she has had a long professional relationship and Chanel September 2014, where she took part of the “feminist riot”.
As Claudia Schiffer said in 2007, “her [Bundchen’s] face is well known; her name is recognised. No other girl occurs to me that people in the street would recognise.”

 

Salomon Kalou facing €10,000 Fine For Vandalising Berlin Wall

Former Chelsea winger Salomon Kalou is facing a huge fine after reportedly vandalising the Berlin Wall.

The Ivorian, 29, now at Budesliga club Hertha Berlin was apparently filmed by national broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenbury (rbb) breaking off a piece of the wall using a hammer and chisel, according to the Berliner Kurier.
The Wall is a protected monument dating back to the fall of the German Democratic Party (GDR) in 1991 - anyone found vandalising the landmark faces a hefty fine of up to €10,000. The Berlin Wall divided the city between 1961 and 1989.
The complaint was made to the police by Kani Alavi who is chairman of the artists initiative the East Side Gallery. They reportedly own the copyright to the graffiti on the wall, while the Wall belongs to the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough of Berlin.
"When I saw the pictures, I almost fell off the couch," Alavi told the paper (the quotes have been translated and edited slightly).
"We have a well-paid celebrity increasing his market value at the expense of a monument. Without respect. And the public television mixes with it. I am deeply disappointed."
He added: "Just because there are no security guards, that does not mean that you can do what you want there. If he had been doing that at the Brandenburg Gate, the player would have been arrested."

New York Real Estate Scion Arrested On murder Charge

The drama surrounding the arrest of a New York real estate scion on charges of murdering a friend has taken a new twist after he was secretly recorded by a documentary team apparently confessing to that and two other killings.

Robert Durst, 71, whose name has been linked over the years to the unsolved deaths of three people, was arrested over the weekend in New Orleans and brought before a court on charges of murdering Susan Berman, a close friend, in 2000.
His appearance before a New Orleans court came just hours before HBO broadcast the final part of a six-episode documentary about his life titled The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.
In the documentary, Mr Durst is caught talking to himself in an unguarded moment, apparently unaware that the documentary team’s microphone is still recording.
"There it is. You're caught," Mr Durst is heard to say to himself in the lavatory. "What the hell did I do? Killed them all of course."
It is not clear whether Mr Durst is being sincere as he makes the comments.
Reports say that Mr Durst is known for a life of twists and turns and which saw him questioned – but not charged – over the death of Ms Berman and the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen Durst, in 1982.
Mr Durst, who sued his family for a $65m share of the fortune, has always said he was innocent in the two cases. Meanwhile, in a separate prosecution that was brought after Mr Durst was found living disguised in Texas as a mute woman, he was found not guilty of murder by a jury after he convinced them that his fatal shooting and dismembering of an elderly neighbour was an act of self defence.
On Sunday night, Mr Durst’s lawyer, Chip Lewis, maintained his client’s innocence. “My over-arching thoughts are I was a bit underwhelmed, given the lead up and the build up to this new development,” he told Fox News of the HBO documentary.
Mr Durst is the estranged son of the billionaire Seymour Durst and his life inspired the 2010 Hollywood film All Good Things, according to the Associated Press.
The Durst Organisation oversees the lease and maintenance of One World Trade Centre, the western hemisphere’s tallest skyscraper which was built on the site of the twin towers destroyed during the attacks of September 11 2001. The company owns a total of 11 New York office towers.

Planes Crash At Air Show

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Two planes from an Indonesian acrobatic air team clipped wings and crashed Sunday during a practice session ahead of an air show in Malaysia, officials said. All four pilots ejected and were safe.

The pilots from both planes ejected from their aircraft after the jets went out of control and landed safely with their parachutes, said a Malaysian defense official who declined to be named because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries on the ground. A house and a car caught fire due to falling debris from the plane, the organizers of the air show, held on northern Langkawi island, said in a statement.

The four pilots were under observation at a hospital in Langkawi.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein visited them at the hospital and tweeted: "Thankful that all 4 pilots are safe, their spirits remained high."

The Indonesian team is one of five scheduled to perform at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition, set for March 17-2