World (146)
SHOOT-ON-SIGHT ORDERS IN PAK TRIBAL REGION
MIRANSHAH: A long-standing curfew in Pakistan’s troubled North Wazirstan tribal region has been tightened following the start of a ground offensive, with authorities issuing shoot-on-sight orders according to residents and local intelligence officials.
At least two people have been critically wounded after soldiers opened fire on them for violating the curfew in Sarai Darpa Khel village near Miranshah, residents said.
A curfew had previously been in place for several years but in reality the military only carried out patrols during the day and remained in their bases at night, allowing militants free movement.
IRAN WARNS AGAINST MILITARY
TEHRAN: Iran warned that “any foreign military intervention in Iraq” would only complicate the crisis, after the United States said it was deploying a warship in the Gulf. “Iraq has the capacity and necessary preparations for the fight against terrorism and extremism,” foreign ministry spokesman Marzieh Afkham was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency. “Any action that complicates the situation in Iraq is not in the interests of the country nor of the region,” Afkham said, adding: “The people and government of Iraq will be able to neutralise this conspiracy.” Iraq is battling an offensive by Sunni militants who advanced to within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of Baghdad’s city limits after seizing a swathe of the country’s north. Responding to the crisis, the Pentagon said the United States had ordered an aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, into the Gulf.
Three sentenced to death in Tiananmen Gate attack
BEIJING - A court in western China sentenced three people to death for planning a deadly car ramming at Beijing’s iconic Tiananmen Gate that was blamed on Muslim separatists, state media reported. The three were accused of helping prepare for the October 28 attack, in which a car plowed through tourists and ended up in a fiery crash in the heart of Beijing, killing two bystanders and the three attackers. A court in the Xinjiang regional capital of Urumqi sentenced the three to death, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Five other people were given prison sentences, with four receiving terms of five to 20 years and one getting a life sentence. It was not clear what role those five had played in the attack. The eight were arrested within days of the incident. A Chinese visitor and a tourist from the Philippines were killed in the attack, along with the vehicle’s driver, his wife and mother-in-law, according to Chinese authorities.
Social media mass surve-illance is permitted by law
LONDON The government’s most senior security official, Charles Farr, detailed how searches on Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as emails to or from non-British citizens abroad, can be monitored by the security services because they are deemed to be “external communications”. It is the first time that the government has admitted that UK citizens, talking via supposedly private channels in social media such as Twitter direct messages, are deemed by the British government to be legitimate legal targets that do not require a warrant before intercepting. The 48-page detailed defence of mass monitoring by Farr, who is director general of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, develops a legal interpretation that critics say sidesteps the need for traditional intercept safeguards. The document, released on Tuesday, provoked calls for the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) to be overhauled urgently, as well as allegations that the government was exploiting loopholes in the legislation of which parliament was unaware.
TO PAY FOR MOTHER’S HOLIDAY CHARLES BRONSON SELLS HIS ARTWORKS
London - One of Britain’s most violent prisoners, has raised thousands of pounds for a holiday for his mother through the sale of some of his works of art. Paintings called Fantasy Impression, which showed Bronson on a beach, sold for £1,000, while two items, Broadmoor Lunatic Asylum and Self Portrait, each sold for £950 when they went under the hammer at the auction in Towcester, Northamptonshire. Bronson’s painting, Impression of Bedlam sold for £680. Auctioneer Jonathan Humbert, of JP Humbert Auctioneers, said Bronson asked for eight pieces to be sold after what was reported to be an attack on 12 guards at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes. Bronson wanted to make up for upsetting his mother by getting involved in the alleged incident by helping her to get away, according to Humbert. It was claimed that furious Tottenham Hotspur fan Bronson went on the rampage in May while smeared with butter after arch-rivals Arsenal won the FA Cup.
Britain: Happiest Nation
London - American Author Ernest Hemingway said that Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. Britishers are happiest people in the country. They are taking 11th happiest country in Europe. People living in the UK are slightly more content with their lives than average compared to the continent as a whole, according to analysis of European data by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Here 71.8% of adults rated their life satisfaction as seven out of 10 or higher in 2011 - compared to an EU-wide average of 69.3%. Britain scored similarly for happiness to Germany (72.3%) and France (71.6%), but trailed well behind the most content nation, Denmark (91.0%). Citizens of Bulgaria were found to be the least satisfied, with just 38.3% giving a rating of seven out of 10 or higher. The report suggested Britons have less of a sense of attachment to their local community. While 58.4% of people in the UK reported that they felt close to other people in the area where they live, this compared to an EU-wide average of 66.6% and was the second lowest of all 28 nations.
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