



Pervez Musharraf's nomination papers for a parliamentary constituency in the port city of Karachi were rejected on Sunday while his papers for another seat in northern Pakistan were accepted by election authorities. Election officials rejected the former military ruler's papers for parliamentary constituency number 250 in Karachi. Jamaat-e-Islami leader Niyamatullah Khan, who intends to contest the May 11 polls from the same seat, had yesterday objected to Musharraf’s candidature on the ground that he had twice violated and the Constitution and placed judges under house arrest after declaring an emergency in 2007. The Returning Officer rejected Musharraf's papers for the steps he had taken against members of the judiciary, officials said. Musharraf's nomination papers for another parliamentary constituency at Chitral in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province were accepted
The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 30 more Indian fishermen on Saturday night, taking the number of Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested in the last two days to 56. The latest arrests were made in north of Talai-mannar in North Sri Lanka and the fishermen have been handed over to the police for being produced before the court. Twenty six fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested on Friday near Karai-nagar and handed over to the Fisheries Department for legal action. The Sri Lankan Navy spokesperson Commander Kosala Warna-kulasuriya claimed that in both the cases the fishing trawlers were caught within the maritime boundary of Sri Lanka and that the cases of both these groups will be taken up by courts on Monday morning. In March, the Sri Lankan Navy had arrested 53 fishermen, of whom 34 were released immediately, while 19 were sentenced to two weeks
A top Pakistani prosecutor has said that former military ruler Pervez Musharraf will be arrested as soon as he returns to Pakistan from self-exile as an anti-terrorism court has issued "perpetual warrants" for him. Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, a special prosecutor for the Federal Investigation Agency, said Musharraf would be arrested irrespective of whether he returned to Pakistan before or after the formation of a caretaker government to oversee the next general election. Musharraf had announced last week that he intends to return to Pakistan a week after the installation of the interim administration to lead his party in the pols. The Pakistan Peoples Party-led government will complete its term on 16th March and the caretaker set-up is expected to be formed the same day. Ali told the media that the anti-terrorism court had issued perpetual warrants for Musharraf and he could not evade the Criminal Procedure Code, which demanded his immediate arrest. The court issued the warrants and declared Musharraf a "proclaimed offender" or fugitive after h
The Pentagon has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test due to take place in California next week amid soaring nuclear tensions with North Korea, an official has said. The defense official said that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel rescheduled the Minuteman 3 test at Vandenberg Air Force Base for some time next month due to concerns the launch "might be misconstrued by some as suggesting that we were intending to exacerbate the current crisis with North Korea." "We wanted to avoid that misperception or manipulation," the US official added. "We are committed to testing our ICBMs to ensure a safe, secure, effective nuclear arsenal." North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions and South Korea-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks. The Pentagon's announcement followed reports that the North had loaded two intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast.
Violence continued unabated on the second day of the 48-hour nationwide strike in Bangladesh on Monday, as the death toll rose to 83 in clashes that erupted after the conviction of three top Islamist leaders for 1971 war crimes. Fresh clashes killed three people, including a teenage boy, and at least 18 were injured in Satkhira and Sirajganj after police opened fire on unruly pickets during the strike called by Jamaat. Three compartments of a train were badly burnt when alleged Jamaat-Shibir men hurled a bomb at the train at Kamalapur Railway Station, police said, adding that no one was hurt in the attack. Railways minister Mazibul Hoque, after visiting the spot, accused Jamaat-Shibir men for the attack. Violence in the country escalated on Thursday when a death sentence was handed down to 73-year-old Delwar Hossain Sayedee, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami, by International Crimes Tribunal. The two-day strike called by Jamaat coincided with President Pranab Mukherjee's maiden visit to the country. Another shutdown has been called by the fundamentalist outfit's alliance partner
