Jodi Arias Trial Update: Transcripts Show the Attorneys Were At Each Other’s Throats; Penalty Retrial May Not Move on As Scheduled

July 14, 2013: Jodi Arias trial update. Jodi Arias court transcripts show that there was plenty of tension between the prosecution and defense lawyers in the five months of the courtroom drama. The Jodi Arias trial mesmerized America as graphic descriptions came out daily when the trial was televised in its entirety. But the truly gripping details of the Jodi Arias court case are only now coming to light as details are being released via the transcripts of sidebars.

Jodi Arias' defense attorney Jennifer Wilmott played a large part in the transcripts. Sidebars in the Jodi Arias case between the lawyers and Judge Sherry Stephens that were previously sealed are now showing that the the extent that the Jodi Arias trial was contentious.

The Jodi Arias murder trial appears to have been shown fully as every hour of the extremely long trial was broadcast and some of the details about the night that Arias stabbed and shot her former lover Travis Alexander were highlighted on news programming with graphic detail. Especially the more salacious aspects of the case like the phone sex conversation between Arias and Alexander, which was shown repeatedly on cable news shows countless, but the Arizona Republic is still publishing some of the more dramatic moments that had not been made public.

Jodi Arias trial Judge Sherry Stephens sealed all sidebars from public record and used a white noise machine to block what was being said by the lawyers from the video feed. Transcripts that are now coming to light reveal the depths of the acrimony between the defense and prosecution. State prosecutor Juan Martinez tried to throw as much as possible on the waitress and budding photographer while defense attorney Jennifer Wilmott tried to block as much as she could.

At the time of the trial there were media reports that one of the defense witnesses refused to testify because she was getting death threats. The sidebar transcripts show that it wasn’t just the death threats that kept her from the stand. The woman was afraid that the prosecution would make her drug use public and she would lose her welfare benefits.

The Arizona Republic reported, "Martinez could be heard in a sidebar as he detailed the cards he was going to play against her had she taken the stand. She had a drug problem, he said, she seemed high during an interview, she might not have the claimed income from photographs she sold to a television and could be in violation of welfare regulations."

Martinez tried to introduce issues showing bizarre behavior from Arias before the crime. The prosection wanted to include details like Arias slashing Travis Alexander’s tires and sleeping under his Christmas tree.

Jodi Arias was convicted of premeditated murder, but has not yet been sentenced. Once the jury found that the death penalty was on the table, they could not decide on a sentence. The penalty phase of the trial is set to begin on July 18 but may be delayed because the defense says they have scheduling conflicts and are not ready to begin the retrial.

Courtesy: http://www.kpopstarz.com

31 Saudi death row prisoners pardoned in 8 months
~~By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Most former prisoners released after paying blood money

Manama, July 11, 2013: A Saudi daily on Thursday said that 31 prisoners had been spared the capital punishment in the country in the last eight months after they were pardoned by the victims’ families.

The former prisoners were released after their relatives or tribes paid diya (blood money) or fulfilled demands by the victims’ families, such as moving away from the area, local Arabic daily Al Sharq said.

In some cases, the executions were halted after the prisoners were simply granted pardon by the families. Under the law, a killer can avoid the death sentence if he or she is pardoned by the victim’s relatives. In a diya system, the victim’s heirs or relatives reach an agreement with the killer or his family for financial compensation.

“Most pardon cases were related to paying diya,” a source told the daily. “However, in a few cases, it was just the families pardoning the culprit.” Abdul Aziz Al Zamel, a lawyer, said that the pardon had to be documented in a court of law.

Courtesy: Gulfnews.com

Angela Merkel calls for release of Mohamed Morsi

[Editor: It is strange why German Chancellor is supporting the head of a highly dangerous, Islamic outfit. These are the same persons, who are giving tacit support to Syrian Rebels. It is time that Germany wakes up and understands the reality]

Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday called for the release of Egypt's former president Mohamed Morsi, who was arrested on July 3 after being deposed by the army.

She said she agreed with her Foreign Affairs Minister Guido Westerwelle "that Mr. Morsi should be released" and called for "an inclusive (political) process involving all groups of the Egyptian population", speaking with public broadcaster ARD.

"Everything must be done to find a common path" in Egypt, she said.

Egypt's first freely elected president was overthrown in a military coup on July 3 after millions took to the streets calling on him to step down.

Since then, Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement has led demonstrations against the ouster, urging an "uprising" after accusing troops and police of "massacring" its supporters during dawn prayers on Monday when 51 people were killed.

Westerwelle had Friday urged Morsi's release and demanded that a "neutral institution" immediately be granted access to him. The United States also called for Morsi's release and again condemned a wave of arbitrary arrests of members of his Muslim Brotherhood.

 

Courtesy: NDTV Ltd

Egypt freezes assets of 14 top Islamists

Mohamed Morsi

Egypt's public prosecutor on Sunday ordered the freezing of assets belonging to 14 top Islamists, as the US dispatched its first senior official to Cairo since president Mohamed Morsi's ouster.

Under Secretary of State Bill Burns will visit Egypt from Sunday to Tuesday, the US State Department said, adding he would "underscore US support for the Egyptian people".

His trip comes amid growing pressure on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which is in disarray with key figures either detained, on the run or keeping a low profile.

It also comes amid international calls for the release of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president who was toppled in a popularly backed military coup on July 3.

The Brotherhood has refused to join the new government headed by caretaker prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi who is pushing ahead with talks on forming his cabinet.

The ultra-conservative Islamist party Al-Nur confirmed it would not take part in the interim government either, with spokesman Nader Bakkar telling AFP: "We would participate only in an elected government."

On Sunday, Beblawi appointed a former ambassador to Washington, Nabil Fahmy, as foreign minister, and veteran World Bank economist Ahmed Galal as finance minister.

Prominent liberal leader Mohamed ElBaradei, 71, was sworn in as interim vice president for foreign relations.

Beblawi has said his cabinet's priorities would be to restore security, ensure the flow of goods and services and prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections.

The asset freeze is part of an investigation ordered by public prosecutor Hisham Barakat which affects nine Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the group's general guide Mohamed Badie, and five Islamists from other groups including ex-militant faction Gamaa Islamiya, judicial sources said.

It relates to four deadly incidents since Morsi's overthrow, including clashes in Cairo last Monday in which dozens died.

The order comes a day after prosecutors received criminal complaints against Morsi, Badie and other senior Islamists, with a view to launching a formal investigation.

The complaints include spying, incitement to violence and damaging the economy.

Morsi has not been seen in public since his ouster.

In his first public comments since deposing the Islamist leader, military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi defended the move, saying the army took the decision after Morsi rejecting holding a referendum on his presidency.

"The armed forces, with all its personnel and its leaders, decided without reserve to be at the service of its people and to empower their free will," he said in a statement.

The interim leaders say Morsi is being held in a "safe place, for his own safety," despite calls for his release by Germany and the United States, which has condemned a wave of arbitrary arrests of Brotherhood members.

The prosecutor said on Sunday that 206 out of a total of 652 people arrested over fatal clashes this week had been released on bail.

Morsi's ouster has plunged Egypt into violence.

Fighting erupted Sunday between gunmen and the army near Israel, in the Sinai peninsula, which has witnessed a number of deadly attacks in the past week, security sources said.

The worst violence since the military coup took place outside the elite Republican Guard's Cairo headquarters last Monday, where 53 people, mostly Morsi supporters, were killed in what the Brotherhood described as a "massacre" by the security forces.

On his visit to Cairo, Burns would push for "an end to all violence and a transition leading to an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government" at meetings with various parties, the State Department said.

Washington has struggled to define whether Morsi was the victim of a coup, which would legally force a freeze on some $1.5 billion in vital military and economic US assistance to Cairo.

Interim president Adly Mansour has set a timetable for elections by early next year, according to a roadmap drafted by the military, while Beblawi's new cabinet could be unveiled by Tuesday or Wednesday.

During his single year of turbulent rule, Morsi was accused of concentrating power in Brotherhood hands, sending the economy into free fall and failing to protect minorities.

But his supporters say his ouster was an affront to democracy, and the Brotherhood are planning more mass protests on Monday, including at the Republican Guard headquarters.

Rival protests are also planned on Monday in Tahrir Square and at the Ittihadiya presidential palace by the main coalition that had called for Morsi's resignation.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times

Iran: Seven prisoners hanged in Rasht

Saturday, 13 July 2013: NCRI - The Iranian regime's judiciary chief in northern province of Gilan has said that seven prisoners have been hanged in a prison in the city of Rashat on last Tuesday evening.

Mohammad Javad Heshmati, who was speaking with the state-run news network did not identify the victims.

In the weeks following the June sham presidential election almost one hundred prisoners have been hanged in Iran. A number of execution have been carried in public.

Among those executed are six women and a prisoner who was 15-years-old when arrested. A high number of prisoners were executed collectively in groups of 21, 11 and 6 persons. This is while thousands of prisoners in various prisons in the country are on death row. 

 

Courtesy: http://www.ncr-iran.org/

Report: Saudi missile sites target Iran, Israel

The discovery is a sign that Saudi Arabia has prepared for the possibility that Iran will become a nuclear power, and it's a reminder that a decades-long truce between Saudi Arabia and Israel is just that, and not a peace treaty, one analyst says.

Saudi Arabia has built missile launch pads that target both Iran and Israel with ballistic missiles, according to imagery and analysis by IHS Jane's, the British security consultancy.

While IHS Jane's analysts did not see actual missiles, the sites include command and control facilities and underground bunkers that likely conceal missiles and launchers nearby, said Allison Puccioni, a senior image analyst at IHS Jane's.

The discovery is a sign that Saudi Arabia has prepared for the possibility that Iran will become a nuclear power, and it's a reminder that a decades-long truce between Saudi Arabia and Israel is just that, and not a peace treaty, says Michael Rubin, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute who briefs members of the U.S. military on Iran.

The Saudis' "predominant fear is that Iran will become a nuclear power," Rubin said. "They're showing they're serious."

Puccioni said one site, at Al Watah, is about 5 years old and others were apparently build in the mid-2000s. They resemble missile launch sites in China built for the Dongfeng-3 (DF-3), a medium-range missile that can launch a 4,700-pound payload with a range of 1,600 miles. The DF-3 launches from trucks known as transporter erector launchers (TELs).

"We've not seen the TELs but the entire area has drive-in bunkers." she said. "How far it goes into the mountain I can't tell you, but it's wide and tall enough to accommodate a transporter erector launcher."

IHS Jane's analysts concluded that unlike two previously-known sites at Al Sulayyil and Al Jufayr, the new site at Al Watah has a different layout than previously known missile bases and that the new site "potentially serves as a training and storage complex with the ability to perform operational missile launches as required."

Launch pads at the new site also bear markings on the ground that point in the direction of Iranian and Israeli targets, they said.

"Saudi Arabia is likely to begin re-arming its missile stock with more modern and accurate Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs)," said Robert Munks, deputy editor of IHS Jane's Intelligence Review.

Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal said in 2011 that his country would purchase "off the shelf" nuclear weapons if Iran developed its own supply. "For such short notice, the foundations for both nuclear-capable launch vehicles and for acquiring the warheads will need to be laid in advance," Munks said.

Kenneth Pollack, a senior fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, said the Saudis started buying ballistic missiles from China in the 1980s at a time when Iran and Iraq were warring with similar weapons. The Saudis maintain the weapons as a deterrent to Iran, Iraq and Israel, its chief rivals in the region, Pollack said.

The most significant aspect of the IHS Jane's analysis is what it does not show, Pollack said: The review did not find that Saudi Arabia is investing in new missile capability to counter a growing threat from Iran.

"These are really old missiles," Pollack said. "Wouldn't you want faster, better missiles if only to send a message to the Iranians?"

Rubin says Saudi Arabia's current alliance with the United States and its truce with Israel should not be taken for granted because the monarchy leadership is in flux.

The succession to the Saudi throne passes from brother to brother, and many of that generation are now in their 80s. "Each king may last a year or so if not less," Rubin said.

And among the 3,000 or so princes, there are pro-Western moderates such as Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, as well as others who dislike the United States and lean toward radical ideologies, Rubin said.

"Anyone looking at this structure must recognize that what seems safe today could pose a tremendous threat in the future," Rubin said.

Courtesy: USA Today

Saudis throw down gauntlet to Israel, Iran

July 15, 2013: There was a time, not so long ago, when any missiles directed at Iran from Saudi Arabian soil would most likely have carried the insignia of the United States.

But that was before al-Qaeda's murderous campaign against American influence in the kingdom resulted in Washington relocating its military operations in the Gulf.
So we should not be surprised that the latest images of Saudi ballistic missiles directed at Iran and Israel bear the Saudis' distinctive green emblem of two swords beneath a palm tree. These days, rather than looking to Uncle Sam to protect their interests, the Saudis realise they are on their own.

As the Obama administration's inept handling of last week's removal of Egypt's first democratically elected government has demonstrated, not even a military coup in one of its most important regional allies will evoke much of a response from the White House.

With President Obama determined not to allow the US to be drawn into the region's poisonous disputes, whether Syria's brutal civil war or the controversy over Iran's nuclear program, former staunch American allies such as the Saudis have come to the reluctant conclusion that, so far as their own security is concerned, they must be more self-sufficient in protecting their interests.

This certainly explains the revelations by IHS Jane's Intelligence Review that recent satellite intelligence photographs show the Saudis have built a new missile base deep in the desert, stocked with powerful Chinese-made DF3 surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 1500 to 2000 miles, which are targeted at Israel and Iran.

That the Saudis find it necessary to point missiles at Israel is itself an indictment of the Obama administration's decision to turn its back on an ally. If America were fully engaged in taking care of its allies, then there would be no need for the Saudis to target Israel. As the recent WikiLeaks disclosures show, the Saudis share the same strategic objective as Israel: persuading the US to launch military action to destroy Iran's nuclear program - or, as one Saudi diplomat elegantly put it, to ''cut off the head of the snake''. But with the Obama administration absent, the Saudis believe they have no option but to defend themselves against potential Israeli aggression.

That missiles are also directed towards military targets in Iran should not come as a surprise. The Saudis are rightly concerned about the obsession Iran's ayatollahs have with arming themselves with nuclear weapons. Just having the capability to produce nuclear weapons would give Tehran a distinct advantage in its ambition to become the dominant regional power.

It is for this reason that, were the ayatollahs to press ahead with making nuclear weapons, the Saudis would respond immediately by buying an off-the-shelf device from Pakistan, whose nuclear arsenal has in the past received Saudi funding. The Middle East would then be plunged into a nuclear arms race.

With the Iranians engaged in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the West over their nuclear intentions, the rivalry between the Gulf's two predominant powers is confined to a proxy and ugly war being fought between rival militias throughout the region.

In Iraq and Syria, Iran can be found backing murderous Shiite militias such as Hezbollah in its efforts to support, respectively, the governments of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad and the Assad regime in Damascus, Iran's closest regional ally.

The Saudis, on the other hand, are committed to supporting Sunni opposition groups in both countries although, unlike neighbouring Gulf states such as Qatar, their support falls well short of sponsoring al-Qaeda-linked Islamist groups. One of Osama bin Laden's original objectives, after all, was to secure the overthrow of the Saudi royal family.

The main reason the Saudis feel obliged to involve themselves so deeply in Syria's conflict is that, without America's protection, they believe they must reshape the regional landscape in a way that better protects their interests.

This trend can be traced back directly to Mr Obama's decision to back the overthrow of Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak at the start of the Arab uprisings in 2011. Just like the Saudi royal family, Mubarak had been a staunch US ally for decades, and the administration's decision to abandon him sent as many shock waves through the royal palaces of Riyadh as it did through the souks of Cairo.

From that moment the Saudis concluded that Washington could no longer be trusted as a reliable ally, with the predictable result that the Saudis are embarked on a course of taking every possible action to protect themselves from the dangerous revolutionary currents sweeping the region.

The irony of Washington's decision to distance itself from Riyadh is that it comes when the Saudis are undergoing important changes. After years of the country being controlled by an ageing and deeply conservative elite, a new generation of dynamic and US-educated princes has emerged, determined to modernise the way the kingdom does business.

With the country's 89-year-old monarch King Abdullah in poor health, there is every possibility that a new generation of rulers will soon take power, with a mandate to tackle some of the country's more glaring anachronisms, such as the ban on women driving cars.

But for the moment the fate of the country rests with the old guard, and in their efforts to defend the kingdom from external threats they have taken an increasingly hard line against opponents.

That Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a close ally of Iran's ayatollahs has been sufficient to persuade the Saudis to give their whole-hearted backing to more moderate elements within the Syrian opposition.

Nor is there any reason to dismiss suggestions the Saudis were deeply involved in the military overthrow of Egypt's president Mohammed Mursi. Having opposed the removal of Mubarak in the first place, the Saudis had little interest in supporting his replacement by the Muslim Brotherhood.

The turning point was when Mursi launched Egypt on a course of rapprochement with Iran.

The prospect of Iran and Egypt striking up a strategic partnership that effectively encircled Saudi Arabia was too much. Rather than waiting for the US to wake up to the dire consequences of its disengagement policy in the Middle East, the new-look, assertive Saudis took matters into their own hands to make sure Mursi and his Islamist followers no longer posed a threat to their security and stability.

Courtesy: The Canberra Times

Delft professor puts kites high on list for renewable energy

The word "kite" at the Delft University of Technology hardly means summertime fun and recreation. Rather, scientists see "kite" as an important airborne wind technology, with advantages lacking in wind turbines. The university's kite team are encouraged by recent tests in a field near the aerospace engineering department at the university. That is where Roland Schmehl, associate professor, who has a background in computational fluid dynamics, continues to explore kite power. In terms of project scope, such kite trials are dwarfed by impressive wind turbines, but that is just the point. Schmehl believes that conventional turbines only scratch the layer of what can be available in wind as an energy resource, if kite power investigations lead to larger-scale developments. A kite can fly higher and may harness steady winds beyond the limit of conventional turbines.

"The first time I came in contact with this technology in 2009 when I took the position at this university, it was amazing for me to see the prototype system that was built by this group, to see how this 25 square meter kite in action on the airfield would fly 70 to 90 kilometers per hour," he said. Seeing the force being generated was for him "an amazing experience." He was convinced then as now that kite technology can make a difference in renewable energy.

Wind turbines are not an entirely stable path, whereas intermittent power is not a problem with kites: the higher you go, the more constantly the wind blows. Added advantages to kites are that they cause less environmental impact and with lower costs.

A 25 square meter sail can produce enough energy to cover the needs of 40 households, he said, in a report this week in The Guardian. The technology involves the device tethered to a generator unit on the ground. The key in getting it all to work is the automatic control and synchronization of the drum/generator module and the flight dynamics of the kite. There is a traction and a retraction phase, a reel-out and reel-in of the tether. Once the cable has completely unwound it is reeled in again. "We rotate the kite into the wind as we pull it back, so essentially the airstream does part of the work for us," he added. They need less energy to reel in the cable.

This is how the team describes the process:

"The system is operated in periodic pumping cycles, alternating between reel-out and reel-in of the tether. During reel-out, the kite is flying figure-eight maneuvers at high speed (70 to 90 km/h). This creates a high traction force (3.1 kN at 7 m/s wind speed) which is converted into electricity by the drum and the connected 20 kW generator. When reaching the maximum tether length, the kite is de-powered by releasing the rear (steering) lines such that the whole wing rotates and aligns with the apparent wind. Using the drum/generator module as a winch, the kite is now pulled back to the initial position to start the next pumping cycle. De-powering reduces the traction force during reel-in by 80 percent and for this reason the energy consumed during reel-in is only a fraction of the energy generated during reel-out."

Courtesy: Phys.org

Graphene may boost internet speed 100 times

London, July 14:  Using ‘miracle material’ graphene in telecommunications could dramatically make the internet a hundred times faster, a new study has found.

Researchers from the Universities of Bath and Exeter have demonstrated for the first time incredibly short optical response rates using graphene, which could pave the way for a revolution in telecommunications.

Every day large amounts of information is transmitted and processed through optoelectronic devices such as optical fibres, photodetectors and lasers. Signals are sent by photons at infrared wavelengths and processed using optical switches, which convert signals into a series of light pulses.

Ordinarily optical switches respond at rate of a few picoseconds — around a trillionth of a second. Through this study physicists have observed the response rate of an optical switch using ‘few layer graphene’ to be around one hundred femtoseconds — nearly a hundred times quicker than current materials.

Graphene is just one atom thick, but remarkably strong.

Scientists have suggested that it would take an elephant, balanced on a pencil to break through a single sheet.

Already dubbed a miracle material due to its strength, lightness, flexibility, conductivity and low cost, it could now enter the market to dramatically improve telecommunications, researchers said.

“We’ve seen an ultrafast optical response rate, using ’few-layer graphene’, which has exciting applications for the development of high speed optoelectronic components based on graphene,” lead researcher Dr Enrico Da Como said.

“This fast response is in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, where many applications in telecommunications, security and also medicine are currently developing and affecting our society,” said Da Como.

“The more we find out about graphene the more remarkable its properties seem to be. This research shows that it also has unique optical properties which could find important new applications,” Co-Director of the Centre for Graphene Science at Bath, Professor Simon Bending added.

In the long term this research could also lead to the development of quantum cascade lasers based on graphene.

Quantum cascade lasers are semiconductor lasers used in pollution monitoring, security and spectroscopy. Few-layer graphene could emerge as a unique platform for this interesting application.

The study was published in Physical Review Letters.

Courtesy: The Hindu Businessline

Pakistan brings back death penalty, to anger of rights groups

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new government, trying to appear determined to rein in escalating crime and militancy, has ended a ban on the death penalty, in a move condemned by international organisations as inhuman and retrograde.

Up to 8,000 people languish on death row in dozens of Pakistan’s notoriously overcrowded and violent jails.

Once a moratorium is in place, reinstatement of capital punishment is rare, with more than 150 countries having already either abolished the death penalty or stopped administering it.

A 2008 moratorium imposed by Pakistan’s previous government, praised at the time by global rights groups, expired on June 30.

“The present government does not plan to extend it,” said Omar Hamid Khan, an interior ministry spokesman.

Pakistan’s president must approve all executions. The government puts the number of people on death row at about 400. The method of execution is usually hanging.

“Pakistan is part of a dwindling minority of States who continue to retain the death penalty and carry out executions,” the International Commission of Jurists said.

“The prospect of lifting the moratorium is all the more alarming given the extraordinarily high number of people on death row.”    

Khan said the new policy of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government was to execute all death row prisoners, except those pardoned on humanitarian grounds.

There is, however, no firm evidence showing the practice can serve as a deterrent to crime or extremism, according to the United Nations and human rights groups.

“As long as the death penalty is in place, the risk of executing innocent people can never be eliminated,” rights group Amnesty International said.

Pakistan says capital punishment is key to deterring crime in places such as Karachi, a megacity of 18 million plagued by violence, as well as in the areas on its border with Afghanistan where Taliban militants launch daily attacks.

Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s poorest and most corrupt countries, reinstated the death penalty in May and repealed its sorcery laws after a string of gruesome “witch" killings and gang-rapes.

Asked about Amnesty’s criticism, Khan pointed to the fact that capital punishment was still in use in parts of the United States, a nation he said was home to the “best judicial system”.   

Pakistan’s moratorium drew praise because of concerns its courts and police were too inept to ensure the accused a fair trial. Pakistan did, however, break its own rules in 2012, when it executed a convicted murderer and a former army serviceman.

The previous government of the Pakistan’s Peoples Party, whose former chairman, Benazir Bhutto, was a fierce opponent of capital punishment, enforced the moratorium soon after taking power in 2008 under President Asif Ali Zardari.

Zardari, the widower of Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007, is due to step down later this year. 

-- REUTERS

Courtesy: New Straits Time

Allahabad High Court

HC acquits 7 men awarded death penalty in honour killing case

ALLAHABAD: Due to lack of evidence, the Allahabad high court has let off seven persons, who were awarded death sentence by a lower court in connection with an alleged honour killing case of Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh.

A division bench comprising Justice Amar Saran and Justice Pankaj Naqvi on Friday ordered "the release of Natthu, Rakesh, Mahavir, Viresh, Jai Prakash, Pappu and Gulab Singh" holding that they "stand acquitted of charges they had been found guilty of".

The appellants had challenged July 30, 2012 order of additional sessions judge, Badaun.

They were awarded death sentence for allegedly burning alive Deen Dayal and Anita in a village under Gunnaur police station of the district on the intervening night of May 22-23, 2006.

Anita was the daughter of one of the appellants, Natthu.

The girl's affair with Deen Dayal was said to have been bitterly opposed by her family.

However, during the trial, Natthu denied his involvement in the incident and claimed that the remaining six accused had "resorted to this abhorrent crime to grab his property".

The high court struck down the conviction of all the seven accused observing that the trial court had convicted them "on the strength of the statement" given by Natthu, which was "not a substantive piece of evidence which could have nailed the other set of accused persons".

"The trial court was swayed by the fact Natthu in his statement ... had admitted his presence at the scene of occurrence," the court noted, adding "this approach was absolutely de hors the law.

The prosecution had failed to prove the case, in the mode and manner as alleged by them beyond a reasonable doubt.

Courtesy: The Times of India

Syria crisis: Murder of FSA's Kamal Hamami raises fears

A senior rebel commander in Syria is reported to have been killed by rebels from a rival group linked to al-Qaeda.

Kamal Hamami, of the Free Syrian Army's (FSA) Supreme Military Council, was meeting members of the rival group "to discuss battle plans" when he was ambushed and shot.
An FSA spokesman said he was told by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that they had killed Mr Hamami.

The killing is part of an escalating struggle within the armed uprising between moderates and Islamists, sparking fears of a war within the civil war.

Emily Thomas reports.

Courtesy: BBC

Syria Weighs Its Tactics As Pillars of Its Economy Continue to Crumble

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Even as the Syrian government makes some gains against the rebels on the battlefield, it is taking a rout on an equally important front: the economy.

Two years of war have quintupled unemployment, reduced the Syrian currency to one-sixth of its prewar value, cost the public sector $15 billion in losses and damages to public buildings, slashed personal savings, and shrunk the economy 35 percent, according to government and United Nations officials.

The pillars of Syria’s economy have crumbled as the war has destroyed factories, disrupted agriculture, vaporized tourism and slashed oil revenues, with America and Europe imposing sanctions and rebels taking over oil fields.

Increasingly isolated in the face of a growing economic crisis that has reduced foreign currency reserves to about $2 billion to $5 billion from $18 billion, a government that long prided itself on its low national debt and relative self-sufficiency has now been forced to rely on new credit lines from its main remaining allies — Iran, Russia and China — to buy food and fuel.

The government has a $1 billion credit line with Iran, and borrows $500 million a month to import oil products delivered on Russian ships, a government consultant, Mudar Barakat, said in a recent interview in Beirut. Some analysts believe the government will need even more aid from those countries to keep paying government workers and a growing roster of security forces.

Now, some officials hope to push through measures to tighten state control of the economy, rolling back some of the modest economic liberalization and support for private business that President Bashar al-Assad introduced early on, in a departure from his party’s socialist roots.

“We’re thinking of going back to the way it was in the 1980s, when the government was buying the main necessities of daily life,” Mr. Barakat said. “We, as a government, must cover the daily needs of the people, no matter how much the cost is, and keep the prices low.”

Syria’s economic problems, in Mr. Barakat’s view, are rooted in the loosening of state control by reformers favored early in Mr. Assad’s tenure, who he said “vandalized” the economy “into this liberalized sort of chaos.”

A faction that includes Kadri Jamil, a Russian-educated, socialist former professor who was appointed deputy prime minister in charge of the economy in a shake-up last year, hopes Syria can weather the storm by raising wages, tightening price controls on subsidized goods like bread, cracking down on black-market currency traders and even ceasing government trade in dollars and euros.

The government, Mr. Barakat said, now signs new foreign trade deals only in the currencies of friendly countries to insulate itself from what it sees as an economic conspiracy orchestrated by its international enemies.

But such measures — met with ridicule and even defiance by some Syrian businesspeople — will provide at best short-term relief, economists say.

Even the free-flowing aid from Iran and other allies inspires little confidence among Syrians, said an economist in Damascus who asked not to be identified publicly as criticizing government policies, because it shows the government “has no means and depends on others to save it.”

A Damascus businessman derided the new policy of doing business in Iranian, Russian and Chinese currencies.

“These countries themselves do business in dollars and euros,” he said, adding: “Syria today is not Syria in the 1980s. It is easy to keep the door closed, but it is hard to close it after it has been open 13 years and people are used to breathing the fresh air.”

This month, the government banned food exports and announced a crackdown on black-market money traders. The value of the Syrian pound plunged to 330 to the dollar, down from 47 before the war.

On Wednesday, amid a flurry of panicked dealing, the Central Bank tried and failed to strong-arm traders into selling the Syrian pound at a higher, preset price. Dealers said Central Bank officials offered to guarantee a tiny profit if they would sell the pound at a rate of 250.

The traders refused, several said. The government, they said, lacks the power to impose its will, in part because a few wealthy businessmen influence the dollar rate and corrupt officials profit from the trade.

The next day, currency exchange shops in the Damascus districts of Hariqa and Marjah were bustling. Customers clamored to change their savings into foreign currency — Saudi riyals, Emirati dirhams, anything — and traders shouted into phones, asking of the dollar, “How much is the green?”

Ammar, 35, a trader who gave only his first name for safety purposes, said the week’s events showed the government had no clearer plan for the economic crisis than it did for the political or military ones. “The government doesn’t understand the main problem or doesn’t want to understand,” he said. “Syrians no longer trust the Syrian pound.”

Last week’s currency crash deepened a steady decline that has helped send prices soaring even for basic foodstuffs and reduced most Syrians’ buying power to a fraction of prewar levels, making it hard even for once-well-off families to afford meat and fish.

The economic crisis threatens one of the government’s most crucial selling points. Syrians have long been envied in neighboring countries — even by the Lebanese, with far more political freedom — for the nation’s social safety net and affordable goods.

On paper, Syria still provides free education and medical care and heavily subsidized fuel and food staples. But scores of hospitals have been destroyed or damaged, medical supplies are scarce, and bread and diesel sell for many times the official price.

Yet in a polarized country, it is unclear if economic troubles will turn more citizens against the government, which blames foreign-backed terrorists and profiteering merchants and bakers, who, Mr. Barakat said, “are playing a very dirty role.”

“You could decide that you don’t want to support the regime,” said Jihad Yazigi, the editor of Syria Report, a Beirut-based economic journal. “But you can also blame the situation on other factors, like the sanctions and the opposition.”

And economists said the inflation was likely to harm the population more than it hampers the war effort. The fall of the pound means it costs the government less to pay salaries.

The government recently raised government salaries by 40 percent. But in real terms that does not cover the loss in buying power. And at the same time, the Damascus economist noted, the government raised the official price of diesel, adding to the inflationary cycle.

The government still manages to pay salaries across the country — even communicating by fax and messenger with rebel groups to arrange  for them to rendezvous with trucks delivering cash, Mr. Barakat said. “The government employees come with the terrorists to pick them up,” he said.

The government has a harder time with subsidies, spending far more to make bread than it charges, Mr. Barakat said, while shops and bakeries take advantage of subsidized diesel and then sell bread at market prices. “Basically,” he said, “they are stealing the diesel.”

Residents and bakers in opposition areas say that the government favors loyalist areas with supplies and that they have to buy diesel on the black market.

Reporting was contributed by an employee of The New York Times from Damascus, Syria; Hala Droubi from Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Hania Mourtada and Hwaida Saad from Beirut; and Ben Hubbard from Cairo.

Courtesy: N Y Times

Arming militants in Syria detrimental to Geneva talks: Iran

Iran says Western attempts to arm the militants in Syria are detrimental to the planned Geneva conference on Syria.

“The West’s effort to dispatch weapons to Syria will not be a good prelude to the international Geneva conference,” Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Saturday.

He also said Syria is moving on the path of reforms and fighting terrorism.

    “A National dialog, ending the violence and refraining from dispatching weapons and militants to this country (Syria) will guarantee the success of the international Geneva meeting,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

On May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to convene an international conference on Syria, which will serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012.

The unrest in Syria erupted over two years ago and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants operating in Syria are foreign nationals.

On June 23, Louay Muqdad, the media coordinator of the terrorist Free Syrian Army (FSA), said that the foreign-backed Takfiri militants in Syria had been supplied with heavy weapons including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles by ‘brotherly nations.’

Iran has repeatedly expressed its opposition to any foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs, stressing that dialog, national reconciliation and free elections are the keys to resolving the unrest in the country.

SF/NN/HJL

Courtesy: Press TV

 Iraq Says It Can’t Halt Arms to Syria

[Editor: It is mainly a war between Shi'ia and Sunnis or a battle of power between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Now N Y Times has started to define it in terms of Shi'ia-Sunni conflict, after hiding the truth for so long. This blog however had dissected the war in this way long back. Anyway, now the question is why would Iraq want, Israel to be made more powerful in the middle-east? Therefore, it will never stop any arms that are supplied to Syria. The rest are all media stories for public consumption]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Iraq is unable to stop its neighbor Iran from transferring weapons to Syria through its airspace, Iraq’s foreign minister said in a newspaper interview published Saturday.

 “We reject and condemn the transfer of weapons through our airspace, and we will inform the Iranian side of that formally,” Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al Awsat. “But we do not have the ability to stop it.”

Iran supports President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who is fighting a mainly Sunni opposition in a civil war that has killed at least 93,000 people, according to the United Nations.

The United States, which wants Mr. Assad to give up power, has warned Iraq not to allow Iranian weapons flights to cross its airspace into Syria. But Mr. Zebari said he had told Western countries that if they wanted to stop such flights, they had to help do so themselves.

“If you imagine these flights breach United Nations Security Council resolutions banning weapons imports and exports from Iran,” he said, “I invite you in the name of the government to help us stop these flights across Iraqi airspace.”

He said random checks by Iraq on Iranian aircraft bound for Syria since September had found only nonlethal aid like medicines and food.

Iraq is dominated by Shiite Muslim parties with close ties to Iran, but Mr. Zebari said his country was committed to neutrality with respect to Syria.

Iraq does not provide any weapons or money to Syria, Mr. Zebari said, and, despite requests from Syria, does not sell it crude oil at preferential rates. 

Courtesy: N Y Times

Pakistani Taliban set up base in Syria to assess 'needs of jihad'

LONDON: The Pakistani Taliban have set up a base in Syria to assess "the needs of jihad" and at least 12 of its "experts" in warfare and information technology have visited the strife-torn country, a media report said.

Quoting a "senior Pakistani Taliban operative", BBC Urdu reported that the base was set up with the assistance of ex-Afghan fighters of Middle Eastern origin who have moved to Syria in recent years.

At least 12 "experts" in warfare and information technology had gone to Syria in the last two months, he said.
Their presence in the country is likely to have a sectarian motive, BBC report said adding Taliban factions feel that Sunni Muslims, who constitute a majority in Syria, are being oppressed by Syria's predominantly Shia rulers.

Thousands of people have died in the year-long armed conflict in Syria between loyalists of President Bashar al-Assad's government and those who want to overthrow it.

Muhammad Amin, a senior Taliban operative and "coordinator of the Syrian base", told the BBC that the cell to monitor "the jihad" in Syria was set up six months ago.

He said that the cell has the approval of militant factions both within and outside of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organization of militant groups fighting the Pakistani forces.

The cell sends "information and feedback" on the conflict in Syria back to Pakistan, he was quoted as saying.

"They were facilitated by our friends in Syria who have previously been fighting in Afghanistan," Amin said.

Their job is to "assess the needs of the jihad in Syria, and to work out joint operations with our Syrian friends".

"There are dozens of Pakistani hopefuls in line to join the fighting against the Syrian army, but the advice we are getting at the moment is that there's already enough manpower in Syria".

Courtesy: The Times of India

Syrian rebels used sarin nerve gas - Russia
~~By Peter James Spielmann and Edith M. Lederer

Russia's UN ambassador said Tuesday that Russian experts determined that Syrian rebels made sarin nerve gas and used it in a deadly chemical weapon attack outside Aleppo in March.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin blamed opposition fighters for the March 19 attack in the government-controlled Aleppo suburb of Khan al-Assal, which he said killed 26 people, including 16 military personnel, and injured 86 others.

The rebels have blamed the government for the attack. The US Britain and France have said they have seen no evidence to indicate that the opposition has acquired or used chemical weapons.

In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said "We have yet to see any evidence that backs up the assertion that anybody besides the Syrian government has had the ability to use chemical weapons or has used chemical weapons."

Churkin told reporters after delivering an 80-page report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the Assad regime asked Russia, its closest ally, to investigate the attack after a UN team of chemical weapons experts was unable to enter the country in a dispute over the probe's scope.

Acting US Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo said Syrian President Bashar Assad should now allow UN chemical weapons experts into the country to conduct an investigation of the Khan al-Assal incident as well as other allegations of chemical weapons use by the US, UK, and France.

The samples taken from the impact site of the gas-laden projectile were analysed at a Russian laboratory certified by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Churkin said.

He said the analysis showed that the unguided Basha'ir-3 rocket that hit Khan al-Assal was not a military-standard chemical weapon.

Churkin said the results indicate it "was not industrially manufactured and was filled with sarin." He said the samples indicated the sarin and the projectile were produced in makeshift "cottage industry" conditions, and the projectile "is not a standard one for chemical use."

The absence of chemical stabilizers, which are needed for long-term storage and later use, indicated its "possibly recent production," Churkin said.

"Therefore, there is every reason to believe that it was the armed opposition fighters who used the chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal," Churkin said.

"According to information at our disposal," he added, "the production of `Basha'ir 3' unguided projectiles was started in February 2013 by the so-called `Basha'ir al-Nasr' brigade affiliated with the Free Syrian Army."

On Monday, Syria invited Ake Sellstrom, head of the UN fact-finding mission on allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria, and UN disarmament chief Angela Kane to visit Damascus for foreign-minister level talks on conducting a probe of just the Khan al-Assal attack.

The Russian ambassador strongly backed the idea, calling it "a promising process" that hopefully will lead to an investigation.

Britain, France and the United States have provided the secretary-general with information on other alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Ban has repeatedly said he wants a broader investigation than just Khan al-Assal.

"We support a thorough investigation of all credible allegations," Churkin said, but added that Russian experts "were not impressed at all" by the material provided to them by the UK, US and France.

At the White House, Carney said that Syria's President "Bashar al-Assad called for a UN investigation into the use of chemical weapons and then he blocked the ability of the United Nations to conduct that investigation. The way to answer this question is to allow the United Nations to investigate."

President Barack Obama's administration says it has "high confidence" that Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces have killed up to 150 people with sarin gas.

In a letter to the secretary-general on June 14, then-US Ambassador Susan Rice said the US had determined that sarin was used in the March 19 attack on Khan al-Assal and also in an April 13 attack on the Aleppo neighborhood of Shaykh Maqsud. She said unspecified chemicals, possibly including chemical warfare agents, were used May 14 in an attack on Qasr Abu Samrah and in a May 23 attack on Adra.

The use of a chemical weapon crossed Obama's "red line" for escalating US involvement in the conflict and prompted the decision to send arms and ammunition to the opposition, not just humanitarian aid and non-lethal material like armoured vests and night goggles.

Churkin said Russia plans to provide the 80-page report to the US, UK and France, and "I hope they find it persuasive." But he said it will not be made public.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky had no immediate comment on the issue, noting that the Russian ambassador had delivered the "weighty and quite technical" report only minutes earlier. He said the Department of Disarmament Affairs would study it and provide guidance to the secretary-general.

AP

Courtesy: 3News

Syria rebels made own sarin gas, says Russia

Russia hands evidence to UN which its envoy says indicates Syrian opposition used chemical weapons on regime forces.

Photo, Courtesy: DW

Russia has presented evidence to the UN it says shows Syrian rebels attacked regime forces with sarin gas that was produced in "cottage industry" conditions.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Russian experts had been to the scene of the attack at Khan al-Assal near Aleppo and gathered firsthand evidence.

Churkin said the attack killed 26 people, including 16 military personnel, and injured 86 others. Rebels have blamed government forces for the attack.

The samples taken from the impact site of the gas-laden projectile were analysed at a Russian laboratory certified by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Churkin said.

He said the analysis showed that the unguided Basha'ir-3 rocket that hit Khan al-Assal was not a military-standard chemical weapon. He said the samples indicated the sarin and the projectile were produced in makeshift "cottage industry" conditions, and the projectile was "not a standard one for chemical use".

He added that, according to information gathered by Russia, production of the projectiles started in February by the "Basha'ir al-Nasr' brigade", which is affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.
The Russian action risks reigniting an international dispute over the use of chemical weapons in the 26-month-old war, in which the United Nations says up to 100,000 people have been killed.

US rejects claim

The United States has rejected Russian claims raised at the United Nations that Syrian opposition fighters had used chemical weapons.

"We have yet to see any evidence that backs up the assertion that anybody besides the Syrian government has the ability to use chemical weapons, [or] has used chemical weapons," White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Tuesday.

The Syrian government has refused to let a UN inspection team into the country, but this week invited UN officials for talks on the investigation.

Carney again called on the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, to allow foreign investigators to probe claims of chemical weapons use.

"The way to answer this question is to allow the United Nations to investigate," he said.

"Our ability as an international community to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria is hampered by Assad's refusal to allow a United Nations investigation."

Britain, France and the United States say they have handed over evidence to UN experts indicating that Assad's forces have used chemical weapons in the conflict.

Courtesy: Aljazeera

Iran welcomes Syrian opposition’s truce offer during Ramadan

[Editor: The Rebels representing Muslims Brotherhood, Jabhat al-Nusra and other Islamic Extremist groups should have done this long back. Just ask yourselves: what did the people of Syria get, in the last 2 years, except death, mayhem, torture, humiliation, etc? Why do you all Syrians get provoked so much by the external agencies? The country is yours and the people are a part of your extended family. How can you be so brutal towards all your fellow countrymen? It is unfortunate that the rebels have to wait till Ramadan, to call off their guns; but then some superstitions die hard. Still I welcome the decision to bring peace in the region and now I sincerely hope,  that you would sit on the table, to solve the chronic Syrian crisis, instead of using violence  or following the path of "Armed Jihad". Also, through this blog, I urge the Syrian government to be more humane, in their treatment of the rebels---some of the videos showing the government's treatment of insurgents are shocking and deeply distressing!!]

Mourning relatives cry during the burial for one of the 46 victims killed in Saturday explosions in Reyhanli, near Turkey’s border with Syria, Sunday, May 12, 2013. The bombings on Saturday marked the biggest incident of cross-border violence since the start of Syria’s bloody civil war and has the raised fear of Turkey being pulled deeper into the conflict.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Iran has welcomed as “appropriate” an offer by foreign-backed opposition in Syria to declare a ceasefire in the crisis-hit country during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Addressing reporters at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi called on all parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Syria to put down arms and pursue a solution “based on dialog and political approach.”

    “If all sides in Syria want the establishment of ceasefire that will be appropriate and we hope that weapons would be laid down on the auspicious occasion of the holy month of Ramadan and that all sides would move towards national dialogue,” he added.

An injured Syrian soldier cries in pain.
Photo: India Today

The new president of Syria opposition, the so-called Syrian National Coalition (SNC), Ahmad Assi Jarba, offered President Bashar al-Assad a truce for the besieged city of Homs during the month of Ramadan which begins on Wednesday.

In a statement on Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all parties in the Syria conflict to put down arms during Ramadan.

"For the sake of the Syrian people, therefore, I would like to call on all parties in Syria to respect this religious obligation for at least, at a minimum, one month," Ban said.

Araqchi further expressed concern over the spread of the Syrian crisis across the Middle East and reiterated Iran’s position on the need to find a political solution to Syria crisis.

“We have announced since the very first day [of the crisis in Syria] that if a political approach desired by the country’s people is not found and there is a tendency towards terrorists, the crisis will be likely to spill over into other countries,” the spokesman stated.

He expressed hope that the regional leaders would find a “wise political solution” to the unrest in Syria.

Unrest has gripped Syria for over two years, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the foreign-sponsored militancy.

SF/KA/SS

Courtesy: Press TV

Footage of couples getting intimate on Delhi Metro reaches porn sites
~~Ankur Sharma

New Delhi, July 09, 2013: Footage of couples getting intimate on the Delhi Metro has reached international porn sites. More than 250 clips of couples on near-empty trains have been made into two- to eight-minute videos and uploaded on these sites, a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official told Hindustan, requesting anonymity.

The bulk of these clips has been uploaded since 2011.

A leakage of this scale from its central control room, if found true, could embarrass the DMRC and raise a big privacy issue.

Hindustan contacted DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal on phone but did not get a response. A senior DMRC official said CISF was to blame because it monitors the CCTV footage.

But director general, CISF, Rajiv refuted the allegation. “We are just the monitoring agency. DMRC controls the database into which this CCTV footage goes, and so the leak most likely happened at its end,” he said.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times