Blast in northern Nigeria kills 10: police

KANO: An explosion in the red light district of northern Nigeria´s Bauchi city has killed 10 people and injured 14 others, police said Saturday. The cause of the late Friday blast was not immediately clear, but Boko Haram has attacked Bauchi repeatedly during their five-year uprising aimed at creating a strict Islamic state in the north. Bauchi state police spokesman Mohammed Haruna said the targeted building in the Bayan Gari neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city was widely known as a brothel.

"Ten people were confirmed dead, while 14 others sustained various degrees of injury," Haruna said, adding that the explosion went off at roughly 10:00 pm (2100 GMT). "The entire area has been cordoned off and (the) scene secured," Haruna said. Bomb attacks on targets which Boko Haram has branded sinful - including bars, churches and schools teaching a Western curriculum - have formed a major part of the insurgency.

Nigeria has estimated that more than 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2009. The violence has escalated in recent months, with more than 2,000 deaths recorded since the start of the year. The capital Abuja has been hit with three separate bomb attacks since mid-April, most recently on Wednesday when 24 people were killed in a blast at a popular shopping plaza in the heart of the city. Police had initially given a death toll of 21 for the attack, but the health ministry revised those figures upwards on Saturday. In Kano, the largest city in the mainly Muslim north, a bomb planted in the parking lot of a public health college killed eight people on Monday. The Islamist extremists have received unprecedented international attention in recent weeks following their April 14 abduction of more than 200 teenage girls from the town of Chibok in the northeast. The gruesome mass abduction has drawn condemnation from governments and prominent people worldwide and offers of military help from major world powers to boost Nigeria´s counter-insurgency effort.

30 militiamen killed in Iraq clashes: police

BAQUBA: Militants attacked the town of Muqdadiyah northeast of Baghdad on Friday, sparking clashes that killed 30 militiamen, a police colonel and a doctor said.

The fighting began on Friday morning and eased later in the day with security forces still in control of Muqdadiyah, a key approach to Diyala provincial capital Baquba, and militants deployed in adjoining areas.

Militiamen have joined Iraqi security forces in fighting against a major offensive by militants that overran all of one province and chunks of three more in a matter of days.

Security forces performed poorly during the initial days of the assault, in some cases shedding uniforms and abandoning vehicles in their haste to flee.

While they seem to have recovered somewhat from the shock of the onslaught, retaking ground in certain areas, the militants have made gains elsewhere. (AFP)

 

12 killed in Nepal landslides: police

KATHMANDU: Landslides triggered by heavy rains killed at least 12 people overnight in Nepal, including nine members of the same family who were buried alive when their home collapsed, eyewitnesses and police said Friday.

Residents of Gulmi district in the west of the country said that the nine family members, including four children, all died when part of a hillside came down on top of their home in a gorge.

In neighbouring Pyuthan district, three people were killed and two others reported missing after a landslide swept away their homes, located on the riverbank, local police official Deepak Regmi said. Scores of people die every year from flooding and landslides during the monsoon season in Nepal.

30 militiamen killed in Iraq clashes: police

BAQUBA: Militants attacked the town of Muqdadiyah northeast of Baghdad on Friday, sparking clashes that killed 30 militiamen, a police colonel and a doctor said.

The fighting began on Friday morning and eased later in the day with security forces still in control of Muqdadiyah, a key approach to Diyala provincial capital Baquba, and militants deployed in adjoining areas.

Militiamen have joined Iraqi security forces in fighting against a major offensive by militants that overran all of one province and chunks of three more in a matter of days.

Security forces performed poorly during the initial days of the assault, in some cases shedding uniforms and abandoning vehicles in their haste to flee.

While they seem to have recovered somewhat from the shock of the onslaught, retaking ground in certain areas, the militants have made gains elsewhere. (AFP)

Police fail to get remand of 44 PAT workers

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court declined a request by the police to secure physical remand of 44 PAT workers and instead sent them to jail on 14-day judicial remand.

They are facing charges of attacking the police and pelting stones at the police, which was carrying out an operation to remove the barriers outside the MQI Secretariat in Model Town.As the proceedings started, the police produced 51 accused before ATC Judge Khalid Mahmood Ranjha and sought physical remand of 44 of them. They also requested for deletion of the name of eight workers from the FIR registered against them under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The judge, however, rejected the request and sent them to jail on judicial remand.

The accused whose names were removed from the FIR included Yameen, Hanif, Akram, Sakhi, Mujahid Hussain, Sheron and Haroon.Meanwhile, the bail applications were submitted for all the accused sent on judicial remand after which the court issued notices to the state for June 21.

Meanwhile, Chaudhry Saalik Hussain – the son of PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain – called on Dr Tahirul Qadri’s son Hussain Mohiuddin and condoled the deaths of innocent party workers. Later, the PML-Q delegation attended the funeral prayers of another MQI worker who succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital earlier in the day, bringing the death toll to 10.

Online adds: The police on Thursday declared the main suspect nominated in the case innocent due to lack of evidence, just a day after they registered a first information report (FIR) against the activists of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) for the deadly clash in Lahore.

Hussain Mohiuddin, son of Dr Tahirul Qadri, was nominated as the main accused in the FIR lodged on the complaint of Faisal Town SHO Rizwan Qadir Hashmi.The bloodshed took place outside the Central Secretariat of Minhajul Quran International in the Model Town on June 17. As many as nine people, including two women, were killed in the clash and dozens of others were injured.

According to the FIR, the police blamed the PAT workers and the leadership for the deadly melee outside the residence of Qadri. The other accused include PAT General Secretary Khurram Nawaz Gandapur and Chief Security Officer Altaf Hussain Shah. Eight unidentified gunmen and 3,000-plus activists of the PAT have also been nominated in the FIR.

At least 22 killed in fighting in east of C. Africa: police

BANGUI: Fighting between mainly Muslim ex-rebels and the largely Christian "anti-balaka" militia has killed at least 22 people in eastern Central African Republic, security officials said Thursday.

"At least 22 people have been killed and more than 30 were wounded in clashes that broke out last Monday and Tuesday in Liwa village, 10 kilometres (six miles) from Bambari," a source in the local gendarmerie told AFP, asking not to be named.

He said the fighting was between former rebels of the Seleka alliance and the mainly Christian militia.

At least 22 killed in fighting in east of C. Africa: police

BANGUI: Fighting between mainly Muslim ex-rebels and the largely Christian "anti-balaka" militia has killed at least 22 people in eastern Central African Republic, security officials said Thursday.

"At least 22 people have been killed and more than 30 were wounded in clashes that broke out last Monday and Tuesday in Liwa village, 10 kilometres (six miles) from Bambari," a source in the local gendarmerie told AFP, asking not to be named.

He said the fighting was between former rebels of the Seleka alliance and the mainly Christian militia.

Police, strikers clash in Brazil World Cup host city

SAO PAULO: Brazil´s World Cup preparations endured a rough Friday, as police clashed with striking subway workers in Sao Paulo, massive traffic jams snarled the mega-city and fans booed the national team.

The scuffle in the metro station and a separate anti-government protest that gathered 3,000 people raised fears of more unrest when Brazil and Croatia open the World Cup in Sao Paulo on Thursday.

Police fired tear gas and swung batons to beat back picketing strikers inside a central station after commuters tried to enter.

The strike, affecting millions of commuters, will continue for a third day Saturday after the workers´ union and their employers failed to reach a deal on a pay raise.

Across town, meanwhile, demonstrators blocked the street in front of the Central Bank in a peaceful protest organized by the Force Union against the economic policies of President Dilma Rousseff.

"Our problem is not with the national team. We will cheer for them. But on October 5, we will send Dilma Rousseff to hell," said union leader Paulo Pereira da Silva, referring to the upcoming presidential election.

The subway strike caused headaches for fans who attended Brazil´s labored 1-0 victory against Serbia in the team´s final friendly in Sao Paulo´s Morumbi stadium.

Sections of the crowd jeered the team led by Barcelona star Neymar as it struggled to find the net against the Serbians.

"Our players are ready to accept criticism when they don´t play well," said manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose team is under massive pressure to deliver a record sixth World Cup trophy.

While Brazil played at Morumbi Friday, the first World Cup game will be played in the city´s new Corinthians Arena, which is awaiting safety clearance to operate at full capacity, highlighting the authorities´ struggle to be ready for the tournament.

Officials are hard-pressed to resolve the metro strike because the subway will be the main link to the arena for legions of fans.

With three of five metro stations disrupted by the strike, bumper-to-bumper traffic stretched as much as 251 kilometers (155 miles) as the subway system´s 4.5 million users turned to cars or buses amid torrential rain.

"I´m going to have to return home. I can´t get to work like this," said Pedro Henrique Rodrigues, a 28-year-old pastry factory worker who stood in a massive bus line.

Militants seize Anbar University campus in Iraq: police

RAMADI: Jihadists took staff and students hostage on Saturday at a university campus in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, where security forces have been battling rebels for months, police said.

The militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, seized the Anbar University campus after killing its guards, they added.

Farzana murder case: Police arrest two more accused

LAHORE: Two more accused in the murder case of Farzana were arrested by the police here on Saturday.

Six people were nominated along with 22 unknown suspects in the murder case. The ill-fated girl was stoned to death by her family members on May 27 outside the Lahore High Court.

On May 30, Chief Justice of Pakistan had taken suo motu notice of the brutal murder, seeking report from the Inspector General Police.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also directed Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to bring the culprits to book.

Altaf Hussain shifted to police station

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has been moved to the police station from hospital, Geo News reported.

A London Metropolitan Police statement said the 60-year-old man arrested on Tuesday, 3 June in connection with a money laundering investigation has now been returned to a police station from hospital.

The release back to detention was agreed after consultation with the hospital responsible for assessing his medical condition.

The Scotland Yard told Geo News earlier, that the time which Altaf spent in the hospital would not be included in the detention period.

They said Altaf was arrested on Tuesday but he remained in the police station for a little time, therefore, 72-hour detention law would not be applicable on him.

The detention period would begin again when the MQM chief returned to the police station from hospital.

Bombing at northeast Nigeria football pitch kills at least 40: police

KANO: A bombing at a football pitch in Nigeria's restive northeast killed at least 40 people on Sunday in an area previously attacked by Boko Haram, a police officer and a nurse said.

The blast hit the town of Mubi in Adamawa state, one of three in the northeast which has been under a state of emergency for more than a year as Nigeria's military has tried to crush Boko Haram's five-year extremist uprising.

"There has been a bomb explosion at a football field this evening and so far more than 40 people have been killed," said the officer in Mubi who requested anonymity.

The policeman's account was confirmed by a nurse at the Mubi General Hospital, who also requested anonymity, as the health worker was not authorised to discuss the attack with the media.

Adamawa has been hit by far fewer Boko Haram attacks than other parts of the northeast, but the town was the site of a gruesome October 2012 massacre at a post-secondary technical college.

Scores of students were killed in their dorms, including many whose throats were slit.

Mubi is just a few kilometres from Nigeria's border with Cameroon and near the area where two Italian priests and a Canadian nun were seized by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in April.

The three were released earlier on Sunday and flown out on board a military aircraft from the town of Maroua, heading for the Cameroon's capital.

The policeman in Mubi said the bomb exploded at roughly 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) at the pitch in Mubi's Kabang area and targeted fans who were trying to leave the field after watching a local club match.

It was not immediately clear if players were among the casualties, but the officer and the nurse said it appeared most of the victims were fans.

Muhammad Hassan, a Mubi resident who was at the match, said the blast appeared to come from within the crowd of people who were walking across the pitch and heading home after the final whistle.

"Women and children were caught up in the blast," he said. Boko Haram has carried out scores of attacks on targets it says are a product of Western influence, including sports venues and schools teaching a secular curriculum.

The group has killed thousands during its battle against the government since 2009, but the conflict has received unprecedented global attention over the last six weeks following the group’s mass kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls.

The girls were seized on April 14 from Chibok in Borno state, which shares a border with Adamawa.

Nigeria's response to the kidnapping has been fiercely criticised as inept and the crisis has piled intense pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan's government to do more to end the uprising.

Driver flees traffic stop with cop in car: police

FLORENCE: A man who allegedly fled from a traffic stop in southern New Jersey with a police officer inside his car in facing numerous charges.

Florence police tell the Burlington County Times that 19-year-old Randy Eno Mase of Wilmington, Delaware was stopped early Saturday for speeding.

When officers started speaking with Mase, they say he tried to drive off. An officer then entered the car through the driver's side door and tried to stop him, but Mase drove off with the officer still in the vehicle.

A short time later, the officer was able to stop the vehicle.

Mase faces numerous charges, including aggravated assault, eluding and drug charges. He also faces several motor vehicle citations.

Pindi Bhattian police book PTI 28 activists, arrest 10 for misbehaving MPA Farzana

c son and nephew of newly elected PTI MPA Nighat Intasar for misbehaving with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Farzana Butt, Geo News reported.

PTI activists during the Hafizabad PP-107 by-poll on May 29 had mobbed the car of PML-N MPAs Farzana Butt and Salma Shaheen, dragged them out of the car, pushed, shoved, shouted and abused them at the Government High School no.2 Pindi Bhattian polling station. Some of the activists also tried to snatch Farzana Butt’s purse.

The Pindi Bhattian police taking action against this rowdy behaviour of PTI workers registered a case against 13 nominated including Nighat Intasar Bahtti’s son Aoun Jahangir, nephew Azm Jahangir and 15 unidentified PTI workers, while 10 accused have thus far been arrested.

Karachi: 4 accused killed in alleged police encounters

KARACHI: Four accused including two Lyari gang war criminals were killed in two separate police encounters in the metropolis in the early hours of Thursday.

According to SSP anti-violent crime cell Nasir Aftab, two accused who were killed in exchange of fire in Sachal Goth were affiliated with gang war elements. The accused were involved in kidnapping for ransom and killing of police personnel, he said.

Police said that another alleged police encounter took place on Abul Hassan Isphahani road where two accused involved in street crimes were killed. Motorcycle, two pistols and cash were recovered from their possession, police said.

Chinese train station knife attack leaves 6 injured: police

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BEIJING: Six people were wounded in a knife attack at a train station in China on Tuesday, police said, the latest in a string of violent episodes at public transport hubs.

Police shot one of the attackers at the train station in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, the city´s public security bureau said in a statement on its microblog, adding all six injured had been hospitalised.

US citizen remanded in police custody till May 10

KARACHI: A local court of Judicial Magistrate Malir has remanded the US citizen, who was arrested from Karachi airport for carrying arms, in police custody till May 10, Geo News reported.

The Airport Security Force (ASF) had arrested a US national from the Karachi Airport on Monday for carrying a 9mm pistol and 15 bullets.

Joel Cox was scheduled to fly to Islamabad via flight No PK-308.

Airport police had registered case against Cox under Arms ordinance and presented him before the court of judicial magistrate Tuesday.

Malir SSP Rao Anwar said the bullets would be despatched for forensic testing. He said the serial numbers of the bullets had already been forwarded to a forensic laboratory.

The SSP said a joint investigation team was probing the case to ascertain where the suspect was from, for whom he was working and what his plans were regarding the pistol and the bullets. Cox has yet to provide the police with a licence for the pistol, he added.

Death toll hits 32 in India rebel violence: police

GUWAHATI: Police found nine more bodies Saturday after a deadly rampage by tribal separatists in India´s remote northeastern Assam state, taking the death toll to 32 following two days of violence.

The nine bodies, including those of women and children, were recovered from Narayanguri village in Baksa district, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Assam´s main city of Guwahati.

"The death toll has gone up to 32," police inspector general S. N. Singh told. "Security has been further tightened with police and paramilitary troopers deployed in strength.

"Fresh violence erupted Friday night when tribal rebels killed 12 Muslims, a day after they had killed three villagers in the same district and eight more in neighbouring Kokrajhar, opening fire on the victims as they slept in their homes.

The attacks have prompted security forces to launch a massive hunt for the guerillas and have spurred some 5,000 people to flee from their homes, Singh said.

He added that an indefinite curfew has also been imposed in the violence-torn districts, with police given shoot-on-sight orders.

The victims of the attacks were Muslim migrants who have been locked in land disputes with indigenous Bodo tribes in the tea-growing state that borders Bhutan and Bangladesh.

The attacks come as India votes in a multi-phased general election that began on April 7. Polling winds up on May 12, with results to be announced four days later.

Voting in Assam has ended, with April 24 the last day of polling.

Police blamed the attacks on the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which has been demanding a separate homeland for decades.

Seventeen people were killed in clashes in the same region in January and thousands of others fled their homes for fear of further attacks.

In 2012, ethnic clashes in the same area claimed about 100 lives and displaced more than 400,000 people.

Death toll hits 32 in India rebel violence: police

GUWAHATI: Police found nine more bodies Saturday after a deadly rampage by tribal separatists in India´s remote northeastern Assam state, taking the death toll to 32 following two days of violence.

The nine bodies, including those of women and children, were recovered from Narayanguri village in Baksa district, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Assam´s main city of Guwahati.

"The death toll has gone up to 32," police inspector general S. N. Singh told. "Security has been further tightened with police and paramilitary troopers deployed in strength.

"Fresh violence erupted Friday night when tribal rebels killed 12 Muslims, a day after they had killed three villagers in the same district and eight more in neighbouring Kokrajhar, opening fire on the victims as they slept in their homes.

The attacks have prompted security forces to launch a massive hunt for the guerillas and have spurred some 5,000 people to flee from their homes, Singh said.

He added that an indefinite curfew has also been imposed in the violence-torn districts, with police given shoot-on-sight orders.

The victims of the attacks were Muslim migrants who have been locked in land disputes with indigenous Bodo tribes in the tea-growing state that borders Bhutan and Bangladesh.

The attacks come as India votes in a multi-phased general election that began on April 7. Polling winds up on May 12, with results to be announced four days later.

Voting in Assam has ended, with April 24 the last day of polling.

Police blamed the attacks on the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which has been demanding a separate homeland for decades.

Seventeen people were killed in clashes in the same region in January and thousands of others fled their homes for fear of further attacks.

In 2012, ethnic clashes in the same area claimed about 100 lives and displaced more than 400,000 people.

Modi in police trouble as India’s poll nears climax

AHMEDABAD, India: Police opened an investigation against Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, tipped to be India’s next prime minister, after he flashed his party’s symbol and made a speech in a violation of election rules after he cast his ballot.
About 139 million people were registered to vote in the eighth round of a marathon contest pitting Modi against the ruling Congress party, led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Results are due on May 16. Voting in his home state of Gujarat, the opposition leader, whose pro-business policies have delighted investors, brandished a white cut-out of a lotus flower and made a scathing speech against Congress heavyweights - taunting them for shying away from the fight.

“The prime minister himself is not fighting the election. The finance minister is not fighting the election. All its top leaders have run away,” Modi said to cheers from a crowd at the polling station in the state’s largest city, Ahmedabad.

He snapped a “selfie” of the lotus and his finger painted with ink after voting, and posted the photograph on Twitter. Election rules say politicians must not make public rallies or use media to “display to the public any election matter” within 48 hours of an election.

Gujarat police chief PC Thakur said a preliminary case was launched against Modi at the request of the election commission. “The Ahmedabad crime branch has begun investigations,” he said. The maximum punishment for violating the rule is two years imprisonment, although Modi is unlikely to be charged.

Politicians in India routinely face criminal cases that rarely reach the courts. Standing in both the Gujarat town of Vadodara and the holy city of Varanasi, Modi has shaken up Indian politics with a campaign that has combined a social media blitz with up to five rallies a day. The 63-year-old has even appeared as a hologram campaigning in remote hamlets. Turnout in Gujarat was 62 percent on Wednesday, according to the election commission, a sharp rise on the state’s tally of 48 percent in the last general election in 2009.