Justice Jawwad Khawaja denies report

ISLAMABAD: Justice Jawwad S Khawaja on Wednesday showed dismay over the reporting of the missing person case in newspapers, saying some media houses believed that national institutions should not deliver in accordance with their mandate because of wrong reporting.

A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Mushir Alam, heard the case of the Independent Media Corporation on behalf of Geo Network against the negative propaganda by other channels, and a civil miscellaneous application filed on display of posters and banners in Islamabad against the judiciary.

The court in its order said that it had given clips of a television programme to the Attorney General (AG) for Pakistan, Salman Aslam Butt, on May 27, 2014 in order to probe as to why a television channel was disseminating irresponsible kind of programme. The AG informed the court that that matter was being probed.

Justice Jawwad said that the issue of the TV programme was not being resolved and another statement was published against him in an English newspaper — The News.The bench reproduced the news item in its order, “Who peddles ideas about clash of institutions, SC asks govt; Justice Khawaja says banners pop up when court hears missing persons case – Islamabad: Justice Jawwad S Khawaja has observed banners against the court were hanged when it took up the missing persons case. He said these banners were like explosives, which could cause an irreparable loss.”

Justice Jawwad said the same news was carried by the Urdu Daily Jang and ruled that no word was uttered during the missing person case which both the papers published.He referred the hearing of a constitutional plea 104-105 of 2012 saying it was emphasised during the proceedings that media freedom was not meant for irresponsible deliveries in journalism, adding that the court had suggested to work out a code of conduct with implementation, so that electronic or print media could avoid irresponsible reporting.

The court directed the AG to bring the matter relating to the code of conduct for reporting in the government knowledge so that serious efforts could be made to develop the code.Khudayar Mohla, President of the Press Association of the Supreme Court (PAS), however, informed the court that the association had worked out a draft code of conduct for reporting which had been circulated among its members and would be finalised after consultative process.

He further submitted that court directives to the government for the code of conduct for media reporting could be misinterpreted. At this, Justice Jawwad observed that no colourable interpretation would be allowed.

Matiullah Jan, a member of the PAS, urged the court to take all the institutions and persons into consultative process for developing the code of conduct, adding that without hearing all the concerned persons, no code of conduct could be finalised.

Meanwhile, the government informed the bench that three persons allegedly involved in displaying posters and banners in the federal capital against the judiciary had been arrested.In compliance with the court’s order of May 26, 2014, the AG submitted the reports of the interior secretary and DG Intelligence Bureau (IB).

He informed the court that three persons namely Shafique Butt, Muhammad Nazar and Muahmmad Waqar were being interrogated by the police after registeration of an FIR No.234/14. The AG, however, sought time to investigate the matter after apprehending more accused of displaying the anti-judiciary banners and posters in Islamabad, saying that the investigation would be completed as early as possible.Later, the court adjourned the hearing till June 10.

Editor’s note: The News regrets the publication of remarks not made by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja. It is being investigated how it happened. The remarks were, however, creeded by news agencies and also carried by other newspapers.

Thai PM denies abuse of power in key legal challenge

BANGKOK: Thailand´s besieged Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra denied an abuse of power allegation at the nation´s Constitutional Court on Tuesday in a legal challenge which could see her removed from office.

The case, one of two potential knockout legal moves against her premiership, comes as Thailand´s political crisis reaches a critical juncture.

Anti-government protesters are still massed on Bangkok´s streets -- although in diminished numbers -- and Yingluck´s supporters are also threatening to rally to defend her.

The premier denied the complaint, filed by a group of senators, who said that the replacement of then-national security chief Thawil Pliensri after she was elected in 2011 was for the benefit of her party.

"I deny the allegation... I didn´t violate any laws, I didn´t receive any benefit from the appointment," a composed Yingluck told the court, adding she replaced Thawil for the benefit of the country.

Under the constitution -- forged after a 2006 coup that ousted Yingluck´s billionaire brother Thaksin Shinawatra as premier -- such an offence could lead to her removal and a ban from politics.

The court could also extend its verdict to cabinet members who endorsed the decision to remove Thawil, potentially dislodging a layer of ruling party decision-makers with ties to Thaksin, who lives overseas to avoid jail for corruption convictions.

Thawil has been re-instated as head of the NSC by the order of another court.

"It´s up to the judges," said Jarupong Ruangsuwan, leader of the ruling Puea Thai party, told before the hearing.

"All I can say is that if the court convicts the prime minister and her entire cabinet there will be turmoil," he said, adding "all may be known today".

The court has not given a date for its ruling.

NSA denies exploiting ´Heartbleed´ vulnerability

WASHINGTON: The US National Security Agency on Friday denied a report claiming it was aware of and even exploited the "Heartbleed" online security flaw to gather intelligence.

The stern denial came amid growing panic among Internet users about the newly exposed flaw, after a report by Bloomberg News said the spy agency decided to keep quiet about the matter to more easily gather intelligence.

"NSA was not aware of the recently identified vulnerability in OpenSSL, the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability, until it was made public in a private-sector cybersecurity report," NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said in an email.

"Reports that say otherwise are wrong."OpenSSL is online-data scrambling software commonly used to protect passwords, credit card numbers and other data sent via the Internet.

A White House official also denied that any US agency was aware of the bug before it was revealed by security researchers earlier this month.

"Reports that NSA or any other part of the government were aware of the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability before April 2014 are wrong," White House national security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement.

"This administration takes seriously its responsibility to help maintain an open, interoperable, secure and reliable Internet.

"If the federal government, including the intelligence community, had discovered this vulnerability prior to last week, it would have been disclosed to the community responsible for OpenSSL.

"Bloomberg, citing two people said to be familiar with the matter, said the NSA was able to make Heartbleed part of "its arsenal" to obtain passwords and other data, without making public a vulnerability which could affect millions of Internet users.

The report said the secretive intelligence agency has more than 1,000 experts devoted to ferreting out these kinds of flaws and found the Heartbleed glitch shortly after its introduction.

The agency then made it part of its "toolkit for stealing account passwords and other common tasks," the report said.

NSA was already in the spotlight after months of revelations about its vast data-gathering capabilities, along with partner intelligence agencies.

Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden indicated that the NSA has been able to collect data from millions of phone records and Internet conversations as part of its intelligence gathering.

NSA officials argue they use such data only to help root out suspected terrorists. President Barack Obama has ordered reforms that would halt government bulk collection of telephone records, but critics argue this does not go far enough to protect civil liberties.

Thar deaths: Sindh CM denies negligence by Sindh govt, officials

KARACHI: Speaking during the Sindh Assembly proceedings on Tuesday, the chief minister exonerated the government of any responsibility for the Tharparkar debacle.“Nobody below the age of 10 has died there [in Tharparkar] because of drought-induced factors. There are other reasons for the death of children below that age. They did not die of starvation,” Qaim Ali Shah said while delivering a speech in response to a motion moved by the opposition about the humanitarian crisis in the famine-hit Tharparkar district.

UK denies deciding against trade sanctions on Russia

LONDON: Britain insisted on Tuesday that it was keeping an open mind on how to respond to Russian aggression against Ukraine, after the emergence of an apparently official document suggesting London opposed trade sanctions.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said that "all options remain on the table on the diplomatic and economic side" but said Britain would not make any announcements until European Union leaders meet to discuss the crisis on Thursday.
He acknowledged the "regrettable" security breach that resulted in a press photographer snapping an official document being carried into a meeting at Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street office on Monday.
It appeared to be a briefing note and recommended that "the UK should not support for now trade sanctions... or close London's financial centre to Russians".
London is an increasingly popular destination for wealthy Russians and the banks and trading houses of the City financial district attract substantial amounts of Russian capital.
Updating the House of Commons after his visit to Kiev on Monday, Hague rejected claims the photo blunder risked Britain's leverage during intense diplomatic negotiations.
"Anything that is written in one document being carried by one official is not necessarily any guide to the decisions that will be made by Her Majesty's government," Hague said.
"Our options remain very much open on this subject."
Putting aside the issue of sanctions, Hague noted that the reaction of the markets showed "there are major risks for Russia economically" in its actions across the border.
Russian stock markets crashed almost 10 percent and the ruble plunged to historic lows in value against the dollar and euro on Monday over concerns about the crisis.
"In the medium to long term, Russia needs the economic cooperation of European nations just as much or more as they need the cooperation of Russia," Hague said.
The minister has repeatedly warned of the "consequences and costs" of Russia's intervention in the ex-Soviet state but he and Cameron have yet to spell out what these might be.
EU foreign ministers warned Moscow on Monday to de-escalate or risk sanctions, including the suspension of long-running talks on easing EU visa requirements for Russian citizens.
Further "targeted measures" may also be considered, including visa bans or asset freezes against senior figures as well as suspending mutual accords, EU sources said.
Hague was cautious on individual asset freezes, saying: "Given our experience on sanctions being applied to several parts of the world in recent years, we have to be legally very sure of our case to apply sanctions on individuals."
He added: "The options are open but any measures we take must be well-judged and well-targeted and united in the European Union and the Western world more generally."
The rhetoric from the United States has been tougher, with Washington suspending military cooperation and promising movement on a broad range of sanctions later this week.

Karan Johar denies finalizing Ranveer and Deepika for ’Shuddhi’

According to the Press Trust of India Bollywood director Karan Johar has dismissed rumours that he has roped in Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh in his forthcoming film ‘Shuddhi’.The film has constantly been in the news due to its casting issues after its original actors Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor opted out of the project.Since then, many actors have been rumoured to be in consideration, including Deepika, Ranveer, Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor. However, ...