Tragic end to shotgun marriage

Tragic end to shotgun marriage

Tragic end to shotgun marriage

Posted: 12 May 2010 04:31 PM PDT

NEW DELHI: Gurveen Kaur and Amanpreet Singh were deeply in love. As they did not get the blessings of the girl's family, they eloped and got married. The two-month-old "shotgun wedding" of the couple from different castes ended at the hands of a group of gunmen led by the 19-year-old new bride's angry father.

Last night, the father, a firm believer in "honour killing", allegedly took the law into his own hands.

Accompanied by eight of his relatives armed with guns and sharp weapons, the man barged into the home of Gurveen Kaur's in-laws in Bahmaniwala Village, Tarn Taran district, Punjab and shot her dead in cold blood.

Earlier, Amanpreet Singh' mother, Kuljeet Kaur, was targeted. The group hacked her to death at her home in Bahmaniwala village, Tarn Taran district.

A local police officer told The Telegraph newspaper that Amanpreet Singh, 22, was chased by the attackers and shot in the back.

Presuming he was dead from gunshot wounds, he said the killers left the house, adding that the groom was now fighting for his life at a local hospital.

According to The Telegraph, the couple married about two months ago, against the wishes of Gurveen Kaur's family and had been living in fear after her family threatened to punish them.

It said the couple had filed for protection at the Punjab and Haryana high courts but they (the courts) had yet to make a decision.

Of late, a series of brutal killings made the headlines, as young couples often fall victim to vicious killings -- usually executed by family members or relatives, just to protect the family reputation.

There is no specific Indian law to punish those involved in honour killings, whose perpetrators are usually charged under ordinary criminal laws.

The Indian government is currently amending the Indian Penal Code to include such crimes.

- Bernama

FACTBOX - S.Korea's nuclear power reactor profiles

Posted: 13 May 2010 12:43 AM PDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea, which is heavily dependent on oil and gas imports, plans to add about 18 nuclear power reactors by 2030 to its existing 20 reactors to reduce its energy imports and carbon emissions.


ANALYSIS - Seoul searching for new nuclear export deals

Posted: 13 May 2010 12:43 AM PDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - After undercutting its main rival by a cool $16 billion on a single Middle East nuclear power deal, South Korea aims to use its pricing prowess to win orders in Turkey, Poland and the emerging powerhouses of China and India.


Kyrgyz protesters take over local govt HQ in south

Posted: 13 May 2010 12:43 AM PDT

OSH, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - Supporters of Kyrgyzstan's ousted leader took over the regional government headquarters in the southern city of Osh on Thursday, a Reuters witness at the scene said.


Thai authorities signal tougher steps to end protests

Posted: 13 May 2010 12:11 AM PDT

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai authorities will shut roads surrounding thousands of anti-government protesters on Thursday evening, sparking calls by demonstrators for reinforcements as tensions rise in the deadliest political crisis in 18 years.


BP to try new fix as oil spill threatens Gulf

Posted: 13 May 2010 12:11 AM PDT

PORT FOURCHON, La. (Reuters) - Energy giant BP was preparing on Thursday to once again try and staunch the unchecked flow of oil from a ruptured well that threatens an environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.


Aquino needs to prove himself after election win

Posted: 12 May 2010 11:43 PM PDT

MANILA, May 13 — After the death of his national heroine mother, Benigno Aquino rode a wave of public emotion all the way to the Philippine presidency. Now he needs to show that politically at least, he is not his mother's son. He has a strong mandate to fight graft and investigate his unpopular predecessor, but must show leadership and ...


China school attacks expose mental health dilemma

Posted: 12 May 2010 08:41 PM PDT

BEIJING -The latest deadly school rampage shows China is paying the price for focusing on economic growth for decades while ignoring mental health problems linked to the nation's rapid social change, experts say.

Read more...

Space shuttle Atlantis gears up for final launch

Posted: 12 May 2010 06:36 PM PDT

WASHINGTON -The space shuttle Atlantis blasts off Friday on the last mission of its 25-year career, taking astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) one last time before becoming a museum piece.

Read more...

ANALYSIS - Karzai charm offensive may not be enough

Posted: 12 May 2010 11:39 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He lunched at the White House, was feted at the State Department and dined with the vice president but will the special treatment lavished on Afghan President Hamid Karzai affect how he governs?


INTERVIEW - Aquino vows action on Philippine deficit

Posted: 12 May 2010 11:39 PM PDT

TARLAC, Philippines (Reuters) - Senator Benigno Aquino, on course to win the Philippine presidential race, said on Tuesday he will work at cutting unnecessary spending in the national budget and increase perennially tax weak revenue.


US-Afghan tensions 'overstated'

Posted: 12 May 2010 10:35 PM PDT

President Obama has said reported tensions between the US and Afghanistan were "overstated", after meeting Hamid Karzai for talks.


Catholic priest numbers revealed

Posted: 12 May 2010 10:37 PM PDT

The number of Catholic priests in Europe has dropped by nearly 7% in the past decade, despite an increase in global numbers.


Fishing ban on the Sea of Galilee

Posted: 12 May 2010 10:43 PM PDT

The Sea of Galilee is to become a no-fishing zone from this weekend, when a ban issued by the Israeli government comes into force.


Thai protesters seek reinforcements, ignore calls to leave

Posted: 12 May 2010 08:44 PM PDT

  BANGKOK, May 13 — Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters were seeking reinforcements today after ignoring a midnight deadline to end two months of street rallies that have sparked Thailand's deadliest political violence in 18 years. Leaders of the mostly rural and urban poor protesters urged supporters to join their barricaded encampment ...


Thai PM puts plan for November polls on hold

Posted: 12 May 2010 01:23 PM PDT

By Anusak Konglang

BANGKOK: Thailand's embattled premier put his plan for November elections on hold as opposition protesters held their ground today despite threats by the authorities to cut supplies to their vast encampment. Hopes of a peaceful resolution to the crippling crisis are fading, with the "red shirts" refusing to disperse until Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban is charged for his role in overseeing a deadly April 10 crackdown.

"It's clear that the red shirts have only verbally accepted to join the reconciliation roadmap but have not agreed to end the protests. Therefore it's impossible to hold elections as proposed," the prime minister's secretary-general, Korbsak Sabhavasu, said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva offered to dissolve Parliament in the second half of September for elections on Nov 14 if all parties accepted his reconciliation plan.

The reds, who have been protesting in Bangkok for two months in a campaign for immediate elections, initially agreed to enter the process but efforts to reach a deal that would see them go home have since broken down.

"The prime minister has said that if today everyone, including the government, can work freely and travel freely without disruption then there can be elections, but the situation is making no progress," said Korbsak.

"As there is no election there is no need for house dissolution."

'Fight to the death'

The reds say the government is undemocratic because it came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote after a court ruling ousted elected allies of their hero, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was unseated in a 2006 coup.

Twenty-nine people have been killed and almost 1,000 injured in Bangkok in a series of confrontations and attacks since the protests began in mid-March, in Thailand's worst political violence in almost two decades.

Arrest warrants have been issued for many of the movement's top leaders and observers say that disagreement between the two sides over a possible amnesty is likely to be one of the main sticking points.

The red shirts vowed yesterday to "fight to the death" after authorities threatened to lay siege to their sprawling encampment, saying they would cut off food, water and power supplies to the vast rally site.

"This is the beginning of measures to fully impose the law," said Sunsern Kaewkumnerd, a spokesman for the government unit set up to deal with the crisis, warning the authorities were ready to use force if necessary.

"The army is ready, but at this moment I don't want to talk about a crackdown as we want to use measures to put pressure on them."

The mainly poor and working class red shirts shrugged off the threatened new measures, saying they had their own generators and that it would be impossible to cut their power without also affecting hospitals in the area.

"If you want to crack down, you're welcome at any time," one protest leader, Jatupron Prompan, said yesterday. "We will fight to the death."

Electricity was not cut in the protest site after midnight today. Officials later said they had not ruled out cutting power and water, but would begin action by introducing measures less intrusive to the public.

"Whatever measures they do have to be done carefully so that it doesn't create more problems," said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn. "So we're trying to decrease activity in the area gradually."

The reds' ranks were boosted over the weekend by 5,000 more supporters who arrived from the movement's heartland in the impoverished rural northeast, defying a ban on rallies in the capital, which is under a state of emergency.

- AFP

Cameron vows 'seismic shift' in new politics

Posted: 12 May 2010 01:10 PM PDT

By Michael Thurston

LONDON: Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron vowed a "seismic shift" in how the country is governed, unveiling a historic coalition he said would transform the political landscape. A day after taking office in Britain's first power-sharing government since World War II, Cameron said yesterday his Conservative party and its Liberal Democrat partners considered a record deficit as their "most urgent issue".

The detailed joint policy programme published by Cameron -- Britain's youngest prime minister for two centuries -- included a pledge not to join the euro and confirmed plans for a fixed five-year term for British Parliaments.

"We are announcing a new politics, a new politics where the national interest is more important than the party interest," he said in an open-air press conference with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, his deputy.

In Downing Street's leafy garden -- a striking contrast to his predecessor Gordon Brown's monthly indoor press conferences -- Cameron added: "It can be a historic and seismic shift in our political leadership.

"Our liberal-conservative government will take Britain in a historic new direction," he said.

The 43-year-old got down to work in Downing Street after striking a post-election deal with the Liberal Democrats late Tuesday.

He was set to chair the first meeting of his new Cabinet today and would also name the middle-ranking and junior roles in his administration.

Unlikely alliance

Cameron -- who has pulled the party once led by Margaret Thatcher closer to the centre ground -- named Clegg and four other members of the centrist party in his Cabinet.

Earlier, new Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted the coalition agreement, forged in five days of talks after an inconclusive May 6 election produced the first hung Parliament since 1974, would stand the test of time.

"I don't think it will be a weak coalition. It will be a strong government," said Hague, adding that the conflict in Afghanistan -- where Britain has around 10,000 troops -- would be his "most urgent priority".

New Finance Minister George Osborne added: "Now's the time to roll up the sleeves, and get Britain working."

Cameron was asked to form a government by Queen Elizabeth II late Tuesday after Brown resigned.

The race to be the Labour party's next leader got under way yesterday, with ex-foreign secretary David Miliband the first to throw his hat into the ring.

US President Barack Obama called Cameron within minutes of his appointment, inviting him to visit in July, Downing Street said -- and yesterday the US leader called the British premier a "smart, dedicated (and) effective" leader.

Hague will travel to Washington tomorrow for talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both sides said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked to Cameron, with Singh inviting him for an "early" visit to Delhi.

Critics say the deal between the centre-right Conservatives and centrist Lib Dems is an unlikely alliance, since they have strongly differing views on a number of issues.

But between them, they have enough seats to secure a majority in the House of Commons which Labour and the Lib Dems, seen as more natural bedfellows, did not, although they held talks.

- AFP

Balkans war crimes suspect recaptured in Australia

Posted: 12 May 2010 09:43 PM PDT

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A Balkans war crimes suspect on the run in Australia for 43 days has been recaptured and faces extradition to Croatia, police said on Thursday.


China school killer erupted after lease row

Posted: 12 May 2010 09:43 PM PDT

NANZHENG, China (Reuters) - A Chinese man who hacked to death seven young children and two adults in the latest in a series of deadly assaults on schools lashed out after an argument over a kindergarten lease, neighbours and state media said.


CORRECTED - INTERVIEW - Aquino vows action on Philippine deficit

Posted: 12 May 2010 09:43 PM PDT

TARLAC, Philippines (Reuters) - Senator Benigno Aquino, on course to win the Philippine presidential race, said on Tuesday he will work at cutting unnecessary spending in the national budget and increase perennially tax weak revenue.


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