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No need to turn on a light when the sun shines brightly.
Bhutto widower proposed for Pakistan president
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's largest political party on Friday proposed the husband of assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto to succeed the ousted Pervez Musharraf as president.
Asif Ali Zardari, who is emerging as the favorite to be elected by legislators Sept. 6, criticized Musharraf for his long, authoritarian rule but would likely continue the former general's support for the U.S. war against extremist groups.
However, his ascent would dismay many Pakistanis, who view him as a symbol of the sleaze that tainted the country's last experiment with civilian rule in the 1990s. He won the nickname "Mr. 10 Percent" for alleged corruption during his wife's turns as prime minister.
And, with the governing coalition that drove Musharraf to resign this week now teetering on the verge of collapse, Zardari's nomination is not certain. He is engaged in intense political horse-trading with the leader of the other key party, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was a bitter rival of Bhutto.
Karadzic protected by US until he broke 'deal'
BELGRADE (AFP) - Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic was protected by the United States until a CIA phone bug caught him breaking the terms of his "deal", the Serb newspaper Blic reported Saturday, quoting a US intelligence source.
The newspaper claims Karadzic was secretly granted immunity in return for keeping a low profile.
"Karadzic, indicted for genocide and war crimes, was under US protection until 2000, when the CIA intercepted his telephone conversation that clearly proved he personally chaired a meeting of his old political party," the daily quoted a "well-informed US intelligence source" as saying.
That view partly echoed what Karadzic himself told the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in his opening written submission this week. He told The Hague-based court that US peace negotiator in Bosnia, Richard Holbrooke, had promised he would avoid trial if he withdrew from public life.
Australian Catholic abuse victims want apology
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and brothers in Australia, like Jose Respall who still vividly recalls being fondled at age 11, are calling on Pope Benedict to apologise when he arrives in Sydney on Sunday.
"I was touched in the groin and inside of my thighs," said 45-year-old Respall, recalling how a Marist brother teacher abused him and his classmates in a Sydney school in 1974.
"He was blatantly open, he would tuck your shirt in, in the playground. Everybody knew about what was going on yet nothing was done," Respall told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
Respall said some of his school friends wrote swear words on the inside of their thighs, hoping the brother would be offended and not molest them.
Dalai Lama marks his 73rd birthday
DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) — Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama marked his 73rd birthday Sunday with a small function, but with the mood dampened by a lack of progress in talks with China.
Officials said the usual cultural performances were not held this year in Dharamshala, a northern Indian hill town and home to the exiled Tibetan government, due to the unrest in Tibet earlier this year.
There was a small temple gathering attended by the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche, while the Dalai Lama held a low-key function for relatives and Tibetan officials at his home, aides said.
Rinpoche said the Tibetan exile community was disappointed by the lack of any progress during talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and China earlier in the week.
"The seventh round of talks has not produced any tangible results. The Chinese selfish attitude is only adding to the existing doubts about their insincerity for future talks," Rinpoche said.
He also voiced regret that China had repeated allegations that the Dalai Lama incited the riots in Tibet in March in order to sabotage the Beijing Olympics.
RAPPER JAL RECALLS `LOST BOY' PAST AS A SUDANESE CHILD SOLDIER
Sudanese star EMMANUEL JAL has poked fun at modern hip-hop "gangstas" who rap about killing and getting shot - because he insists if they were real killers they wouldn't talk about their street life. The 28 year old grew up as a child soldier in the Sudan People's Liberation Army and insists he'd sicken the toughest rappers if he told them about his violent life. Jal, who is among the performers at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert in London on Friday (27Jun08), says, "I don't take modern hip-hop as real... It's fake, like James Bond. If you really kill, you don't want to talk about it." |
