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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Brigadier Ali indicted for ties with banned party


According to sources, four other officers have also been under the watch. A few months back, Brigadier Ali had been arrested and after investigations, his other companions were also held. Court marshal was also recommended after completion of summary of evidence. Four of the accused were being prosecuted in Sialkot garrison. Brigadier Ali Khan has been indicted on charges. According to sources, the military officer has confessed to ties with the banned organization, endeavour to incite military officers to rebellion and planning of assault on the GHQ. It is worthy to note that Dunya News aired the news first of all.

272 dead in Honduras prison fire


The death toll has been confirmed by officials in the Central American country on Wednesday. "We are pulling out bodies," said prisons director Danilo Orellana about the deadliest fire in years in the country s overcrowded prison system. "The situation is serious. Most have suffocated," he said, adding that the fire did not appear to have been caused by a riot. Honduran Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla confirmed the death toll at 272 inmates, adding that there were "around 50 with burns and other injuries." "That is what our medical and legal services tell us," he told AFP at the scene of the blaze. "Unfortunately, the final toll could be much higher." Dozens of burned inmates were being taken to hospitals in the central city of Comayagua. The fire was believed to have broken out around 10:50 pm Tuesday (0450 GMT Wednesday), Orellana said, adding thatinvestigators were looking into whether it was caused by an inmate or by a short circuit. "We re bringing in all of our forensic equipment," he said. Witnesses said some of the inmates escaped the blaze by jumping from the prison rooftop, and there were reports that some of them had fled the facility and were on the loose. The prison, located some 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of the capital city of Tegucigalpa, held around 850 prisoners. It is located some 500 meters (1,650 feet) from a highway that links San Pedro Sula, the economic center of Honduras, with Tegucigalpa, the seat of the federal government. Meanwhile desperate relatives waited for word about the fate of their loved ones. At the break of dawn Wednesday there were already hundreds lined up at the prison gates. "My brother Roberto Mejia was in unit six," said an emotional Glenda Mejia. "They ve told me that the inmates from that unit are all dead," she told AFP. Next to her, Carlos Ramirez was waiting outside the facility for word about his brother Elwin, imprisoned on a murder conviction, who also was housed in unit six. "I haven t been told anything," Carlos Ramirez said, his voice breaking. It was the worst disaster to strike a penal facility in Honduras in years. Latin American prisons are notoriously overcrowded, particularly in impoverished Central American states like Honduras, which are gripped by gang violence and drug trafficking. The most recent similar disaster in Honduras, in May 2004, killed around 100 inmates during a fire at a prison in San Pedro Sula, which was blamed on structural problems at the facility. Honduras s 24 overcrowded penal facilities have room for 8,000 inmates, but the number is more than 13,000.

India to test long range nuclear missile


A defence research spokesman said on Wednesday the missile can strike targets more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) away. The announcement came three months after India successfully tested its Agni-IV missile, which was previously the longest range missile possessed by the armed forces capable of travelling 3,500 kilometres. "The trial of Agni-V is planned for March and its individual technologies and sub-systems have been tested and everything is fine," a spokesman for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) told AFP. "Agni-V is a highly accurate and state-of-art missile system which can carry nuclear weapons," the official said, declining to disclose the size of the warhead it could carry. Agni means fire in Sanskrit language. The DRDO spokesman said India, which carried out a string of nuclear detonations in 1998, was developing an array of ballistic missiles as a "deterrence" and the move should not be seen as a threat to any country. "Our strategic missiles are for deterrence and are not country-specific. They are meant to ensure peace," the spokesman said. The Agni series is being developed by the DRDO under an Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme launched in 1983. India is among the world s top 10 military spenders. It plans to splurge $50 billion by 2015 to upgrade its million-plus military. India, which will soon clinch a deal for 126 warplanes that can carry nuclear-tipped bombs, has fought three wars with historical rival Pakistan since their independence in 1947. It also fought a brief but bloody conflict with uneasy neighbour China in 1962 over their border dispute, which remains unresolved despite several rounds of high-level negotiations.

England beat Pakistan in 2nd ODI


All Pakistan team succumbed at 230 against England’s total of 250-4. The English win comes as a solace after humiliating whitewash of the Test series by Pakistan.  Alastair Cook hit a second successive hundred to set England a promising score of 250-4 against Pakistan in the second day-night international. Cook scored 102 for his fourth hundred -- the first England captain and ninth batsmen for his country to hit back-to-back hundreds in one-dayers -- to carry on the good work after his career-best 137 in Monday s win in the first match. The 27-year-old left-hander put on 67 for the opening wicket with Kevin Pietersen (26) after England won the second successive toss and batted. He also added 49 with Jonathan Trott (23) for the second and 78 for the third with Ravi Bopara who made an attractive 58. Cook was again at his fluent best, hitting 10 boundaries off 121 balls before he gave a return catch to leg-spinner Shahid Afridi in the 42nd over. No Pakistani player could stand firmly against English bowling, with all team falling on 230 with 7 balls to spare. At one point, Pakistan needed 22 from 8 balls with no wicket to spare. Misbah scored 47.