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Archives for August 2015

British Library rejects Taliban archive over terror law

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National institution says documents are of academic value, but laws may restrict researchers’ ability to access them.

British Library

by Shafik Mandhai, Al Jazeera

The British Library has decided not to acquire an archive of Taliban documents over fears that researchers accessing the materials could fall foul of the country’s terrorism laws.

In a statement posted on its website on Friday, the library acknowledged that the collection was of research value, but some of the material would present “restrictions” on the library’s ability to provide access to the archive.

“The Terrorism Act places specific responsibilities on anyone in the UK who might provide access to terrorist publications, and the legal advice received jointly by the British Library and other similar institutions advises against making this type of material accessible,” the statement read.

The library had been in talks with the consultancy, Thesigers, which represents the Taliban Sources Project, to provide access to the digitised collection.

The materials include poetry, maps, press releases, and edicts published by the Afghan armed group, which has been in a long-running fight against the Afghan government and NATO troops.

‘Self-censorship’

Rizwaan Sabir, an academic at Liverpool John Moores University who specialises in the study of counterterrorism and armed movements, said British terrorism laws were creating a climate of fear and self-censorship.

“The decision of the British Library may seem far-fetched to some, but the law is clear…it says that sharing information that encourages or is useful for terrorism is a criminal offence,” Sabir told Al Jazeera.

“Simply holding or sharing the information is a criminal offence that can carry a prison sentence…such laws have a deeply damaging effect on the freedom of scholars to research.

“Where such offences exist, a climate of fear and self-censorship becomes inevitable, and free scholarly inquiry becomes next to impossible.”

Sabir was himself arrested in 2008 while conducting research on terrorism for downloading an al-Qaeda training manual from the US Department of Justice website. In 2011, he won compensation and an apology from the British police for false impirsonment.

Academic Thomas Hegghammer, who leads terrorism research at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, said the issue was the library’s “excessive risk aversion”.

In a series of tweets posted on Friday evening, Hegghammer said the British Library already held documents by other controversial groups.

The UK Terrorism Act of 2006 makes it a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment, to possess “material likely to be understood” as direct or indirect encouragement to carry out acts considered terrorist in nature.

The British Home Office told Al Jazeera the British Library had acted on their “own independent legal advice and decided not to accept this material into its collections”.

Al Jazeera staff sentenced to jail in Egypt

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Condemnation of verdict as Egypt court finds Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy, and Peter Greste guilty in delayed trial.

Al Jazeera retrial

by Al Jazeera

A Cairo court has sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to three years in jail after finding them guilty of “aiding a terrorist organisation”.

Egyptian Baher Mohamed, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Australian Peter Greste were all handed three-year jail sentences when the court delivered the verdict on Saturday, sparking worldwide outrage.

Mohamed was sentenced to an additional six months for possession of a spent bullet casing.

The journalists had been initially found guilty in June 2014 of aiding a “terrorist organisation”, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which was outlawed in Egypt after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Judge Hassan Farid, in his ruling on Saturday, said he sentenced the men to prison at least partly because they had not registered with the country’s journalist “syndicate”.

He also said the men brought in equipment without security officials’ approval, had broadcast “false news” on Al Jazeera and used a hotel as a broadcasting point without permission.

The verdict was immediately condemned by Al Jazeera Media Network’s Acting Director General Dr Mostefa Souag, who said: “Today’s verdict defies logic and common sense. Our colleagues Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy will now have to return to prison, and Peter Greste is sentenced in absentia.

“The whole case has been heavily politicised and has not been conducted in a free and fair manner.”

Dr Souag continued, “There is no evidence proving that our colleagues in any way fabricated news or aided and abetted terrorist organisations, and at no point during the long drawn out retrial did any of the unfounded allegations stand up to scrutiny.

“A report issued by a technical committee assigned by the court in Egypt contradicted the accusations made by the public prosecutor and stated in its report that the seized videos were not fabricated.

“Baher, Peter and Mohamed have been sentenced despite the fact that not a shred of evidence was found to support the extraordinary and false charges against them.

“Today’s verdict is yet another deliberate attack on press freedom. It is a dark day for the Egyptian judiciary; rather than defend liberties and a free and fair media, they have compromised their independence for political reasons.”

Speaking from Sydney, Greste labelled the verdict “outrageous”.

“We did nothing wrong. The court presented no evidence. For us to be convicted as terrorists is outrageous. It can only be a political verdict. This is unethical,” Greste said.

Al Jazeera’s next step is to file an appeal before the Court of Cassation. Such an appeal should be filed within 60 days.

In January, an appeals court ordered a retrial, saying the initial verdict lacked evidence against the three journalists working for the Doha-based network’s English channel.

The journalists and Al Jazeera have vigorously denied the accusations during the trial.

Ten previous sessions in the court had all been adjourned.

Greste has already been deported to his native Australia under a law allowing the transfer of foreigners on trial to their home countries, but he was retried in absentia.

Fahmy and Mohamed were on bail ahead of the verdict after spending more than 400 days in detention.

The Cairo court said on Saturday that the previous time spent in prison will be accounted for as time served.

Fahmy renounced his Egyptian nationality hoping he too would be deported.

Canadian Minister of State Lynne Yelich issued a statement after Saturday’s verdict calling on Egyptian authorities to release Fahmy.

“Canada is disappointed with Mohamed Fahmy’s conviction today. ‎This decision severely undermines confidence in the rule of law in Egypt,” Yelich said.

“The government of Canada continues to call on the Egyptian government to use all tools at its disposal to resolve Mr Fahmy’s case and allow his immediate return to Canada.”

The three men have received support from governments, media organisations and rights groups from around the world.

About 200 feared dead in Libya refugee boat disaster

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Officials say 105 dead and at least 100 missing after boat sinks off Libyan coast in latest Mediterranean disaster.

boat-libya

by Al Jazeera

At least 105 people have been killed and more than one hundred others are still missing after a boat, reportedly packed with refugees bound for Italy, capsized and sunk off the Libyan coast.

Hussein Asheini, the head of Libya’s Red Crescent in Zuwara, told the Associated Press news agency that 105 bodies had been recovered. Nearly 200 others had been rescued, the organisation said.

A security official in Zuwarah, a town in the North African nation’s west from where the overcrowded boat had set off, said that there were about 400 people on board.

The UNHCR, the UN Agency for refugees, in a statement, released on Friday, said there were about 500 people on board.

Sources told Al Jazeera that many of the dead had been trapped in the cargo hold when the boat capsized on Thursday.

The people on board had come from sub-Saharan Africa, Pakistan, Syria, Morocco, and Bangladesh, the Libyan security official said.

The UNHCR also announced on Friday that more than 300,000 refugees and migrants had risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean to Europe in the first nine months of 2015 alone.

About 2,500 people had died while making the perilous journey, the UNHCR said.

“This represents a large increase from last year, when around 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean during the whole of 2014,” the UN said.

Zuwarah, Libya’s most western town located near the Tunisian border, is a major launchpad for smugglers moving refugees to Italy.

Libya has turned into a transit route for people fleeing conflict and poverty to make it to Europe.

Cross-border smuggler networks exploit the country’s lawlessness and chaos to bring Syrians into Libya via Egypt or nationals of sub-Saharan countries via Niger, Sudan, and Chad.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Anas El Gomati, who founded the Tripoli-based think-tank The Sadeq Institute, said Libya’s government does not feel it should be helping pay the bill to deal with refugees making their way to Europe as it is facing continued violence across the country.

“Libya’s security approach – and security apparatus – is now completely disorganised and in chaos,” he said.

“You have hundreds of different groups that are operating on the ground now, some of them taking advantage of a very, very chaotic situation – one of civil war.”

In a separate incident on Thursday, 71 refugees were found dead in a parked lorry on a highway in Austria near the Hungarian border on Thursday.

The refrigerated vehicle was found by an Austrian motorway patrol with fluids from the decomposing bodies seeping from its back door.

At a Geneva briefing, the UNHCR said that in another incident on Thursday, 51 people suffocated in the hold of a boat.

Survivors said they had been beaten to force them into the hold and then had to pay money to smugglers just to come out to breathe.

One man, an Iraqi orthopaedic surgeon, said he had paid 3,000 euros ($3,400) to come up on to the top deck with his wife and two-year-old son.

Last week, 49 people died in another boat’s hold after inhaling poisonous fumes, and on Wednesday 21 people are thought to have died after a dinghy with 145 on board got into difficulty, UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.

Nationwide truck strike from October 1: AIMTC

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AIMTC

New Delhi: The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) on Friday announced it will go on a nationwide indefinite strike from October 1 after the government did not respond to their demand to revoke TDS and toll charges.

“We had a meeting with Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari Thursday who refused to talk on the issues (including removal of toll charges),” Bhim Wadhwa, the president of the apex transporters’ body, told IANS.

He said the transporters body, representing over 80 lakh vehicles across the country, had given a deadline of August 25 to the Centre to address their issues. But the demand appears to have fallen on deaf ears.

“Eventually, there is no option left, except going on an indefinite nationwide strike from October 1,” Wadhwa said.

Wadhwa said the government would lose about Rs.1,700 crore per day on account of the countrywide strike, but clarified that the transporters’ body was not against the government revenues raised through toll.

He urged the government to work out alternate toll collection methods that would not only contain “illegal collection” but also save diesel worth thousands of crores of rupees.

He said the apex body’s demand for a barrier free India would save public money to the tune of Rs.87,000 crore per year.

“The transport fraternity cannot sustain operations in light of burgeoning corruption, harassment and time delays at the toll plazas and check post barriers. They have decided not to pay toll on road and want that the revenue may be collected as indirect tax and therefore proclaim ‘barrier free India’ and removal of toll plazas across the country,” Wadhwa said.

He said that toll charge constitutes about 20 percent of total operating cost and fuel (diesel) around 45-50 percent.

In addition, Wadhwa also demanded revocation of TDS imposed on the transport sector from July 1.

“The levy of TDS on the transport sector has unleashed utter confusion and other practical difficulties like cash flow constriction, difficulties in keeping records, collecting TDS certificates, reconciling and taking refund of TDS, on deposit of TDS by the consignor are obvious,” he said.

“It is now time for the government to wake up and take note of the wave of disappointment and resentment among the fraternity at the utter callousness of the government towards this sector,” Wadhwa said.

(IANS)

OROP remains stuck, protest continues

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orop

New Delhi: As another round of parleys on the ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) failed to break the logjam, ex-servicemen on Friday said the government did not intend to implement the scheme.

On the same day, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was directly handling the issue, and Home Minister Rajnath Singh also assured the veterans during a meet.

“Now the small gaps are being filled. Give it some time for completion. In principle, the prime minister on August 15 (in his Independence Day speech) has given an approval. Now, the PMO is directly involved… then by saying that ‘do it in these many days’ will not help,” Parrikar told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Friday.

The home minister was, meanwhile, reminded by the veterans of his promise of OROP when he was the BJP president.

“The minister said he will do his best in sorting out the issue,” spokesperson of the ex-servicemen front Col. Anil Kaul (retd) told IANS.

At Jantar Mantar, the ex-servicemen refused to give up the protest and questioned the government’s intentions.

“The government does not intend to implement OROP,” Major General (retd) Satbir Singh, chairman of the United Forum of Ex-Servicemen, told his protesting colleagues.

He also said some people in the government were making the OROP issue a difficult one.

Satbir Singh said talks met a dead end as the government did not agree to budge from its position on revising pensions every five years.

He said that initially, the government said pensions would be revised every 10 years, and the veterans pressed for a revision every two years.

The defence force retirees also wanted an annual increment of three percent.

However, when representatives of the ex-servicemen, including Maj. Gen. (retd) Singh, went for a scheduled meeting, Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, did not meet them on Thursday evening.

“However, a message was sent through a joint secretary that the revision in pensions will be done only after five years. We refused to compromise,” said the veteran.

“The first proposal the government came out with did not pertain to OROP and we rejected it. On the second day, the talks proceeded positively, and we thought a breakthrough can be reached.

“A point of contention between the government and the ex-servicement is the date of implementation of the OROP. While veterans want it to be implemented from April 2014, the government wants it to come into force from April 2015. If implemented from April 2014, around Rs.12,000 crore in arrears would have to be paid to the ex-servicemen.

The veterans agreed to give up two months of arrears but the government asked the date of implementation to be fixed at September 2014. This was also rejected.

“They want us to take the OROP from 2015, at the 2011 scale, which is not possible,” Satbir Singh said.

The veterans also rejected the offer that the pensions be revised under the 7th Pay Commission.

“We are now not ready to compromise any more. We are also taking back the offers of compromise we made. The agitation will continue,” he said.

Meanwhile, the protest by ex-servicemen continued for the 75th day on Friday. While four protesters are in hospital, six are on indefinite fast.

Col. Pushpender Singh (retd), Hav. Ashok Chauhan (retd), Maj. Piar Chand Rana and Hav. Sahib Singh were also stable. All four continue to be on fast.

Hav. Major Singh, who began his fast last Monday, is still at the Jantar Mantar despite deteriorating condition.

Also on an indefinite fast at the Jantar Mantar are Naik Udai Singh Rawat, Sawal Ram Yadav, father of martyr Lance Naik Sunil Kumar Yadav, Cdr. A.K. Sharma, Subedar Vijay Singh Yadav and Subedar Keshaw Singh, all retired soldiers.

On Friday, many of the veterans said they would boycott the government’s commemoration of the 1965 India-Pakistan war and felicitated war veterans separately, offering flowers to them as well as some families of the martyrs.

There are around 24 lakh ex-servicemen in India and around 6.5 lakh widows who will benefit if OROP is implemented.

(IANS)

Hardik Patel is Gujarat hero, says Shiv Sena

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hardik-patel

Mumbai: The mass appeal of Hardik Patel in Gujarat “does not augur well for the BJP”, the Shiv Sena said on Friday, calling him “a hero” who had punctured claims that Gujarat was a peaceful state.

“Until now, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi was considered the only political ‘neta’ who could pull crowds,” a hard-hitting editorial in the party’s mouthpiece “Saamana” said.

“Now, Hardik Patel has become the ‘king of crowds’ which does not augur well for the BJP,” the Sena said, referring to the Patel community leader who has taken on the Gujarat government over job reservations.

“Hardik Patel is a hero of Gujarat… His rallies attract four-five lakh people… With his super-mammoth rally in Ahmedabad last Tuesday, he has thrown the gauntlet at the state government,” the Sena said.

Until now, Modi used the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, now this had been usurped by Hardik Patel, it said sarcastically.

“The state government committed the misadventure of detaining Hardik Patel after Tuesday’s rally and it paid for the blunder… Violence erupted all over the state, even ministers had to bear the brunt of Patidars’ ire,” the Sena said.

Now, Hardik Patel has threatened that if the Patidars were also not given job reservations, “then the lotus (BJP party symbol) will not bloom in 2017”.

“The manner in which the Gujarat youths have responded has created waves in Gujarat political circles,” the editorial said.

It thumbed a nose at Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, who had invited Maharashtra businesses to her state, saying Gujarat was “peaceful, stable and well-administered”.

“Now, what?” the Sena asked. “A person who has yet to grow a moustache has proved her claims as bogus… and revealed the true face of Gujarat,” it said about the young Hardik Patel.

The Shiv Sena, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the centre and in Maharashtra, urged Gujarat politicians to refrain from stoking political fires in the state “as it would be sheer stupidity”.

But the Sena questioned the legitimacy of the Patidars’ demands for inclusion in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, saying the Patels enjoyed the same social-political status in Gujarat as ‘Marathas’ in Maharashtra.

The Patels were in the forefront in various sectors like diamonds, realty and big business and also formed a huge chunk of the Gujarat NRIs, trading and commerce, it said.

“They are leading in politics with Chief Minister Anandiben Patel hailing from the community; earlier, Chimanbhai Patel, Keshubhai Patel and Babubhai Patel ruled the state…

“Yet the community wants to become ‘backward’ and takes to the streets.”

The ‘Marathas’ were also powerful similarly in Maharashtra and making various demands but they never resorted to violence or rioting which can’t be condoned at any cost, the Sena said.

(IANS)

Sheena murder: Sanjeev Khanna confesses, Mikhail submits evidence

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Indrani Mukerjea’s former husband Sanjeev Khanna (in mask) in police custody. Photo: IE

Indrani Mukerjea’s former husband Sanjeev Khanna (in mask) in police custody. Photo: IE

Mumbai: As investigators waddled through an intriguing web of lies and deceit in the Sheena Bora murder case, Mumbai Police on Friday took Sanjeev Khanna, a prime accused and former husband of co-accused Indrani Mukherjea, to the spot where the young woman was killed three years ago. Khanna later cracked and confessed to his role in the crime.

Police, acting on a court order, permitted Indrani to meet her lawyers while in custody, and officers again questioned former media baron Peter Mukherjea — Indrani’s husband — and the victim’s brother Mikhail, who, after flying into Mumbai from Guwahati, vowed to get justice for his murdered sister.

The probe picked up pace when Khanna, nabbed in Kolkata, was brought here and sent to police custody till August 31.

In a major breakthrough in the murder case, Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria told media persons late on Friday that Khanna has cracked and confessed to his role in the crime.

“(Indrani’s son) Mikhail Bora has submitted some evidence to us. We are in the process of verifying it,” Maria added.

Indrani was arrested on August 25 on charges of killing Sheena on April 24, 2012 along with her driver Shyam Rai and Khanna. She as well as Khanna have denied the charge.

Public Prosecutor Laxman Rathod said police needed to know how Sheena was killed, the vehicle in which she was allegedly murdered before her body was burnt and dumped in the forests near Pen in Raigad district, adjacent to Mumbai.

Seeking custodial interrogation, Rathod said police wanted to take the accused to where Indrani, her driver Shyam Rai and Khanna allegedly poured petrol on Sheena’s body and set it on fire. They also needed to know if more people were involved in the killing.

Khanna has been charged with murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, destroying evidence and more. His mobile phone, laptop and passport have been seized but he has denied the police charges.

Rathod told the media that Khanna played “an active role in the case along with the other two accused”.

According to police, the macabre deed was allegedly executed by Indrani with help from Khanna and driver Rai.

Police are also browsing the details of incriminating telephone call records of Khanna and Indrani, email exchanges, birth certificates, school records and other documents that have emerged during the investigation.

Rakesh Maria is personally conducting the interrogation of various players including Indrani, Khanna, Rai, Peter Mukherjea, his son Rahul, who admits to having had a relationship with Sheena, and Mikhail for the past three days.

Late on Thursday night, Maria said investigators have a fair idea of the motives behind Sheena’s killing.

After interrogation, Maria confirmed that Sheena was indeed the daughter of Indrani, contrary to earlier perceptions that they were siblings.

On Friday afternoon, Khanna was taken to the crime scene near Pen in Raigad district, around 95 km south of Mumbai, to recreate the crime scene.

Maria said skeletal remains of Sheena were recovered from the murder scene and they were being sent for forensic and DNA tests.

Mikhail, who arrived here from Guwahati on Friday, provided certain evidence pertaining to his sister’s killing which was now being verified.

During the investigation, it also came to light that Indrani’s claim of Sheena “studying in the US” was false.

Police have also recovered Sheena’s passport from Dehradun.

Meanwhile, the Sir J.J. Hospital handed over to police the bones, nails and other evidences of Sheena which was deposited by Raigad police after her body was found three years back.

Suggesting a pre-planned conspiracy, police have said Indrani had recceed Pen area with her driver to pick the exact spot to dispose of her body a day before the actual killing.

Mikhail Bora has said he knows the real reason his sister was murdered and that he will reveal it all at the appropriate time.

There are still more angles that need probing, including who was the unknown caller who tipped off Mumbai Police some time ago about the Sheena murder.

Then, there is the mystery of why, after Sheena’s death, letters on her behalf were sent to Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd. – where she worked – and her landlord.

(IANS)

Indian women hockey team qualifies for Olympics after 36 years

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Women's-Hockey

New Delhi: Indian women’s hockey team will return to the Olympics after a long gap of 36 years as it qualified today for next year’s Rio Games, courtesy England making it to the final of the ongoing Euro Hockey Championships in London.

England’s semifinal victory over Spain, coming after the Netherlands’ win over Germany in the other semifinal in the European Championships freed one quota place as both the finalists have already qualified for the Olympic Games.

India took the quota place on the basis of its fifth-place finish in the women’s Hockey World League Semifinals in Antwerp, Belgium last month.

International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed that Indian women’s team has qualified for the Rio Games.

“India qualified after England defeated Spain in the semi-finals of the Unibet EuroHockey Championships in London, which ensured that the only teams — The Netherlands and England (as Great Britain) — who can now win the event have already qualified for Rio through the Hockey World League Semi-Finals,” the FIH said in a statement.

“The winner of the EuroHockey Championships will qualify for the 2016 Olympics as European continental champions, opening up a further qualification spot which India secure as the team who ranked highest at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals not already qualified,” it said.

Indian women’s team now join nine other teams, who have already qualified for 2016 Rio Games — Korea as Asian Games champions, Argentina as Pan Am Games champions and Great Britain, China, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the USA through the Hockey World League Semi-Finals.

Indian women’s hockey team last featured in an Olympics in the 1980 Moscow Games, where they finished at a respectable fourth position.

Hockey India applauded the historic achievement of the women’s hockey team.

“It is a proud moment for Hockey India and the whole country. We have been waiting for this for the last 36 years and this achievement is the sweetest and the most memorable among all our previous feats in recent times,” HI President Narinder Batra said in a release.

“I congratulate all the players and coaching staff who made this dream real and this achievement also shows their commitment toward their responsibilities. Hockey India thanks all the coaches who trained these players at their respective academies, parents, sponsors and the entire hockey fraternity, who continuously motivated the players and without their support, we could not have achieved this success. I am sure the girls will make us proud at the Olympics,” he said.

Hockey India Secretary General Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said: “The Olympics qualification is indeed a great achievement for the Indian Women Team and the Indian hockey fraternity. The players and the Coaching Staff have done a commendable job and they are still training hard for the 2016 Olympic Games. Hockey India is doing its part and fulfilling all the requirements of the team.

“I congratulate the whole team and the people who have been working hard behind the scene to achieve this success. However, the job is still half done and the team now has to set a new aim of clinching the first Olympic medal,” he said.

India are the 10th team to qualify for Rio Olympics. The last two participating teams will be confirmed in the 2015 Africa Cup for Nations in Egypt and 2015 Oceania Cup in New Zealand in November.

The Indian women’s team will commence its outing from August 7 in the Rio Olympics.

(Agencies)

Rain mars first day’s play in third India-Sri Lanka Test

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Cricket-Sri-Lanka-Rain-India

Colombo: Rain forced an early end of the first day’s play of the third cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) here on Friday, with just about one hour’s play possible.

India were 50/2 against Sri Lanka when rain interrupted play before lunch. Opening batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (19 not out) and captain Virat Kohli (14 not out) were at the crease after 15 overs of play. The game didn’t resume after that.

Earlier, India lost opener Lokesh Rahul (2) and Ajinkya Rahane (8).

(IANS)

Austria: Arrests after 71 dead refugees found in truck

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Austrian police confirm final death toll, saying the refugees included eight women and four children.

Initial investigations revealed the truck had left Budapest on Wednesday morning, before being sighted near the Austrian border overnight [Reuters]

Initial investigations revealed the truck had left Budapest on Wednesday morning, before being sighted near the Austrian border overnight [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Austrian authorities say three people have been arrested in Hungary after the bodies of 71 refugees were found in a truck abandoned on a motorway.

Police had originally put the death toll at between 20 and 50 after the truck was found on Thursday, but Austrian officials revised the figure upwards on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference in Eisenstadt, Austrian police official Hans Peter Doskozil said the dead comprised 59 men, 8 women and four children, including a young infant.

He said it was likely that those in the truck suffocated.

Of the three arrested, one is a Bulgarian who is believed to have owned the vehicle. The others, a Bulgarian and another with Hungarian documents, are “pretty certain to be those who drove the vehicle,” Doskozil said.

Officials said they hoped the three would lead them to others responsible for trafficking the dead across Europe.

The truck, found on Thursday, had travelled to Austria from Hungary. The partly decomposed bodies were piled on top of each other in a cargo container in the vehicle, parked off the highway in Burgenland state.

The shocking discovery cast a shadow over talks in Vienna, where Europe’s leaders had gathered on Thursday to discuss the mounting refugee crisis on the continent.

“We were all shaken by the horrible news that up to 50 people died … these were people coming to seek safety,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, prior to the new toll being released.

“This is a warning to work to resolve this problem and show solidarity.”

The conference held a minute of silence to commemorate the dead.

This year has seen record numbers of people trying to reach the EU by sea and land as they flee conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

In Austria, the number of asylum requests rose above 28,300 between January and June alone – as many as for the whole of 2014 – and officials expect the total to reach 80,000 this year.

The Western Balkans conference was called to find a common European answer to the refugee crisis that is overwhelming some countries while leaving others relatively unaffected.

Austrian plan

At the summit, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz floated elements of a five-point plan that foresees establishing safe havens in the refugees’ home countries where those seeking asylum in the EU could be processed and – if they qualify – be given safe passage to Europe.

Beyond safe havens, possibly protected by troops acting under a UN mandate, the Austrian plan to be submitted to EU decision-makers foresees increased controls on Europe’s outer borders and coordinated action against human smuggling.

It also calls for refugee quotas for each of the EU’s 28 members – something that many countries have opposed.

 

EU members Greece and Italy, and non-EU Balkan countries such as Macedonia and Serbia – whose leaders attended the summit – are dealing with the initial refugee burden through sea and land routes. But many of these refugees are only in transit to western European countries.

Nearly 300,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean this year with at least 2,373 “migrants and refugees” dying in a bid to reach Europe, nearly 300 more than the same period last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

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