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UN judges to announce Radovan Karadzic genocide verdict

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Former Bosnian Serb leader to hear verdicts on 11 charges, including over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

Karadzic is accused of orchestrating the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims [File: Michael Kooren/EPA]

Karadzic is accused of orchestrating the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims [File: Michael Kooren/EPA]

by Al Jazeera

UN judges are set to pronounce their verdict in the genocide trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II.

Karadzic is the highest-ranking person to face reckoning before the UN tribunal in The Hague over a war two decades ago in which 100,000 people were killed as rival armies carved up Bosnia along ethnic lines.

He will hear verdicts on Thursday afternoon on 11 charges, including two counts of genocide.

He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted.

Hours ahead of the reading of the verdicts, a former prosecution spokeswoman for the tribunal was detained by court police.

Florence Hartmann, who served under the Swiss former prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, was convicted of contempt of court by the tribunal in 2009 for publishing confidential material from the trial of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic.

The French national was initially fined 7,000 euros, but the fine was later converted to a seven-day prison sentence, which she is not believed to have served.

Protesting his innocence

Karadzic protested his innocence in a rare interview published by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network on Wednesday.

“I know what I wanted, what I did, even what I dreamed of, and there is no reasonable court that would convict me,” he told the website in an email interview.

Karadzic is accused of orchestrating the slaughter of 8,000 Muslims after Serb forces seized the UN’s Srebrenica “safe area” in eastern Bosnia.

“The unnecessary killing of a single man is horrifying, let alone certainly several hundred at least… Those who did it are the enemies of the Serbs first, then enemies of those families, then of the Muslim community,” Karadzic said.

 

To Bosnian Muslims and Croats, Karadzic – who also faces charges over the shooting of civilians in Sarajevo, capital of the former Yugoslavia – is synonymous with war, death and destruction.

Bosnian Serbs, however, view him as a national hero who created a Serb Republic – a state within a state, which survived under the 1995 Dayton peace agreement.

Such sentiments are widely shared across the border in Serbia.

Debris ‘almost certainly’ from Malaysian Airlines MH370

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Australian minister says pieces washed up in southern Africa consistent with panels from missing Malaysian Airlines jet.

A piece of debris bearing identification marks was found on the coast in Mozambique in late December [Candace Lotter via AP]

A piece of debris bearing identification marks was found on the coast in Mozambique in late December [Candace Lotter via AP]

by Al Jazeera

Australia’s transport minister has said debris found off the coast off Mozambique “almost certainly” comes from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.

In a statement on Thursday, Darren Chester said analysis by Malaysian investigation teams had concluded that the pieces of debris found were consistent with panels from the plane that went missing in March 2014.

“The analysis has concluded the debris is almost certainly from MH370,” Chester said.

“That such debris has been found on the east coast of Africa is consistent with drift modelling performed by CSIRO [an Australian science agency] and further affirms our search efforts in the southern Indian Ocean.”

Chester said that the search for the missing plane will continue.

“There are 25,000 square kilometres of the underwater search area still to be searched. We are focused on completing this task and remain hopeful the aircraft will be found.”

The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200ER plane vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, early on March 8, 2014, becoming one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

Investigators believe the plane, with 239 passengers and crew on board, was flown thousands of kilometres off course before crashing into the ocean off Australia.

Wreckage and impact information are being considered based on the discovery of a wing part, known as a flaperon, in July last year, investigators said.

The flaperon, washed up on Reunion, an island off Madagascar, had been the only confirmed piece of wreckage from the aircraft to be found up until Thursday.

Earlier this month, on the two-year anniversary of the flight, international investigators said they were yet to arrive at a conclusion over what happened to the jet.

Mehbooba Mufti set to be next chief minister of J&K

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Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar: Mehbooba Mufti is all set to become the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, after she was unanimously nominated as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the post, sources said.

The PDP nominated Mehbooba, 56, as the legislature party leader and thus cleared decks for her to succeed her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who died in January, as the chief minister of the state.

The sources said Mehbooba’s name to head the PDP in the state assembly was proposed by senior party leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and was seconded by his senior colleague Abdur Rehman Veeri.

The decision came as the party held a crucial meeting of its lawmakers who had gathered to discuss the government formation in the state. It was a constitutional requirement before Mehbooba stakes claim to power in India’s only Muslim majority state.

She presently represents south Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency in the Lok Sabha. She will now have to get elected to either house of the state’s bicameral legislature and also resign her Lok Sabha seat.

Jammu and Kashmir has been without an elected government after Mehbooba’s father died in a Delhi hospital on January 7.

She was tipped to take over the reins soon but she dragged her feet on continuing to ally with the BJP and wanted it to redraw the alliance terms that had father had authored. After remaining entrenched in their respective positions for more than two months, the two partners warmed up to each other following Mufti’s meeting with Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday in Delhi.

(IANS)

World T20: Dhoni’s last ball sprint helps India beat Bangladesh by one run

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indian-cricket-team

Bengaluru: India beat Bangladesh by one run in the group stage Super 10 World Twenty20 match at Chinnaswamy Stadium here in a humdinger of a contest on Wednesday.

Replying to India’s 146/7 in 20 overs, Bangladesh managed to hit 145/9 in the same number of overs.

The final over of the match witnessed some heart stopping moments where India, facing a defeat, snatched a victory with the help of two superb catches by Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja on Hardik Pandya’s deliveries and Captain Dhoni’s last ball sprint to run out Mustafizur Rahman with the batsmen centimetres away from the crease.

Requiring 11 runs of six balls in the last over, Bangladesh hit a single, two fours and lost three wickets to finally lose by a run.

Chasing a target of 146 runs, Tamim Iqbal top scored with 35 runs of 32 balls hitting five fours for Bangladesh. Sabbir Rahman (26), Shakib Al Hasan (22), Mahmudullah (18), Soumya Sarkar (21) and Mushfiqur Rahim (11) also chipped in with the bat.

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin produced a splendid bowling of 2/20 in four overs with an economy rate of just five runs. He was adjudged the player of the match.

Almost emulating Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja also produced a bowling performance of 2/22 in four overs.

Winning the toss, Bangladesh captain Masrafe Bin Mortaza put India to bat first. Interestingly, all toss winning captains at Bengaluru have chosen to field first.

India started off slowly with only two fours in the first three overs. Many times the ball went straight into fielders hands and India India were 27/0 in the first five overs.

Both the openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan hit a six each to satiate the spectators’ hunger for big hits even as they roared “We want six”.

Suresh Raina top scored for India with 30 runs in 23 balls, including two sixes and a four.

Virat Kohli (24), Dhawan (23), Sharma (18), Hardik Pandya (15), M.S. Dhoni (13) and Ravindra Jadeja contributed their bit to build a decent total for India.

Though Al-Amin Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman took two wickets each, both proved expensive for Bangladesh by letting 37 and 34 runs each in their quota of four overs.

Bowling only one over, Mahmudullah claimed a wicket allowing just four runs.

With the latest victory, India climbed to the second spot in Group two with four points and a net run rate of -0.546 while Bangladesh continued to stay at the bottom with zero points.

Brief Scores: India 146/7 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 30, Virat Kohli 24; Al-Amin Hossain 2/37, Mustafizur Rahman 2/34) beat Bangladesh 145/9 in 20 overs (Tamim Iqbal 35, Sabbir Rahman 26; Ravichandran Ashwin 2/20, Ravindra Jadeja 2/22).

(IANS)

Social media addicts are a depressed lot, finds study

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social-media

New York: Are you the one who is always clicking new selfies to be posted on Instagram or who updates the tiniest details of life on Facebook? Chances are that you are probably depressed!

According to a new study, the more time young adults spend on social media, the more likely they are to be depressed.

Spending more time on social media may increase the risk of exposure to cyber-bullying or other similar negative interactions, which can cause feelings of depression.

Also, unlimited use of social media could fuel “Internet addiction,” a proposed psychiatric condition closely associated with depression.

The results of the study showed that on an average the participants used social media a total of 61 minutes per day and visited various social media accounts 30 times per week.

Compared with those who checked social media least frequently, participants who reported most frequent checking throughout the week had 2.7 times the likelihood of depression.

Similarly,participants who spent the most total time on social media throughout the day had 1.7 times the risk of depression, when compared to peers who spent less time on social media.

The research is published online in the journal Depression and Anxiety.

However, exposure to social media also may cause depression, which could then in turn fuel more use of social media, the researchers pointed out.

“It may be that people who already are depressed are turning to social media to fill a void,” said lead author Lui yi Lin from the University of Pittsburgh in the US.

The findings revealed that the exposure to highly idealised representations of peers on social media elicits feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives.

Engaging in activities of little meaning on social media may give a feeling of “time wasted” that negatively influences mood.

In 2014, the team sampled 1,787 US adults’ aged 19 through 32, using questionnaires to determine social media use and an established depression assessment tool.

The questionnaires asked about the 11 most popular social media platforms at the time: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and LinkedIn.

The researchers controlled for other factors that may contribute to depression, including age, sex, race, ethnicity, relationship status, living situation, household income and education level.

More than a quarter of the participants were classified as having “high” indicators of depression.

“Because social media has become such an integrated component of human interaction, it is important for clinicians interacting with young adults to recognise the balance to be struck in encouraging potential positive use, while redirecting from problematic use,” said one of the authors Brian A. Primack, director at the Pittsburgh University.

In addition, the findings can also be used as a basis for public health interventions leveraging social media.

(IANS)

Slipper hurled at Kanhaiya Kumar in Hyderabad

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Kanhaiya Kumar. AFP

Kanhaiya Kumar. AFP

Hyderabad: Chaos prevailed at a meeting addressed by JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar here on Thursday as a slogan-shouting youth threw a slipper at him.

The incident occurred at Sundraiah Vignan Kendram, as Kanhiaya Kumar was beginning his address at the seminar on constitutional rights.

The youth sitting among the audience stood up, raised slogans against the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president and threw a slipper towards him on the dais. It, however, missed the target.

The youth questioned why Kanhaiya Kumar, who he alleged supports terrorists like Afzal Guru, was being allowed to share the stage.

Activists of All India Students Federation (AISF) and others among the audience caught hold of the youth and roughed him even as Kanhaiya Kumar appealed for restraint.

Police intervened to take custody of the youth. Another youngster said to be accompanying him was also arrested. Their identity was not immediately known.

Continuing with his speech, Kanhaiya Kumar said that such incidents do not matter to him. “Do whatever you want to do, I am not the one to get scared. My way is the Gandhian way,” he said.

The student leader wanted to know at whose behest they are resorting to such acts.

Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition last month after anti-national slogans were allegedly raised during a meeting organised in memory of parliament attack convict Guru on JNU campus in New Delhi.

Police did not allow him to enter University of Hyderabad on Wednesday. He wanted to address students and pay tributes to Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar who committed suicide in January.

(IANS)

HCU:Striking non-teaching staff resume duties;campus peaceful

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Rohith Vemula

Hyderabad: The non-teaching staff of Hyderabad Central University (HCU), who had gone on a strike protesting vandalisation of VC’s lodge on March 22 allegedly by a group of students, resumed their duties today as the situation on the campus remained peaceful.

Members of HCU Non-Teaching Staff Union had boycotted duties from Tuesday afternoon protesting ransacking of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile’s official residence (VC’s lodge) and after being assaulted allegedly by the group of students opposing Podile resuming his duty.

As part of the strike, cooks had shut down ‘Students’ Mess’, expressing support to the Vice Chancellor (VC) after which students had set up an open kitchen yesterday.

“Messes, which had been shut down due to the strike by non-teaching staff opened today…they (non-teaching staff) have resumed their duties from today in the larger interest of the university,” HCU Registrar M Sudhakar told PTI.

Meanwhile, twenty-five students and two faculty members of HCU, who were arrested yesterday in connection with incidents of vandalism at VC’s lodge and stone pelting on police personnel, were sent to judicial remand last night and are lodged in Cherlapally Central Prison.

“The situation on the campus is peaceful today,” Gachibowli police inspector J Ramesh said.

Mother of deceased Dalit research scholar Rohit Vemula, Radhika, who had staged a sit-in protest along with scores of HCU students in front of the university last night after being denied entry, withdrew her protest at around 11.15 pm, HCU Chief Security Officer T V Rao said.

Radhika and the protesting students, who demanded Podile’s immediate removal from the post and the release of students and faculty members arrested in connection with vandalism of the VC’s lodge and stone-pelting on police, also made a vain bid to “barge” inside the campus but were stopped at the entrance itself, Rao said.

“She wanted to hold a dharna inside the campus, but we prevented her from doing so. She along with around 200 students attempted to go inside the campus, but we stopped them and they finally withdrew their protest at around 11.15 pm,” the security official said.

(Agencies)

New Zealand beat Pakistan to enter World T20 semis

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New Zealand Pakistan

Mohali: New Zealand beat Pakistan by 22 runs here on Tuesday to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Electing to bat first, New Zealand rode on Martin Guptill’s 48-ball 80 to post 180 for five wickets before restricting Pakistan to 158 for five in their 20 overs.

The win saw New Zealand move to the top of the Group B table with three wins from as many matches while Pakistan’s chances of advancing further dimmed after two straight losses.

Left-hander Sharjeel Khan (47) gave Pakistan a strong start in their reply to reach 76/1 in seven overs.

Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson introduced Ish Sodhi to produce the match’s defining phase.

The leg-spinner removed the dangerous looking Shahid Afridi and conceded only 25 runs from his four overs. He also created enough pressure for Mitchell Santner to pick up two wickets and strangle Pakistan to a 22-run defeat.

Pakistan needed 52 in 24 balls with six wickets in hand. But Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik could hardly find the gaps, as Pakistan failed to hit a boundary in its last 31 balls and finished on 158 for five.

With its third consecutive win, New Zealand became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals.

Earlier, Martin Guptill led the way with some power-packed batting as New Zealand posted a challenging total of 180/5 in their World Twenty20 Group 2 match against Pakistan at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here on Tuesday.

Guptill smashed 80 runs off 48 balls with 10 boundaries and three sixes. Ross Taylor, who remained on 36 off 23 deliveries and Corey Anderson (21) played useful knocks in the later stages of the innings.

Pacer Mohammad Sami (2/23) was the best performer among the Pakistan bowlers, although he did take some punishment from Guptill in his first spell. Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi (2/40) also bagged a couple of wickets.

This is New Zealand’s third match of the tournament. The Kiwis have made themselves near certain candidates for advancing to the semi-finals by winning both their previous matches, against hosts India and Australia. Another victory on Tuesday will see them through to the last-four stage as the top team in the group.

Electing to bat on winning the toss, New Zealand were off to a superb start with openers Guptill and Kane Williamson going great guns.

Guptill was the more aggressive of the two, handing out some rough treatment to the Pakistan bowlers while Williamson gave him steady support from the other end as the duo put together an opening partnership of 62 runs by the eighth over.

Irfan struck the first blow for Pakistan when he outfoxed Williamson with a slower one. The Kiwi right-hander mistimed his attempted drive as Shahid Afridi pulled off an easy catch at cover.

Incoming batsman Colin Munro did not last long as Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi struck in his very first over after coming on to bowl. Attempting a switch hit of a delivery which was pitched on the middle stump, the left-handed Munro hit the ball straight to Sharjeel Khan at sweeper cover.

But that did not affect the New Zealand run rate too much as Guptill and Corey Anderson continued to score at a brisk pace. The duo added 52 runs between them before Guptill tapped the ball onto his stumps while trying to dab an incoming delivery from Sami to third man.

Anderson also went back to the pavilion in the very next over as he mistimed a googly from Afridi. But Taylor ensured that the Kiwis finished their innings on a strong note.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 180/5 in 20 overs (Martin Guptill 80, Ross Taylor 36 n.o.; Mohammad Sami 2-23, Shahid Afridi 2-40); Pakistan (Sharjeel Khan 47, Ahmed Shehzad 30, Mitchell Santner 2/29, Adam Milne 2/26)

(IANS)

Brussels attack suspects named as manhunt intensifies

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Police comb Belgian capital for third suspect as prosecutor says two bombers were brothers involved in organised crime.

Belgian troops search people entering a subway station following Tuesday''s bomb attacks [Francois Lenoir/Reuters]

Belgian troops search people entering a subway station following Tuesday”s bomb attacks [Francois Lenoir/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

A massive manhunt is under way for a suspect seen with two supposed suicide bombers shortly before they struck Brussels’ Zaventem Airport in the first of two attacks that also hit the city’s metro, killing 31 people and wounding 261.

Belgian Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw confirmed on Wednesday that two brothers, Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, blew themselves up in Tuesday’s attacks.

Brahim had been identified using finger print records, Van Leeuw said, adding a third suspect remained on the run.

The prosecutor also confirmed police had raided an address associated with the attackers after a tip-off by a taxi driver who drove the attackers to the airport.

“There was five kilograms of explosives, oxidising liquid, and other materials for making explosives,” he said.

Van Leeuw spoke shortly after crowds of mourners gathered outside Maelbeek station, one of the targets of the attacks, to observe a minute of silence.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for Tuesday morning’s attacks.

“This is a day of tragedy, a black day,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said, describing the bombings as the “deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium”.

But as Belgium began three days of national mourning on Wednesday, he insisted the country would not be cowed by the “blind, violent and cowardly” attacks.

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspects pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were “actively searching” for a third man whose explosives did not go off.

Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night on Tuesday and raids were carried out across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an ISIL flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.

Police were going door-to-door throughout Brussels searching for suspects or others planning attacks. The interior minister said 600 additional police were deployed.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Brussels, said many in the country were asking whether the attacks represented a continuing threat.

“Belgians feel this is something they’ll now have to get used to…the editor of a prominent Belgian news outlet yesterday was writing that she believed this was something that was becoming part of the system.

“[She said] this was something people have to get used to and have to explain to their children that there is a threat and life has changed.”

Kane said there was also a sense that the blasts were a calculated attack on European insitutions and the “fabric of Europe”.

On social media thousands of people shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

The explosions struck the heart of European officialdom where NATO headquarters is based, along with the European Union, and European Commission.

Witnesses at the airport and metro station described scenes of horror immediately after the bombings.

“When I heard the first explosion, lots of people started screaming and running,” Tom, an intern working at the airport, told Al Jazeera.

“When I heard the second explosion, which was about 30 seconds after the first one, everything got chaotic. I could see panic on everyone’s face, blood on their bodies.”

The interior ministry raised the country’s terrorism alert to the highest level after the blasts.

Belgium has been on high alert since the arrest in Brussels last week of Salah Abdeslam , a key suspect in last November’s Paris attacks that left 130 people dead.

Governments in Europe and beyond quickly responded to the Brussels attacks, calling emergency national security meetings and stepping up controls at airports and other sensitive sites.

Ticketless train passenger who refused to pay fine citing Mallya debts, jailed for 7 days

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Railways

Mumbai: In a bizarre incident a passenger travelling ticketless refused to pay up a fine amount of Rs 260 and raked up a row asking the authorities to make Vijay Mallya pay up his dues of Rs 9000 crore before fining her.

The passenger has been sent to Byculla jail for 7 days, but has so far refused to back down from her stance.

The incident took place on Sunday afternoon when Premlatha Bhansali, a 44-year-old lady was travelling in a Mumbai local when a ticket checker asked for her ticket at Mahalaxmi station. Since she was ticketless the TC asked her to cough up the fine amount of Rs 260. Bhansali however refused to pay up the fine amount and started arguing with the TC that authorities should initially recover debts owed by Mallya instead of fining poor people like her.

Standing her ground she kept arguing with the rail authorities for nearly 12 hours demanding that she be produced before a magistrate so she could express her point.

Bhansali, who was produced before the Magistrate on Tuesday, accepted all the charges read out to her but refused to pay the fine amount for her offense which now amounted to Rs 1500.

The court even reduced the fine to Rs 460 on humanitarian grounds, but Bhansali maintained her stance saying she would not pay the fine even if she is jailed for six months or a year.

“The government does not nail the rich but are after the poor like me,” says Bhansali as reported by a daily.

The Magistrate then sent her to police custody for seven days.

(Agencies)

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