Tag Archives: entertainment
Court raises possibility of a free Mubarak
Court raises possibility of a free Mubarak (AP) / 20 August 2013 A court ruling Monday raised the possibility of jailed ex-president Hosni Mubarak walking free soon, a move that would fuel the unrest roiling the country after the autocratic leader’s successor was removed in a military coup. The development happened on a chaotic day of bloodshed that ended with the military’s detention of the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which ousted president Mohammed Mursi hails. Underscoring the growing anger over Mursi’s ouster, suspected militants ambushed two minibuses carrying off-duty policemen, forcing the men to lie on the sand and shooting 25 of them dead. “They were marked in advance by the attackers,” said Ashraf Abdullah, who heads the police branch the victims belonged to. He said the assailants checked the IDs of the men, who were not in uniform, to ensure they were policemen before opening fire. The brazen daylight attack raised fears that the strategic desert region bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip could be plunged into a full-fledged insurgency. Early on Tuesday, Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie was captured in an apartment in the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City, according to security officials and state television. That’s where Mursi’s supporters held a six-week sit-in protest that was cleared by security forces last Wednesday. Badie and his powerful deputy Khairat El Shater, who is in custody, go on trial later this month for their alleged role in the killing of eight protesters outside the Brotherhood’s Cairo headquarters in June. His arrest is a serious blow to the group at a time when authorities are cracking down on its leaders and mid-ranking officials, detaining scores of them across the country. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Despite the violence, Cairo, a bustling metropolis of some 18 million people, began to regain a sense of normalcy although the capital remained under a state of emergency and a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Mubarak, 85, has been in detention since April 2011, two months after he was ousted in a revolution against his rule. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in the 18-day uprising. His sentence was overturned on appeal and he is now being retried, along with his security chief and six top police commanders. Two judicial officials said Mubarak could walk free this week or next after a criminal court on Monday ordered his release in a corruption case in which he and his two sons were accused of embezzling funds for the maintenance of presidential palaces. His sons were ordered kept in custody. Monday’s ruling, along with the fact that Mubarak had previously been ordered released in the killings of the protesters opened the possibility of freedom for the former president, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. There will no longer be any grounds to hold him if a court accepts a petition by his lawyer requesting his release in a third case later this week or next. Many analysts, however, expressed skepticism, saying the political cost of freeing the former leader, who was widely hated for widespread abuses and repression during his 29 years in power, could keep him in jail. Leading rights campaigner Nasser Amin and rights lawyer Hoda Nasrallah said they did not expect Mubarak to be released, citing the country’s delicate political and security situation as well as past incidents when authorities brought up new allegations to prevent his release. Amin complained that Egypt’s penal law, which dates to the 1930s, has no adequate provisions to allow the conviction of perpetrators of crimes like ordering or failing to prevent the killing of protesters. Already, the overwhelming majority of court cases brought against policemen charged with killing protesters have ended in acquittals or suspended sentences. “His release or detention will be a decision that weighs political and security conditions in the country,” said Nasrallah. Continue reading
Rare blue diamond to be auctioned in Hong Kong
Rare blue diamond to be auctioned in Hong Kong (AFP) / 19 August 2013 A rare round blue diamond will go under the hammer in Hong Kong in October, with auctioneers hoping the sale will fetch a record-breaking $19 million despite fears over the slowing Chinese economy. Auction house Sotheby’s expect the 7.59-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, which is about the size of a shirt button, to set a new record for price-per-carat. Quek Chin Yeow, Sotheby Asia’s deputy chairman, said Hong Kong was the natural venue to sell the gem, known as “The Premier Blue”, with collectors expected to fly in from all over the world. “While there is a slowdown (in Chinese economy), the number of top-level collectors are still there,” he told AFP. “We have been selling very well in Hong Kong.” Hong Kong has become a centre for jewellery auctions thanks to growing wealth in China and other parts of the region, as well as the region’s increasing taste for art. But there are fears for the future of the Chinese economy, the world’s second largest, where growth fell to 7.8 percent in 2012 — its slowest pace in 13 years. Blue diamonds seldom hit the market and have been coveted by royals and celebrities for centuries, while a round cut is rarely used in coloured stones because of the high wastage. The most famous example of a blue diamond is the “Hope Diamond”, which was bought by King Louis XIV of France in the 17 th Century. The term “fancy” is used to describe a diamond of intense colour, while a gem’s saturation grading ranges from light to vivid for coloured diamonds. The Premier Blue will go up for auction on October 7. Quek said the owner wanted to remain anonymous. In April, a rare 5.3-carat fancy deep-blue diamond was sold for £6.2 million ($9.5 million) at a London auction, then setting a record for price-per-carat at $1.8 million. Continue reading
Indian train kills at least 37 crossing track, triggers protest
Indian train kills at least 37 crossing track, triggers protest (Agencies) / 19 August 2013 At least 37 pilgrims were killed and over a dozen injured on Monday when they were run over by a speeding train in Bihar’s Khagaria district. Angry locals and pilgrims set ablaze six bogies of the train, brutally assaulted its driver and took several railway officials hostage. Additional Director General of Police S.K. Bhardwaj confirmed the death of 35 pilgrims (Kanwariyas) when the Rajya Rani Express train mowed them down while they were trying to cross the rail track at the Dhamara railway station on the Saharsa-Mansi route of the East Central Railway (ECR). The death toll may increase because detailed information is yet to come from the accident site, he said. The train was travelling from Saharsa to Patna when the accident took place between 8 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. The express train does not have a scheduled stop at Dhamara station. ”The accident took place when pilgrims were trying to cross the railway track after alighting from a local train,” he said. Soon after the incident, angry pilgrims and locals set ablaze six bogies, including one AC coach, of the train and attacked railway officials. ”Some angry people attacked the train driver and seriously injured him. They beat him up mercilessly. Besides, some railway officials have been held hostage by them,” a police official said. Bhardwaj said top officials of the district administration have been asked to rush to the accident site. Chief Public Relations Officer of ECR, Amitabh Prabhakar said over telephone from Hajipur, the railway headquarters near Patna, that the situation went nearly out of control at the railway station following the incident as hundreds of angry people began agitating. ”The railway officials are not in a position to visit the accident site,” he said, adding that there was a lot of “confusion”. ”It is difficult to say any thing exact for now. It will take another one or two hours to say anything concrete after security forces are mobilised to clear the agitating people,” he added. In the month of July-August, thousands of pilgrims visit a temple in Deoghar, Jharkhand, where they offer holy water from the Ganga river to Lord Shiva at an ancient temple. After offering the holy water, they return to their native places in vehicles or trains. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief at the incident and asked railway officials to launch rescue operations and arrange proper treatment for the injured. Continue reading
