Hollande and Julie Gayet 'affair going for two years'

Mr Hollande is said to have had an affair with Julie Gayet (l) although his official partner is Valerie Trierweiler

17/01/2014

The French gossip magazine Closer has published claims President Francois Hollande has been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet for two years.

It also printed more details of the alleged romance, which it says began during the 2012 presidential race.
Ms Gayet has announced she is suing Closer for breach of privacy.
Mr Hollande's official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, remains in hospital, where she was admitted after learning of the alleged affair a week ago.
'Turbulent romance' In its latest revelations, Closer said the French president used a second apartment in the west of Paris to meet the 41-year-old actress.
It is claimed the pair snatched weekends together in the south of France, and that Mr Hollande made excuses to avoid a holiday in Greece last year with Ms Trierweiler, so he could travel instead to his Correze constituency with Ms Gayet.
The magazine said the president and Ms Gayet had been having a "turbulent romance" for two years - during and after Mr Hollande's election campaign.
The magazine did not publish any further photos despite earlier reports that it would.
Ms Gayet is seeking 50,000 euros (£41,000; $68,000) in damages and 4,000 euros in legal costs from the magazine.
If she wins, Closer will have to publish the legal verdict on its cover page, AFP reports.
Mr Hollande decided not to take legal action after first threatening to.
Flowers and chocolates Ms Trierweiler - seemingly still keen to defend Mr Hollande's character - is said to have defended him following reports he had not visited her in hospital.
She phoned a journalist on Thursday to explain it was her doctors who had asked Mr Hollande not to attend, says the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris.
She said she is still too weak to stand - and that the president has sent flowers and chocolates in his absence, our correspondent adds.
In response to the reports, a source at the Elysee Palace said Mr Hollande was "not unhappy" about the hospital forbidding him to visit.
Meanwhile, French magazine Le Point has quoted a friend of Ms Trierweiler saying she had not tried to commit suicide but had taken "one pill too many".
Mr Hollande, 59, told reporters on Tuesday he was experiencing a "difficult moment" in his private life but refused to answer questions over the report in Closer, saying "private matters should be dealt with privately".
Nor would he clarify whether Ms Trierweiler, 48, was still first lady before a February trip to the US.
Closer published a seven-page report on the alleged affair, which Mr Hollande has not denied, last Friday.
Photos show a man in a crash helmet on a moped, said to be Mr Hollande, visiting an apartment building near the Elysee Palace. Ms Gayet is shown at the building in a separate photo.
Public reaction to the alleged affair has been generally muted in France.

Mukhtaran Mai's story inspires New York opera

15/01/2014

NEW YORK: To those who complain that opera is an elitist indulgence served up to snobs in dinner jackets, New York's latest world premiere may come as something of a shock.

Inspired by the horrific gang rape of illiterate Pakistani woman Mukhtaran Mai on orders of a village council, “Thumbprint” is a $150,000 production currently having an eight-night run in a basement theater in Manhattan.

One of the most infamous sex crimes against women in South Asia, Mai's 2002 rape, survival and metamorphosis into an international rights icon is as far removed from opera-house pomp as possible.

It may have earned a less-than-glowing review from The New York Times — “muted,” “not quite enough” — but the score is an alluring blend of South Asian and Western music, and the production starkly innovative.

With a simple backcloth doubling up as a film projection screen, a few chairs and charpoys, the simple but powerful staging evokes the heat, the dust and the traditions of a Pakistani village.

Mai, now in her 40s, was raped to avenge her 12-year-old brother's alleged impropriety with a woman from a rival clan.

Six men were sentenced to death for her rape in a landmark ruling. But five were later acquitted and the main culprit had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment: facts the opera omits.

Mai's story has fresh resonance since the brutal gang rape of a student on a New Delhi bus and her death a little over a year ago sparked international outrage about the levels of violence against women in India.

“It's inspiring,” said the opera's Indian-American composer Kamala Sankaram, who also sings the lead role.

“This is a person who was completely illiterate and knew nothing of her rights and the laws of her country and yet she had the courage to step out,” she told AFP.

There is no staged recreation of the rape, which is instead portrayed by muffled shrieks of terror interspersed with a knife slashing open bags of sand.

Sankaram worked to recreate Mai's world by combining Hindustani music, Western composition, qawwali and Bollywood.

“I am a sitar player as well as being a Western musician so I wanted to bring in elements of traditional culture but still keep it something acceptable to Western listeners,” she said.

Pakistan may be thousands of miles from New York but playwright and novelist Susan Yankowitz, who wrote the libretto, says the opera is about courage and universal vulnerability of women.

“The main question that is repeated throughout the opera is where did you find your courage... In a dry season, someone must be the first drop of rain,” Yankowitz told AFP.

“The courage is to be the first drop of rain and that's what I hope people will take away from it and inspire people to take some action they would otherwise not have the courage to do.”

Compared to the majesty of New York's Metropolitan Opera House a couple of miles up the road, “Thumbprint” is a tiny production with a six-person chamber orchestra and cast of just six singers.

Shown as part of a small chamber music opera festival in its second year, tickets cost just $25 for the 90-minute production, which organisers hope will eventually tour India and Pakistan.

Unable to find a suitable sarangi player, Sankaram's score has been written for flute, violin, viola, piano (with harmonium on the side), and a brilliant double bass and percussionist.

Most of the singers perform more than one part and the Baruch Performing Arts Center seats just 170 people.

The run ends Saturday, but it's unclear what Mai makes of it all.

Since the attack, she has set up a school for girls and won prominence in the West for her outspoken stance on the oppression of women.

Manu Narayan, the Broadway star who has won rave reviews as an all-too-realistic unrepentant rapist, welcomed the opera and the Prototype opera festival as a vital platform for young composers.

Bankruptcy forced New York City Opera to close last year. Some artists and musicians complain that original culture in New York City is being priced out of the metropolis by big business.

“I think the music's spectacular,” Narayan told AFP.

“This festival is so wonderful. It really creates a very focused platform for new works and great stories that need to be told, and the story of Mukhtaran Mai is one of the prime examples.”

Women and children rescued from privat jail of Balochistan MPA

14/01/2014

BARKHAN: Police and Anti Terrorist Force (ATF) conducted a raid at the private jail of former provincial minister education and member of Balochistan Assembly, Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran on Sunday.

Police said seven people including two women, three children were recovered from the private jail of the former provincial minister.

Six proclaimed absconders were also picked up by ATF and police. Police recovered arms and ammunition from their possession.

Earlier on Sunday, Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran surrendered to police in the aftermath of the registration of the kidnapping case against him in Barkhan Police Station.

Police had registered cases against Khetran, his son and eight others for kidnapping three policemen and snatching weapons from them.

A senior police official who declined to be named told Dawn.com that a team of police comprising personnel of ATF was already dispatched to Barkhan to arrest the Sardar. "Before the arrival of ATF party, Sardar Khetran surrendered before police", he added.

Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran is the member of Balochistan Assembly and he belongs to Jamiat Ulema Islam (F).

He remained provincial minister for education in the past and several times elected as member of Balochistan Assembly.

The police officer said that Sardar Khetran had subjected the police personnel to torture after kidnapping and snatched weapons from their possession. "We will not spare anyone targeting the police", he said.

However, Sardar Khetran contradicted police allegations and termed the registration of case as politically motivated.

"I am in opposition therefore I am being targeted," he said.

There has been no reaction from his religious party since registration of case against him.

Women Development Org(WDO) survey for clean water in Multan

13/01/2014

Women Development organization's(WDO)  Social Worker Survey is clean water in the city

Pakistani supporter of the country´s former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf holds his picture at a rally in Karachi

11/01/2014

Pakistani supporter of the country´s former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf holds his picture at a rally in Karachi

LAHORE: Video garbed image of Anum Zia, the daughter of former PPP Punjab President Qasim Zia was taken into in Model Town Police custody, after she injured a policeman in a traffic accident.

11/01/2014

LAHORE: Video garbed image of Anum Zia, the daughter of former PPP Punjab President Qasim Zia was taken into in Model Town Police custody, after she injured a policeman in a traffic accident.

Pakistani Bridals

13/01/2014

LAHORE: Jan09 – Models pose for photos during bridal competition at a local hotel in the provincial capital Lahore

light candles in front of a portrait of police officer Chaudhry Aslam (C) and Aitzaz Hassan (L), a teenager who sacrificed his life to stop a suicide bomber.

13/01/2014

Members of Insaf Students´ Federation light candles in front of a portrait of police officer Chaudhry Aslam (C) and Aitzaz Hassan (L), a teenager who sacrificed his life to stop a suicide bomber, at a ceremony to pay tribute in Karachi on

Shahzaib honoured in Mathematics Olympiad in Colombo

13/01/2014

ISLAMABAD: Shahzaib Ali Abbasi 18 has been declared top in the world for mathematics in the Cambridge O level examinations held by the University of Cambridge UK.

He has also achieved regional distinction in O Level in computer studies. His latest achievement is getting the coveted mention in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2013 held in Colombia South America and a mention in the Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad among other accolades, The Technology Times reported.

Shahzaib is studying for his A levels final from FFC Grammar School Mirpur Mathelo. Shahzaib is not a bookworm. In addition to his studies he makes time for sports. But when it comes to mathematics he is crazy about it so much so that while travelling he keeps a diary and pen ready and keeps solving mathematical problems said Zulfiqar the father of Ali.

Ali said that he has received scholarship offers from King's College London Bath University UK and the University of Hong Kong but he dreams of a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in USA.

It was a moment of pride for us when he was honoured in the mathematics Olympiad in Colombo and was handed the Pakistani flag said Mohammad Usman who teaches mathematics at Shahzaib's school.

 

8-yr-old Thalassaemia patient with rare blood type looking for donor

13/01/2014

KARACHI: Afifa, 8, suffers from an inherited form of anemia caused by faulty synthesis of hemoglobin, which calls for frequent transfusion of fresh blood so that the patient could survive.

Thalassaemia is not at all a rare medical condition, but unfortunately, the type of Afifa’s blood certainly is.

This mum-dad’s little princess, who only wants to live a healthy life, was diagnosed with this genetic blood disorder five years back when she was just three. The news had blown the loving parents away, but the worst was yet to come.

“It came as a blow that benumbed us for a while, but then we made up our mind to do whatever we can to keep out child alive and healthy. We knew it’s a lifelong struggle, but we were resolved”, said her father, Wajahat Ayaz.

A tearful Ayaz said when Afifa’s blood type report arrived it got the better of us.

FACT CHECK: H/h, also known as Oh or the Bombay Blood Group, is a rare blood type. This blood phenotype was first discovered in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, in India, by Dr. Y. M. Bhende in 1952.

“We were told that hers is a blood group so rare that its donors could be counted on the fingers of one hand. At first we just broke down, but the next moment collected all the shards of our shattered world to make sure we grew old watching our child grow up, come what may”, Ayaz said further.

FACT CHECK: This very rare phenotype is generally present in about 0.0004% (about 4 per million) of the human population, though in some places such as Mumbai (formerly Bombay) locals can have occurrences in as much as 0.01% (1 in 10,000) of inhabitants and 1 in a million people in Europe. Given that this condition is very rare, any person with this blood group who needs an urgent blood transfusion will probably be unable to get it, as no blood bank would have any in stock.

Ayaz said it is very difficult for anyone to see their child fighting an illness as serious as Thalassaemia, but the power of parenthood saw us through.

According to media reports there were only seven people in Karachi who had this blood type.

"Reaching them was no easy. I ran from pillar to post to get to them", said he.

FACT CHECK: There are only 14 people in Pakistan who have this blood group.

Afifa's was the first case of a Thalassaemia patient with Bombay Blood Group reported in Karachi –we cannot say for sure about more cases.

“The problem with the Bombay Blood Group is that it could not be transfused, even with the O + blood group, which is the universal donor. Blood from a Bombay Blood Group individual only should be transfused to a Bombay Blood Group patient”, he added.

“There are only a few people with the particular blood type in Karachi, and if transfused with any other blood group, the blood cells start to break and results in a severe immune reaction,” he said.

Thalassaemia could prove fatal if enough donors were not available to support the consistent supply of blood to the patient.

He appealed to citizens at large with Bombay Blood Group to step forward to help Afifa lead a healthy life.

"No amount of money can buy even an ounce of Bombay Blood Group, all we need are healthy donors, who we need as urgently as ever as Afifa's blood transfusion is 45 days overdue", said he.

Ayaz further added that there were only two registered donors in the country when his daughter was diagnosed with Thalassaemia in 2008. Fortunately last year, he found another. According to Ayaz three of the Bombay Blood donors fly to Pakistan from the US and Dubai every year to donate.

A health expert said Afifa should undergo a bone marrow transplant before long as her mother could donate it to her, but also warned that the procedure was too risky as Afifa was the only child of her parents.

"The bone-marrow match could be tricky, if it is not 100 percent than the transplant may not help he much", said he.

The average cost of a bone-marrow transplant is around Rs4 million.

Afifa, may you live long, get all the love you deserve, smile all the time, and make the most of this life. We are with you. Aren't we?

What to do if you need Bombay Blood Group? We can definitely start a search for Bombay Blood Group by following these steps.

a) Get all the family members and relatives of the patients tested for the blood group. It’s very likely that one or the other relative has this group.
b) Put up a request for the requirement in the leading newspapers. Please don’t circulate messages and mails as they may end up in the spam folder.
c) Be open to get blood from other cities.
d) The most effective way is visiting all blood banks of the city as well as neighbouring big cities. Usually blood banks have a huge list of donors who had donated in the blood bank till date. Out of this huge list 1 or 2 may be having Bombay blood group.

For the autosomal recessive forms of the disease, both parents must be carriers in order for a child to be affected. If both parents carry a hemoglobinopathy trait, there is a 25 percent risk with each pregnancy for an affected child. Genetic counseling and genetic testing is recommended for families that carry a Thalassemia trait.

All recognise valour of Hangu hero but PTI govt

13/01/2014

PESHAWAR: The 15-year-old Aitezaz Hassan Bangash is a hero. He laid his life on January 6 to save his Hangu schoolmates from falling victim to the devil designs of a suicide bomber.

Young Hassan did something that most of us, perhaps, would not even dare think about when a situation warrants. His parallel to none sacrifice is being eulogised by all except for some.

Foreign and local media has covered his valour with professional aplomb. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has recommended his name to the President for conferment of Sitara-i-Shujaat on him.

Military authorities have also jumped in as well. Army chief sent in a representative to lay a wreath of flowers on the young hero’s last resting place and asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary to recommend young Hassan for Sitara-i-Shujaat, ignoring that the same has already been done by the premier.

Senate has passed a resolution, recognising his and the bravery of Sindh police officer Chaudhry Aslam killed in a Karachi bomb blast on Thursday.

Malala Yousufzai, the internationally acclaimed peace and education activist from Swat, has reportedly announced Rs500,000 for Hassan’s family.

On a much larger scale, the young Bangash scion has become a household name. In family living rooms, friends’ gatherings, social networking sites, political conversations, people just can’t fail to recognise his service to humanity and bravery.

Are we missing here something in listing out praise, affection, recognition with which people and institutions have responded to acknowledge the young man’s courage in preferring death over spinelessness?

Yes, we are missing someone that is important because of its constitutional responsibility and moral obligation towards its people. Someone that is also important to directly serve an assurance to the young hero’s family, friends, and the whole of citizenry of Hangu and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reminding them that there is somebody out there to feel their pain, shed tear on their loss, solace them in their difficult time, and stand bravely with them in a time when they need it the most.

The silence with which the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has reacted to the young man’s courage or the carelessness with which it responded to the attack on the school is not so astonishing.

The provincial assembly offered belated prayers (on Friday) for both Hassan and the Sindh police officer. Had it not been the police officer’s tragic death in a violent Taliban attack, the assembly might not have opted to remember the young hero.

One can put this argument across with certain degree of confidence because the assembly did not pay attention to the Hangu school attack in its sittings held between Monday and Friday: the day the attack occurred and the day the prayers were offered.Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and its major coalition partner Jamaat-i-Islami have over the past several months shown the tendency to protest and explode in condemnation only when a militant is killed in a US drone attack. They beat chest on every such occasion and term it a conspiracy to thwart peace prospects.

PTI chairman Imran Khan’s statement following the Sindh police officer’s murder did not come as a surprise either. The party’s stand towards militancy may not be in line with its own election manifesto, but it is consistent with its attempts to avoid confrontation with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

There is a growing public perception that suggests the PTI leadership is frightened of challenging Taliban over their violence against humanity.

The party supporters might differ with the observation by citing Imran Khan’s recent participation in the polio vaccination campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a reminder of going against Taliban.

However, Mr Khan’s participation in the vaccination campaign would have meant something really bigger if he had chosen to administer the polio vaccination drops to children in Peshawar or Swabi where the ruthless hands gunned down poor vaccinators in the recent. Instead, Mr Khan chose to administer drops to a grandson of his political ideologue Maulana Samiul Haq at a well guarded rural health centre at Akkora Khattak.

Governance requires a little more than rehashing old ideas to formulate forms and project them as a recipe for change. It also requires more than studying different laws to make a new regulation and claim it to be a new initiative. Laws are important. Equally important is the enforcement. Without strict and effective implementation good laws becomes a burden of history.

PTI has promised to ensure good governance. Its election manifesto serves as a sorry reminder of a document that has apparently lost meaning in today’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

PTI’s latest take on peace is well known. Peace cannot be established unless drone strikes are stopped. What if TTP does not agree to peace talks even if the drone strikes are stopped? TTP has already spoken its mind: its struggle is for the enforcement of Sharia in Pakistan, which means drone strikes are a secondary issue.

We can’t remind Chief Minister Pervez Khattak his role as a protector of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But, we can refer to his party’s election manifesto in which it clearly states that “PTI also recognises the scourge of terrorism and its devastating effect on Pakistan and its citizens.” Isn’t Aitezaz a victim of terrorism? Doesn’t he deserve justice? Shouldn’t we arrest the masterminds, who planned the ghastly attack on Hangu’s school?

These are the questions the answers to which are lost deep in PTI-led provincial government’s silence over the consistency with which terrorists have targeted people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since its taking office in June last.

India's "handgun for women" sparks fury

13/01/2014

NEW DELHI: An Indian handgun designed for women and named after the victim of a fatal gang-rape in Delhi was condemned by rights activists on Sunday as a disgrace to her memory.

The lightweight .32 calibre revolver was developed by the state-run Indian Ordnance Factory (IOF) and can fit inside a small purse or handbag, according to a newspaper report.

The factory in the northern city of Kanpur has received 20 orders since the titanium-alloy, six-shot gun — costing 122,360 rupees ($1,976) — was launched earlier this month, the Times of India said on Friday.

“At least 80 per cent of the bookings are from women,” IOF general manager Abdul Hameed told the newspaper, adding that more orders were expected soon.

“Expectedly, the weapon has received a very good response,” he said.

The gun is called “Nirbheek” meaning “fearless” in Hindi and was intended as a tribute to the 23-year-old student whose brutal attack in India’s capital in December 2012 sparked outrage about the levels of violence against women in India.

The student was given the nickname Nirbhaya (also meaning fearless) by the media and authorities after the attack because she could not be named under Indian law.

But activists said the gun showed Indian authorities “completely misunderstood” how they were supposed to protect women from high levels of violence across the country.

“It really is an insult to the memory of Nirbhaya,” said Binalakshmi Nepram, founder of the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network on Sunday.

“Our research shows that a person is 12 times more likely to be shot dead if they are carrying a gun when attacked,” she told reporters.

“It also shows that the government of India has failed to protect women by resorting to this. Arming women is not a responsible way to secure their safety and security,” she said.

The Indian government was introduced tougher laws for rapists and other offenders and a range of other judicial and policing reforms in the wake of outrage over the student’s attack on a moving bus.—AFP

Rose Parade in California

The Tournament of Roses queen and court wave from their float in 125th Rose Parade. Clockwise from lower left are Princess Jamie Kwong, Princess Sarah Hansen, Princess Katie Lipp, Rose Queen Ana Acosta, Princess Elyssia Widjaja, Princess Elizabeth Woolf, and Princess Kayla Johnson-Granberry. – Photo by AP

Rose Parade

2nd January' 2014

Originally started on January 1, 1890, the Rose Parade, traditionally the Tournament of Roses Parade, is part of "America’s New Year Celebration" held in Pasadena, California each year.
The 2014 Rose Parade, themed "Dreams Come True", features florally decorated floats, marching bands, and equestrian units on a five and a half mile parade route through Pasadena.

Taliban deny sending girl to attack Afghan police

 
08/01/2014

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahamdi denied any involvement in the alleged plot, which he dismissed as government propaganda. — File Photo

KABUL: The Taliban denied Tuesday that they dispatched a 10-year-old girl to carry out a suicide attack against Afghan police, a day after the girl said her brother wrapped her in an explosives-packed vest but that she refused to blow herself up at a checkpoint in Helmand province.
Border police in the southern Afghan province arrested the girl's father, Abdul Ghfar, and were searching for the brother, a police commander said.
The girl, who was detained Monday and identified herself only as Spozhmai, said her brother is a Taliban commander.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahamdi denied any involvement in the alleged plot, which he dismissed as government propaganda.
''We never do this, especially with girls,'' he said.
Spozhmai spoke to journalists Monday after Afghanistan's Interior Ministry announced her detention and said she was just 10 years old.
Addressing television cameras, she said her brother, named Zahir, told her to approach a checkpoint and ask the deputy commander for a ride with him to neighboring Kunar province.
''I agreed, then he attached the vest on my body and told me to spend the night here and leave in the morning,'' she said.
But after she and her brother spent the night somewhere, she said she had second thoughts. ''I said I won't go, then he took off the vest and tried to convince me that they (police) will die and I will remain alive,'' Spozhmai said.
She said her brother then fled with the vest.
Police said they believed her account.
''The guy named Zahir had the suicide vest and escaped, but she was still there and when our commander of the battalion heard her voice, they surrounded the area and brought this girl to their base, and we all heard her story on how she was forced into this action,'' Col Hamidullah Sediqi said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the Taliban, saying that ''using a child as a suicide bomber is un-Islamic and goes against Afghan culture and beliefs.''
Although the Taliban deny it, human rights groups say the insurgent group has occasionally dispatched children for suicide bombings. But girls have been used only rarely, according to Heather Barr, Afghanistan senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
''There have been very few documented cases of girls being involved in suicide bomb attacks,'' Barr said.
According to Human Rights Watch, an 8-year-old girl was killed in central Uruzgan province in 2011 when a bag of explosives the Taliban instructed her to carry to a police checkpoint detonated.

Afghan police hunt brother of 'suicide girl' aged 10

07/01/2014

Sphozmai, 10, who was about to be used by the Taliban as a suicide bomber, sits at a police office in Helmand province

KANDAHAR: Afghan police on Tuesday searched for a Taliban commander who allegedly forced his 10-year-old sister to wear an explosives-packed vest on an aborted suicide attack in the southern province of Helmand.

The interior ministry said the girl, named as Spozhmai, was detained before she detonated the vest near a police checkpoint in the district of Khanashin.

Speaking on Monday at a press conference, the girl said she had been ordered by her brother to undertake the suicide mission but had decided not to carry it through.

“We have appointed a team to investigate this,” Omar Zwak, the Helmand governor's spokesman, told AFP. “They will try to find the brother and father of the girl, and they will visit the police post and talk to the police who found and detained the girl.

We are trying to find out what exactly has happened.”

Amid several conflicting accounts of the incident, some officials said she had been wearing the vest when she was arrested, while others said no vest had been recovered.

The Tolo TV news channel said the girl was unable to operate the button to detonate the explosives.

She told reporters in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand, that her brother had coerced her to put on the vest and walk to the police post after an argument with her stepmother.

The girl said she had dumped the vest in a river before being arrested. She was in police custody on Tuesday.

Pakistan:Stepfather booked for throwing acid on daughters

04/01/2014

KASUR: The police on Saturday registering a case against a stepfather, who threw acid on daughters at Patoki, started investigation from different angles, Geo News reported.

Accused Qari Aslam was also booked under sections of terrorism, police said.

The victim daughters’ mother has alleged that the accused wanted to get his invalid son married to his stepdaughter, 15 and on her refusal he threw acid on the daughters.

Both the injured sisters are under treatment in Lahore Jinnah Hospital.

 

Two Jordanian sentenced to death over 'honour killing'

30/12/2013

The two men, aged 23 and 20, strangled their divorced sister to death in June 2013.

AMMAN (AFP) - The criminal court in Amman on Sunday sentenced two Jordanian men to death for killing their sister in June "to cleanse the family s honour," a court official said.
"The two men, aged 23 and 20, took their divorced sister, also in her twenties, to the garden of their house and strangled her in June 2013," in Zarqa, a city northeast of Amman, the official told AFP.
"They confessed to killing their sister, who worked in a kindergarten after suspecting that she had behaved badly," the official said without elaborating.
"They said that they wanted to cleanse the family s honour," the official added.
Murder is punishable by death in Jordan, but in "honour killings" courts usually commute or reduce sentences if the victim s family requests leniency.
"For the first time in several years, the family of the victim refused to ask the court for leniency, demanding the maximum punishment," another court official told AFP without giving further details.
Between 15 and 20 women die in so-called "honour" murders each year in the kingdom, despite government efforts to curb such crimes.
A study by Cambridge University s Institute of Criminology in June said many Jordanian teenagers believe killing a daughter, sister or wife who has "dishonoured" or shamed the family is justified.

Women kills her 10-year old maid in Lahore:Pakistan

03/01/2013

SLAMABAD: Police in Lahore have arrested a woman for beating to death her 10-year-old maid after accusing the girl of stealing a few rupees, less than a dollar's worth.

The girl died on Thursday, after her employer had brought her to hospital.

Police official Mohammed Yousaf says the doctors alerted the police after seeing signs of abuse and torture on the girl's body. Later, the woman confessed to killing her maid with a steel pipe.

Child labor is common in Pakistan, which has no legislation setting a minimum age for work.

Children — mostly from extremely poor and illiterate families — are commonly employed in households for domestic work and often exposed to verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

NCSW hopes for better environment for working women

23/12/2013
National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz said lack of awareness about Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010 was the biggest hurdle in its effective implementation.

Sharing her views on the eve of National Working Women Day to be observed every year on December 22, she eulogised the services of working women rendered for the country.

The day is observed to acknowledge the struggle of working women in securing a dignified and respectful working environment.

It is also celebrated to acknowledge the economic contributions made by women to the country as women are increasingly joining the ranks of doctors, engineers, lawyers, judges, journalists, armed forces, scientists and business administrators.

In a statement issued on Saturday Khawar said, NCSW collaborated with the Pakistan government and other civil society organisations to facilitate the women who have entered the mainstream society and are practically contributing in national economy. She said successive federal and provincial governments in Pakistan showed commitment to the cause of women and promulgation of the `Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010' was manifestation of government resolve to address the concerns and issues of working women. She said it was a landmark move to help Pakistani women work without fear of being harassed or discriminated.

The government has recently introduced the online facility for victims of harassment at workplace through Federal Ombudsman Secretariat (FOS) for the implementation of the act.

Khawar said most of the private and public sector organisations are not implementing the law in letter and spirit like the mandatory requirement to display the copies of code of conduct in English.

"The organisations may be fined up to Rs 100,000 if an employee lodges a complaint of harassment," she added.

NCSW chief stressed the need of acknowledging the rights and contributions of home-based workers and introducing policies and laws for them. The country now has a legal obligation to comply with international laws and is monitored by the International Labour Organisation's Committee on Application of Standards, she said.

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