‘Pearl’s killer is an intl terrorist’
Islamabad, Dec 16: A lawyer representing the parents of slain US journalist Daniel Pearl informed Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday that the mastermind behind the murder is an international terrorist and cited a judgment by India’s apex court to support his arguments. Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the links between the country’s powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda. British-born al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and his three aides were convicted and sentenced in the abduction and murder case. Counsel Faisal Siddiqui urged the apex court to set aside the Sindh High Court’s verdict in April, which overturned the death sentence of 46-year-old Sheikh to seven years imprisonment, because it is based on a gross misreading of the evidence and disregard of critical evidence and facts. (PTI)
B’desh celebrates 50th victory day
Dhaka, Dec 16: Bangladesh celebrated 50th Victory Day on Wednesday. Bangladesh President M Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury paid rich tributes to the martyrs of the war by placing wreaths at the National Memorial here. 49 years ago on December 16 in 1971, the Pakistan Army surrendered to the joint forces of Bangladesh and India ending the ninth-month war and turning East Pakistan into Bangladesh. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s programme was celebrated on a limited scale. (UNI)
London on high COVID alert
London, Dec 16: The UK is reviewing the tiered lockdown allocations for different parts of the country as scheduled by law on Wednesday, even as millions of more people in and around London moved into the highest alert level of Tier 3 coronavirus restrictions after a worrying spike in infections. With the addition of the UK capital and surrounding areas of Essex and Hertfordshire to Tier 3, or near complete lockdown, around 61 per cent of England’s population is now living under the toughest lockdown rules which impose a ban on inter-household mingling indoors and a closure of all restaurants and bars except for takeaways and deliveries. “The number of cases in London has increased significantly over the past two weeks and we continue to experience the highest case rates of anywhere in the country,” said Professor Kevin Fenton, London Regional Director for Public Health England. The outcome of a review of the tiers is expected to be announced on Thursday. (PTI)