Race, economic status influence US death penalties: UN report
The United Nations' investigator Waly Ndiaye has recommended suspension of death penalty in the United States pending a review saying the country is using the measure in an unfair, arbitrary and discriminatory manner. Ndiaye expressed his views in a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva on Friday.
Panel moots review of defection law
A parliamentary committee has recommended a threadbare review of the decade-old anti-defection law so that the government can take concrete measures for amending the law and removing its lacunae. The committee suuggested that the government should take concrete measures for suitably amending the law.
HK Govt rules out time-frame for universal suffrage
Hong Kong's top official has ruled out setting a time-frame for adopting universal suffrage in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. Tung Chee Hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR said that the development of democracy in Hong Kong must comply with the timetable set in the "basic law", the SAR's mini constitution.
More leads on Bofors
Major parts of the Bofors gun deal pay-offs, which were transferred from Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi's Swiss Bank account to the Channel Islands, were further transferred to two bank accounts in Vienna and Geneva. This was established by the two-member CBI team which returned recently from Guernsey in Channel Islands.
Sri Lankan Government under fire for mass arrest of Tamils
At least 5,000 Tamils were arrested last week in massive round-ups by security forces in Colombo amidst uproar that the government was punishing the entire minority community to cover up for its inability to prevent terrorist attacks by the separatist Tamil Tigers.
One more held in Coimbatore blasts case
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the State Crime Branch-CID has arrested 21-year-old Musthafa of Melappalayam, Tirunelveli, in connection with the blasts which rocked Coimbatore on February 14. Investigations by the CB-CID revealed that Musthafa was assigned the task of planting and exploding bombs near the venue for the public meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani.
