US 'Jihad Jane' charged with planning terror attacks in Europe

New York, March 10: An American woman known as "Jihad Jane" was charged by US prosecutors on Tuesday with recruiting jihadist fighters to plan terror attacks in Europe and South Asia.

Colleen LaRose, a woman from suburban Philadelphia who was "desperate to do something" to help suffering Muslims, is also accused of agreeing to kill a Swedish citizen on orders from unnamed terrorists.

Miss LaRose, who is believed to be 47, is alleged to have travelled to Sweden to carry out the killing, but it is understood she was stopped by the authorities before she could do it.

A US Department of Justice spokesman would not confirm whether the case was related to a group of people arrested in Ireland earlier on Tuesday on suspicion of plotting against a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

But a US official speaking on condition of anonymity said that Miss LaRose had targeted the Swedish cartoonist and had online discussions about her plans with at least one of the suspects apprehended in Ireland. The official was not authorised to discuss details of the investigation.

A Justice Department statement said she was recruited over the internet by a contact who ordered her to kill the target in a way that would frighten "the whole Kufar [non-believer] world".

US prosecutors say Miss LaRose, who is also known as Fatima Rose, and 5 collaborators believed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her "blend in" while carrying out her plans.

They also allegedly recruited men online "to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the internet who has who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad", said the statement.

The suspect, who faces a possible life sentence and a $1 million (£670,000) fine if convicted, is also accused of stealing a US passport in order to "facilitate an act of international terrorism".

She allegedly referred to herself as "Jihad Jane" in a YouTube video in which she said she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" ease the suffering of Muslims. According to the indictment, she agreed to obtain residency in a European country and marry one of the terrorists to enable him to live there. (Agencies)

 

Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni 'both having affairs'

Paris, March 10: Rumours that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy are both having affairs are gaining momentum in France.

The suggestion that the couple were both committing adultery first emerged on Twitter, the microblogging website. It was followed by a report in the Sunday newspaper le Journal du Dimanche.

The first 'tweet' claimed that Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy had become romantically involved with Benjamin Biolay, a musician and a winner at France's recent Victoires de la Musique awards.

It then claimed that the jilted Mr Sarkozy had swiftly found solace in the arms of his 40-year-old ecology minister Chantal Jouanno, also a French karate champion.

French web magazine suchablog.com alleged that Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy had been a close friend of Biolay for many years and was now unofficially living with him at his flat in Paris.

The rumours were given extra weight after being reported in a blog on the website of Le Journal du Dimanche.

The paper wrote: "It's the gossip of the moment that could become the story of the year.

"A romance is said to have started a few weeks ago between the First Lady of France and music award winner Benjamin Biolay.

"The rumour started on Twitter and is now on blogs and websites everywhere."

Mr Sarkozy's spokesman at the Elysee Palace in Paris said on Tuesday that he had "absolutely no comment" to make on the rumours of extra-marital affairs among France's first couple. (Agencies)

 

Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe' 

Many Lemba are Christians and Muslims, but they embrace their Jewish roots

Harare, March 10: The Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa may look like their compatriots, but they follow a very different set of customs and traditions.

They do not eat pork, they practise male circumcision, they ritually slaughter their animals, some of their men wear skull caps and they put the Star of David on their gravestones.

Their oral traditions claim that their ancestors were Jews who fled the Holy Land about 2,500 years ago.

It may sound like another myth of a lost tribe of Israel, but British scientists have carried out DNA tests which have confirmed their Semitic origin.

These tests back up the group's belief that a group of perhaps 7 men married African women and settled on the continent. The Lemba, who number perhaps 80,000, live in central Zimbabwe and the north of South Africa.

And they also have a prized religious artefact that they say connects them to their Jewish ancestry - a replica of the Biblical Ark of the Covenant known as the ngoma lungundu, meaning "the drum that thunders".

The object went on display recently at a Harare museum to much fanfare, and instilled pride in many of the Lemba.

"For me it's the starting point," says religious singer Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave.

"Very few people knew about us and this is the time to come out. I'm very proud to realise that we have a rich culture and I'm proud to be a Lemba.

"We have been a very secretive people, because we believe we are a special people." (Agencies)

 

New Zealand woman sells souls to highest bidder

WELLINGTON (New Zealand), March 10: The rare spirits that went under the gavel at a recent online auction in New Zealand weren't aged brandies or hard-to-find liqueurs.

Instead, 2 glass vials purportedly containing the ghosts of 2 dead people sold for 2,830 New Zealand dollars ($1,983) at an auction that ended yesterday night.

The "ghosts" were put up for bidding by Avie Woodbury from the southern city of Christchurch. She said they were captured in her house and stored in glass vials with stoppers and dipped in holy water, which she says "dulls the spirits' energy."

She said they were the spirits of an old man who lived in the house during the 1920s, and a powerful, disruptive little girl who turned up after a session with a spirit-calling Ouija board.

Since an exorcism at the property last July led to their capture, there has been no further spooky activity in the house, she said.

The auction attracted more than 214,000 page views and dozens of questions before the winning bid, Trademe auction site spokesman Paul Ford said today. The name of the winning bidder was not released. (AP)

 

Kalam advocates national campaign to eradicate terror

Mumbai, March 10: Former president A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday said all political parties should declare terrorism as menace for the nation and fight together to combat it.

"Terrorism is a national issue. It can be fought with unity of mind. All political parties should come together and declare it as a menace for the nation. Like the way they came together in support of the Women's Bill. We all should fight together to combat it," Kalam said addressing a seminar 'Fight Against Terrorism' organised by Mumbai Police.

Explaining his vision to fight terrorism, Kalam said there should be an aggressive national campaign for eradication of terrorism.

"Terrorism is hampering the progress of the nation. Security agencies should be more alert and a national campaign should be started to tackle the menace," he said.

 Public participation was very important in the fight against terrorism, he said adding each and every individual should be vigilant and should inform the police about any suspicious objects.

Judicial process had also to be accelerated to ensure that perpetrators of the attacks should be strictly punished in a time-bound manner without losing a sense of justice, he said. (PTI)

 

4 students held for smearing colour on Maya's poster

LUCKNOW, March 10: Four students of UP Sainik School have been arrested and sent to juvenile home for allegedly smearing colour on chief minister Mayawati's posters here during Holi.

The four, who are appearing for their XII board exams, were arrested on Holi night on charges of damaging public property and a case had been lodged against them under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. They have beet sent to a reformatory home for juveniles, official sources said today.

While police claimed that the students were caught damaging the public property, school authorities alleged that the police was settling scores.

"It doesn't seem that our students would do such an act," school spokesman K K Tiwari said.

He said that on Holi night these students had gone out of the hostel to purchase some medicine. "While they were returning back, the students were stopped by police, who alleged that they had damaged posters of the CM and booked them on charges of damaging public property."

"Why these students, who are meritorious and passed their high school examination with more than 85% marks indulged in such activity. They are being framed by police," father of a student Rajkumar alleged.  "With board examinations going on, our children are brought to school from juvenile home to appear in the examination. They are being treated like murderers," Rajkumar alleged.

The bail application of the four students would be heard in juvenile court today. (PTI)

 

26/11 amounted to waging war against India: Nikam

Mumbai, March 10: The acts of Ajmal Kasab and other accused in the 26/11 terror siege amounted to "waging war against India" which is punishable by death penalty or life imprisonment, the prosecution argued in a trial court on Wednesday.

"By firing at people indiscriminately in Mumbai, Kasab and other conspirators wanted to destabilise the government and break the political and economic order of the country," special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said in his arguments that began yesterday in the high-security court at the Central Prison here.

Terror acts amount to waging war against the nation because some nations chose to use this as weapon to commit proxy war on others, Nikam submitted.

He argued that the definition of offence of waging war against the nation under section 121 of IPC includes persons of all nationalities and said this applies to Kasab also who had allegedly indulged in terror acts.

Nikam said the other two accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, who are charged with preparing maps of 26/11 targets, are also liable to be held guilty of "waging war against India".

He referred to Kasab's confession in which he had said that the 26/11 attackers were asked by conspirators at a training camp in Pakistan to commit terror acts in Mumbai to "bring pressure on the Indian government to liberate Kashmir".

The confession, which was later retracted by Kasab, had also mentioned Mumbai was being targeted because it is the financial hub of India.

Incidentally, when Nikam was making his argument, Kasab was caught sleeping in the dock and the judge M L Tahilyani had to reprimand him.

 Harping on his argument of "waging war against the nation", Nikam further said Kasab and others had been instructed by conspirators to kill American, Israeli and British nationals because they felt that people of these countries had committed atrocities against Muslims.

He referred to intercepted telephonic talks between attackers and their Pakistani handlers during terror attacks in which the former were instructed to kill Israeli nationals to "spoil friendly relations between India and Israel".

In another development, Nikam said Kasab's stand at the end of the trial that he had come to India as a Pakistani tourist and was in police custody on the day of 26/11 strike, was "a pack of lies, false defence and an after-thought".

He wondered why Kasab had not cross-examined the three police officers who had deposed that they had caught him alive at Girgaum Chowpatty on the night of 26/11 when he was trying to escape in a car along with another terrorist.

Kasab could have cross-examined them but he did not. As an after-thought he had taken this defence at a much later stage when the court was recording his statement after closing evidence, the prosecutor said.

Kasab's claim that he was in police custody on 26/11 was also falsified by his photographs placed as evidence, he said. A cameraman had shot Kasab's photographs at Chhatrapti Shivaji Terminus and at a foot-over-bridge nearby, he said. (PTI)

 

NIIT partners with IGNOU for IT, management courses

New Delhi, March 10: IT education and training major NIIT today announced its partnership with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to collaborate in areas like IT and management services.

Under the agreement, NIIT and IGNOU will jointly work on curriculum and its delivery, examination and certification of various programmes under areas like information technology and management. NIIT is aiming at training about one million students in the next five years under the partnership.

"As part of the partnership, we would offer IT and management courses in collaboration with IGNOU. These courses are targetted at skill building to enhance the employability of the students," NIIT Chairman Rajendra S Pawar told reporters here.

The courses are expected to commence from July this year from 100 NIIT centres. The fee would range between Rs 15,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh, depending on the course and its duration.

"We will start with about 100 centres and scale it up to 300 centres over two years in the country. Besides, we would also extend this to our centres in Asia Pacific and African region," NIIT President (Global Individual Learning Business) G Raghavan said.

NIIT has about 900 centres globally, of which 500 centres are located in India.

The partnership will target sectors like IT, banking and finance, BPO and retail. (PTI)

 

Soon, broadband in every village: Sachin Pilot

New Delhi, March 10:  India is charting a grand scheme targeting its rural outback to reach telecom and broadband services to each of its 626,000 villages, using funds to the tune of $3.5 billion lying unutilised in a dedicated fund.

Outlining the contours of this ambitious programme, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot told  in an interaction that 11,000 communication towers will be set up for the purpose - several in villages bordering Bangladesh and Pakistan.

“We are close to launching a programme of putting up these towers in villages where the population is less than 500 people and sometimes less than 200. It will be deployed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd,” said the minister.

“You will hear more on this very soon.” He said all service providers - private or state-run - have been allowed to install telecom towers to receive signals within 500 metres near the international borders to strengthen the existing communication system in rural areas.

“This will also check interference from foreign telecom networks.” According to Mr. Pilot, many of the towers will be in the tribal belts of Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Assam in the northeast, as the government's priority, as opposed to that of private players, was to get villages into the telecom loop as well.

“Private operators go where the money is,” he said, adding the finance will come from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) that is collected by the government from private players to meet the demands of rural connectivity.

Around Rs.17,000 crore ($3.5 billion) is lying in the fund, and experts believe this is enough to connect not just every district but also all of India's development blocks with fibre-optic cable and towers for high-speed communications.

Pilot, who is an alumnus of the Wharton Business School and St. Stephen's College here, says communications will be a great unifier and bridge the digital divide so that the “other India” in the hinterland also has access to high-speed data and telecom.

“We want to make our country much more wired than it is today. That's a very good way of getting people together. That's why we have to leverage these opportunities before us.”(Agencies)