Pak News Wire

Will Feds charge Darren Wilson?

Will Feds charge Darren Wilson?

Will Darren Wilson face federal civil rights charges for the death of Michael Brown?

Rihanna wins legal battle with UK’s Topshop over image rights

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/825819/rihanna-wins-legal-battle-with-uks-topshop-over-image-rights/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/825819-rihanna-1421928592-701-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			LONDON: Pop star Rihanna’s victory in a legal case against Topshop over the use of her image has been upheld by Britain’s Court of Appeal, which backed an earlier judgment against the British fashion chain. Three years ago Topshop, which is owned by billionaire Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, started selling a T-shirt with an image of Rihanna on it without her permission. Rihanna, full name Robyn Rihanna Fenty, took Topshop to court over the matter, and in 2013 a judge ruled in her favour, saying that shoppers could be deceived into buying the T-shirt, wrongly believing it was authorised by the Barbadian singer. On Thursday, the Court of Appeal dismissed Topshop’s appeal against that decision, finding that the retailer had infringed Rihanna’s rights by selling the item without her approval. The image was a photograph taken by a freelance photographer in Northern Ireland while Rihanna was filming a music video. Topshop had a licence from the photographer to use the picture but no licence from Rihanna. In Britain, celebrities do not own the rights to their image, but companies using an image without permission can face legal action. “In this case, both the Court of Appeal and High Court were at pains to spell out that it is not an infringement just to use someone else’s image, but that on the facts of the case they both agreed that the circumstances surrounding the image’s use on the T-shirt meant there was a false misrepresentation leading to passing-off,” said intellectual property lawyer Jeremy Blum from law firm Bristows in a statement. Passing off means deceiving a potential buyer into thinking goods or services on sale are those of another.

Rihanna wins legal battle with UK’s Topshop over image rights

LONDON: Pop star Rihanna’s victory in a legal case against Topshop over the use of her image has been upheld by Brita...

QZ8501: Rapid climb, then stall

QZ8501: Rapid climb, then stall

AirAsia Flight QZ8501 climbed rapidly before it crashed, a top Indonesian official said Tuesday.

U.N. slams monk over ‘whore’ comments

U.N. slams monk over ‘whore’ comments

The United Nations' top human rights official has called on Myanmar's leaders to "unequivocally condemn" an ultra-national...

AirAsia CEO ‘haunted’ by QZ8501

AirAsia CEO ‘haunted’ by QZ8501

CNN's Richard Quest sits down with AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes to talk about the crash of Flight QZ8501.

States seize cash, property from drivers

States seize cash, property from drivers

On a bright, clear morning in April 2013, two professional poker players from California were heading west on Interstate 80 in rural Iowa wh...

Dempsey: Gitmo a ‘psychological scar’

Dempsey: Gitmo a ‘psychological scar’

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey says the Guantanamo Bay prison should be closed, but dozens of the prisoners now being held there ...

5 Yemeni Gitmo detainees transferred; 122 remain

5 Yemeni Gitmo detainees transferred; 122 remain

Five Guantanamo Bay detainees have been transferred, the Department of Defense announced in a press release Wednesday.

ISIS gain ground; compete with al Qaeda in Yemen

ISIS gain ground; compete with al Qaeda in Yemen

ISIS' reach extends to the volatile country, which has further destabilized in recent days, and has fought gun-battles with Yemen-based ...

Japan: No word from ISIS as deadline nears

Japan: No word from ISIS as deadline nears

Japan says it has had no contact with ISIS as the Islamic militant group's deadline nears for Tokyo to pay a $ 200 million ransom to sp...

Bergen: Just pay ISIS ransom?

Bergen: Just pay ISIS ransom?

The black-clad, masked British ISIS terrorist who has taken center stage in the group's hostage videos appeared in a new video on Tuesda...

Disenchanted militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan eye Islamic State with envy

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/825705/disenchanted-militants-in-pakistan-afghanistan-eye-islamic-state-with-envy/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/825705-image-1421911322-713-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			PESHAWAR: Splits within the Taliban, and doubts over whether its elusive leader is even alive, are driving a growing number of militant commanders in Afghanistan and Pakistan towards Islamic State (IS) for inspiration. Security and intelligence sources believe there are no operational links yet between IS and South Asia, and that the region is not a priority for a group that occupies areas of Syria and Iraq and is focused on the Arab world. But regional leaders worry that a new ultra-violent movement bent on toppling governments could be born from the stubborn Taliban insurgency that carries out frequent attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, one militant commander said many have turned to IS, or Daish as it is also known, because they are frustrated at the lack of leadership by Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Afghan Taliban chief who has not been seen in public for years. “Look, we have been fighting for years but we don’t have an inch of land in our possession in Afghanistan,” said the senior commander, who spoke from the Afghan province of Kunar. “On the other hand, Daish, within limited time, captured vast areas in Iraq and Syria and established Sharia. This is what is being discussed all the time in our circles.” “We have serious doubts about whether he (Omar) is alive at all … Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is visible and is leading his people,” the commander said, referring to the IS leader. He is one of several disgruntled militant leaders who belong to the so-called Khorasan chapter, an umbrella IS group covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other South Asian countries.  IS ideology gaining ground Pakistani intelligence sources said the Khorasan chapter appeared to have no specific base in the region, and there was no evidence of direct financing of its activities by IS in Syria and Iraq. Security experts agree that it owes its existence mainly to the fragmentation of the Taliban and faces opposition from rival groups, notably the Taliban itself and al Qaeda. Yet there is no doubt extreme IS ideology is gaining traction. In Afghanistan’s Helmand province, long a Taliban stronghold, former Taliban commander Mullah Rauf Khadem has recruited about 100 men and declared the Helmand branch of Islamic State, a security source and local elders said. “There is a rift between senior Taliban and Mullah Rauf Khadem,” said Abdul Ahad Masoomi, a tribal elder in Kajaki district where the group has become particularly active. “He has told other commanders and fighters that Mullah Omar has died, due to sickness, in Pakistan.” The group has been riding around on motorcycles brandishing black flags similar to those used by IS, but otherwise they have not been involved in major fighting, according to locals. “Khadem has given them shelter in Kajaki and they go around trying to recruit villagers, but the villagers are afraid of Taliban reprisals,” said Haji Naseem, another tribal elder. The Taliban, who like al Qaeda are wary of the rise of a rival force, deny the Helmand group’s existence. “There is no such group there, it is state propaganda,” said Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesperson for southern regions. “State troops have suffered heavy losses and they are trying to create rifts among the Taliban to conceal their failures.” For Afghanistan, splits within the Taliban could be welcome as government forces try to prevent insurgents from taking advantage of the recent departure of most foreign combat troops. But the rise of IS is a worry in a region where radical new ideas can catch on among a vast unemployed population of young and well-armed men. “The existence of IS supporters is a big concern for us and we will do whatever we can to stop it in Helmand before it spreads to other provinces,” said a senior Afghan security official. Copycat killing IS ideology goes beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Bangladesh, police have arrested eight men for alleged links to IS in the past year, including a man they identified as a regional coordinator and a British citizen accused of recruiting people in Bangladesh to fight in the Middle East. India, with the world’s third-largest Muslim population, last month banned IS, days after detaining an engineer for running a popular Twitter account extolling the militant group. <img alt="" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/0-LINE-1420726462.jpg" /> <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/825636/is-commander-arrested-in-lahore/" target="_blank">RELATED POST: IS commander arrested in Lahore</a> <img alt="" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/0-LINE-1420726462.jpg" /> In Kabul, a group of students formed an underground IS support group. In Pakistan, graffiti praising IS have been spotted in some areas. Security forces also arrested the man they believed was the IS commander in the country and two accomplices involved in recruiting and sending fighters to Syria. But the examples are isolated. Islamic State competes with al Qaeda, which is affiliated with the Taliban, to lead the global jihad, and has expanded its network beyond Iraq and Syria in recent months. Yet neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan has featured in its leaders’ speeches. “The threat of (IS) in Pakistan is definitely something to watch out for and everyone should be vigilant, but it seems hugely exaggerated as of now,” said one Western diplomat in Islamabad. “Wall chalkings in support of a particular group do not, in and of themselves, suggest real presence of that group.”

Disenchanted militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan eye Islamic State with envy

PESHAWAR: Splits within the Taliban, and doubts over whether its elusive leader is even alive, are driving a growing ...

Creating deterrence: CII for criminalising three pronouncements of divorce at a time

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/825582/creating-deterrence-cii-for-criminalising-three-pronouncements-of-divorce-at-a-time/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/825582-MaulanaSheraniONLINEx-1421909626-912-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			<div>ISLAMABAD:  The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), a top constitutional body that advises the legislature whether or not a certain law is repugnant to Islam, has proposed the government criminalise three pronouncements of divorce at a time. </div> “Pronouncing Talaq, or divorce thrice in quick succession is un-Islamic and against the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh),” said CII Chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani. “Anyone seeking divorce is supposed to make the three pronouncements over a period of time.” Pointing to the increasing trend of divorces in the country, Maulana Sheerani said much more care should be taken while ending a ‘sacred relationship’ like marriage. He added that the CII proposed the government make legislation to declare pronouncement of three divorces at once a punishable offence. <img alt="" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/1414.jpg" /> CII member and chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council Allama Tahir Ashrafi said that the proposal has been made to create deterrence against divorce. “The divorce rate in Pakistan is estimated to have gone up by 150 to 200 per cent,” Ashrafi told The Express Tribune. According to Ashrafi, the proposal has been sent to the federal law ministry so that it could be translated into legislation. “The law minister assured me that the government will not create any hurdles for legislation. I hope the government will soon introduce a law [for this purpose],” he added. In Wednesday’s meeting, the CII also discussed whether Islam allows women to become judges or not. Although the council agreed that women could perform as judges, it asked female judges to observe hijab. Talking about the matter, Ashrafi said that since unlike the past judges today only issue verdicts and are not responsible for their implementation, “there is no harm for women to become judges.” He added, however, that a woman could not be a judge in cases of Hudud or Qisas. Asked about the CII’s instructions about hijab, Ashrafi said they asked both men and women to follow the code defined in the Islamic Sharia. Last year several rights activists condemned a report of the CII declaring the law requiring consent from first (second or third) wife for another marriage un-Islamic. The CII had said that Islamic Sharia did not bind a husband to seek permission from any of his wives before contracting another marriage. Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2015.

Creating deterrence: CII for criminalising three pronouncements of divorce at a time

ISLAMABAD: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), a top constitutional body that advises the legislature whether or n...

Yemeni rebels hold president captive

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/825555/yemeni-rebels-hold-president-captive/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/825555-reuterspresident-1421906773-746-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			SANAA: Yemen’s minority Houthi fighters took up guard at President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s home on Wednesday but said they had not toppled him, after two days of fighting which left little doubt that the enfeebled leader was now at their mercy. The Houthis, friendly to Iran, swept into the capital four months ago and have emerged as the dominant force in the country. For now at least they appear to have decided to stop short of overthrowing Hadi, possibly preferring to exert control over a weakened leader rather than take on the burden of power. Their defeat of the presidential guards in gunbattles and artillery duels in recent days adds to disarray in a country where the United States is also carrying out drone strikes against one of the most powerful branches of al Qaeda. After clashes at the president’s office and home on Tuesday, the Houthis’ leader threatened in a speech overnight to take further “measures” unless Hadi bows to his demand. Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2015.

Yemeni rebels hold president captive

SANAA: Yemen’s minority Houthi fighters took up guard at President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s home on Wednesday but sai...

24 captives freed from Boko Haram, Cameroon officials say

24 captives freed from Boko Haram, Cameroon officials say

A military operation in northern Cameroon has freed 24 of 80 people kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants, according to Cameroonian of...