Pakistan Pregnant Woman Stoned To Death

A Pakistani man whose pregnant wife was stoned to death by relatives claims police watched on as she was beaten with bricks.

Farzana Iqbal, who was three months pregnant, was attacked for marrying against her family's wishes.

A mob of around 30 people that included her brother, father and spurned husband attacked her outside Lahore High Court, police told AFP.

The 25-year-old, who was also called Farzana Parveen, was attending court to defend her new husband, Mohammad Iqbal.

Mr Iqbal was a widower with five children when he began seeing the woman

He was accused by the family of kidnapping and forcing marriage upon her.

Speaking to AFP from his home village of Jaranwala, where he had gone to bury his wife, Mr Iqbal said: "The most painful thing is that nobody came forward to save my wife, the police were there and hundreds of lawyers were there along with ordinary men, but they all just watched like spectators."

Police in Pakistan have told Sky News they are investigating the allegation.

Mrs Iqbal's father, Mohammad Azeem, has been charged with murder and the others are being sought, according to AP.

"The brother first opened fire with a gun but missed. She tried to run away but fell down," senior investigator Rana Akhtar told AFP.

Mr Iqbal said the couple had survived a previous attack when the case began

"The relatives caught her and then beat her to death with bricks."

Mr Iqbal was a widower with five children when he began seeing the victim.

"We were in love," he said.

"We demand justice. We were being threatened since we got married."

Lahore High Court

Mr Iqbal said they had survived a previous attack during the first hearing of the case on May 12.

"On Tuesday as we were going to court from our lawyer's office almost 30 people attacked us, including her father, brothers and cousins," he said.

A group of 10 or so people accompanying the couple were overwhelmed by the attack and fled, Mr Iqbal added.

Some 869 women died in so-called "honour killings" last year, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

"Such crimes persisted because of the impunity enjoyed by the killers," the commission said in a report, which noted that Pakistan's blood-money laws allow kin to forgive perpetrators.

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One Direction Call In Lawyers Over 'Joint' Video

One Direction's lawyers are examining a newly emerged video which appears to show two of the band members joking about smoking an "illegal substance" during their South America tour.

A spokesman for the group told Sky News: "The matter is now in the hands of our lawyers."

No other comment was offered and there has been no official confirmation that the boys who appear in the video are indeed members of the British band.

One Direction is one of the biggest boy bands on the planet

The video obtained by MailOnline appears to show band members Zayn Malik, 21, and Louis Tomlinson, 22, sharing a rolled up cigarette in the back of a car as they are driven through Peru.

Tomlinson, who appears to be filming but never appears on camera, can be heard saying: "So here we are, leaving Peru. Joint lit. Happy days!"

Smoke then clouds the shot as the voice says: "I'm trying to blow it to the camera."

The video shows the cigarette being passed to Malik who begins smoking.

Malik meeting fans in Leicester Square last year

At one point Tomlinson, who narrates the five-minute video, asks him: "What do you think about that kind of content?"

Malik replies: "Very controversial".

It is not clear from the video what is inside the cigarette, although the pair can be heard joking about smoking "illegal substances" as a policeman drives past on a motorbike.

As the camera pans to the policeman, the voice behind the camera laughs: "One nil b***h! Look at this b***h! He's having a look. He's thinking, 'I'm sure I can smell an illegal substance in there'. And he's hit the nail on the head."

The video also appears to show Malik and Tomlinson criticising the band's latest book, describing it as "so girly and not cool".

According to the MailOnline, the film was shot on April 27 while the band were en route to perform a concert in Peru's capital Lima.

It appeared that Tomlinson filmed the video

Fellow band members Harry Styles, Liam Payne, and Niall Horan are not seen in the film and are thought to have been travelling in another car.

The film has emerged as the group gear up for the first UK date of their Where We Are Tour.

They are due to play at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland later on Wednesday evening.

Since their debut on ITV's X Factor talent show One Direction has become one of the biggest boy bands on the planet.

Earlier this month they were named the fourth wealthiest musicians in the Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £14m each and a combined wealth of £70m.

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Clegg Poll: Vince Cable Must Address Claims

Lord Oakeshott's Statement

Updated: 12:43pm UK, Wednesday 28 May 2014

In his resignation statement, Lord Oakeshott said Nick Clegg has led the Liberal Democrats to a position where the party has "no roots, no principles and no values". Here is the statement in full:

I am today taking leave of absence from the House of Lords and resigning as a member of the Liberal Democrats.

I am sure the Party is heading for disaster if it keeps Nick Clegg; and I must not get in the way of the many brave Liberal Democrats fighting for change.

I leave, with a heavy heart, the party I helped to found with such high hopes with Roy Jenkins, Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams and David Owen at Limehouse in 1981.

We then, like most Liberal Democrats now, wanted a radical progressive party, not a "split the difference" Centre Party, with, in Shirley's memorable words, no roots, no principles and no values.

But that is where Nick Clegg has led us.

I am sorry I have so upset and embarrassed my old friend Vince Cable and that we were not able to talk before he issued yesterday's statement from China. This is the background:

Several months ago a close colleague, concerned about voting intentions in Twickenham, asked me if I would arrange and pay for a poll to show us Vince's current position and how best to get him re-elected.

I was happy to help, and Vince amended and approved the questionnaire, but at his request I excluded a question on voting intentions with a change of leader.

Although Vince had excellent ratings, both as a Minister and a local MP, he was slightly behind the Conservatives in this poll, as the full details on the ICM website show.

That poll worried me so much that I commissioned four more in different types of constituency all over the country and added back the change of leadership question.

The results were in the Guardian yesterday and on the ICM website. Several weeks ago, I told Vince the results of those four polls too.

The combined message of these five professional and reputable ICM constituency polls, Nick Clegg's dire approval ratings year after year in all national polls, and Thursday's appalling council and European election results is crystal clear: we must change the leader to give Liberal Democrat MPs their best chance to win in 2015.

On Thursday I also commissioned one more ICM poll, in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; the results should also be on the ICM website tonight.

A few stout-hearted M.P.s and peers and hundreds, maybe soon thousands, of candidates, councillors and Lib Dem members all over Britain are now fighting constituency by constituency for a leadership election.

I have tried to give them the evidence they need to make the change.

I pray that they win, and that the right man, or preferably, woman is now elected to save the Party.

When Charles Kennedy rang to make me a peer, from a panel elected by the party, fourteen years ago he said he wanted me to shake up the Lords.

I've tried - my bills to ban non-dom peers are now law - but my efforts to expose and end cash for peerages in all parties, including our own, and help get the Lords elected have failed.

I am very sorry to leave my many old, close comrades-in-arms on the Liberal Democrat benches all over Britain, and good friends and fellow campaigners across the House.

But the unreformed Lords is now a bloated balloon and at 67 it's time to concentrate on running my business and my charity.

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Civil Rights Activist Maya Angelou Dies

American author, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has died at age 86.

She died in her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Wednesday, her family said.

"Her family is extremely grateful that her ascension was not belaboured by a loss of acuity or comprehension," Ms Angelou's family said in statement.

"She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace.

"The family is extremely appreciative of the time we had with her and we know that she is looking down upon us with love."

Ms Angelou was the author of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Ms Angelou became one of the first black women to write a best-seller, her autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, published in 1970.

But she thrived in virtually every artistic medium, having performed as an actress, singer and dancer in the 1950s and 1960s.

Her story fascinated millions of Americans. She started off as a single mother who worked at strip clubs to earn a living to become an acclaimed performer around the world and celebrated poet.

"I'm not modest," she told The AP news agency last year.

"Modesty is a learned behaviour. But I do pray for humility, because humility comes from the inside out."

With South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in 2008

Her death was mourned across America, and beyond.

"Dr Angelou was a national treasure whose life and teachings inspired millions around the world, including countless students, faculty, and staff at Wake Forest," Wake Forest University, where she was a professor of American Studies, said in a statement.

Over the course of her career, she provided eloquent commentary on race and gender.

Tall and regal, Ms Angelou had a deep and majestic voice

Ms Angelou rose from a childhood of poverty to become a force on stage and in the printed page, befriending Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and the Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Mr Mandela watched the film version of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings in prison in 1986, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement mourning her loss.

Ms Angelou was the poet chosen to read at former President Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993, where she recited On The Pulse Of The Morning.  

Her performance openly delighted Mr Clinton and made the poem a best-seller.

For former President George W Bush, she read another poem, Amazing Peace, at the 2005 Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the White House.

In 1998, she directed the film Down In The Delta about a drug-wrecked woman who returns to the home of her ancestors in the Mississippi Delta.

More follows...

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Lib Dem Peer Oakeshott Resigns Over Poll Leak

Lord Oakeshott's Statement

Updated: 12:43pm UK, Wednesday 28 May 2014

In his resignation statement, Lord Oakeshott said Nick Clegg has led the Liberal Democrats to a position where the party has "no roots, no principles and no values". Here is the statement in full:

I am today taking leave of absence from the House of Lords and resigning as a member of the Liberal Democrats.

I am sure the Party is heading for disaster if it keeps Nick Clegg; and I must not get in the way of the many brave Liberal Democrats fighting for change.

I leave, with a heavy heart, the party I helped to found with such high hopes with Roy Jenkins, Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams and David Owen at Limehouse in 1981.

We then, like most Liberal Democrats now, wanted a radical progressive party, not a "split the difference" Centre Party, with, in Shirley's memorable words, no roots, no principles and no values.

But that is where Nick Clegg has led us.

I am sorry I have so upset and embarrassed my old friend Vince Cable and that we were not able to talk before he issued yesterday's statement from China. This is the background:

Several months ago a close colleague, concerned about voting intentions in Twickenham, asked me if I would arrange and pay for a poll to show us Vince's current position and how best to get him re-elected.

I was happy to help, and Vince amended and approved the questionnaire, but at his request I excluded a question on voting intentions with a change of leader.

Although Vince had excellent ratings, both as a Minister and a local MP, he was slightly behind the Conservatives in this poll, as the full details on the ICM website show.

That poll worried me so much that I commissioned four more in different types of constituency all over the country and added back the change of leadership question.

The results were in the Guardian yesterday and on the ICM website. Several weeks ago, I told Vince the results of those four polls too.

The combined message of these five professional and reputable ICM constituency polls, Nick Clegg's dire approval ratings year after year in all national polls, and Thursday's appalling council and European election results is crystal clear: we must change the leader to give Liberal Democrat MPs their best chance to win in 2015.

On Thursday I also commissioned one more ICM poll, in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; the results should also be on the ICM website tonight.

A few stout-hearted M.P.s and peers and hundreds, maybe soon thousands, of candidates, councillors and Lib Dem members all over Britain are now fighting constituency by constituency for a leadership election.

I have tried to give them the evidence they need to make the change.

I pray that they win, and that the right man, or preferably, woman is now elected to save the Party.

When Charles Kennedy rang to make me a peer, from a panel elected by the party, fourteen years ago he said he wanted me to shake up the Lords.

I've tried - my bills to ban non-dom peers are now law - but my efforts to expose and end cash for peerages in all parties, including our own, and help get the Lords elected have failed.

I am very sorry to leave my many old, close comrades-in-arms on the Liberal Democrat benches all over Britain, and good friends and fellow campaigners across the House.

But the unreformed Lords is now a bloated balloon and at 67 it's time to concentrate on running my business and my charity.

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Political Battle Over Who Can Make Scots Richer

Scots Independence: Rest Of UK Firms Want Union

Updated: 4:40am UK, Wednesday 07 May 2014

By Niall Paterson, Sky News Correspondent

An overwhelming majority of businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland say that Scotland should remain part of the UK, according to a survey for the British Chambers of Commerce.

The BCC, which itself remains impartial in the debate, surveyed close to 2,500 of its members, and whilst 11% said Scotland should vote yes, some 85% preferred the union to remain.

Two thirds said no new opportunities would arise in the event of a 'Yes' vote, and just over a third, 35%, said a formal currency union, a key ambition of the SNP-led campaign, would be in the best interests of the UK as a whole.

The BCC's director general John Longworth said: "Business opinion across the United Kingdom on the Scottish independence debate is far from unanimous. That's only logical, as businesses have different interests, and different views on our complex history of economic and political union.

"In the event of a 'Yes' vote, cross-border trading and currency arrangements loom large in businesses' thinking. If Scotland votes 'no', constitutional questions remain around the devolution of power and the distribution of public funding between nations."

The poll has been seized upon by those campaigning for a 'No' vote, as with a recent report from credit ratings agency Moody's which said an independent Scotland would find itself downgraded.

Edinburgh South Labour MP and Shadow Business Minister Ian Murray said: "This survey confirms what some of Scotland's largest employers like Standard Life, RBS and Shell have made clear. Breaking up the UK would create huge risks and cost jobs in Scotland.

"The majority of businesses in the rest of the UK do not support a currency union. It would be bad for Scotland and bad for the rest of the UK. That's why it is off the table.

"What people in Scotland need from the nationalists is some honesty about what would replace the pound if we leave the UK. Would we rush to adopt the euro or would we set up a separate Scottish currency? The idea that Scots can go to the polls blind on this fundamental issue isn't credible."

Yet there is hardly unanimity north of the border either - nor an overwhelming sense of fear that cross-border trade would come to a juddering halt.

Many here expect business to continue if not entirely as normal then with significant benefits in the longer term.

Tony Banks, chairman of Business for Scotland, a pro-independence campaign group with close to two thousand members said: "This is a survey that of course doesn't include Scottish businesses who have a rather different perception.

"Scottish independence offers real advantages to everyone, not only in Scotland but across our shared markets in Europe - that independence doesn't equal isolation and businesses here are well aware of the opportunities they can gain.

"Even the Scottish Chambers of Commerce survey issued last week conceded that 53% of its members see the opportunities that independence could bring."

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Calais Migrant Camps Dismantled By Riot Cops

French police have evacuated and dismantled three makeshift migrant camps in Calais.

Some 200 riot police surrounded the camps housing migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia after a deadline for them to leave expired.

Some migrants had already left, others waited until the eviction itself

Sanitary conditions in the camps were poor and a scabies outbreak was beginning to spread into the town of Calais, said the Governor of the Pas-de-Calais region, Denis Robin.

While many migrants had left the camps ahead of the eviction, some were seen leaving hurriedly carrying their blankets as the police moved in.

Bulldozers were brought in to destroy the tents

Representatives of the migrants were earlier said to be in talks as to whether or not they would accept an offer from the authorities to leave and be rehoused elsewhere in exchange of a promise not to arrest them.

They were offered the chance to shower, receive medical attention and have a change of clothes, shoes and bedding.

Only one migrant is so far reported to have accepted the offer - more than 200 are said to have moved into a food distribution centre.

They are believed to want to refuse alternative accommodation outside Calais because they want to get to Britain.

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Rolf Harris 'Disguised Dark Side Of His Character'

By Nick Pisa at Southwark Crown Court

Rolf Harris used "bear hugs" to hide his serial sexual abuse and is good at disguising a "dark side" of his character, a court has heard.

The TV entertainer, who denies 12 charges of indecent assault, is facing questions from prosecutor Sasha Wass QC.

She told the jury all the alleged victims describe a similar scenario: bear hugs then sexual molestation.

The prosecutor claimed Harris committed child abuse in conducting an affair with his daughter's best friend. She added that he "psychologically dominated that girl" so she kept it secret.

But the 84-year-old said the relationship was based on a "mutual feeling of warmth and affection" - and claimed the alleged victim initiated the affair.

Harris added that he "laughed in disbelief" when he discovered the alleged victim had been "terrified" of him.

He recalled her coming to his house in Bray, Berkshire, to have sex, telling the jury that he took her a cup of tea and she started flirting with him, kicking off her duvet to reveal her bare legs.

Rolf Harris arrives at Southwark Crown Court with his family

Harris said they would "whisper sweet nothings" to each other, but under continued cross examination he admitted he could not remember what was said.

He told Southwark Crown Court he had worked with the NSPCC on child abuse issues, making a campaign video for them.

But Ms Wass described him as a "brilliant and polished performer".

The prosecutor said the trial was "not a talent show" as she recalled how he had entertained the court by singing during his earlier evidence.

Jurors were told: "Underneath the friendly and loveable exterior there is a darker side."

Accused of being "pretty good" at hiding this dark side, Harris replied: "I suppose so."

Ms Wass said the court had to discover "how dark that dark side is".

The jury has been told how his daughter's friend alleges she was molested by Harris twice during a family holiday in Hawaii in 1978.

Harris denies 12 counts of indecent assault on four women

The defendant said it was "possible" he had admired her body sexually during the holiday but insisted "nothing happened" during that period and he had "no recollection" of the other allegations.

Harris explained how he was on a ship exhibiting his paintings when police searched his home.

Under further cross examination Ms Wass said his relationship with the main complainant was not "deep and meaningful" to which Harris replied: "I don't suppose it was."

Ms Wass said: "You didn't even talk to the girl. It was a pretty cynical sexual relationship, no tenderness, no love, no friendship."

Harris replied: "I thought there was."

The prosecutor asked why he initially mentioned two occasions when he had sex with his daughter's friend, but later talked of four.

Harris said there were two "attractive young ladies" in the police interview room which prevented him from going into detail when questioned.

He denies 12 counts of indecent assault on four females aged between seven or eight and 19 between 1968 and 1986.

The trial continues on Thursday.

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Murder Arrest After Dorset Nurse Vanishes

A 60-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a nurse went missing from the hospital where she works.

Rui Li, 44, was last seen leaving Poole Hospital at around 6pm on May 23. 

Officers are now holding the 60-year-old man from Bournemouth, who is known to Ms Li.

Forensic experts are investigating three addresses in the Boscombe area and police have appealed for the public's help in working out Ms Li's last movements.

Detective Inspector Marcus Hester said: "We sadly have reason to believe Ms Li may have come to harm and have arrested a man on suspicion of murder.

"However, at this time we do not know her whereabouts.

"Our investigations are focused on establishing exactly what happened between Friday evening and the time Ms Li was reported missing to us on Tuesday morning.

"I would ask anyone who has seen or heard from her since she left work at Poole Hospital to contact us.

"We are building up a picture of her life, so I would also ask anyone who we haven't spoken to already, who knew her well and may have information that could assist us, to get in touch."

Ms Li is described as around 5ft 5in tall and slim.

She sometimes wears glasses and often wears her shoulder-length black hair in a ponytail.

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Obama Proposes $5bn Anti-Terrorism Fund

President Barack Obama has unveiled a $5bn (£3bn) fund to help countries tackle extremists, in a speech outlining his foreign policy doctrine.

Speaking at the Military Academy in West Point, New York, the President said the planned US withdrawal from Afghanistan would enable it to focus on emerging threats from the Middle East to North Africa. 

He said he would ask Congress to support the establishment of a Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund to tackle such threats.

Sky News' Hannah Thomas-Peter, who attended the speech, said it was Mr Obama's riposte to critics who accuse him of an overly cautious approach that has given succour to adversaries in Syria, Russia and China.

Mr Obama spoke during a graduation ceremony at West Point

Standing by his decision not to intervene militarily in Syria's civil war, Mr Obama said he aimed to "ramp up" US support for moderate Syrian rebels.

He also laid out his argument that modern foreign policy should be rooted in diplomacy rather than intervention.

"Here's my bottom line," he said, "America must always lead on the world stage.

Underclassmen listen from the back of the stadium as Mr Obama speaks

"If we don't, no one else will. The military that you have joined is, and always will be, the backbone of that leadership.

"But US military action cannot be the only - or even primary - component of our leadership in every instance.

"Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail." 

He said that extremism remained the principal threat to the US at home and abroad.

"But a strategy that involves invading every country that harbours terrorist networks is naive and unsustainable," he added.

Mr Obama congratulates one of the graduates

He continued to defend his use of drone strikes in countries like Yemen and Somalia, but called for increased transparency on such covert operations.

Republicans have criticised Mr Obama's plan, announced on Tuesday, for the US to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after the war there formally ends later this year.

But he said on Wednesday the US had made much headway in Afghanistan against al Qaeda, and "sustaining this progress depends on the ability of Afghans to do the job". 

Mr Obama also defended his approach to the Ukraine crisis

He also defended his approach to the Ukraine crisis, of seeking to build a multilateral consensus against Russia.

"This isn't the Cold War," he said. "Our ability to shape world opinion helped isolate Russia right away. Because of American leadership, the world immediately condemned Russian actions."

Mr Obama also said he would continue to press for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and place new restrictions on how America gathers intelligence, amid the fallout from the NSA leaks.

"I believe in American exceptionalism with every fibre of my being," said the President.

"But what makes us exceptional is not our ability to flout international norms and the rule of law."

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