LIVE! Some Ukraine voters seen voting twice in pro-Russian separatist poll

LIVE

Sun, 11 May 2014

Some Ukraine voters seen voting twice in pro-Russian separatist poll

Timeline Refresh

21:02 Nigerians demand better government response to schoolgirl abductions

Nigerians staging a daily protest in the capital said Saturday they are fed up with their government's indifference to the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls, even as the Nigerian president once again promised to bring them home.

For 11 days, the protesters in Abuja have demanded Nigeria do more to rescue the girls, who were kidnapped more than three weeks ago by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. They vow to sit every day until the girls are rescued.

Voters streamed into polling stations Sunday in eastern Ukraine to vote in snap referendums held by pro-Russian activists eager to declare independence from Kiev.

Voters in the city of Donetsk face this question on the ballot: "Do you support the Act of Independence of the People's Republic of Donetsk?" The options are "yes" or "no." A similar question is being put to voters in Luhansk.

Many of the voters were not on the registration lists, which were outdated, but were allowed to vote after showing identification documents.

On billboards and in posters taped to car windows, new portraits of President Bashar Assad filled the streets of Damascus today as Syria officially opened its presidential campaign despite a crippling civil war that has devastated the country and left large chunks of territory outside of government control.

19:18 Despite majority claims, BJP scours for allies

Even as its leaders claim that the BJP and its allies will get a majority in the Lok Sabha, the party seems to be looking for potential allies. BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has said that making disparaging remarks about governments run by regional parties in different states did not pre-empt the possibility of allying with them later.

His aide Amit Shah, who handles the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, a state crucial to the BJP's electoral plans, said Friday that the party did not believe in political "untouchability". Political experts say this is a sign that the Bharatiya Janata Party's juggernaut has not rolled decisively enough to propel it to a clear win in the 545-seat Lok Sabha.

Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine held a vote on independence today, slammed by Kiev as a Kremlin-backed "criminal farce", amid fears the poll could spark civil war and lead to the break-up of the ex-Soviet republic.

Western nations supporting Ukraine's government in its showdown with pro-Moscow insurgents stressed the self-rule "referendums" for the provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk were illegal and would not be recognised.

One of the teenagers who escaped from Islamic extremists who abducted more than 300 schoolgirls said today the kidnapping was "too terrifying for words," and she is scared to go back to school.

Science student Sarah Lawan, 19, told The Associated Press that more of the girls could have escaped but that they were frightened by their captors' threats to shoot them.

Grieving families of 239 people aboard the crashed Malaysian jet, including from India, have demanded the release raw satellite data to solve the over two-month- long aviation mystery even as an underwater drone is set to resume the hunt for wreckage in the remote Indian Ocean.

The next of kin of the passengers and crew of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 have formed Voice370, short for MH370 Victims Families and Crew Association.

18:09 EC acting as election office of BJP: Azam

A defiant Azam Khan today escalated his attack on Election Commission, alleging that it was acting as an election office of BJP and also described the elections as "unconstitutional" due to projection of Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate ahead of poll results.

Khan told reporters here that he had responded to the notice of the Commission within prescribed limit, yet ban on his speeches was not lifted.

The Election Commission today issued a show cause notice to Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal for his alleged remarks in Amethi that even if a single vote is cast in favour of Congress and BJP, then it will be "treachery against God and the country".

Noting that prima facie he violated provisions of the Model Code of Conduct, the Commission has given him time till May 13 evening to present his views on the matter failing which the poll body will take a decision without further reference to him.

17:50

Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) tweeted at 3:42 PM on Sun, May 11, 2014:Starting tomorrow evening all politicians should take a vow of silence till the 16th morning. This country has had enough of us :-)

17:50

17:26 Iran won't accept 'nuclear apartheid': Rouhani

Iran will not accept "nuclear apartheid" but is willing to offer more transparency over its atomic activities, President Hassan Rouhani said today ahead of new talks with world powers.

Iran and the P5+1 group of nations will start hammering out a draft accord Tuesday aimed at ending a decade-long standoff over suspicions that the Islamic republic is concealing military objectives.

If this election campaign is to be remembered like a suspense drama, it must have a surprise end.What a roller coaster it has been since June 2013 when all senior BJP leaders assembled in Goa to strategise for the coming elections.

Instead of discussing the roadmap with senior leaders, Narendra Modi and his cohorts imposed on them a fait accompli: Modi will be the head of the party's election campaign.

The Airport Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Airport today arrested two passengers, in two different operations, on their arrival here from Dubai and seized over 25 kg gold worth Rs 6.5 crore. This is the highest seizure of smuggled gold from the airport in a day, claimed Milind Lanjewar, Additional Commissioner, AIU.

After watching one more disappointing interview of Narendra Modi, this time by Arnab Goswami, it seems clear enough that it doesn't matter who the interviewer is, what matters is the set of questions posed to Modi.

On this score, every interview of Modi during this campaign has been a failure. While it is unlikely that Modi will agree to an interview with The Caravan, I do believe the ten questions listed below need to be asked. The Gujarat model of development requires another set of ten questions on its own, but it is best to begin with these. Perhaps Modi, or anyone speaking on his behalf, can consider answering them in writing if they are unwilling to face tough questions followed by counter questions?

16:18 AAP open to supporting Third Front to stop BJP

The Aam Aadmi Party today did not rule out backing Third Front to stop BJP from coming to power, saying it may offer issue based support to a non-Congress "secular" dispensation.

With the marathon Lok Sabha elections wrapping up tomorrow, senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said AAP will consider offering issue-based support to a Third Front government if such an initiative was launched based on election results which will be out on May 16.

A Pakistani lawyer representing jailed doctor Shakil Afridi, who helped the CIA track down al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, has quit citing threats to his life and the US's "pressure tactics" for his release.

During the hearing, Samiullah Afridi yesterday said they were fighting the case in the court of law but undue pressure from the US is an indirect interference in the court proceedings and that is the main reason he decided to quit.

16:03 Political eclipse of once formidable Brahmins

It's a conspiracy of Brahmins,' quipped RJD supremo Lalu Yadav when the President invited Atal Bihari Vajpayee to form the government.

If Narendra Modi is crowned as India's head of government, will Lalu scream, "It is a new Mandal conspiracy'? Lalu was not wide off the mark: Of the 67 years since Independence, India has been ruled by Brahmin Prime Ministers for over 51 years.

Three "terrorists" were killed today in clashes at a checkpoint near Yemen's presidential palace, two days after a suspected Al-Qaeda attack on the same post killed five guards, the interior ministry said.

A civilian was also killed in the gunfight which erupted at dawn after gunmen attacked the presidential guard checkpoint near Misbahi roundabout, around 500 metres from the palace, a statement said.

The CBI will form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) soon to probe the Saradha chit fund scam in which investors in West Bengal, Odisha and Assam were allegedly duped of Rs 10,000 crore besides examining the role of market regulators like SEBI and RBI.

"We will form the SIT as soon as the legalities in the case are finalised," CBI Director Ranjit Sinha said here today. Official sources said the SIT is expected to be formed soon.

A small plane carrying French tourists crashed while landing in windy conditions at an airport in northern Arizona, killing one person and leaving another hospitalised, authorities said.

The single-engine plane with a pilot and the six tourists yesterday hit the ground and toppled over near the airport runway in Page, the centre of a tourist area about 322 kilometres north of Phoenix, Page Police Capt Ray Varner said.

"The plane hit the sand and flipped over upside down," Varner told The Associated Press.

Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal's executive assistant Jennifer D'Silva is alleged to have pressurised the captain of its international flight to allow her to sleep on a bunk which is only meant for resting of flight crew members as per the DGCA norms, sources said.

The incident happened on the airline's Mumbai-Hong Kong flight recently in which D'Silva was travelling with her husband, they said. The flight time between the two cities is about five and a half hours.

South Korea's parliament is to open an investigation into the ferry disaster that has left 300 people dead or missing, politicians confirmed today, as the government counters criticism of its handling of the tragedy.

A special parliamentary session will open this week and a number of committees will begin work from tomorrow, the government and opposition said, dedicated to confirming the cause of and responsibility for the sinking of the Sewol.

Concerns over China's aggressive behavior in the South China Sea were a key topic today in the first regional summit hosted by Myanmar, which is hoping to demonstrate the progress it's made since emerging from a half-century of brutal military rule.

A standoff between Chinese and Vietnamese ships near the Paracel Islands put a fresh spotlight on long-standing and bitter maritime disputes.

Voting began today in referendums called by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine to split from the rest of the ex-Soviet republic, polls the US slammed as "illegal" as the West fears they could spark civil war.

The vote, carried out as two "referendums" in provinces where the insurgents hold more than a dozen towns, marks a serious deepening of the political crisis in Ukraine, which has pushed East-West relations to lows not seen since the end of the Cold War.

An FIR was today registered against Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil under Representation of Peoples Act for promoting enmity between two classes in connection with elections for his remark that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is a "fake OBC".

"An FIR has been registered against Shaktisinh Gohil for his alleged 'fake OBC' remark against the political person," said an officer attached to Sola police station where the complaint was lodged.

11:14 Terrorist arrested at railway station

Railway police today claimed to have arrested a Hijbul Mujahdeen terrorist from the city's cantonment railway station.

The terrorist, arrested yesterday, was identified as Ravish Ul Islam, a resident of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, they said. Acting on a tip-off, the police launched a search operation on the Jammu-bound Sealdah Express.

11:13 Naxal attack in Gadchiroli kills 5 jawans

Naxals blow up a police vehicle in a landmine blast in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.

5 jawans have been killed in the attack.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah has decided to return official files without seeing them if they aren't in Kannada.

After receiving a report of the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), Siddaramaiah expressed his displeasure at the attitude of both the people and officers towards the official language of the state.

11:06 The Gujarat middle

In an earlier article published on this page ("The Gujarat Muddle,' April 11, 2014), I pointed out that Gujarat's development achievements were hardly "model' class. This is pretty firm ground: the same point has been made by a long list of eminent economists. Yet confusion persists, so I decided to take another look at the data, just in case I had been carried away.

00:04 After campaign end, Modi meets top RSS leaders

BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi tonight held a long meeting with top RSS leaders, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat, hours after the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections came to an end.

Modi joined Bhagwat, his deputy Bhaiyyaji Joshi and Suresh Soni, the RSS pointsman with BJP, at the Sangh headquarters here where they are learnt to have reviewed the future course of action and current campaign strategy, two days before the last phase of elections, including in the crucial eastern UP.

The meeting lasted for over two hours, sources said. Sangh workers have campaigned extensively for BJP in eastern UP where the party seeks to dramatically improve its fortunes. The meeting also discussed the current political situation, sources said, adding that Modi left after having dinner with the RSS top brass.

00:02 Top headlines of the last 24 hours

'I came to campaign for Modi in Varanasi, not the BJP'
2 injured in Communal clashes in Meerut
Muscle...Muslims...and Rahul's marriage...
No case against Rahul on violating voting secrecy: V S Sampath
Modi's Guj model aimed at facilitating one industrialist: Rahul
Lalu calls Modi Advani's 'chela', vows to stop him

Timeline Refresh

TOP STORIES