News in Brief

First Pakistani woman to scale Everest
The Hindu Online

Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman to scale Mt Everest on Sunday morning. She did so in the company of Indian twin sisters, among others.
After scaling the peak, the trio hoisted Indian and Pakistani flags side by side atop Mt Everest, as a message of peace, friendship and collaborative action.
Baig, 22, a native of Shimshal village deep in the Karakorum range in Upper Hunza, was accompanied by her brother and guide Mirza Ali, 29, on the climb.
The attempt began as an event to commemorate the first successful expedition to Mt Everest, on May 29, 1963, by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

AP boss calls US govt's phone seizures 'unconstitutional'
Ap, Washington

The Associated Press' president and chief executive says the government's secret seizure of two months of reporters' phone records has already had a chilling effect on news gathering, a week after the subpoenas were revealed publicly.
Gary Pruitt on Sunday called the Justice Department's actions "unconstitutional" and said the AP hasn't ruled out legal action.
In his first television interviews since the AP reported the Justice Department seizure, Pruitt said it has made sources less willing to talk to AP journalists and, in the long term, could limit Americans' information from all news outlets.
Pruitt told CBS' "Face the Nation" that the government has no business monitoring the AP's newsgathering activities.

6 independent MNAs join Sharif's party
Dawn Online

Six independents elected from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) yesterday met with Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and announced their inclusion in the party, DawnNews reported.The six independent candidates who succeeded in winning from different Fata regions met with the PML-N chief in Raiwind before joining the party.The MNAs include Shahji Gul, Bismillah Khan, Sajid Toori, Ghazi Gulab Jamal, Bilal Rahman and Nazir Khan.The MNAs moreover assured the PML-N leadership of their full support and cooperation for the party in government formation after it won the May 11 general elections.

Pakistan court grants Musharraf  bail in Bhutto murder
Afp, Rawalpindi

A Pakistani court yesterday granted bail to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over the murder of Benazir Bhutto, an official said, but the retired general remains under house arrest.
"General Musharraf's bail has been confirmed" by an anti-terrorism court in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad, court official Mohammad Aslam Joya told AFP.
Judge Habibur Rehman has ordered Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008 after seizing power in a coup, to pay two bonds worth one million rupees ($10,000) each, he added.
Musharraf has been detained in his farmhouse on the edge of Islamabad since April 19, on charges of conspiracy to murder two-time prime minister Bhutto, who was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack in 2007 in Rawalpindi.
The bail does not mean his automatic release as he also faces legal cases over the sacking of judges when he imposed emergency rule in 2007, and the 2006 death of a Baluch rebel leader.
Musharraf's government blamed Bhutto's killing on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.
Musharraf returned from exile in March to stand in last week's general election, vowing to "save" the country from militancy and economic collapse but he was barred from running over charges dating back to his time in power.

Obama to discuss CT strategy  
Afp, Washington

President Barack Obama will discuss his counterterrorism strategy (CT) Thursday, revealing to the American public his plans for unmanned drones and Guantanamo Bay, the White House said Sunday.
During his speech at the National Defense University in Washington, the president will discuss "our broad counter-terrorism policy, including our military, diplomatic, intelligence and legal efforts," a White House official told AFP.
"He will review the state of the threats we face, particularly as Al-Qaeda core has weakened but new dangers have emerged."
The speech will come a little more than a month after the deadly twin bombings in Boston blamed on two ethnic Chechen brothers who lived in the United States for several years.
Obama's address will also discuss his administration's "policy and legal framework" to counter extremist threats, including the use of drones, according to the official, who requested anonymity.

Afghan suicide attack kills 14
Afp, Mazar-i-sharif

A suicide bomber struck outside government buildings in northern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 14 people including a local politician in the latest attack to target provincial officials.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and took the wounded to hospital after the bomber, who was wearing police uniform, blew himself up next to Rasoul Mohseni, the head of Baghlan's provincial council.
Also among the dead were seven police guards and several other people waiting to speak to Mohseni, who was walking into the government offices in Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province, when he was killed.

Karzai arrives in India to seek military aid
Afp, New Delhi

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in India yesterday on a two-day visit during which he is expected to seek greater military aid from the government in New Delhi, officials said.
The Afghan leader landed in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh for a private function and will reach the national capital later Monday, an AFP photographer from the site reported.
Karzai on Tuesday will meet President Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the ceremonial supreme commander of Indian armed forces, the world's fourth largest, a foreign ministry statement said.
In 2011 India and Afghanistan began a "strategic partnership" aimed at deepening security and economic links.