News in Brief

Pak presidential polls on Aug 6
Dawn Online

The Election Commission of Pakistan announced on Tuesday that presidential elections would take place before Eid-ul-Fitr on August 6, DawnNews reported.
A proposed schedule of the presidential poll was sent to CEC Jutice (r) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, who gave final approval, the election commission said.
According to the approved schedule, the nomination forms would be submitted on July 24.
The scrutiny of the forms would conclude on July 26 whereas the last day to withdraw candidacy would be July 29.
Election for the position of President would take place on August 6 whereas the results would be announced the next day on August 7.

BBC to launch 5 new HD channels
BBC Online

The BBC yesterday announced it plans to launch five new high definition channels by early 2014.
There will be HD versions of BBC News, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBeebies and CBBC.
They will be available over rooftop aerials via Freeview receivers as well as satellite and cable services.
The news coincides with regulator Ofcom's announcement that is making it possible to launch a total of 10 new HD channels using airwaves freed up by the switch off of analogue TV.

Mexico arrests Zetas drug cartel head
Afp, Mexico City

Mexican marines captured the head of the country's violent Zetas drug cartel on Monday, giving the new government its biggest catch as it seeks to rein in violence.
Miguel Angel Trevino, alias "Z-40," was detained in Nuevo Laredo, the northeastern Tamaulipas state city bordering Texas, along with two other people.
The Zetas are considered one of the most powerful and feared organized crime groups in Mexico, founded by former elite soldiers and known for their brutality. Trevino is an ex-police officer.
Originally, the Zetas acted as the armed enforcers of the Gulf Cartel, but the two groups split in 2010, sparking brutal turf wars in the north of the country.

US drone issue : No double standards, says Nawaz
Dawn Online

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said here on Monday that unlike the previous government, his government would not adopt double standards on the issue of drone attacks. The previous regime used to criticise drone attacks, but silently supported them, he said.
“We hope that drone attacks will end in the days to come,” Sharif said in an address to industrialists, exporters, traders and media personnel.
He said terrorism, suicide bombings and violence were a threat to the country's sovereignty and the government needed public support to get rid of the menace. All political parties would also be consulted on the issue.

Manning trial: Plea to dismiss charge of abetting enemy
Ap, Fort Meade, Maryland

Lawyers for the Army private who leaked a trove of classified government documents urged a judge on Monday to dismiss a charge that he aided the enemy, saying prosecutors had failed to prove Pfc. Bradley Manning intended for the information to fall into enemy hands.
The charge is the most serious and carries the most severe punishment life in prison in the military's case against Manning, who has acknowledged sending hundreds of thousands of documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
The trial of the 25-year-old Oklahoma native is drawing to a close on a military base outside Baltimore and a judge hearing the government's case is weighing whether to dismiss that charge and several lesser counts. Manning has pleaded guilty to reduced versions of some charges. He faces up to 20 years in prison for those offenses.

Myanmar activists want action
Afp, Yangon

Activists yesterday urged Myanmar President Thein Sein to "turn his words into action" after the former general promised to free all political prisoners by the end of the year.
Pro-democracy campaigners, however, have accused the former junta premier of using a series of headline-grabbing amnesties to win foreign aid and investment.

Army, rebels clash kills 130 in DR Congo
Afp, Goma

Fighting between troops and rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 130 people including 10 soldiers, the government said Monday, the deadliest clashes in months.
Loud blasts rang out north of the flashpoint city of Goma Monday afternoon, and up to 1,000 people fled towards the city in a cloud of dust, an AFP photographer reported.
The fighting broke out Sunday outside Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the volatile east -- an area rich in minerals including gold and coltan, a key component in cell phones and other electronic equipment.

Russia holds biggest war games
Ap, Moscow

Russia has launched its biggest military manoeuvres since Soviet times, involving 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks across Siberia and the far eastern region.
President Vladimir Putin watched some of the drills on Tuesday on Sakhalin Island in the Pacific.
The manoeuvres are part of recent efforts to boost the military's mobility and combat readiness.