White supremacist who planned to bomb Asians and blacks in Britain jailed indefinitely

London, Sep. 9 (ANI): A white supremacist was given an indefinite jail term by a British court after being found guilty of planning a bomb attack on Asians and blacks.

Pro-Nazi Neil Lewington, 43, was branded as “a dangerous man who exhibits emotional coldness and detachment”, The Sun reports.

Racist fanatic Lewington will have to serve a minimum of six years before even being considered for release.

Judge Peter Thornton said: “I accept that in ordinary language, you are an oddball – eccentric, dysfunctional and sometimes immature. But I do not accept you are no more than a pest. My assessment is that you are a dangerous man.”

Lewington was on the verge of launching a bomb blitz on those he considered “non-Britons” when he was arrested by chance for being drunk on a railway station.

Cops found two homemade firebombs in the jobless electrician’s bag.

And when they searched the home he shared with his parents in Reading, Berks, they discovered a bomb factory in his bedroom and plans to make shrapnel grenades from tennis balls and nuts.

They also found a notebook entitled “Waffen SS UK members’ handbook”.

Lewington wrote a chapter in it headed “Targeting or attacking Pakis.”

Lewington’s bedroom contained fascist propaganda including videos of Right-wing terrorists such as London nail bomber David Copeland and Oklahoma fiend Timothy McVeigh.

He was found guilty of five terrorism and two explosives charges at an earlier Old Bailey trial.

His parents, who were present in court, revealed that he had not spoken to his father for a decade. (ANI)

Pro- Nepal Maoist group holds street protest in Kolkata

Kolkata, May 11 (ANI): Activists of the All India Nepalese Unity Forum (AINUF), a pro-Nepal Maoist group, took to the streets in Kolkata on Sunday to protest the reinstatement of army chief General Rookmangud Katwal by Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav.

General Katwal was sacked by Nepal’s Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda.

Prachanda resigned after President Ram Baran Yadav blocked his decision to sack the army chief, leading to an eruption of protests by Prachanda’supporters.

“We are protesting against the decision of President Yadav to General Katawal.his is an unconstitutional act. There is a conspiracy taking place to disorganize Nepal under military rule, which we are protesting,” said Bedmaya Upadhyay, a central committee member, AINUF.

The agitators also demanded President Yadav to call Prachanda to resume his duty asrime Minister.

Prachanda resigned after President Ram Baran Yadav blocked his decision to sack the army chief, leading to an eruption of protests by Prachanda’s supporters.

“We are protesting against the decision of President Yadav to reinstate military commander. This is an unconstitutional act. There is a conspiracy taking place to disorganize Nepal under military rule, which we are protesting,” said Bedmaya Upadhyay, a central committee member, AINUF.

The agitators also demanded Yadav to call Prachanda to resume his duty as Prime Minister.

Nepal was roiled in crisis after Prime Minister Prachanda resigned on May 4, over his decision to sack General Katawal was vetoed by President Ram Baran Yadav.

Relations between the army and the government were strained earlier this year when the military resisted integrating the former guerrillas, saying they are politically indoctrinated.

Prachanda argued that the integration of the rebels was stipulated by the peace agreement.

Prachanda’s Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist won elections last year after ending a 10-year insurgency under a 2006 accord.

The first act of the newly elected parliament last year was to abolish the 240-year-old monarchy

Prachanda’s resignation leaves the country without a functioning government and will delay the process of drafting a Constitution for the nascent republic.(ANI)

Protesters break into Sri Lankan embassy in Oslo

OSLO, April 12 (Reuters) – Pro-Tamil Tiger demonstrators broke into the Sri Lankan embassy during a protest in the Norwegian capital Oslo on Sunday, smashing windows and furniture, said police, but no one was hurt.

The protest, the first of several by Tamil Tiger supporters around the world in recent weeks to turn violent, followed a march by around 100,000 people in London on Saturday to demand a ceasefire between Sri Lankan forces and the rebels.

“They damaged windows and broke some things inside and then disappeared — we have not caught anyone,” police officer Tor Groettum told Reuters.

Tamils began demonstrating in Oslo last week to pressure Norway, one of four nations heading Sri Lanka’s peace process, to use its influence to stop the violence in the country.

“We condemn this attack in no uncertain terms,” Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told Reuters, adding Colombo expected Norwegian authorities to find and prosecute the culprits.

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday ordered the military not to attack the Tamil Tigers during a two-day holiday to let thousands of civilians escape a no-fire zone where they are being held by the separatists.

Soldiers have encircled remnants of the Tamil Tigers in a 17 square km (6 sq mile) no-fire zone on Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, and are close to crushing them and ending Asia’s longest-running civil war. (For a related story please double-click on [ID:nCOL468934]) (Reporting by John Acher in Oslo and Bryson Hull in Colombo; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Pro-LTTE demonstration in Canada

Ottawa, Apr. 12 (ANI): Thousands of Tamils living in Canada gathered in front of Parliament Hill to protest against Sri Lankan Government’s military offensive against banned terrorist organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Holding LTTE flags and shouting “Tamil Tigers, freedom fighters,” the protesters urged the Canadian Government to reverse its 2006 decision to list the LTTE as a terrorist entity under the Anti-Terrorism Act. They also called for an immediate ceasefire.

The demonstrations are part of a worldwide Tamil protests against deadly military offensive by the Sri Lankan military.

“We don’t even know if [our family] are living or not. They just want to destroy the Tamil people, that’s what they want,” the Globe and Mail quoted Sri Lanka born Kalyany Nagarajah, as saying.

Lankan Government and the LTTE are accusing each other of horrific war crimes; however, no independent journalists are now there to document the fighting.

On Saturday, Human Rights Watch warned of skyrocketing civilian casualties due to the Sri Lankan military firing artillery into a ‘no fire’ zone.

“War crimes by the Tamil Tigers don’t give Sri Lankan commanders free rein to ignore civilian casualties,” Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director, said in a statement.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his phone call to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, denied military firing into the “no fire” zone.

In Ottawa, the Sri Lankan embassy has criticized the fact that protesters are openly waving the Tamil Tiger flags. (ANI)

Georgian opposition steps up street campaign

By Margarita Antidze and Niko Mchedlishvili

TBILISI (Reuters) – Thousands of demonstrators in Georgia marched on the office of President Mikheil Saakashvili and blocked main roads in the capital on Friday, vowing to force his resignation through a campaign of civil disobedience.

Opposition leaders, who gathered some 60,000 protesters on Thursday and 20,000 on Friday, said they would pursue their campaign nationwide until Saakashvili quits over his record on democracy and last year’s disastrous war with Russia.

Saakashvili refused to resign, saying he had heard such “ultimatums” every other month since taking power in the former Soviet republic on the back of the 2003 “Rose Revolution.”

But the campaign marks potentially the biggest challenge to his continued rule. He called for dialogue, and opposition leaders said they had agreed to sit down with him, but the details of a possible meeting were not set.

Protesters blocked Tbilisi’s central avenue in front of parliament through the night and into Friday, before halting traffic on the main roads leading past the office of the president and the state broadcaster. Some climbed on the fence surrounding the presidential compound.

“We are not going to enter these buildings,” Levan Gachechiladze, an opposition leader and former presidential challenger, told the crowd outside parliament. “We just want to take our country back.”

TENSIONS

He said protesters would repeat the roadblocks daily from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. (1100-1700 GMT). The campaign threatens to test the patience of authorities who in November 2007 sent in police firing teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the last peaceful mass demonstrations against Saakashvili.

Diplomats question whether the opposition can maintain unity and muster enough people to join daily protests to force him out. They warn tensions risk boiling over into unrest.

Analysts say Saakashvili’s ruling United National Movement retains wide support and his position appears strong, despite the defection of some top allies and several cabinet reshuffles.

“It’s obvious the answer to this question is ‘No’,” 41-year-old Saakashvili told a news conference when asked if he would give in to the opposition call. “It has always been ‘No’, because that’s how it is under the constitution,” he said.

“I’ve been facing these ultimatums every other month during the last five years,” Saakashvili said, speaking in English. “Every independent poll clearly proves that people are longing for dialogue, for long-term stability.”

Pro-Western but seen by some Georgians as brash and impulsive, Saakashvili has polarized opinion in the Caucasus country of 4.5 million people, a transit route for oil from the Caspian Sea to Europe. Critics accuse him of betraying the promises of 2003 by monopolizing power and exerting pressure on the judiciary and media.

Defeat in last year’s five-day war with Russia, when Moscow crushed a Georgian assault on breakaway South Ossetia, has emboldened critics who argue the president has made too many mistakes to remain in power until 2013.

But many Georgians appear frustrated with political bickering and sympathetic to government calls for stability.

(Additional reporting by Niko Mchedlishvili, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Taliban rule? No problem, say many in Pakistan

While the Taliban’s growing influence is worrying the West, and liberal Pakistanis, there are many here who don’t view it as a problem. Muhammad Ilyas owns a poultry store and is a supporter of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party.

He says what is happening in Swat “should happen in all of Pakistan tomorrow.” Akram Khan, a Pakhtun, agrees.

He says that the Taliban are imposing the will of Allah. “How can we oppose what Allah wants?” he says.

Pro-Taliban sentiments seem to be growing amongst middle-class Pakistanis too. And there are many who argue that Pakistan should not “toe America’s line.

” Shamim Akhtar, a lecturer, says that the war with the Taliban “has been forced on us. This is not our war, it is America’s war.

” Others, like journalist Ansar Abbasi, contend that the deal with the Taliban in Swat was a good option “as it stopped the valley from bleeding further.”.

Darjeeling CPI-M candidate faces GJM protests

Siliguri (West Bengal), April 6 (IANS) Pro-Gorkhaland activists Monday greeted the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidate for West Bengal’s Darjeeling seat with black flags when he went to file his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls.

Activists of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is fighting for a separate Gorkhaland carved out of Darjeeling and other areas of north Bengal, waved black flags with ‘Go Back’ written on them when CPI-M’s Jibesh Sarkar arrived to file his nomination papers.

‘A few GJM protesters with black flags demonstrated at Tindhariya in Kurseong, while the CPI-M nominee was on his way to file nominations. However, we could rescue him and helped him proceed,’ police sources said.

The Darjeeling seat has become hi-profile with the GJM deciding to support the candidature of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajya Sabha leader Jaswant Singh, who is slated to file his nomination April 9.

Dawa Narbula of the Congress also filed his papers during the day.

The election to the seat is scheduled for April 30.

Pro-LTTE group leader arrested for justifying Rajiv Gandhi’s murder

Dindigul (Tamil Nadu), Mar. 2 (ANI): Kolathur Mani, the leader of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, was arrested on Monday for defending the LTTE for assassinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Mani was arrested in Salem for his speech at a public meeting here on February 26 for allegedly saying that “the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was a right action”.

The pro-LTTE group leader was detained for a second time for speaking in favor of LTTE in last three months.

In December, Mani, along with film director Seeman, was arrested for supporting the LTTE at a meeting in Erode district. Later, he was released on bail.

Recently, the Tamil Nadu Government had warned that it would not tolerate criticism of national leaders during protests over the Sri Lankan Tamil issue.

The Congress Party, too had demanded strict action against pro-LTTE outfits, who were burning portraits of national leaders over the issue. (ANI)

Touch Diamond 2 and Pro 2 handsets announce by HTC at MWC 2009

Touch Diamond 2 and Pro 2 handsets announce by HTC at MWC 2009 Today an announcement related to the latest handsets was made by HTC at the Mobile World Congress in Spain, which also included the Touch Diamond 2 and the Touch Pro 2. It would be nice to know that both the sets run Windows Mobile and will be upgradable to Windows Mobile 6.5.

The unique TouchFLO 3D interface by HTC is used as an overlay on both handsets to Windows Mobile 6.1.

It has been ensured by TouchFLO that it would streamline application access and the menus, which are not so easy to navigate on Windows Mobile alone. One of the chief features of TouchFLO is the quick access to frequently used applications like messaging and email.

The features of Diamond 2 include a 3.2-inch VGA display packed into a profile 13.7mm thick. A touch-sensitive zoom bar is used by HTC in order to achieve fast webpage, email, and photo zooming. Furthermore, the entire device is optimized for one-handed use. It is being ensured by the maker that the device which provides a
5-megapixel camera, expandable memory, gravity sensor and an ambient light sensor has 50 percent better battery life than the original.

It should be mentioned here that the Pro 2 is heavily optimized for email use and features a 3.6-inch widescreen VGA display and a large QWERTY keyboard. The users are allowed to move from email to conference calls easily via a new feature called Straight Talk that integrates email, voice and speakerphone use.

The users in Europe and Asia would be able to avail the Diamond 2 in early Q2 2009 with other markets getting the device later this year. All major global markets will receive the Pro 2 this summer. There has been no word about the pricing as of now.

Apple MacBook Pro launched

Apple MacBook Pro launchedApple’s MacBook Pro is built from a sinlge block of aluminum, called unibody. This 15in MacBook Pro is quite stylish and will definitely tempt the business executives. It is not that heavy too, so could be carried from one place to place easily.

However, the extra-glossy coating might create a problem while it is being used outdoors, since it would be really prone to reflections. But in office environments, it would be perfectly fine.

The company claims that LED-backlit will use less of battery and the users could use it continuously for four and a half hours.

“The whole trackpad now acts as the button, allowing you to perform single- or double-clicks no matter where your finger is. And, in something of a shock move, you can set it up to recognize right-clicks, or a second-click,” said Apple.

The 15in MacBook Pro is equipped with a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of Ram. Furthermore, it also profit from Nvidia’s latest hybrid graphics.

Though the new Apple MacBook Pro is loaded with many exciting features, at £1,749 for 2.53GHz model, it is expensive.