Sunday news

Egyptian security forces thwart Al-Qaeda embassy bombing – interior ministry

RT,

11 May, 2013

Egypt’s security forces have foiled an “imminent” attack on a foreign embassy plotted by an Al-Qaeda cell, according to Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim.

"The interior ministry was able to direct a qualitative blow to a terrorist cell which was planning to carry out suicide attacks against vital, important and foreign establishments," declared Ibrahim, who did not specify which country was to be targeted by the attack. He did, however, say that the extremists planned to use either a car stuffed with explosives, or a remotely detonated home-made device to carry out the terrorist act.

Ibrahim said the three suspects were captured with 10 kilograms of ammonium nitrate – an ingredient in explosives – and a computer containing bomb-making instructions.

The minister told journalists at a Cairo press conference that the radical Islamists had been in contact with Al-Qaeda in Algeria, Pakistan and on the Syrian-Turkish border, where their contact is monitoring the inflow of jihadists into the war-torn country. Ibrahim claimed one of the suspects also traveled to combat training camps in Iran and Pakistan.

Sharif claims early victory in Pakistan election, poised for third term

RT,

11 May, 2013

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, ousted 14 years ago in a military coup, has claimed victory in the country's landmark democratic election, securing at least one-third of the seats in the national legislature, according to early results.

Of the 86 millions of Pakistanis eligible to vote, some 60 percent turned out to polling stations despite threats of violence from the Taliban.

“If this election was between despair and defiance, defiance did win,” said RT correspondent Lucy Kafanov, who was following the events in Pakistan. “People did turn out in droves. We saw immense excitement at the polling stations.”

The Pakistani Taliban assailed what they called an ‘anti-Islamic election,’ killing over 30 people in a series of blasts and gun attacks on polling stations across the country. Despite the chaos, the Election Commission commended the extraordinary voter turnout, cited as the highest since 1977.

Sharif declared victory late on Saturday. He announced the unofficial triumph of his Pakistan Muslim League ( N ) (MPL-N) to a crowd of supporters in Lahore. Saturday’s voting eliminates decades of two-party dominance by the PML-N and Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and marks the first-ever electoral transition between civilian governments in the country's history.../.

Preliminary results showed that Sharif's party took an overwhelming lead, but may fall just short of winning a simple majority of 272 directly elected National Assembly seats; he may now be forced to broker a coalition government with other parties.

Iran hit by 5.6 earthquake day after strong quake killed 1, injured 20

Another strong earthquake hit the same area of southern Iran where a series of tremors killed one and injured around 20 on Saturday. The US Geological Survey reported that the epicenter of the new 5.6 magnitude quake was located about 80 kilometers southeast of the city of Minab. No casualties or damage was reported after the new quake.

Former Iranian President Rafsanjani plots political comeback

Iran's presidential election received a surprise on Saturday when Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 78, registered as a candidate. Rafsanjani, who served as president for eight years between 1989 and 1997, will join some 450 other potential candidates to replace incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been in power since 2005. All registered candidates must receive final approval by the Guardian Council, a body that wields considerable influence in the Islamic Republic