CARACAS: The Venezuelan government ordered paratroopers Thursday to a border city where growing student protests began over two weeks ago, with President Nicolas Maduro angrily rejecting US calls for dialogue. The nationwide demonstrations, led by students and the opposition, have left at least four people dead and dozens hurt in the biggest challenge to Maduro since he took power from the late Hugo Chavez last year. There have been near-daily protests and rallies, some of them violent, in the capital Caracas and other cities, over what Maduro’s critics say are deteriorating economic conditions, rampant street crime, corruption and bleak job prospects.
Suicide attackers hit Afghan police compound
KABUL: Afghan officials say suicide bombers have attacked a police compound in a mountainous area near the capital, Kabul. Interior Ministry spokesman Seddiq Seddiqi said a suicide car bomber first blew through the gates of the district police headquarters in Surobi. He further added that two other attackers, clad in women’s clothing, then opened fire and a gun battle ensued. Kadam Shah Shaim, division commander of the Afghan Army for Kabul, said that at least one police officer was killed and two were wounded.
Suicide blast kills one, wounds four in Kabul
KABUL: Afghan police say a suicide bomber targeting a hospital has killed one person and wounded four others in Kabul. Sayed Gul Agha Hashimi, the head of the Kabul Criminal Investigation Department, said the attacker’s explosives detonated Thursday morning after he was shot by police. Hashimi added that in addition to the bomber, a security guard was killed and that police are searching the hospital.
’12 Years a Slave’ named best film at Bafta awards
LONDON: The force of ”Gravity” was strong at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday — but it was unflinching drama ”12 Years a Slave” that took the top prize. Steve McQueen’s visceral, violent story of a free black man kidnapped into servitude in the 19th-century US South was named best picture. Its star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, took the male acting trophy. Ejiofor thanked McQueen, a visual artist who turned to filmmaking with ”Hunger” and ”Shame,” for bringing the story to the screen. Holding the trophy, the British actor told McQueen: ”This is yours. I’m going to keep it — that’s the kind of guy I am — but it’s yours.”
Trade linked to resumption of composite dialogue: minister
LAHORE: In what will be seen as a retreat from its recent stance, the government has linked trade liberalisation with India with the resumption of the suspended composite dialogue and progress in overall bilateral relationship. Speaking to DNA after inaugurating the second three-day India Show here on Friday, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan sounded upbeat about the future of the trade relationships but said “trade talks cannot be held in a void”. “The fact is that the composite dialogue remains suspended as we speak here now, on Valentine’s Day. Improvement in bilateral trade relations is not possible without progress in overall relations between the two countries,” he said.
Gay Bollywood director says ‘I won’t be invisible’
PARIS: Indian filmmaker Onir knows what it’s like to be Bollywood’s only openly gay director. The man behind the critically-acclaimed “My Brother… Nikhil” has been insulted live on television and regularly receives abusive mails but says it’s still better than being “invisible”. Onir, who uses one name, first started making waves with his 2005 film based on the real life story of swimming champion Dominic D’Souza, the southern Indian state of Goa’s first reported case of HIV. After testing HIV positive in the late 1980s amid a climate of fear and ignorance, D’Souza was arrested by police and kept in forced isolation in a tuberculosis ward.
More travel chaos in Japan as snow storm kills three
TOKYO: Japan’s road, rail and air travel services faced further disruptions Saturday, reports and officials said, after a fresh snow storm killed three people and injured 850 others following last week’s deadly blizzard. Snow began falling Friday morning in the capital Tokyo and piled up to 26 centimetres (10 inches) by early Saturday, a week after the heaviest snowfall in decades left at least 11 people dead and more than 1,200 injured across the nation. A driver was killed Friday in a crash involving his car and a truck on an icy road in Shiga, central Japan, while a farmer died after a tractor overturned on a snow-covered road in south western Oita, local media said.
Blow for Pakistan as Irfan ruled out of Asia Cup, WT20 squads
Pakistan suffered a huge blow to their Asia Cup and World Twenty20 preparations as fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, the team’s spearhead in recent times, was ruled out of both events due to a recurrence of his hip injury. Lanky Irfan, the tallest ever man to play international cricket at 7 feet one inch, fractured his hip in Pakistan’s T20 series against South Africa in UAE in November last year. However, his recovery proved short lived when the injury recurred in a domestic tournament this week, prompting chief selector Azhar Khan to say Irfan had to be left out of the squads.
Wenger is “specialist in failure”: Mourinho
COBHAM: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hit back in a bitter war of words with Arsene Wenger after branding the Arsenal boss a “specialist in failure”. Mourinho was angry with Wenger’s comments on Friday that the Premier League title is current leaders Chelsea’s to lose because they are sitting at the summit of the division. Wenger, whose side are one point behind their London rivals in the title race, also claimed that many of the teams at the top are afraid to back themselves due to a fear of failure, with Mourinho having labelled Chelsea the “little horse” behind Manchester City and Arsenal.
