HOUSTON: US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has said that America view all faiths and ethnicity with respect and honor this is why people from all over are welcomed in US and are absorbed in American society. Addressing the Iftar dinner for Houston residents hosted by Mayor Anise Parker, the Congresswoman said that America provides complete freedom of religion and expression.

ISLAMABAD: In an exclusive interview with Geo News senior anchor, Hamid Mir, US Secretary of State John Kerry said terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al-Qaeda were violating the sovereignty of Pakistan. “Pakistan faces a very serious threat. LeT, TTP, Al-Qaeda and Haqqani network attack and kill people in mosques. They blow people up in market places.”

HARARE: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s allies declared Thursday that the veteran leader had romped to an election victory, a claim rejected by his rival who branded the vote a “sham.” A top member of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party told AFP that Mugabe had trounced Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change in Wednesday’s presidential and parliamentary elections. “We have romped (to victory) in a very emphatic manner,” said the party member who asked not to be named. “We have won all of them, including the presidential and parliamentary.”

DAMASCUS: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, increasingly confident after his forces inflicted two major defeats on rebels in as many months, repeated on Thursday that he was “sure of victory.” Assad, speaking to mark Army Day, was also said to have made his first known trip outside of the capital in more than a year, to visit a former rebel bastion nearby now largely in the hands of loyalists.