EC to endorse new MPs tomorrow

Published: 18/07/2011 at 05:52 PM
Online news: Election

The Election Commission will decide on Tuesday whether to endorse likely prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai Party and outgoing prime minister and Democrat caretaker leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, EC member Somchai Juengprasert said on Monday.

Outgoing Prime Minister and Democrat Party caretaker leader Abhisit Vejjajiva (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)

Mr Somchai said the EC will tomorrow announce the next batch of MPs whose results it can endorse, after investigating complaints against them.

MPs-elect to be scrutinised during the EC meeting tomorrow include Ms Yingluck, Mr Abhisit and some key members of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) who won seats on the Pheu Thai party list, Mr Somchai said.

The EC is investigating allegations that Ms Yingluck allowed certain banned politicians to assist her in the election campaign and that Mr Abhisit was involved in a form of vote-buying when he approved a ``Blue Flag'' trade fair in Samut Prakan on June 26, the day of advance voting.

The endorsement of UDD co-leaders such as Natthawut Saikua and Weng Tojirakarn has been delayed because they were jailed on terrorism charges for their roles in the red shirt rallies last year and then released on bail.

The EC has so far endorsed 358 successful election candidates.

The commission must verify at least 475 MPs, or 95 per cent of the overall 500, within 30 days of the July 3 election if the House is to convene for the first time.

Mr Somchai said it is up to the majority of the EC to decide whether to clear the winning candidates of the allegations and endorse their election victories.

He dismissed suggestions that the EC has come under pressure to suspend the endorsement of Ms Yingluck's MP status.

The EC's decision is based on evidence and delay in endorsement of election victories has stemmed from numerous complaints, Mr Somchai said.

Pheu Thai Party's candidate for prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

He agreed that enough MPs should be endorsed for the new House to convene and for the country to move forward. The endorsed MPs can be disqualified later if they are found to have cheated in the poll, Mr Somchai said.

Meanwhile, the New Democracy Party today issued a statement calling for the EC to endorse its single MP-elect on the party list.

The party made the plea for justice after it was reported that it would possibly be dissolved because its leader, Surathin Picharn, had been declared bankrupt by the court and therefore stripped of election rights.

Mr Surathin said he had resigned as the party leader as ordered by the court.

He insisted that the New Democracy Party had been properly registered and certified by EC chairman Apichart Sukkhagganond. The party had fully complied with the law in applying to compete in the election, he said.

Following the July 3 election, New Democracy was entitled to one House seat in the party list system.

Since Mr Surathin, the No 1 on the party's list, had been disqualified, the seat should instead go to Patcharin Manpan, the No 2 party list candidate.

With potentially one MP on the party list, New Democracy had been named the sixth party to join the Pheu Thai-led coalition government, raising the total numbr of MPs to 300.

But if New Democracy were to be dissolved then the Social Action Party, which came next in the number of votes received in the party list system, that would instead be entitled to the House seat.

If this was the case, the seat would go to Suwit Khunkitti, the No 1 Social Action party list candidate.

Mr Suwit is currently the caretaker natural resources and environment minister in the outgoing government led by Mr Abhisit.

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Clarke parties all night after Open triumph

Published: 18/07/2011 at 08:32 PM
Online news: Sports

Darren Clarke promised to celebrate his British Open triumph long and hard, and the popular Northern Irishman proved as good as his word here Monday.

Northern Irish golfer Darren Clarke arrives with a pint of Guinness for a press conference after winning the 140th British Open Golf championship at Royal St George's in Sandwich, Kent, south east England, on July 17, 2011. Clarke finished five under par. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNIS

Speaking to journalists for the traditional morning-after photo opportunity, a bleary-eyed Clarke admitted he had spent the night partying and had not had an opportunity to get any sleep.

"I've looked at the trophy all night and sort of semi figured out it's mine," said Clarke, who slurred some of his words as he clutched the famous Auld Claret jug.

"I probably won't get any sleep until tomorrow at some stage. Have to enjoy it when you can.

"I had quite a few pints and quite a few glasses of red wine and it all continued until about 30 minutes ago.

"It's been a very good night."

Clarke stopped short of his threat to fill the Claret jug with Guinness.

"I'm a little bit of a traditionalist. I feel a bit funny about putting stuff in the Claret Jug that shouldn't be in there," he said.

"There's nothing in it as yet. That may not be the case as the week goes by!"

"I have 294 (text) messages and the writing is far too small for me to look at them in this state, so I may look at them tomorrow at some stage and figure them out."

Clarke also revealed he had finally had the opportunity to speak to his two young sons, Tyrone and Conor, who lost their mother Heather to breast cancer in 2006.

Clarke, who said on Sunday that he believed his late wife had been watching over him, dedicated his first major title to his children.

"Tyrone was very pleased, very proud - he said he was going to tell everybody his dad was Open Champion.

"Conor wanted to know what he could spend all the money on.

"So it was a huge difference between the two, but they were both very happy."

Clarke meanwhile said he hoped Sunday's win would elevate him into the running for the Ryder Cup captaincy at some point in the next few years.

"It is definitely still an ambition at some stage," he said. "I think at some stage if I get the opportunity to be Ryder Cup captain, possibly I may have a little bit more respect from players having been a major champion."

Although Clarke's ranking points from his Open victory won't count towards qualification for next year's Ryder Cup in Chicago, he believed Sunday's win will have put him on captain Jose Maria Olazabal's radar.

"Unfortunately these points don't qualify for the team next year, but in saying that, I am a major champion, so Jose Maria will be paying attention, as he always does, so we'll see where that brings me," he said.

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Top police quit in hacking row

Published: 18/07/2011 at 09:32 PM
Online news:

Britain's phone-hacking scandal claimed the scalp of a second top policeman Monday as Prime Minister David Cameron called an emergency parliament session on a row that has tarnished his own position.

Britain's Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner John Yates is pictured in September 2010. Yates, who in 2009 refused to reopen an investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World, has resigned, Scotland Yard said.

Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who refused to reopen an investigation into the now-defunct News of the World tabloid in 2009, resigned a day after the departure of John Stephenson, the chief of London's Metropolitan Police.

Yates had expressed regret last week over his earlier decision that the inquiry into the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper did not need to be revived, but pinned the blame on Murdoch's empire for failing to cooperate.

"Assistant Commissioner John Yates has this afternoon indicated his intention to resign to the chair of the MPA (Metropolitan Police Authority)," said a Scotland Yard statement. "This has been accepted."

Yates was one of the Met's most senior officers and had responsibility for special operations.

As the scandal kept scything through the heart of the British establishment, Cameron was forced to defend his own position after Stephenson took a swipe at his own decision to hire a former News of the World editor as his spokesman.

Stephenson quit on Sunday over the force's hiring of Neil Wallis -- who was deputy to Cameron's former media chief Andy Coulson at the tabloid -- and over a spa break he accepted from a firm where Wallis was a consultant.

"I don't believe the two situations are the same in any way, shape or form," Cameron told a joint news conference in Pretoria with South African President Jacob Zuma when asked about the troubles at Scotland Yard.

Coulson resigned from Downing Street in January and was arrested on July 8.

Cameron had already cut short his trip to Africa from four days to two, and after demands from the opposition Labour Party he said that he now wanted to delay parliament's summer break for a day to give a statement to MPs.

But Labour leader Ed Miliband piled pressure on Cameron -- who has also faced criticism for his social contacts with Murdoch aides -- by calling on the Conservative premier to apologise for hiring Coulson.

"It is his failure to do that that now draws the sharp contrast between his actions and the honourable actions of Sir Paul Stephenson who resigned over the hiring of Mr Coulson's deputy," he said.

Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's British newspaper arm and editor of the News of the World when it allegedly hacked a teenage murder victim's phone, was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of hacking and bribing police.

Her lawyer Stephen Parkinson said she was "not guilty of any criminal offence" and said Scotland Yard would have to account for the "enormous reputational damage" to the 43-year-old.

He said she still planned to testify alongside the Australian-born Murdoch and his son James, who is chairman of his father's British newspaper operation News International, before a committee of British lawmakers on Tuesday.

At a previous hearing in 2003 Brooks, the 10th person and most senior Murdoch aide to be arrested over the scandal, admitted the paper had made payments to police.

An original police investigation into the tabloid in 2006 led to the jailing of its former royal editor and a private investigator, but it later emerged that thousands more celebrities, royals and even crime victims also had their voicemails targeted by alleged "industrial-scale" hacking.

Despite allegations that the Sunday paper had also paid police for information, Yates refused to reopen the investigation, but Scotland Yard finally decided to revive the probe in January this year.

The chairman of a British parliamentary committee which grilled Yates last week told him his evidence had been "unconvincing".

Senior police officers have since faced criticism for having a series of dinners with top News of the World executives.

Murdoch's US-based News Corp. is in crisis, having also had to abandon its bid for full control of pay-TV giant BSkyB and accept the resignations on Friday of Dow Jones chief Les Hinton, who had worked with him for 52 years.

Shares in News Corp. plummeted 5.82 percent in Australian trade on Monday.

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Clarke triumph adds weight to N.Ireland Open calls

Published: 18/07/2011 at 07:32 PM
Online news: Sports

Darren Clarke's victory has added fresh momentum to calls for the British Open to be staged in Northern Ireland after the country clinched its third Major in just over a year.

Darren Clarke's victory has added fresh momentum to calls for the British Open to be staged in Northern Ireland after the country clinched its third Major in just over a year.

Clarke's memorable three-stroke win at Royal St George's on Sunday saw the popular 42-year-old join Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell as players from Northern Ireland who have won Majors in the last 13 months.

The remarkable sequence of victories by the Northern Irish trio has led to calls for the Open to be held at Royal Portrush for the first time since 1951.

Royal and Ancient Club chief executive Peter Dawson admitted on Monday that the calls to reward the success of Clarke, McIlroy and McDowell by staging the event at Portrush had been given fresh momentum.

"I think we're all very aware of the fact that three winners from Northern Ireland increases the interest level in this," Dawson said.

R&A officials have previously questioned whether Portrush has sufficient infrastructure to cope with the tournament, which attracts tens of thousands of fans over several days.

But Dawson was unable to pinpoint Portrush's exact shortcomings when asked to do so on Monday. "I don't know yet until we've had another look at it, to be honest," he said.

"The usual mixture of a great course and plenty of infrastructure, combined with a prospect of commercial success, is what's needed.

"No doubt about the golf course at Portrush, although there might be one or two things one would do, but the other two are what we have to look at.

"I don't want to start a hare running on this, other than we are going to take a closer look."

Dawson also warned the political situation in Northern Ireland could potentially be an issue after violence erupted in the region last week.

"Things seem to be getting an awful lot better, but I have been reading of some difficulty in the papers lately," added Dawson.

"I have no idea how exaggerated or otherwise those are. It'll be one of the things we take into account, although I don't think it's right at the forefront of our mind."

Unsurprisingly, Clarke would be keen to see the Open staged in Portrush for sentimental reasons but was realistic about the challenges which would be posed by a decision to hold the tournament there.

"At the moment they (the R&A) can't see a way of having it there, so it's very tough," he said.

"I wish there was some way around it and I hope at some stage in the future they will find a way around it because the golf course is every bit as good as any of the Open venues.

"It's good enough to be in the Open rota. Hopefully they will figure a way around the logistics if they possibly can."

Portrush's hosting of the Open 60 years ago was one the only time golf's oldest and most revered tournament was held outside of the British mainland.

Since then, the tournament has been shared between top links courses in England and Scotland with the current rotation involving nine layouts.

Currently, the schedule for the British Open sees it return to Royal Lytham in northwest England in 2012 before going to Muirfield in Scotland in 2013 and then onto Hoylake's Royal Liverpool in 2014.

Meanwhile Dawson was reluctant to draw too many conclusions from Northern Ireland's remarkable run of success.

"I think these things go in cycles, and Ireland clearly has had some very, very talented players recently," he said.

"I think if you examine them, they've all come through slightly different routes probably to get to where they are, so you can't put your finger on one particular method. But each of them has talent and application, and those are the essential ingredients.

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Taliban video shows fighters shooting dead 16 Pakistani police officers

The officers were captured when Taliban fighters crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan's north-western Dir district in June



Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 July 2011 12.45 BST
An Afghan national army soldier chops wood in Kunar province, from where hundreds of Taliban fighters crossed into Pakistan on 1 June. Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/AP

The Taliban have released a video showing fighters shooting dead 16 Pakistani tribal police officers captured in a cross-border raid from Afghanistan last month.

The video, released on Monday, shows the police officers lined up on a hillside with their hands tied behind their backs, standing in front of armed Taliban fighters wearing scarves to hide their faces. One of the insurgents accuses the men of shooting dead six children from Pakistan's Swat valley by firing squad. "They are the enemies of the religion of Allah," the man says of the police officers.

He and several other fighters then open fire on the police officers, who crumple to the ground. One fighter walks down the line shooting the officers in the head.

The video was posted on the LiveLeak video sharing website and included a note saying the police officers were captured when the Taliban staged a cross-border raid from Afghanistan on 1 June in Pakistan's north-western Dir district.

A Pakistani army spokesman has confirmed the contents of the video, and said the Taliban fighters who killed the police officers came from the Swat valley, which used to be controlled by the militants. The Pakistani military launched an offensive in Swat in 2009, but many of the fighters escaped across the border into Afghanistan.

Hundreds of Taliban fighters crossed into Upper Dir on 1 June from Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province. They killed at least 30 members of the security forces over three days of fighting before being forced back across the border by the military, the spokesman said.

The Pakistani military has complained that Afghan and Nato forces have not done enough to target Taliban sanctuaries in Kunar, where the US withdrew most of its forces over the past year.

Afghanistan and the US have criticised Pakistan for not doing enough to target sanctuaries on its side of the border filled with militants who regularly launch attacks against Nato troops in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has also accused Pakistan of firing hundreds of rockets into Kunar over the past few months and killing at least 40 people – an allegation denied by Pakistan.

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Taliban in Pakistan 'police killing' video

Footage appearing to show the execution-style killing of 16 policemen in the restive north-west of Pakistan has been released by the Taliban.

The video shows policemen lined up on a hillside with their hands tied behind their backs in front of gunmen who berate them and then open fire on them.

The incident is said to date from June when militants crossed the Afghan border and captured police.

Pakistan's army spokesman told the BBC the video appears to be authentic.

A note released alongside the video said that the policemen were captured during a cross-border raid from Afghanistan in June in Pakistan's volatile Dir district.

The bodies were discovered by locals once the militants had left. The BBC received mobile phone footage from a policeman in Dir showing local residents discovering the corpses.
Disturbing footage

The area is regularly targeted by insurgents and hundreds of militants were reported to have descended upon the town of Shalato in a remote corner of Dir close to the border with Afghanistan's Kunar province. At least 25 Pakistani troops were also killed during the prolonged clash. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.

The footage released by the Taliban is disturbing. The policemen are lined up on the left with only a few moments to live.

On the right, a local Pakistani Taliban commander accuses them of being the enemies of Islam and says God wants him to punish them.

Then his gunmen open fire and the men are seen collapsing as they are sprayed with bullets. Later, a militant is seen firing shots into the soldiers' heads to ensure they were all dead.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says incidents like this make Pakistan bristle with anger when it is told that it is not doing enough to fight militants. But, our correspondent adds, Pakistan's army also stands accused of abuses.

Human rights groups say there is considerable evidence that Pakistan's army has also conducted summary executions of suspected Taliban militants - an accusation the army denies.

"They are merciless terrorists and this is the threat which we are up against. We have suffered the most at the hands of al-Qaeda and its affiliates... At the same time Pakistan has delivered the most against [them]," Maj Gen Athar Abbas, Pakistan's army spokesman, told the BBC.

The army believes the attack was carried out by Pakistani Taliban fighters from Swat, who fled across the border into Afghanistan during the army's offensive there two years ago.

They have since regrouped and have been coming across the border to carry out attacks on isolated checkpoints like the one in Dir manned by the men who were killed.

Correspondents say that securing the long and porous border dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan has been a major challenge for the two countries.

Many of the militant groups that operate on either side of the border are closely linked.

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U.S. midsection to swelter another day in merciless heatwave

(CNN) -- High temperatures in America's Plains States are expected to rival those in Death Valley again Monday, according to the National Weather Service, which predicts a heat wave to roast the county's midsection for yet another day as it spreads to the east.

The hottest spots located in Oklahoma through South Dakota should see highs over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and top temps are forecast in the 90's for most of the rest of the county -- with the exception of some mountain and coastal regions.

Much of middle America baked in a heat wave Sunday, and the National Weather Service declared excessive heat warnings in at least 14 states, most of those in the upper Midwest. Several daily temperature records were broken -- from Alpena, Michigan, south to Miami, Florida.

"Heat index values" -- how hot it feels outside -- have been running over 125 degrees Fahrenheit in the worst-hit areas, the National Weather Service said. The scale designed to describe how intense heat feels also includes factors such as humidity.

"This is the hottest it's been for the longest period of time," said Emily McNamara from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where the temperatures were expected to hover in the mid-90s through the middle of the week.Extreme heat is forecast to bear down on the eastern United States by the end of this week.

Jacob Beitlich, a Des Moines, Iowa-based meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said that two factors contribute to make this current heat wave especially dangerous: the lack of a significant drop in temperatures overnight to allow people's bodies to cool down and relatively high humidity, which makes it feel appreciably hotter than the thermostat may indicate.

In Iowa, for instance, he noted that the impact of mid-90s temperatures have been compounded by relatively high dew points in the upper 70s and low 80s. These combine to make the heat index -- a meteorological measure for how it feels outside -- spike so that it feels as hot as 126 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the weather service.

"That takes a toll on your body," Beitlich explained. "When it's more humid, it's more difficult to cool down from sweating."

Prevent heat-related illnesses Video

The National Weather Service notes that typically extreme heat is the biggest weather-related killer in the United States, taking about 115 lives each year. That's why it and other government agencies urge people to minimize their time outdoors in periods of extreme heat, drink plenty of fluids, and keep especially close tabs on the elderly and young people.

In Missouri scores of cooling centers have been established in libraries, senior centers, schools and other sites around the state to help deal with continuously high temperatures.

At Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota Twins supporters stood in long lines to get water from coolers, used spray fans, wrapped wet towels on their head during a Sunday game -- anything to keep cool.

"It is blistering out," said one fan, Jeff Ferris. "Brutal. I've probably lost 10 pounds today -- it's crazy."

While the recent stretch has been particularly difficult, it's all part of what's been a continuously long, hot and in many cases dry summer in numerous locales. The weather service indicates that Oklahoma, for instance, already has had 27 days this year in which the temperature surpassed 100 degrees.

Not everyone in the region sweat it out though this weekend. McNamara notes that the Wild West Waterpark, where she is aquatic manager, has had "record-breaking days in terms of attendance" in recent days, with several thousand flooding in to get wet and beat the heat.

"It's awesome," she said. "You see people coming out having fun. It makes for a fast day."

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Manchester City agree Carlos Tevez sale to Corinthians

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has said that an agreement has been reached for the sale of Argentina striker Carlos Tevez to Corinthians.

A £39m bid from the Brazilian club was rejected last week, with City believed to be holding out for £50m.

Tevez, 27, had said he wanted to leave the Premier League outfit to spend more time with his family in his homeland.

"We have an agreement with Corinthians but Carlos now is still a City player," Mancini told Sky Sports News.

The Sao Paulo club, backed by revenue from a new television deal, want to make Tevez a landmark signing by taking him back to the club where he previously enjoyed success.Moving to South America would also help to solve Tevez's problem of being separated from his two children.

Corinthians president Andres Sanchez claimed last week that Juventus had entered the race to sign Tevez but added his own club would not increase their offer.

However, Tevez's adviser Kia Joorabchian revealed a few days ago that a deal with Corinthians was "close", with the player himself keen on a return to the club he previously represented in 2005 and 2006.

The former West Ham forward, who joined City from Manchester United in the summer of 2009, is under contract with Mancini's side until June 2014.

Last season Tevez was joint top scorer in the Premier League, with 20 goals.

Asked whether Tevez would now be discussing personal terms, Mancini replied: "I don't know this. I repeat, at the moment, Carlos is still a City player."

Mancini is currently on his club's pre-season tour of North America and added: "I want to wait. At the moment we are here, we are working with the other guys. We should think about this."

If Tevez does go, his 23-year-old fellow countryman Sergion Aguero, who is rated at £45m by Atletico, is regarded as a natural replacement.

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Pressure on senior Met officer over phone-hacking probe

The future of Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates has been called into question as the phone-hacking scandal fall-out continues.

He checked the credentials of Neil Wallis before the Met employed the ex-News of the World executive, who has been questioned over hacking claims.

The Met Police Authority is considering Mr Yates's future and London's mayor said he had "questions to answer".

It comes after Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson resigned on Sunday.

The resignation of Sir Paul, the most senior policeman in Britain, came after he was criticised for hiring Mr Wallis as an adviser.

Mr Wallis, a former NoW deputy editor, was arrested and released on bail on Thursday on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said he was very angry he had not been told that Mr Wallis had worked for Scotland Yard.

Referring to Sir Paul's decision to resign, he said: "The whole thing added up to a problem - a problem of perceptions that was just going to go on and on. And he [Sir Paul] felt, as a guy who really loves ... takes huge pride in his job, who has done a great deal of good, that he didn't want to be endlessly sitting there answering inquiries, answering questions about phone hacking."

And the mayor said Mr Yates had "questions to answer" about his relationship with Mr Wallis.

The Metropolitan Police Authority's (MPA) professional standards committee has confirmed it will be discussing Mr Yates's future at its meeting on Monday.

The MPA, which has the power to investigate a senior officer, is examining his links with Mr Wallis. It is expected to make a statement on Mr Yates later.

'Untenable' position

Meanwhile, Keith Vaz, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said Mr Yates had been recalled to give evidence before MPs on Tuesday.

Mr Yates has been heavily criticised for refusing to re-open the phone hacking investigation in 2009.

Mr Yates expressed regret at that decision when he appeared before the home affairs select committee last Tuesday.

However, he insisted that he had always told the truth to MPs investigating the issue and suggested that the News of the World "failed to co-operate" with police until the start of this year.

MPA member Christopher Boothman said Mr Yates's position had become "untenable" after Sir Paul's resignation.

But the BBC's Danny Shaw said sources close to Mr Yates say he has no intention of resigning.

In the outgoing Met chief's resignation statement, Sir Paul suggested that the prime minister's relationship with ex-NoW editor Andy Coulson, his former Downing Street director of communications, had caused him difficulties. Mr Coulson, who resigned from the No 10 job and earlier as NoW editor over the scandal, was subsequently arrested and bailed over his alleged involvement in paying police officers and phone hacking.

The Met Police chief also drew comparisons between the hiring of two former NoW executives - Mr Coulson by the prime minister and Mr Wallis by Scotland Yard.

In his statement, Sir Paul said: "Unlike Mr Coulson, Mr Wallis had not resigned from News of the World or, to the best of my knowledge, been in any way associated with the original phone-hacking investigation."

He went on: "Once Mr Wallis's name did become associated with Operation Weeting, I did not want to compromise the prime minister in any way by revealing or discussing a potential suspect who clearly had a close relationship with Mr Coulson.

"I am aware of the many political exchanges in relation to Mr Coulson's previous employment - I believe it would have been extraordinarily clumsy of me to have exposed the prime minister, or by association the home secretary, to any accusation, however unfair, as a consequence of them being in possession of operational information in this regard. Similarly, the mayor.

"Because of the individuals involved, their positions and relationships, these were I believe unique circumstances."
Threat to No 10

Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said that if Sir Paul felt that the "compromised relationship" between the prime minister and Mr Coulson "prevented him from telling the home secretary what was happening" and discussing operational matters with the home secretary, it meant the Met commissioner had been put in "an extremely difficult situation".

Home Secretary Theresa May is set to make a statement to the House of Commons later over the links between the Met Police and News International, publisher of the NoW.

Earlier, she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that both she and the prime minister had been clear that "the Metropolitan Police must investigate all allegations and investigate all evidence and take it as far as it goes"."If the Metropolitan Police found, at any stage, that they have a potential conflict of interest, I think it's right for them to be transparent about that," she said.

BBC Radio 4's chief political correspondent Norman Smith said Sir Paul seemed to seek to push the focus back onto Downing Street by highlighting the prime minister's decision to recruit Mr Coulson - a move that had infuriated No 10.

He said it was Mr Cameron's links to Mr Coulson which still threatened to cause the most damage to the prime minister over the hacking scandal.

Our correspondent said it was clear there was immense political pressure on Sir Paul after London's mayor told him that his confidence in him had been severely shaken.

Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive who had been editor of the News of the World when some alleged hacking took place, was arrested and released on bail on Sunday as part of the investigation.

Her solicitor, Stephen Parkinson, later issued a statement which criticised the Met Police saying that, despite a nine-hour interview, officers had put no allegations to his client and showed her no documents connecting her with any crime.

He said: "They will, in due course, have to give an account of their actions and, in particular, their decision to arrest her with the enormous reputational damage that this has involved."

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Obama, lawmakers to resume debt talks

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama and congressional leaders will continue to negotiate a possible deficit reduction deal this week to clear the way for congressional Republicans to back an increase in the federal debt ceiling.

While discussions continued over the weekend after the last full negotiating session Thursday, no significant progress has occurred and the chances for a comprehensive deficit deal sought by Obama in coming weeks appear remote.

Without a major deal, Congress would have to focus instead on a smaller agreement to raise the debt ceiling or face the unprecedented situation in 15 days of the government not having enough money to pay all its bills. The debt ceiling has reached its $14.3 trillion legally permitted maximum.

Senate leaders are working on a possible debt ceiling measure, based on a plan that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, unveiled last week. That plan would give Obama power to raise the borrowing limit by a total of $2.5 trillion but also require three congressional votes on the issue before the 2012 general election.

According to Senate aides from both parties, a revised version of the McConnell plan being put together with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, could come up for consideration this week, but only after legislators vote on Republican measures calling for spending cuts, caps on future spending and a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

While the GOP measures are expected to fail, the votes would satisfy a Republican desire to get Democrats on the record with their opposition to them.
Leaders from both parties say the McConnell-Reid plan is not the preferred option, but they don't rule it out if efforts to strike a broader deal fail.

"The minimum is I believe the debt will be extended," budget director Jacob Lew told the ABC program "This Week" on Sunday. "... Our efforts over the next days will be to, in addition to that, do as much as we possibly can to make the tough decisions" needed for a broader deal.

Obama warned last week that he could not guarantee older Americans will receive their Social Security checks next month if a deal is not reached. GOP leaders accused the president of resorting to scare tactics.

"This is a different situation than the United States has ever faced," Lew said of a possible default. He refused to discuss how spending might be prioritized, saying, "Once one gets into the business of trying to ask about setting priorities, it misses the fundamental question, which is that it's unacceptable for the United States to be in a place where -- whether it's a Social Security recipient or a soldier or somebody who is just owed money by the government -- can't be paid because we have not done our job."

Republicans complained that they have offered the only concrete proposals to address mounting deficits and federal debt so far, from a House budget proposal earlier this year to the "cut, cap and balance" plan pushed by conservatives that comprises spending cuts, caps on future spending as a percentage of economic production and a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.

"I'm a little frustrated that -- you've heard it in the press conference of the president, you've heard it today from the administration's spokesman -- they are never willing to be specific about the reductions in spending that they would be willing to do," conservative Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, said Sunday.

"The president always just holds out this idea that, well, if you'll raise taxes, and he is very specific about the taxes he wants to raise, then (he) might be willing to look at cuts elsewhere," Kyl said. "Well, of course, that's just not good enough. So, the point I'm trying to make is when the president says he's willing to compromise, understand why Republican leaders have been pretty reluctant to go along with this deal because we frankly don't know where the spending reductions come, but we do know where the taxes are."

Democrats said the Republican proposals won't pass, and they called for their GOP colleagues to work with them on reaching a compromise that would get the debt ceiling raised and include significant deficit reduction steps to signal markets that the United States is taking serious measures.

"This notion that we somehow have to change the Constitution to do what we were elected to do is just plain wrong," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said on the NBC program "Meet the Press." "Bottom line is, those who want to push a balanced budget amendment are saying, 'I can't promise you that I won't steal again, but I will vote for the Ten Commandments.' "

Obama evoked compromises of the past in calling Saturday for a commitment to shared sacrifice to break the current impasse on the debt ceiling.

"Let's be honest. Neither party in this town is blameless," the president said in his weekly address. "Both have talked this problem to death without doing enough about it. That's what drives people nuts about Washington."

Obama reiterated his call for higher taxes on the wealthy and reforms to politically popular entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. He cited budget deals forged by President Ronald Reagan and then-Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill as well as President Bill Clinton and former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, crediting them with making sacrifices that benefited the common good.

"We are all part of the same country. We are all in this together," Obama said.

Republicans, meanwhile, renewed their call for an amendment to require a balanced budget.

"The only reason this administration doesn't want a constitutional amendment is because they want to keep spending the American people's money," Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said in the GOP response Saturday. "And the only reason congressional Democrats would refuse to pass it, is because they know the people of this country would rise up and quickly ratify it."

Lew said Sunday that the kind of constitutional change sought by Republicans would be "quite draconian" by imposing strict spending limits rather than simply requiring a balance between revenue and spending.

He called for Republicans to compromise in their opposition to any kind of tax increase, saying, "We need a partner to work with.

"We need to get the job done now," Lew added, noting that credit rating agencies were warning of a downgrade for the United States. "The whole world is watching."

The tense negotiations between top Democrats and Republicans, reflecting core ideological principles on taxes and the size of government, have become a race against the clock. If Washington lacks the money to pay its bills, interest rates could skyrocket and the value of the dollar could decline, among other things.

The seriousness of the situation was reinforced Thursday when a major credit rating agency, Standard and Poor's, said it was placing the United States' sovereign rating on "CreditWatch with negative implications." Moody's Investors Services -- another major rating agency -- said Wednesday that it would put the sterling bond rating of the United States on review for possible downgrade.

Hatch argued that Obama refuses to reform entitlement programs and is pushing "job-killing tax hikes." The six-term senator had his own view of previous deals struck between the two parties.

"We've been down this road before," he said. "In 1990, Congress and the president struck a deficit reduction deal that combined spending cuts with tax increases. Unfortunately, while the tax hikes remained, the spending restraint did not, and our debt has marched higher."

House Republicans show no sign of accepting higher taxes on the rich as part of a so-called "balanced" approach to debt reduction. GOP leaders, who consider tax hikes detrimental to the economy, blasted the president Friday morning for failing to produce what they consider to be a legitimate spending cut plan.

No formal negotiating sessions took place over the weekend. On Saturday, internal discussions continued at the White House a day after a meeting involving Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Chief of Staff Bill Daley, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, said a Democratic source familiar with the debt negotiations and a Republican aide, both on condition of not being identified.

Obama has made it clear he still favors a package that generates savings of approximately $4 trillion over roughly the next decade.

Fallback plans that take major entitlement reform and tax hikes off the table may include between $1.5 trillion and $1.7 trillion in savings previously agreed to in talks led by Vice President Joe Biden.

Administration officials have also discussed extending and possibly expanding the payroll tax cut -- a nod to sagging employment figures -- as well as extending unemployment insurance, according to a Democratic official familiar with the talks.

One of the issues at the heart of the current debate is Obama's call for more tax revenue by allowing tax cuts from the Bush presidency to expire at the end of 2012 for families making more than $250,000. His plan would keep the lower tax rates for Americans who earn less.

Obama noted earlier this week he is not looking to raise any taxes until 2013 or later. In exchange, the president said, he wants to ensure that the current progressive nature of the tax code is maintained, with higher-income Americans assessed higher tax rates.

But resistance to higher taxes is now a bedrock principle for most Republicans, enforced by conservative crusaders such as political activist Grover Norquist. Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform, has sponsored a high-profile pledge to oppose any tax increase.

The pledge has been signed by more than 230 House members and 40 senators, almost all of them Republicans.

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Phone hacking scandal: Who is next in line?

Yates of the Yard looks to be next in line for the Boris treatment.

The Mayor of London has just signalled that he expects the Professional Standards Sub Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority to investigate the Met's Assistant Commissioner John Yates.

It is responsible for "Senior Officer Conduct" and its tasks include "to investigate and deal with any allegations, report and complaints about the conduct of officers of ACPO rank in accordance with appropriate regulations".

If he is investigated it will not be for failing to re-open the enquiry into hacking but for his relationship with Neil Wallis, the News of the World's former deputy editor who was hired to offer the Met PR advice.

Yates may be tempted to point out that at the time some argued that the hacking row was "codswallop" and "a politically motivated put-up job by the Labour Party".

To be more precise those were the words of the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Update 0936 BST: Assistant Commissioner John Yates was the man tasked with carrying out "due diligence" before the Metropolitan Police awarded a contract to the firm run by Neil Wallis, the former Deputy Editor of the News of the World in September 2009.

I understand that Yates received categorial assurances from Wallis that nothing would emerge that would embarrass either of them or the commissioner.

The Met took the view that Wallis had never been "in the frame" over phone hacking - a view that only changed more than a year later when News International revealed new information at the beginning of this year.

This led to the arrest of Wallis, his former boss Andy Coulson, Rebekah Brooks and others.

If the Metropolitan Police Authority do launch an inquiry into Yates this morning it will not be the first inquiry that he - or, indeed, many senior officers - have faced.

They are routinely launched in response to complaints about the behaviour of senior officers and do not normally require the officer to be suspended.

Yates, I'm told, has no intention of resigning and would only do so if his judgement is found wanting by the official inquiry led by Judge Leveson.

Along with other senior officers he is said to be angered by what one source described as a "political maelstrom which is casting careers aside at whim" and the current "trial by media".

Yates has complained to colleagues that he was harangued and shouted down by MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee last week and that no-one is focussing on the facts - in particular, that his decision not to re-open the phone hacking investigation was backed by the Crown Prosecution Service and leading counsel.

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Taliban video shows fighters shooting dead 16 Pakistani police officers

The officers were captured when Taliban fighters crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan's north-western Dir district in June



Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 July 2011 12.45 BST
An Afghan national army soldier chops wood in Kunar province, from where hundreds of Taliban fighters crossed into Pakistan on 1 June. Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/AP

The Taliban have released a video showing fighters shooting dead 16 Pakistani tribal police officers captured in a cross-border raid from Afghanistan last month.

The video, released on Monday, shows the police officers lined up on a hillside with their hands tied behind their backs, standing in front of armed Taliban fighters wearing scarves to hide their faces. One of the insurgents accuses the men of shooting dead six children from Pakistan's Swat valley by firing squad. "They are the enemies of the religion of Allah," the man says of the police officers.

He and several other fighters then open fire on the police officers, who crumple to the ground. One fighter walks down the line shooting the officers in the head.

The video was posted on the LiveLeak video sharing website and included a note saying the police officers were captured when the Taliban staged a cross-border raid from Afghanistan on 1 June in Pakistan's north-western Dir district.

A Pakistani army spokesman has confirmed the contents of the video, and said the Taliban fighters who killed the police officers came from the Swat valley, which used to be controlled by the militants. The Pakistani military launched an offensive in Swat in 2009, but many of the fighters escaped across the border into Afghanistan.

Hundreds of Taliban fighters crossed into Upper Dir on 1 June from Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province. They killed at least 30 members of the security forces over three days of fighting before being forced back across the border by the military, the spokesman said.

The Pakistani military has complained that Afghan and Nato forces have not done enough to target Taliban sanctuaries in Kunar, where the US withdrew most of its forces over the past year.

Afghanistan and the US have criticised Pakistan for not doing enough to target sanctuaries on its side of the border filled with militants who regularly launch attacks against Nato troops in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has also accused Pakistan of firing hundreds of rockets into Kunar over the past few months and killing at least 40 people – an allegation denied by Pakistan.

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South Africa celebrates Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday

South Africans are celebrating former President Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday.

His foundation has urged people to do 67 minutes of voluntary work on the day - to represent the 67 years he devoted to South Africa's political struggle.

The anti-apartheid icon is expected to spend the day with family in his home village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape.

Millions of school children have simultaneously sung him a special birthday song.

It is not clear whether the target of 12.4m was reached to set a new world record for the number of people singing to an individual at the same time.

The song Happy Birthday Tata Madiba - specially composed for his 93rd birthday was sung at school assemblies across the country. Mr Mandela, who is a hero to many in South Africa and around the world for his long fight against white minority rule, has appeared increasingly frail since he retired from public life in 2004.

He has been receiving round-the-clock medical care at home following his release from hospital in January where he was treated for an acute respiratory infection, says the BBC's Nomsa Maseko in Johannesburg.

Known to South Africans by his clan name Madiba, Mr Mandela has not appeared at a public engagement since the closing ceremony of the football World Cup in July 2010.

A photo released ahead of his birthday shows him smiling and surrounded by members of his family.
'Moving'

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, backed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said it wanted Mr Mandela's birthday to inspire people to help make the world a better place."If a man could dedicate 67 years of his life to doing good for the world, imagine what we could achieve if everyone just gave 67 minutes of their time to do the same," said Said Achmat Dangor, the head of the foundation.

South African companies, charities and celebrities have all announced plans for voluntary work they will do on the day.

Mr Ban urged others around the world to do the same. "The best way we can thank Nelson Mandela for his work is by taking action for others and inspiring change," he said.

In a statement released ahead of the occasion, US President Barack Obama said Mr Mandela's life and legacy exemplified "wisdom, strength and grace".

His wife, Michelle Obama, and daughters met Mr Mandela last month in Johannesburg during a visit to South Africa.

Mr Obama said his family's time with Mr Mandela was "the most moving part of their trip".

Mr Mandela stood down as South Africa's president in 1999 after serving one term, handing over to Thabo Mbeki.

After leaving prison in 1990 following 27 years in jail, he led the African National Congress party to a landslide victory in 1994 - the first time South Africa's black majority was allowed to vote.

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Pakistan Taliban release 'police killing' video

18 July 2011 Last updated at 12:15 GMT Help

Footage appearing to show the execution-style killing of 16 policemen in the tribal north-west of Pakistan has been released by the Taliban.

The video shows policemen lined up on a hillside with their hands tied behind their backs in front of gunmen who open fire on them.

Pakistan's army spokesman told the BBC the video appeared to be authentic.

Aleem Maqbool reports from Islamabad.

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William Levy reason of split between J Lo and Marc Anthony?

Various gossip outlets suspect that a Cuban lover is the reason for the separation of J Lo and Marc Anthony.

The news that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony will divorce after seven years of marriage stunned everyone and speculation about the separation reasons came up quickly.

According to U.S. press, J Lo would allegedly have a lover, specifically the Cuban actor and former model William Levy who co-starred in the video “I’m Into You”. Speculation arose when journalists noticed that Jennifer and Marc made​ their divorced announcement shortly after Levy had divorced his former wife, Mexican actress Elizabeth Gutierrez. The latter accused Levy of infidelity.

Despite these rumors, J Lo has never been seen around the Cuban actor, excepting the shooting period of the videoclip “I’m Into You”.

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Shooting video another blow to Pakistan's security forces

SLAMABAD | Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:55am EDT

(Reuters) - The killing of an apparently unarmed man by paramilitary troops is likely to erode what little public confidence remains in Pakistan's security forces who have been on the defensive since Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. raid.

The incident, caught on video and broadcast on local television stations, triggered fresh criticism of Pakistan's human rights record and an unpopular government many say has failed to rein in the police and army, and who seem to act with impunity.

It also further dented the reputation of the powerful security establishment in this U.S. ally which has been deeply embarrassed by the fact that the al Qaeda leader was found and killed in Pakistan last month, and its subsequent failure to stop a small group of militants from besieging a key naval air base.

"It shows that our law enforcement agencies have truly become trigger happy and the brutalization of society that has come about as a consequence," Zohra Yusuf, head of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told Reuters.

"It's very very disturbing and it's been happening too often."

In the footage, a plain-clothed man grabs the victim by the hair and drags him over to a group of paramilitary Rangers in the southern city of Karachi. He pleads for mercy, then one of the soldiers shoots him twice.

The man, identified as Sarfaraz Shah, falls to the ground and screams in pain. The soldiers stand beside him.

He collapses in a pool of blood beside a park named after late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was seen around the world as a symbol of democracy.

The Rangers initially described the incident as an encounter with an armed criminal, a senior police official said.

A cameraman from Awaz television channel who shot the video has received death threats from unknown people, one of his bosses said.

News of the death was splashed across the front pages of newspapers beside photographs of Shah's grieving relatives. "Karachi extra-judicial killing shocks Pakistan," read one banner headline.

The video comes a few days after a prominent journalist who had reported that al Qaeda was behind the brazen Pakistani Taliban raid on the PNS Mehran air base was tortured to death.

Suspicion immediately fell on military intelligence, which said it played no role in the killing.

The Daily Times said the military, paramilitary forces, police and intelligence agencies "who confidently violate human rights" should be held accountable for their actions.

"The security and law enforcement forces that do not respect the law themselves are inviting anarchy, which arguably is already underway," it said in an editorial.

Last year, a video emerged of two teenage brothers believed to be robbers being beaten to death before being strung up on a metal pole in broad daylight. Several policemen looked on.

The prime minister said an inquiry would be launched after the Karachi incident and the culprits punished. But increasingly frustrated Pakistanis have little faith in the government.

"What we saw on television shows that now there is the law of the jungle in this country and no one is accountable for his action or deeds. This is pathetic," said Mohammad Sultan, a retired soldier who now works as a security guard.

(Additional reporting by Faisal Aziz in Karachi, Faris Ali in Peshawar and Asim Tanveer in Mingora, editing by Miral Fahmy)

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Viral video: Dog bites shark while swimming

Is a shark regarded as one of the most fearful animal on the planet? Probably yes, but a brave dog would disagree that.

At first glance you might think that the title of the video was mistaken but after watching it, you can convince yourself about the originality of the happening.

Two dogs swim in sea waters and they head to the beach but unfortunately there are sharks circulating and blocking their way to safety. The dogs do not look to impressed by the situation and behave as hunters, the prey being….the sharks. The skilled quadrupeds seem to have applied a good hunting technique before forcing the fearful fishes to approach shallow waters near the shoreline. Then one of the dogs quickly dives underwater and attacks the nearest shark in a successful bite attempt.

The Australian who shot the whole scene was completely stunned especially because the dog spent long seconds submerged with his jaws clenched in shark’s skin.

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Yates quits Met amid hacking row

Met Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates has resigned as the phone-hacking scandal fall-out continues.

He checked the credentials of Neil Wallis before the Met employed the ex-News of the World executive, arrested last week over hacking allegations.

Mr Yates indicated his intention to resign to the chairman of the Met Police Authority, which was accepted.

Mr Yates's decison to quit comes after Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson resigned on Sunday.

The resignation of Sir Paul, the most senior policeman in Britain, came after he faced criticism for the recruitment of Mr Wallis as a PR consultant.

Mr Wallis, a former NoW deputy editor, was arrested and released on bail on Thursday on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

Mr Yates's resignation came after he was informed he would be suspended pending an inquiry into his relationship with Mr Wallis.

Mr Yates had been confronted with new information about the friendship between the two men, sources told BBC political editor Nick Robinson.

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Libyan rebels claim victory in battle for Brega

Libyan rebels say they are largely in control of the key eastern town of Brega, after close fighting in residential areas.

Rebels say forces loyal to Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi are retreating west towards the town of Ras Lanuf.

They say Brega has been heavily mined and there are still pockets of resistance.

It has not been possible to independently verify the rebel claims.

Brega, about 750km (465 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, has changed hands several times in the fighting along Libya's Mediterranean coast since the rebellion began in February.

"The bulk of Gaddafi's forces have retreated to Ras Lanuf," rebel spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah told AFP news agency.

He said streets were littered with "an extraordinary number of anti-personnel mines", making it hard to fully secure the area.

The remnants of Col Gaddafi's troops in the town are holed up in industrial buildings with dwindling supplies, he added.

"Their food and water supplies are cut and they now will not be able to sleep. It is a matter of time before they come to their senses, we hope to prevent some bloodshed," he said.

Correspondents say the fall of Brega, if confirmed, would be a major breakthrough for anti-Gaddafi forces.

They have been advancing on the town for several days from the north-east, east and south-east, despite heavy artillery fire from government troops.

In a separate development on Monday, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, who has led a mediation mission on behalf of the African Union, said that Libya needed a democratic government.

But he said that the Libyan people must decide their own destiny, and that if Col Gaddafi goes conditions must be in place as to when, where and how that happens. Mr Zuma made his comments during a joint news conference in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, with the visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Meanwhile, Russia has refused to recognise the rebel leadership as the legitimate government of Libya.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that such a move would amount to taking sides in a civil war.

His statement comes a day after the US and other Western and Arab powers recognised the Libyan opposition as the country's "legitimate governing authority" and repeated their demand that Col Gaddafi and his family should give up power.
Nato 'hits'

Nato aircraft have been targeting pro-Gaddafi forces near Brega in recent days, reporting hits on armoured vehicles and rocket launchers near the town, according to Reuters news agency.

Nato said its warplanes hit a military storage facility containing tanks, armoured personnel carriers and ammunition in Tripoli's eastern outskirts early on Sunday.

Col Gaddafi has refused to step down. In a speech on Saturday, he described the rebels as traitors and rejected suggestions that he was about to leave the country.

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Taliban in Pakistan 'police killing' video

Footage appearing to show the execution-style killing of 16 policemen in the restive north-west of Pakistan has been released by the Taliban.

The video shows policemen lined up on a hillside with their hands tied behind their backs in front of gunmen who berate them and then open fire on them.

The incident is said to date from June when militants crossed the Afghan border and captured police.

Pakistan's army spokesman told the BBC the video appears to be authentic.

A note released alongside the video said that the policemen were captured during a cross-border raid from Afghanistan in June in Pakistan's volatile Dir district.

The bodies were discovered by locals once the militants had left. The BBC received mobile phone footage from a policeman in Dir showing local residents discovering the corpses.
Disturbing footage

The area is regularly targeted by insurgents and hundreds of militants were reported to have descended upon the town of Shalato in a remote corner of Dir close to the border with Afghanistan's Kunar province. At least 25 Pakistani troops were also killed during the prolonged clash. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.

The footage released by the Taliban is disturbing. The policemen are lined up on the left with only a few moments to live.

On the right, a local Pakistani Taliban commander accuses them of being the enemies of Islam and says God wants him to punish them.

Then his gunmen open fire and the men are seen collapsing as they are sprayed with bullets. Later, a militant is seen firing shots into the soldiers' heads to ensure they were all dead.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says incidents like this make Pakistan bristle with anger when it is told that it is not doing enough to fight militants. But, our correspondent adds, Pakistan's army also stands accused of abuses.

Human rights groups say there is considerable evidence that Pakistan's army has also conducted summary executions of suspected Taliban militants - an accusation the army denies.

"They are merciless terrorists and this is the threat which we are up against. We have suffered the most at the hands of al-Qaeda and its affiliates... At the same time Pakistan has delivered the most against [them]," Maj Gen Athar Abbas, Pakistan's army spokesman, told the BBC.

The army believes the attack was carried out by Pakistani Taliban fighters from Swat, who fled across the border into Afghanistan during the army's offensive there two years ago.

They have since regrouped and have been coming across the border to carry out attacks on isolated checkpoints like the one in Dir manned by the men who were killed.

Correspondents say that securing the long and porous border dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan has been a major challenge for the two countries.

Many of the militant groups that operate on either side of the border are closely linked.

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