ust three places below Afghanistan, Pakistan has been ranked the 10th most failed state in the 2010 Failed State Index released by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine on Monday. The list is topped by Somalia, followed by Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Chad.
India is ranked 87 in a list of 177 countries. In India’s immediate neighbourhood, Burma has been placed at 13, Sri Lanka (22) and Nepal 25. China is ranked at 57th place. Norway is ranked at the bottom of the list. “Shattered Somalia has been the No.1 failed state for three years running, and none of the current top 10 has shown much improvement,” it said.
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17 killed in bus accident in Pakistan
Peshawar, June 21: Seventeen people, including two women and three children, were killed and seven others injured when a mini-bus collided with a truck in northwest Pakistan on Monday. The speeding mini-bus collided head-on with the truck coming from the opposite direction on the Indus Highway in Karak district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Two women and three children were among the 17 passengers who died in the accident, the police said.
The injured were taken to the district headquarters hospital in Karak. Most of the dead belonged to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, the police said. —PTI
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China court holds trial of Tibet activist
Beijing, June 21: An award-winning Tibetan environmentalist’s trial on separatism charges has been put on hold, the latest twist in a trio of intertwined cases pitting three brothers against China’s communist authorities.
The cases come amid increasing reports of repression of Tibetan intellectuals, an echo of the massive security crackdown that followed deadly rioting in the capital Lhasa two years ago. Rinchen Samdrup was due to go on trial in the Tibetan region of Chamdo on the charge of “incitement to split the country,” but the trial was abruptly cancelled, according to lawyer Pu Zhiqiang. Rinchen Samdrup, 44, was detained along with his brother, Chime Namgyal, after they accused local officials. —AP
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Afghans free 14 prisoners after jirga deal
Kabul, June 21: Fourteen suspected Taliban prisoners have been released in Afghanistan after their cases were reviewed as part of a peace deal that seeks to win over insurgent foot soldiers, an official said on Monday.
Twelve prisoners were freed from US detention in Bagram while two would-be suicide bombers were released from Afghan custody, said deputy attorney-general Fazl Ahmad Faqiryar. The decision to review the cases came after a “jirga”, or gathering, of Afghan tribal leaders and other notables earlier this month approved a plan by President Hamid Karzai to seek a peace deal with moderate elements of the Taliban, who have waged an insurgency since 2001.
—Reuters )