NEWS

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Forced To Marry Entrepreneur and TV presenter Saira Khan travels to her parent's country of origin, Pakistan, to reveal the shocking cases of forced m

Entrepreneur and TV presenter Saira Khan travels to her parent's country of origin, Pakistan, to reveal the shocking cases of forced marriages dealt with by the British High Commission's Assistance Unit.

Forced To Marry

Monday, 1 December, 2008

1900 GMT on BBC Two

Forced To Marry, a This World documentary, has unique access as it follows the work of this groundbreaking team and unveils the moving and dramatic stories of British citizens who risk rejection, loneliness and sometimes their lives, to break out of unwanted marriages.

Often misunderstood as a religious tradition, forced marriage, as opposed to arranged marriage, is carried out against the victims' will, or under duress.

This film follows consular staff Albert David and Theepan Salvaratnam on a number of dramatic rescues in remote and rural Pakistan.

As the practice of forced marriage is still rife in certain regions, the team often walks into highly charged and potentially dangerous situations.

Acting on distressed phone calls or text messages, Albert and Theepan enlist the help of local police to track down the victim's location.

They then ask for time alone with the women in order to establish her situation, and to offer her safe passage back to Britain via Islamabad.

The film tells the dramatic stories of Tania and Rubina (not their real names) who approached the Assistance Unit for help.

Tania has been forced to marry a cousin she barely knows and she has taken the difficult decision to escape and return to the UK.

Rubina, who carries signs of physical abuse, is finding it hard to break free.

Tackling hundreds of cases every year, the Assistance Unit is considered one of the world's experts in fighting forced marriages - some of which lead to "honour killings".

Stigmatised and often ignored, the issue of forced marriage is still a dangerous problem for some British citizens and this documentary shows the dramatic steps the Foreign Office is taking to protect them abroad.

This World will be broadcast on Monday 1 December at 1900 GMT on BBC Two.

Producer/Director: Ruhi Hamid

Executive producers: Lucy Hetherington and Jo Roe

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Madagascar leader defies troops

The BBC's Jonah Fisher at the presidential residence in central Antananarivo

Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana remains hunkered down in his palace, a day after pro-opposition soldiers seized his offices.

Opposition leader Andry Rajoelina is expected to enter the captured offices in central Antananarivo shortly.

Hundreds of supporters have formed a human shield at Mr Ravalomanana's palace a few miles away. He says he is ready to die with his guards.

The African Union has condemned the opposition's "attempted coup d'etat".

But speaking to the BBC, Mr Rajoelina denied that Monday's seizure of the residence in the centre of the capital amounted to a coup.

FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE

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Govt to end governor rule in Punjab soon: PM

ISLAMABAD ( 2009-03-17 14:07:07 ) :Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said the federal government is against governor rule in Punjab, and would lift it as soon as possible.

"I am against the governor rule [in Punjab]...will end it as soon as possible," the Prime Minister told mediapersons after attending a ceremony at a private school here.

Prime Minister Gilani said the government intended to take all political parties onboard in its effort for national reconciliation.

He said the government would implement the Charter of Democracy in its true letter and spirit, as signed by PPP leader Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and PML-N's Nawaz Sharif.

The prime minister appreciated Nawaz Sharif for showing positive response to the policy of reconciliation, adding the government would file a review petition on the disqualification of Sharif brothers after the issuance by Supreme Court's detailed verdict.

About the prospects of coalition with PML-N in the federal government, Gilani said politics was a day to day affair and any such possibility could not be ruled out.

On the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, the Prime Minister said the government amicably resolved the national issue of judiciary's independence in accordance with Mohtarma's vision and President Asif Ali Zardari's promise.

Gilani said notification on the reinstatement of deposed judges would be issued soon.

He declined the impression that any step was being taken to clip the powers of the Chief Justice, and said such negativism should be discouraged.

President signs summary of judges restoration

ISLAMABAD ( 2009-03-17 12:56:41 ) :President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the summary of the restoration of the deposed judges on Tuesday and sent back it to the prime minister.

Earlier, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had sent the advice for reinstatement of deposed judges to President Zardari.

According to sources, the Law Ministry had sent the summary of judges restoration to the Prime Minister.

The notification for restoration of deposed judges including chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will be issued by today, sources added.

Pakistan rape victim gets married

A Pakistani gang rape victim who won international acclaim as a campaigner for women's rights has married.

Mukhtar Mai was raped by four men in her village as a punishment after her 12-year-old brother was accused of adultery in 2002.

She ignored taboos about her ordeal and fought to have her attackers convicted.

Since then Mukhtar Mai has become a champion for women's rights in her country and an internationally- recognised figure.

Six men arrested and sentenced to death in connection with the gang rape are still in custody pending a retrial.

Ms Mai had said she was not sure she would ever marry, but on Sunday wed police constable Nasir Abbas Gabol in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Since being raped she has also written a best-selling autobiography and opened a school and a chain of women's crisis centres in Pakistan.

Mukhtar Mai won widespread international support when she spoke out after being raped - allegedly on the order of a village council.

In 2005, she was honoured as Woman of the Year by Glamour magazine in a ceremony in Washington.

The award praised Ms Mai for "her incredible courage and optimism in the face of terrible violence".

Critics of Pakistan's judicial system and social systems say the Mukhtar Mai case is an example of appalling treatment often handed out to women, particularly in feudal, rural areas.

Her rape was allegedly ordered by a village council as a punishment for a misdemeanour blamed on her brother.

Obama 'outraged' at AIG bonuses

US President Barack Obama has expressed anger at $165m (£116m) bonuses pledged to executives of bailed-out insurer AIG, calling the payments "an outrage".

"It's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165m in extra pay," he said.

He has told Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to "pursue every single legal avenue" to block the bonuses.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs later said AIG's next bailout payment could be altered to protect taxpayers.

He did not say how this could be achieved, but analysts say the government could reduce the payment - which is $30bn - by $165m, in order to force AIG to account for the bonuses in another way.

'Play by rules'

AIG announced the bonus payouts on Sunday.

In a speech which was intended to launch initiatives to help small businesses deal with the economic crisis, President Obama strongly criticised the company.

"All across the country, there are people who work hard and meet their responsibilities every day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multimillion-dollar bonuses," he said.

"And all they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, play by the same rules."

AIG insures financial institutions around the world

The $165m was payable to executives by Sunday and part of a larger total payout reportedly put at $450m.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo now says he has issued legal papers demanding that AIG reveal the names of those receiving the bonuses - something which he says the firm has refused to do.

"When a company pays funds that the company effectively doesn't have, it's akin to a looting of a company," he said.

AIG has not yet commented on the legal move, but a spokeswoman said the firm was "in ongoing contact" with the attorney general.

'Outrageous'

AIG has received bailout payments from the US government totalling $180bn (£127bn) since coming close to collapse in 2008.

AIG: QUICK FACTS

30 million US policy holders

Operates in 130 countries

Provides insurance to 100,000 companies and other entities

AIG boss Ed Liddy - who was installed by the government after the company got into trouble - earlier said the bonuses had to be paid to honour contracts signed before the financial crisis hit.

But Mr Liddy said bonuses for this year had been revamped and cut by as much as 30%.

However, such concessions have done little to appease angry senators.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said: "Did they enter into these contracts knowing full well that, as a practical matter, the taxpayers of the United States were going to be reimbursing their employees?

"Particularly employees who got them into this mess in the first place? I think it's an outrage."

Democrat Elijah Cummings was equally incensed: "It's like, OK, you got to help me screw you. And by the way I'm going to take your money and I'm going to slap you with it."

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Russia announces rearmament plan

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow will begin a comprehensive military rearmament from 2011.

"The primary task is to increase the combat readiness of our forces, first of all our strategic nuclear forces," he told top military officers.

Explaining the move, he cited concerns over Nato expansion near Russia's borders and international terrorism.

Last year, the Kremlin set out plans to increase spending on Russia's armed forces over the next two years.

Russia will spend nearly $140bn (£94.5bn) on buying arms up until 2011.

While this has been made easier while oil revenues were increasing in recent years, correspondents say, the new announcement is a surprise.

But analysts say the brief war in Georgia exposed problems with outdated equipment and practices within Russia's armed forces and led to calls for military modernisation.

Mr Medvedev says the move is necessary in response to the current military situation in the world, says the BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow.

Russia has long been angered by Nato's post-Cold War expansion and by the United States' plans to place elements of a missile defence system in parts of Eastern Europe," our correspondent adds.