Pyongyang: North Korea announced on Saturday that an American detained for nearly six months is being tried in the Supreme Court on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a crime that could draw the death penalty if he is convicted.
The case involving Kenneth Bae, who has been in North Korean custody since early November 2012, further complicates already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington following weeks of heightened rhetoric and tensions.
The trial mirrors a similar situation in 2009, when the US and North Korea were locked in a standoff over Pyongyang's decision to launch a long-range rocket and conduct an underground nuclear test. At the time, North Korea had custody of two American journalists, whose eventual release after being sentenced to 12 years of hard labor paved the way for diplomacy following months of tensions.
Bae was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, according to official state media. In North Korean dispatches, Bae, a Korean American, is called Pae Jun Ho, the North Korean spelling of his Korean name....
more
07:40 AM, Apr 28, 2013
India is all set to sign a liberalised visa agreement and an extradition treaty with Bangladesh during Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's two-day visit to Dhaka beginning on Sunday. The new visa pact, named revised travel arrangement, will remove restrictions on visit of each other's businesspersons, students, patients, senior citizens above 65 years and children below 12 years on the lines of the liberalised visa regime between India and Pakistan....
10:07 AM, Jan 27, 2013
Major Abup J Manjali of the Rashtriya Rifles would be awarded the Kirti Chakra on the 64th Republic Day for showing extraordinary bravery in counter- terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. ...
08:20 PM, Jan 24, 2013
Senior citizens from India and Pakistan will be able to obtain visa on arrival at the Atari-Wagah joint checkpost effective coming Tuesday (January 15), Daily Times reported on Friday. ...
01:18 AM, Jan 12, 2013
India and Pakistan have begun implementing a new liberal visa regime following the operationalisation of a bilateral visa agreement last week, officials said on Monday. The Indian High Commission in Islamabad and the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi have started implementing provisions of the new pact related to visitor visa, business visa and pilgrim visa. ...
09:48 PM, Dec 17, 2012
India is pursuing with Pakistan the case of Captain Saurabh Kalia, who was tortured and killed by Pakistani troops after being captured in the Kargil sector in May 1999, Defence Minister AK Antony said on Sunday. ...
12:51 PM, Dec 16, 2012
The founder of the jobs portal 'Naukri.com' Sanjeev Bhikhchandani visited Pakistan in September earlier this year. He said that business was the answer to better relations between India and Pakistan, even though it had its own set of risks. "I believe if you want lasting peace then you need to build inter-dependency so that there are lobbies created who favour peace. Right now, when the society is totally cut off,...
07:48 AM, Dec 14, 2012
Flags of Honour Foundation, Dr NK Kalia and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, petition UN Human Rights Council seeking independent investigations on the torture and death of Capt Saurabh Kalia ...
04:07 PM, Dec 11, 2012
Kargil war hero Captain Saurabh Kalia's father Dr NK Kalia has approached the United Nations to secure justice for his son who was captured, tortured mercilessly and then brutally killed by the Pakistani Army. A petition has been filed in the UN by Dr NK Kalia, MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar and the Flags of Honour Foundation. ...
03:25 PM, Dec 11, 2012
New Delhi: Around 10 soldiers of the 56 Armoured Regiment in Patiala reportedly left the regiment after an alleged altercation, in yet another indication of alleged indiscipline and insubordination in the Army. Sources say that the soldiers who did not turn up for a weapons cleaning exercise were put through a tough battle physical efficiency test. Sources indicate that during this test, the troops left the Patiala Cantonment and proceeded...
08:15 AM, Nov 02, 2012
Rio de Janeiro: Sprint champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica has revealed plans to diminish his training programme in a bid to prolong his career. Bolt, 26, said Tuesday his best chance of adding to his haul of six Olympic gold medals was to avoid over-exerting his body between now and the Rio Games in 2016, reports Xinhua. "I'm going to try to not train too hard and not force my...
01:21 PM, Oct 24, 2012
Islamabad: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna began crucial talks with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on Saturday to review the second round of resumed dialogue with issues like terrorism to be on top of the agenda. The one-to-one meeting between Krishna and Khar was followed by delegation-level talks between the two sides. Indian officials earlier said that terrorism will form the core of New Delhi's discussions, particularly the slow...
11:45 AM, Sep 08, 2012
New Delhi: An inquiry was ordered after a Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army filed a complaint that explicit photographs and videos of his wife were uploaded on the Internet by a serving Major. The inquiry is being headed by a Brigadier. Both the Lieutenant Colonel and the Major are presently serving in Army Aviation Corps in Bhatinda. If sources in the Army are to be believed, this is a...
10:14 AM, Sep 07, 2012
New Delhi: Assuring investors of a stable tax regime, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the Income Tax Department would adopt a non-adversarial approach in realising the direct tax target of Rs 5.70 lakh crore for 2012-13. "We will ensure there is a stable tax regime, there is stable tax laws and everybody (tax department) adopts a non-adversarial approach to tax collection. "Tax department will be friendly, helpful, interactive....
07:25 PM, Sep 03, 2012
Brussels: A European Union embargo on Iranian oil comes into effect on Sunday with Western governments hopeful economic pain will persuade Tehran to scale back its nuclear work but also mindful they are pushing against the limits of sanctions. Combined with new measures coming into force this week in the United States, the European ban constitutes a major international push to pressure the Iranian government over its nuclear ambitions. But...
09:26 AM, Jul 01, 2012
New Delhi: All services except those which are in the negative list will become expensive from Sunday with the implementation of the new service tax regime. With the exception of 38 services, which figure in the negative list, all other activities would attract 12 per cent tax. The government had earlier decided to implement the negative list from July 1. As per the negative list, services like metered taxis, auto...
07:38 PM, Jun 30, 2012
Leh: Tension gripped an army regiment in Leh after a group of officers and jawans clashed following an incident of alleged molestation involving an orderly and the reported capturing of the armoury by the agitated soldiers. The trigger for the clash took place late on Thursday afternoon in Nyoma sub-district, located 150 kilometres from Leh, when a jawan allegedly misbehaved with the wife of a Major who beat him up,...
04:24 PM, May 11, 2012
United Nations: Citing its non-proliferation record, India told the UN Security Council that given its ability and willingness to promote global non-proliferation objectives, its membership of the four nuclear export control regimes should be "the next logical step." India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said India has never been a source of proliferation of sensitive technologies and it is determined to further strengthen its export control systems...
02:50 AM, Apr 22, 2012
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has reassured US investors that proposed changes to India's tax law were meant to reduce uncertainty. ...
09:10 AM, Apr 21, 2012
