Britain prepares to mark Queen’s birthday
AP, London
Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her official 90th birthday with a three-day series of festivities.
The queen’s birthday has been a three-month affair starting with her real birthday in April. The monarch’s birthday is traditionally celebrated in June when London’s weather can be more favorable.
Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip will attend a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral Friday on what is Philip’s 95th birthday.
5 Indians get life prison sentence for rape
AP, New Delhi
Five Indians who raped a Danish tourist when she asked them for directions in New Delhi have been sentenced to life in prison for the attack that highlighted the plague of sexual violence in the country.
Judge Ramesh Kumar announced the court’s verdict Friday in the presence of all the convicts in the courtroom. They can appeal.
Pakistan concerned over growing
Indo-US ties
Dawn.com, Islamabad
Pakistan has expressed its concern over growing strategic ties between India and the United States (US), a day after the two countries signed a number of agreements for security cooperation during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US.
Addressing a press conference at the Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that the US approaches Pakistan whenever it needs it, and abandons it when it doesn’t need Pakistan.
Libyan unity forces enter IS bastion
AFP, Tripoli
The battle for Sirte, the Islamic State group’s stronghold in Libya, raged after unity government forces pushed into the centre of the city and predicted it could fall within days.
The United States welcomed the advance on Sirte, the hometown of ousted dictator Moamer Kadhafi, which has also been in the sights of forces of a rival authority in eastern Libya.
The loss of Sirte would amount to a huge setback for IS, which is also faced with battlefield losses in Syria and Iraq.
