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WASHINGTON: President Obama's promise to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in some six months has drawn intense criticism from the right. Now human rights groups are taking aim at another U.S.-operated detention center: Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. Some activists and legal analysts have begun to ask whether Bagram is "the new Guantanamo." The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday asked the Obama administration to release some documents about the more than 600 prisoners at Bagram. Melissa Goodman, the lead ACLU attorney on the case, describes the request as "basic information about who they're detaining, how long they've been there, where they were actually captured, and what their nationalities are." That list is almost identical to the information human rights groups demanded from the Bush administration about detainees at Guantanamo seven years ago. In addition, the ACLU's Bagram lawsuit seeks details about the admin...

Friday, August 14, 2009 PARIS: A Paris swimming pool has refused entry to a young Muslim woman wearing a "burqini," a swimsuit covering most of the body, officials said Wednesday, adding to tensions over Muslim dress in France.The incident came as French lawmakers conduct hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe body covering and veil was "not welcome" in France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority.Officials in the Paris suburb of Emerainville said they let the woman swim in the pool in July wearing the "burqini," designed for Muslim women who want to swim without revealing their bodies.But when she returned in August, they decided to apply hygiene rules and told her she could not swim if she insisted on wearing the garment, which resembles a wetsuit with built-in hood.Pool staff "reminded her of the rules that apply in all (public) swimming pools which forbid swimming while clothed," sai...

Friday, August 14, 2009 WASHINGTON: Michigan State Police are investigating a fiery crash that began in Taylor and ended in front of a southwest side restaurant, leaving one man dead. Taylor police were chasing the vehicle about 7 a.m. this morning because it was reported stolen, Taylor police officials said in a press release. Troopers were not involved in the chase but are helping with the investigation and recreating the crash for the probe, Taylor police and Michigan State Police officials said. A Taylor resident called police about 6 a.m. to report the theft, Taylor police said. A patrol unit spotted the vehicle a short time later on Interstate 75 and attempted to stop it. The driver sped away and the officers chased the truck into Detroit, where "our officers eventually terminated the pursuit," according to the release. "The defendant then slowed the vehicle down and officers continued monitoring the vehicle at a safe distance," the release stated. After drivi...

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...

Thursday, August 13, 2009 BUDAPEST: Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher has abandoned his comeback with Ferrari because of a neck injury.The 40-year-old, who retired at the end of 2006, was set to deputise for the injured Felipe Massa at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23. "Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck which occurred after the private F1-day in Mugello," Schumacher told his website.

Friday, August 14, 2009::ISLAMABAD: The nation Friday celebrating its 62nd Independence Day with great zeal, enthusiasm and renewed commitment to make Pakistan strong, progressive and prosperous. It is a public holiday. With the dawn of this day, special prayers were held in mosques for the progress and prosperity of the country. Celebrations began with a 31-gun salute in the Federal Capital and 21-gun salute in all the four provincial capitals. At 7.58 A.M, all vehicular traffic stopped for two minutes with the sounding of sirens and national anthem played at 8:00 A.M A change of the guard ceremony at the mausoleum of Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Mohammed Ali Jinnah also took place in Karachi, where an elegant and smart contingent of Pakistan Naval Academy assumed charge of the guard. Later, the Naval Academy Commandant laid wreath on the mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan and offered ‘Fateha’ for the salvation of the soul of the great Quaid of Muslims of sub-continent. The Independe...