Pakistan Arrests 30 Students in Anti-Islam Film Protest
Police in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Monday arrested at least 30 students as they attempted to march on the U.S. Consulate in protest over a recent U.S.-made film considered anti-Islamic, DawnNews television said.
The protest was reportedly organized by several Islamist parties, including the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI).
“Clashes ensued as demonstrators pelted security personnel with stones, damaging one of their vehicles,” DawnNews said.
Police responded with warning shots and fired canisters with tear gas to disperse the angry crowds.
Several protesters were injured in clashes, local media reported.
At least one person was killed and 11 injured during similar clashes with police near the U.S. consulate in Karachi on Sunday.
The protests in Karachi are part of a larger series of demonstrations across the Muslim world against “Innocence of Muslims,” a 14-minute film trailer released last week on video-sharing website YouTube which portrays Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad in a negative light.
Pakistan’s Prime Minsiter Raja Pervez Ashraf has ordered immediate shutdown of YouTube in the country after YouTube decided against removing the film from its website.
Romney Loses Support of Hispanic Voters – Poll
The Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney continues to lose support among the Latino electorate in the United States, Latino Decisions said on Monday citing the results of its latest weekly political tracking poll.
According to the poll, only 20 percent of Hispanic voters are certain to vote for Romney, while 62 percent will definitely vote for incumbent President Barack Obama.
Two weeks ago, 23 percent of Hispanic voters were ready to vote for the ex-governor of Massachusetts and 56 percent – for Obama.
The latest poll is based on a new rolling cross-section of 300 completed interviews with Latino registered voters across all 50 states.
The trend registered by Latino Decisions is bad news for Romney and the Republican Party as Latinos make up 16.3 percent of the U.S. population, or 50 million people. Both candidates have made a tremendous effort to win popularity among the Hispanic community.
With about seven weeks left before Election Day, Obama, who has been nominated by Democrats to run for a second term in office, has a small lead over Romney nationwide, but enjoys a significant advantage in the electoral college.
Latino Decisions is the leader in Latino political opinion research. Its poll data and analysis are regularly cited by respected media outlets, including CNN and the Wall Street Journal.
UN Commission Confirms Increasing Presence of Foreign Militants in Syria
The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Syria confirmed on Monday “the increasing presence of foreign elements, including jihadist militants” in Syria.
Paulo Pinheiro, chair of the CoI, told the ongoing 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) that some of the foreign militants are joining the anti-government forces while others are establishing their own groups and operate independently.
“Such elements tend to push anti-government fighters towards more radical positions,” he said.
Pinheiro did an oral update to the HRC after the commission released its latest report on Aug. 15.
The commission confirmed the conclusion of the report that Syrian government forces and anti-government groups were both responsible for war crimes.
The commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Syrian government forces and the Shabbiha (pro-government militia) committed war crimes, gross violations of human rights and crimes against humanity, Pinheiro said.
Government forces and Shabbiha members were also held responsible for the killings in Houla on May 25, the commission said.
Pinheiro said war crimes, including murder, extrajudicial execution and torture, were perpetrated by anti-government armed groups.
He also said sectarian tensions have increased dramatically in Syria, particularly in Latakia and Idlib governorates.
The CoI was established in September 2011 by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHRC) to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since March 2011 in Syria, and was requested to probe into the Houla killings in a special session of the UNHRC on June 1.