Digest of international news for the week

India, Pakistan continue to trade accusations over ceasefire violations

Saturday

Washington: The US city of Aurora, that was the scene of a movie theater massacre last year, was shaken again by a hostage crisis that ended with the death of four people, including the gunman.

Islamabad: Four persons, including two workers of a leading charity, were gunned down in two separate incidents in northwest Pakistan.

Sunday

London: A traumatised father of the 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim wants the world to know his daughter's real name to give courage to other victims while demanding death for all the six accused.

Cairo: Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi inducts an economist as his new finance minister as he undertakes a major cabinet reshuffle, aimed primararily at resurrecting a tottering economy, on the eve of a visit by an IMF delegation for talks over a $4.8-billion loan.

Monday

Washington: US President Barack Obama names former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as his next Defence Secretary, and also nominated his counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan, who was involved in the planning of the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, as the new CIA chief.

London: An Indian-origin mother, who beat her 7-year-old son to death "like a dog" for failing to memorise the Quran, is sentenced to life for killing him and setting his body on fire to hide evidence after applying barbeque gel.

Tuesday

London: More than two months after an Indian dentist died in Ireland after being refused termination of an unviable pregnancy, a committee set up by the Irish Parliament began hearing submissions from medical and legal experts along with religious leaders on drafting new abortion laws.

Islamabad: Pakistani military rejects the Indian Army's contention that Pakistani troops had killed two Indian soldiers after crossing the Line of Control, saying the accusation was aimed at diverting attention from another incident over the weekend.

New York: Police in Chicago is investigating the mysterious murder of an Indian-origin businessman, who had won a million dollar lottery last year and was allegedly poisoned with cyanide a day after he collected his prize.

Wednesday

Washington: Concerned over the increasing tension between India and Pakistan over the brutal killing of two Indian soldiers, the US has instructed its envoys in New Delhi and Islamabad to work with the two governments to de-escalate the situation.

Islamabad: Pakistani military rejects India's contention that its troops had attacked an Indian patrol and killed two soldiers, claiming that it had carried out ground verification and "found nothing of this sort happened."

Thursday

Islamabad: A total of 103 people are killed and over 270 injured in six bomb attacks in the restive Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, marking a sharp spurt in terrorist violence ahead of the country's next general election.

Paris: India is fine-tuning a contract to buy 126 French-made Rafale fighter jets, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said today, adding that Paris would have to "wait a little" to pop the bubbly.

Friday

Islamabad: The death toll in a string of devastating terrorist attacks in two restive Pakistani provinces rose to 126 as residents of Quetta city observe a strike to protest the killings.

Islamabad/New Delhi: India and Pakistan continue to trade accusations over ceasefire violations with Pakistani government summoning the Indian envoy to serve a demarche on yesterday's incident, which Indian authorities said was a "controlled response" to "unprovoked" firing by the other side.