Suit filed against ISI, LeT over Mumbai attack in US: Report

NEW YORK: Relatives of a Rabbi, who was gunned down along with his pregnant wife during the Mumbai attacks in 2008, have filed a wrongful death suit against Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and Lashkar-e-Taiba at a Brooklyn court, local media reported on Tuesday.

Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who originally were from Brooklyn were killed when the attackers entered the Chabad Lubavitch centre in November 2008. They were slaughtered in front of their two-year-old son Moshe, who was rescued by his nanny Sandra.

The law suit was filed at the Brooklyn Federal Court here by the grandfather of Moshe who now lives in Israel, according to a report in The New York Post.

It claimed that ISI had worked closely with LeT and provided support to the gunmen who killed 166 and wounded more than 300 people, the report said.

"Obviously, Pakistan is an ally of the US in the war in Afghanistan and our efforts to fight al Qaeda," said James Kreindler, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Holtzberg family.

"We know, however, that ISI has straddled some fences and while Pakistan is certainly cooperating with us, the ISI has used (Lashkar-e-Taiba) for its own purposes," the NY Daily News has quoted Kreindler as saying.

The claim is largely based on the involvement of Pakistani-American David Headley who has pleaded guilty to plotting the attacks with LeT, the report said, adding the government of Pakistan has also been named as defendants in the suit.

Read more: Suit filed against ISI, LeT over Mumbai attack in US: Report - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Suit-filed-against-ISI-LeT-over-Mumbai-attack-in-US-Report/articleshow/6973820.cms#ixzz164ocdkTj

Cambodia stampede kills at least 345 at festival

PHNOM PENH: A stampede on a bridge in Cambodia's capital killed at least 345 people and injured nearly as many after thousands panicked on the last day of a water festival, authorities and state media said on Tuesday.

Witnesses said the stampede began after several people were electrocuted late on Monday on a small bridge lined with lights connecting Phnom Penh to a nearby island where thousands had gathered to celebrate the water festival and watch a concert.

Most drowned, suffocated or were trampled while trying to leave the bridge. Many had been eating in outdoor restaurants and were crossing the bridge to return to the city.

"I was stuck in the crowd for a long time and it was so hot and I lost consciousness," survivor Huon Khla, 22, told Reuters.

State television said at least 240 of the dead were women. "People were carrying bodies of relatives, including children and women," said Vann Thon, 25. "Everyone was looking scared."

Prime Minister Hun Sen apologised for the disaster in which at least 329 people were hurt. He ordered an investigation as television footage showed relatives weeping over the bodies of the dead piled one on top of the other.

"This is the biggest tragedy in more than 31 years after the Pol Pot regime," he said, referring to the Khmer Rouge, whose agrarian revolution from 1975-1979 killed an estimated 1.7 million people in Cambodia under the command of Pol Pot.

Emergency crews carried inert bodies away from the scene. Dozens of victims were laid out in long rows for identification.

A paramedic desperately tried to revive one victim before giving up on the lifeless body, while other rescuers helped the injured into a fleet of waiting ambulances.

Investigation underway

The rescue effort went on into early Tuesday. Hun Sen urged the country to remain calm and ruled out terrorism as a cause for the catastrophe, which took place on the third and final day of the Bon Om Touk water festival celebrating the reversing of the current of the Tonle Sap River.

An estimated 5 million of Cambodia's 14 million people visit the capital during the festival each year.

"It needs further investigation," he said, declaring Thursday a national day of mourning.

Flashing coloured lights along the sides of the small bridge at the heart of the disaster shed a fitful light on the scene -- a road strewn with shoes, clothes and possessions discarded in the panic that gripped the crowds when the crush occurred.

The bridge connects the capital to Koh Pich, or Diamond Island, a small stretch of land owned by a local bank and filled with new exhibition centres, restaurants and entertainment areas.

It is popular among women shoppers, especially during the water festival when retailers offer discounts on clothing and other goods.

The stampede was the world's worst since January 2006, when 362 Muslim pilgrims were crushed to death while performing a stoning ritual at the entrance to the Jamarat Bridge near Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Read more: Cambodia stampede kills at least 345 at festival - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Cambodia-stampede-kills-at-least-345-at-festival/articleshow/6973556.cms#ixzz164oLDZdr

Prince William, Kate to marry in 2011

LONDON: UK's much-awaited royal wedding is to take place next year with an official announcement saying that Prince William, the second-in-line to the British throne, is to marry his longtime companion Kate Middleton in 2011.

William-Kate wedding, which is likely to rekindle memories of the fairytale wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, will climax an eight year on and off romance.

William is the most liked British royal after the late Queen Mother who died in 2002 aged 101 and Britons have been eagerly awaiting the nuptials for years.

"The wedding will take place in spring or summer of 2011, in London," a statement from the Clarence House announcing the wedding said, adding that further details about the marriage will be announced in due course.

"Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton became engaged in October during a private holiday in Kenya. Prince William has informed the Queen and other close members of his family. He has also sought permission of Miss Middleton's father," the statement said.

William and Kate, both 28, will live in North Wales where the Prince is currently serving with the Royal Air Force.

The first to comment on the announcement was the Prime Minister David Cameron, who said "he was delighted" and wished the royal couple very best.

The royal announcement was broken at a Cabinet meeting this morning and Cameron took the call from Buckingham Palace and later relayed the news to his ministers.

Read more: Prince William, Kate to marry in 2011 - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Prince-William-Kate-to-marry-in-2011/articleshow/6936323.cms#ixzz15VdX48hz