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SUPPORTERS of Hamas could face up to 14 years in prison if the British government succeeds in banning the group as a terrorist organisation, the Home Office said at the weekend.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, pictured, will push for the change in parliament this week, arguing that it was not possible to distinguish between Hamas’ political and military wing.
The al-qassam Brigades military wing of the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip has been banned in Britain since March 2001.
But an outright ban under the Terrorism Act 2000 will bring it into line with the US and the EU. | AFP
Pakistan
PAKISTAN has removed a clause from a new criminal law that had allowed chemical castration as a possible punishment for serial rapists, a government official said at the weekend.
“We have amended the criminal law, and decided that the chemical castration clause will be taken out,” Maleeka Bukhari, parliamentary secretary on law, told a news conference in Islamabad.
She said the decision was taken after the Islamic Ideology Council, a state-run body that interprets laws from an Islamic perspective, found chemical castration un-islamic. | Reuters
Sudan
SUDANESE anti-coup activists called for mass protests yesterday, as medics said the number of people killed since last month’s military takeover had risen to at least 40.
The US and AU have condemned the deadly crackdown on protesters and called on Sudan’s leaders to refrain from the “excessive use of force”.
Sudan’s top general, Abdel Fattah al-burhan, on October 25 declared a state of emergency, ousted the government and detained the civilian leadership.
The military takeover upended a two-year transition to civilian rule, drew wide international condemnation and punitive measures, as well as provoking people to take to the streets. | AFP
IT’S ONE small step for Japan, but one giant opportunity for would-be space cadets: the country is recruiting new astronauts for the first time in more than a decade and applicants no longer have to hold a science degree.
Women are strongly encouraged to put themselves forward for the job, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said, as all seven of the nation’s current astronauts are men. Successful applicants, who must be Japanese, will be trained and sent on missions.