India upholds death penalty in 1993 blasts

INDIA'S top court has upheld the death penalty for a mastermind of the country's deadliest series of attacks and ruled a Bollywood star who bought weapons from the bombers must return to jail.

Yakub Memon, brother of the alleged main plotter and fugitive Tiger Memon, was the only one of 11 convicts to see his death sentence upheld by the Supreme Court for his role in the 1993 blasts, which killed 257 people in Mumbai.

The judges also handed down a five-year term for the actor, Sanjay Dutt, for possessing illegal weapons bought from gangsters accused of orchestrating the bombings. Dutt has served 18 months but is out on bail.

Announcing the sentences on Thursday, Supreme Court judge P Sathashivam said the Memon brothers and another suspect, Dawood Ibrahim, who is said to be living in Pakistan, "were archers and the rest of the appellants were arrows in their hands".

"They were the architects of the blasts," Sathashivam said.

The remaining convicts who had appealed against the death penalty saw their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

The attacks on March 12, 1993, were believed to have been staged by Mumbai's Muslim-dominated underworld in retaliation for anti-Muslim violence that left more than 1000 dead in the city a few months earlier.

Yakub, an accountant by profession, his brothers Essa and Yusuf and sister-in-law Rubina were all convicted for their involvement in the serial blasts at 13 locations.

The Bombay Stock Exchange, the offices of the national carrier Air India and the luxury Sea Rock hotel were among the targets.

Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim, the other alleged masterminds of the attacks, have been on the run since 1993. Indian investigators say they were helped by Pakistan's intelligence service, a charge denied by Islamabad.

Dutt, who was appealing against an original six-year term, spent 18 months behind bars before being bailed in 2007.

During a police raid, investigators uncovered a pistol and an AK-56 rifle which were part of the consignment of weapons and explosives said to have been brought to India from Pakistan and then used in the attacks.

Dutt, a one-time heavy drug user who has a reputation as one of Bollywood's bad boys, had admitted buying the weapons but insisted they were only meant to protect his family.

The 53-year-old in a statement said he "respected" the court's verdict.

"I have already suffered for 20 years and been in jail for 18 months. If they want me to suffer more I have to be strong," he said.

"I am heartbroken because today, along with me, my three children and my wife and my family will undergo the punishment," he said in the statement.

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UN to hold Syria chemical weapons inquiry

THE United Nations will launch an independent investigation into whether chemical weapons have been used in the Syria conflict, UN leader Ban Ki-Moon says.

Ban said the "difficult mission" would focus on a Syrian government allegation that opposition rebels fired chemical weapons missiles in an attack this week.

But France, Britain and the United States called on Ban to widen the inquiry to include allegations made against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

The Syrian government has accused opposition rebels of using chemical weapons in an attack at Khan al-Assal near Aleppo on Tuesday. The opposition said the government staged the attack and also used banned chemical weapons in another incident near Damascus.

"I have decided to conduct a United Nations investigation into the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria," Ban told reporters in his office.

The UN leadership is working with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the World Health Organisation to set up the inquiry.

"The investigation mission is to look into the specific incident brought to my attention by the Syrian government," he said.

"I am, of course, aware that there are other allegations of similar cases involving the reported use of chemical weapons." Ban would not take questions on whether the inquiry could be extended.

"In discharging its mandate of an investigation mission, full co-operation from all parties will be essential. I stress that this includes unfettered access," Ban insisted.

"My announcement should serve as an unequivocal reminder that the use of chemical weapons is a crime against humanity," said Ban. "The international community needs full assurance that chemical weapons stockpiles are verifiably safeguarded."

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Israel at a crossroads on peace: Obama

US President Barack Obama has warned Israel is at a "crossroads" and should choose peace with Palestinians because it is necessary for its own ultimate security and is morally just.

Obama argued that although the Palestinian issue had receded as Israelis felt safer in their own homes, it was necessary to solve the decades-old dispute so the Jewish state could fulfil its destiny.

"Today, Israel is at a crossroads," Obama said in a major speech, adding although Israelis felt safer under Iron Dome missile defences and barriers to thwart suicide bombers, "peace is the only path to true security."

Obama made his most explicit case yet for Israelis to re-engage in peace talks which foundered two-and-a-half years ago in the speech at a Jerusalem convention centre that formed the centrepiece of his three-day visit to Israel.

The president said he realised that many Israelis did not share his views and that many observers were sceptical at the prospect of another US-sponsored peace drive, but said: "I want you to know that I speak to you as a friend who is deeply concerned and committed to your future.

"First, peace is necessary. Indeed, it is the only path to true security," Obama said, hours after returning from a five-hour visit to see Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.

"Second, peace is just," Obama said, again seeking to show he understood the reticence of Israelis who believed Palestinian leaders had missed "historic opportunities."

Finally, he concluded: "Peace is possible."

"Negotiations will be necessary, but there is little secret about where they must lead - two states for two peoples."

Obama also demanded foreign governments blacklist Hezbollah as a "terrorist organisation", slamming the Shi'ite Lebanese militia for attacks on Israelis.

He also issued a new call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power amid a bloody uprising that has claimed 100,000 lives.

And he issued a fresh warning to Iran, saying a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic would be a danger to the entire world, as he sought to convince Israelis he takes seriously Tehran's threat to the Jewish state.

Obama said he favoured a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear dispute but warned Iran's time was not unlimited: "I have made the position of the United States of America clear: Iran must not get a nuclear weapon. This is not a danger that can be contained."

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Pope not complicit in war: Nobel laureate

POPE Francis was "not complicit" with Argentina's brutal military dictatorship and pursued a "silent diplomacy", Nobel peace laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel says, following criticism the pontiff had failed to speak out.

"He was not complicit with the dictatorship; he did not collaborate," the Argentine Perez Esquivel said after meeting with Latin America's first pope.

The Pope, Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio at the time, was head of the powerful Jesuit order in Argentina during the 1976-1983 regime.

"He preferred a silent diplomacy, inquiring about the disappeared and the prisoners," said the prominent human rights activist who campaigned against the junta and won the Nobel Prize in 1980.

"The Pope had nothing to do with the dictatorship," he added, saying the justice system had found "no proof" of any collaboration.

"In the Argentinian Catholic hierarchy there were some bishops complicit with the dictatorship but Bergoglio was not one of them," he told reporters, referring to 76-year-old Francis's name before he became pope.

Perez Esquivel said he and the Pope had discussed human rights and that the pontiff had called for "truth, justice and compensation".

He said the meeting had been "very emotional".

The Vatican last week rejected claims the Pope failed to do enough to protect two priests tortured during Argentina's "Dirty War" in which 30,000 people were killed or disappeared.

Argentinian investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky has criticised the Pope for his role, as has the famous Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo organisation, founded in 1977 to help locate children kidnapped during the military era.

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New leader of world's Anglicans enthroned

THE new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has been enthroned, taking over the leadership of 80 million Anglicans worldwide.

Welby, a 57-year-old former oil executive, was formally sworn in as head of the Church of England in front of 2000 guests, including Prime Minister David Cameron and heir to the throne Prince Charles, at Canterbury Cathedral on Thursday.

For the first time in history, a woman enthroned the archbishop.

The Venerable Sheila Watson, Archdeacon of Canterbury, played a key role in the service, which marks the formal start of Welby's ministry as he takes over from Rowan Williams.

His enthronement took place just two days after the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis, was inaugurated.

In his sermon, Welby said he wanted to foster closer ties with other Christians and heal splits within the Anglican communion which is deeply divided over the issue of women bishops.

"The Church transforms society when it takes the risks of renewal in prayer, of reconciliation and of confident declaration of the good news of Jesus Christ," he said.

"There is every possible reason for optimism about the future of Christian faith in our world and in this country. Optimism does not come from us, but because to us and to all people, Jesus comes and says: 'Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid'."

Since officially becoming archbishop on February 4 in a ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral, Welby has not shied away from taking on the government, saying welfare reforms would harm vulnerable children.

Welby is not a typical churchman. Married with five children, he rose to the top of the oil industry and gave up a six-figure salary to train as a priest.

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Scottish independence referendum next year

SCOTLAND'S First Minister Alex Salmond says Scots will vote on September 18 next year in a referendum on whether the country should be independent.

Announcing the long-awaited date for the ballot, Salmond said it would be the "historic day when the people will decide Scotland's future".

Salmond, whose Scottish National Party (SNP) will campaign hard for a "yes" vote, announced the date to the country's parliament in Edinburgh as the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill was published.

Voters will be asked the yes/no question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

London's political parties, including Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives, want Scotland to stay in the United Kingdom, arguing its 5.3 million people are better off within the Union.

Salmond said the people of Scotland would have a genuine choice in the ballot.

"Next year the choice facing the people is one of two futures. A 'no' vote means a future of governments we didn't vote for, imposing cuts and policies we didn't support. A 'yes' vote means a future where we can be absolutely certain, 100 per cent certain, that the people of Scotland will get the government they vote for," he said.

But Johann Lamont, leader of the opposition Scottish Labour party, which wants Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom, said: "The truth is, Alex Salmond knows if he held the referendum now, he wouldn't just lose it, he would be routed."

The Scottish government has brought in separate draft legislation to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in the referendum.

Alistair Darling, Britain's former finance minister and the leader of the campaign for a "no" vote, said the SNP was waiting until autumn 2014 to hold the vote because it knew it would lose if it was held this year.

"The only reason (for waiting) until 2014 is because Alex Salmond is hoping something will turn up," he told Sky News. "He keeps talking about 'a journey', but his car is pretty much stalled on the starting line."

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US House OKs stop-gap funding

THE US Congress has approved a funding stop-gap to keep the government operating until September, while the House backed a Republican blueprint that lays out budget austerity for the next decade.

The two votes came in rapid-fire succession in the House of Representatives ahead of a two-week congressional holiday recess.

The more urgent vote was the so-called continuing resolution, or CR, the $US1.2 trillion ($A1.16 trillion) appropriations bill that would keep the doors of federal agencies open through the remainder of the fiscal year.

The Senate passed the measure on Wednesday, and with the House following suit and making no changes, it now heads to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature.

Obama must sign the CR into law by March 27 or the government goes into partial shutdown.

With 2013 funding largely resolved, lawmakers turned immediately to the contentious debate over future government spending.

The House passed the budget crafted by Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman and last year's failed Republican vice-presidential nominee, along a mostly party-line vote, 221 to 207.

"We've done the hard work of bringing this plan forward," House Speaker John Boehner told members on the floor, assuring the Ryan budget "will in fact balance over the next 10 years".

It would slash federal spending, reforms entitlements, repeal Obama's landmark healthcare law, and insist on no new taxes, as it aims to cut into the $US16 trillion national debt.

However, Democrats blasted the measure as a severe austerity plan that would slow economic growth and dramatically cut funding to key social programs in education and training.

Democrats, who control the Senate, introduced their own budget blueprint this week, for the first time in four years.

They are pushing what they describe as a balanced approach to deficit reduction, including targeted spending cuts and new tax revenue to help slash the debt.

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