Leaked emails raise doubt over Osama bin Laden being buried at sea

NEW DELHI: A huge controversy has erupted over the remains of slain al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and what exactly happened to them. Osama bin Laden was apparently buried in the waters of the north Arabian sea, but there are now emails that suggest otherwise.

The new emails that were leaked and posted online by WikiLeaks raise serious questions as to whether Osama bin Laden was buried at sea or was he cremated in the US.

The emails were allegedly obtained by the hacker group Anonymous from Stratfor, an organisation dealing with analysis of intelligence and geopolitical analysis, Times Now reported.

After Osama was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, the Barack Obama administration said his body was buried at sea in accordance with Islamic tradition.

In a set of emails given to WikiLeaks, the Stratfor's vice-president for intelligence, Fred Burton has reportedly said he doubts the official White House version of what happened to Osama's body.

So far there has been no reaction from Pakistan, where the terrorist leader was gunned down.

No world problem can be resolved without US and China: Hillary Clinton

WASHINGTON: Observing that China has a seat at virtually every table and a role in virtually every institution of importance in the world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that no problem in the world today can be resolved without the United States and China.

"We and others around the world are looking for even greater leadership from China. China and the United States cannot solve all the problems of the world together. But without China and the United States, I doubt that any of our global problems can be solved," Clinton said in a major foreign policy speech.

Delivering the remarks at think-tank the US Institute of Peace to mark the 40th anniversary of the China visit by the then US President Richard Nixon, Clinton said the US wants China to be a full stakeholder, embracing its role as a major global player, to helping strengthen the international system that makes its own and its success possible.

Clinton said its power, wealth, and influence have pushed China rapidly to a new echelon in the international order.

"What China says and does reverberates around the globe, and simply by changing itself, China affects the world around it. At the same time, it is still working on its great economic mission, bringing development to millions more of the Chinese people," she said.

Clinton pointed out that China's response at times has been to seek to have it at both ways, acting like what she called a selective stakeholder.

"In some forums, on some issues, China wants to be treated as a great power; in others, as a developing nation. That's perfectly understandable, because China has attributes of both. Nonetheless, the world is looking for China to play a role that is commensurate with its new standing. And that means it can no longer be a selective stakeholder," she said.

China, she noted, has already shown increased leadership on some regional and global issues, like countering piracy and sustaining the global economic recovery.

It has also contributed substantially to UN peacekeeping missions worldwide, and we applaud these steps, she added.

"But we do believe China will have to go further to fully embrace its new role in the world to give the world confidence that it is going to, not just today or on one set of issues, but for the long run, play a positive role that will enhance security, stability, and prosperity," Clinton said.

Moscow struggles to believe in Putin's tears, thousands contest his victory at rally

MOSCOW: High emotion, cold calculation or just brought on by the wind? The moment when Vladimir Putin shed tears became such a talking point in Russia Monday that it even led to naming a protest.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny coined the slogan "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" for the mass anti-Putin rally set for Monday evening, using the title of an Oscar-winning Soviet melodrama.

The perennially popular 1979 film by director Vladimir Menshov tells the story of a group of women friends. By curious coincidence, the three-hour film was shown by state television on election day Sunday and Monday night.

"The armed forces are guarding the stolen votes. Public sector workers are grimly silent as they cheer 'We won!'" Navalny wrote darkly on his blog of Putin's election triumph.

"It's enough to make anyone cry," he added.

Putin clearly had tears running down his face as he appeared in front of tens of thousands of people outside the Kremlin to celebrate his victory in presidential elections. He later said his wet eyes were brought on by the wind.

Putin's detractors riffed on "crocodile tears" and "Botox tears" on Twitter, referring to suspicions that the Russian strongman, 59, has had cosmetic injections to keep him looking young.

A cruel one-liner circulating on Twitter ran: "He's not crying, it's just the Botox leaking."

The Russia word for tears even became a hashtag shortcut on Twitter.

But some of his supporters praised him for showing a more human side -- even if the strongman blamed his tears on a cutting wind.

Anastasia Pronina, an activist from pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi, wrote on Twitter: "Yesterday I saw Putin crying on stage and I felt so good, I had tears in my eyes myself. It was so cute."

Craggy-faced Putin has shown his emotions in the past, such as when he appeared choked at the funeral of Boris Yeltsin, the first Russian president who picked him as his successor.

However, he is better known for coarse jokes and critics said the tears outside the Kremlin were a case of too little, too late.

"We didn't see any tears about the Kursk or about the children of Beslan, by the way," wrote blogger Ilya Dombrovsky on Snob.ru website, referring to a submarine disaster in 2000 and the hostage tragedy in a school in 2004.

Thousands of Russians are gathering for a massive rally to challenge Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's victory in Russia's presidential election.

Putin won more than 63 percent of Sunday's vote according to the nearly complete official returns, but the opposition and independent observers say the election has been marred by widespread fraud.

International election monitors pointed at the lack of real competition in the race and said the vote count "was assessed negatively" in almost a third of polling stations observers visited.

The criticism of the vote added fuel to Monday's protest in downtown Moscow by Putin's foes who are questioning his victory and demanding an end to his 12-year rule. The rally, which follows a series of massive previous protests against Putin's rule, has been sanctioned by authorities.