The Gambia's Yahya Jammeh's term extended by parliament

The Gambia's parliament has extended President Yahya Jammeh's term, which is due to end on Thursday following his defeat in elections, by 90 days.

It also approved his decision to declare a 90-day state of emergency in the tiny West African state.

Regional leaders have threatened to use military force to oust Mr Jammeh if he refuses to hand power to President-elect Adama Barrow on Thursday.

Thousands of UK and Dutch tourists are being evacuated from The Gambia.

The country is popular with European holidaymakers because of its beaches.

The Gambia was plunged into crisis after Mr Jammeh rejected Mr Barrow's shock victory in the 1 December election.

Regional leaders have been unsuccessfully trying to persuade him to step down.

Nigeria has deployed a warship to put further pressure on Mr Jammeh to step down.

Regional bloc Ecowas, the Economic Community of West African States, has prepared a Senegal-led force but maintains that military intervention would be a last resort.

In his televised announcement on Tuesday, Mr Jammeh said "any acts of disobedience to the laws of The Gambia, incitement of violence and acts intended to disturb public order and peace" were banned under the state of emergency.

Source:-BBC

As India Considers Action For Wrong Maps, Pak Objects - And Is Told Off

With India considering a proposal that would punish publishers or creators of maps that distort Kashmir with a stiff fine and time in prison, Pakistan has complained to the United Nations -triggering a brusque response from Delhi.

"Pakistan or any other party has no locus standi in our internal legislative matter," said a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

Earlier, Nafees Zakaria, a spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Office said India was trying to propagate an "incorrect and legally untenable" map, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

A letter sent to the UN by Pakistan urged India "to stop acts that are in violation of international law".

As reported first by NDTV a few weeks ago, the Home Ministry has sought feedback on a plan that makes it essential for anyone offering maps online to get a license from the government. Services like Google Maps gather information from satellites and crowd-sourced data. These could become illegal without sanction.   

The proposal also offers a prison term of up to seven years and a fine of Rs. 100 crore for anyone who publishes an incorrect map of  India's borders, including in Kashmir. India has in the past acted against media companies who showed inaccurate maps, but if it becomes law, the bill would impose specific penalties for the first time.

Last year, the government took the Al Jazeera news channel off air for nearly a week, saying it had repeatedly shown incorrect maps of Kashmir.

In 2011, The Economist placed white stickers over a diagram of borders in 28,000 copies on sale in India.

The government's new proposal could be submitted for review to parliament when it meets next in July.

Source: NDTV.com