Android 4.4.1 landing soon and fixes Nexus 5 camera

The Nexus 5 from Google is quite an awesome device, however its camera isn’t the greatest. Even though the Nexus 5′s camera features a optical image stabilisation, taking shots from it are painfully slow and generally out-of-focus. Google is aware of this and as per The Verge, a new update scheduled to be released in the next few days fixes a lot of issues with the Nexus 5 camera. They’ve managed to get a hands-on experience with Android 4.4.1 and here is what they have to say:

Speed is a theme for the update, and the Nexus 5′s camera really does feel faster across the board. The app launches a full second quicker than it did before the update, meaning you’ll miss many fewer shots than before. There’s also a new progress indicator in HDR+ mode, which makes the process, longer by necessity, feel a lot more straightforward. It’s the first of what Burke says will be a series of interface changes, as Google tries to make Android cameras a little more controllable and obvious. Right now, nearly every setting is buried under layers of menus, and Burke says Google is working on undoing that.

Update: Google has started rolling out the 4.4.1 update- check your device to see if you have received the update

Key trial challenges legality of French veil ban

The arrest of a young woman in France for wearing a full face veil caused riots and led to a key trial shunning the ban. PHOTO:AFP

VERSAILLES: A key trial begins Wednesday in France with the lawyer for a young woman, whose arrest for wearing a full-face veil sparked riots, challenging the legality of a ban on the Islamic face-covering in public places.

The court in Versailles, outside Paris, will hear arguments from the lawyer of Cassandra Belin, 20, that the ban on the veil – in place since 2011 – is discriminatory and unconstitutional but she will shun the hearing.

“She does not want to be wrongly perceived  as the symbol of a supposed rampant Islamisation,” Belin’s lawyer Philippe Bataille said.

Belin, who converted to Islam at the age of 15, was stopped by police in the gritty town of Trappes west of Paris on July 18 – during the Muslim Ramadan fasting period – for wearing the veil in public.

An altercation ensued and her husband Michael Khiri was arrested, accused of insulting a police officer.

He was later found guilty and got a three-month suspended sentence. The incident sparked riots in Trappes, which has a large immigrant population.

The ensuing violence drew hundreds of protestors. They set fire to bins, destroyed bus stops and hurled stones at police.

Belin went on trial in October for defying the ban and insulting a police officer but her lawyer launched a constitutional challenge and the Versailles court postponed the case to Wednesday to consider defence claims that the charges are unconstitutional.

Bataille says the ban impinges on freedom of religion, of movement and goes against human dignity.

The controversial ban on garments that cover the face was introduced on the ground that they could pose a security threat.

But many then interpreted it as a sign targeting Islamic veils, arguing that helmets worn by motorcyclists also covered the face.

Belin has admitted telling the police officers to “shut up” but denied saying “Allah will exterminate you.”

In a parallel case, one of the three officers involved in the incident is being investigated for using Islamophobic language on Facebook and for “inciting hatred and racial discrimination.”

Belin’s lawyer has also said that identity checks were being misused by some police officers to harrass veiled women.

But the police officers’ lawyer Thibault de Montbrial said that a “small group of radical elements were testing the institutions” of the French Republic, which is officially secular, under the guise of religious freedom.

Vettel slams double points plan

“I value the old traditions in Formula One and I don’t understand this new rule,” says Vettel. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

BERLIN: Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has slammed approved Formula One rule changes for next season, which includes doubling the points awarded for the last race of the season.

“This is absurd and punishes those who have worked hard for a whole season,” the Red Bull driver told German magazine Sports Bild.

“I value the old traditions in Formula One and I don’t understand this new rule.”

Motorsports’ world governing-body, the International Automobile Federation, brought in a series of new reforms during a meeting of the Formula One Strategy Group and Formula One Commission in Paris on Monday.

They included doubling the number of points in the world drivers’ championships for the season’s final race, meaning the winner would get 50 points.

Vettel took the world drivers’ championships with a 145-point lead, with 25 points being awarded for a victory.

UEFA Champions League: We needed a defeat to remind us of a few things, says Guardiola

Manchester City fought back from two goals down to earn a 3-2 win at Bayern Munich on Tuesday and break the holders’ record 10-match Champions League winning streak. PHOTO: AFP

PARIS: Holders Bayern Munich saw their record run of 10 successive Champions League wins ended in dramatic fashion as Manchester City came back from 2-0 down to beat them 3-2 in their final group match on Tuesday.

Both sides had already qualified for the last-16 from Group D and they were joined in the knockout phase by two more sides.

Extraordinary as it may seem, City manager Manuel Pellegrini intimated he was blissfully unaware that a fourth goal for his side – after goals from the returning David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov and James Milner had turned the game on its head – would have seen them top the group ahead of Bayern.

“I was tempted if we scored the fourth goal, of course,” replied the Chilean as to why he had not sent on leading scorer Sergio Aguero.

“That’s why I sent Aguero to warm up. I repeat, for our team it was very important to be first in the group, but not the most important thing. It was difficult to score two goals.”

His Bayern counterpart Pep Guardiola, who was experiencing defeat for the first time in a competitive match since he took over the reins in the close season, said defeat could be a benefit for the team.

“Perhaps we needed a defeat to remind us of a few things,” said Guardiola.

“The most important thing now is that we learn the lessons from the defeat.”

Bayern’s Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen beat Real Sociedad 1-0 to progress from Group A, and Greek outfit Olympiakos advanced from Group C with a 3-1 win against an Anderlecht side reduced by the end to eight men, although the Greeks had made life harder for themselves by missing two penalties.

Ronaldo unhappy with missed penalty

Real Madrid beat Copenhagen 2-0 in Denmark, with Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo scoring to set a new record of nine goals in one group-stage campaign. He later missed a penalty, but the defeat ensured that Copenhagen would finish bottom of the section.

While City produced the performance of the night, their rivals Manchester United ended a two-match home losing streak with a 1-0 win over Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk to guarantee top spot in Group A.

Ronaldo was not completely happy after the match with his performance.

“He is a little angry because he didn’t score the penalty [the first he missed all season],” said Real coach Carlo Ancelotti. “But he scored another important goal and played well.”

By finishing top of their group, Ancelotti is at least for the moment spared meeting his former club Paris Saint-Germain, who were already assured of topping Group C prior to going down to a 2-1 defeat at Benfica.

United too will avoid Bayern, Real and PSG after finishing top of their group, after a Phil Jones goal in the second half following manager David Moyes’s tough half-time talk.

“We wanted to top the group and we have,” said Moyes.

“I was tough with them at half-time, but we needed to be — we need to win games. A club like Manchester United has to be trying to win the trophy; that’s their job.”

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in first Twenty20

Sohaib Maqsood of Pakistan plays a shot during their first T20 cricket match against Sri Lanka in Dubai, on December 11, 2013. PHOTO: AFP

DUBAI: Dashing allrounder Shahid Afridi starred in Pakistan’s exciting three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 international at Dubai stadium on Wednesday.

Afridi scored an unbeaten 20-ball 39, hitting the winning six off the last ball of the final over by paceman Nuwan Kulasekara to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

In all Afridi hit three sixes and two boundaries to help Pakistan overcome a tough challenge from world number one Sri Lanka who had taken the match to the final over with Pakistan needing six runs.

Set a challenging 146 to get, Pakistan lost Ahmed Shehzad (four) in the third over but Mohammad Hafeez (32) and Sharjeel Khan (34) steadied the innings through their 57-run second wicket stand before they lost three wickets in the space of seven runs.

Sharjeel holed out after hitting three fours off 31 balls while Hafeez, who hit two fours and a six in his 27-ball knock, fell leg-before and Umar Akmal was run out for five.

It was left to Afridi to see Pakistan through.

Criticised for his recent poor batting form, Afridi hit two towering sixes in Kulasekara’s 16th over to give Pakistan a sniff of victory.

When on 23, Afridi also became the first player to score 1,000 runs and take 50 wickets in all Twenty20 cricket. In all he has 73 wickets in 69 matches.

Sent into bat, Sri Lankan batsmen did not capitalise on the good starts before Mathews (50) and Lahiru Thirimanne (23 not out) added 58 for the fifth wicket stand to take their team to 145-5 in 20 overs.

Mathews hit five boundaries and a six off 34 balls before holing out in the last over. He hit paceman Bilawal Bhatti for three boundaries in one over before sending left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir to long-on ropes to reach his fifty off 32 balls.

Experienced opener Tillakaratne Dilshan managed just seven before he was the first wicket to fall in the second over.

Kusal Perera (15) and skipper Dinesh Chandimal (22) then added 32 for the second wicket but off-spinner Saeed Ajmal put on the initial brakes with 2-35.

Kumar Sangakkara scored 21.

Pakistan gave an international debut to 19-year-old Usman Shinwari after the left-arm paceman was drafted into the team as late as on Tuesday but the youngster from the troubled Kahyber Pakhtunkhwa province bowled only one over, costing nine runs.

Tanvir finished with 2-32 while leg-spinner Shahid Afridi took 1-20 in his four overs.

The second match will also be played in Dubai on Friday. The two teams also play five one-day internationals and three Tests

Uruguay becomes world's first country to legalize marijuana trade

People participate in the so-called "Last demonstration with illegal marijuana" on their way to the Congress building in Montevideo. PHOTO:REUTERS

MONTEVIDEO: Uruguay has approved pioneering legislation legalizing marijuana, becoming the first nation in the world to oversee the production and sale of the drug.

After a 12-hour debate, 16 leftist senators out of 29 lawmakers voted Tuesday in favor of the legislation championed by President Jose Mujica, who must now sign it into law.

Outside the Senate, hundreds of cannabis-smoking supporters set off fireworks in what they dubbed “the last march with illegal marijuana.” The atmosphere was festive.

“The war against drugs has failed,” said Senator Roberto Conde as he presented the bill on behalf of the ruling leftist Broad Front, calling it an “unavoidable response” to that failure.

“It is an historic day. Uruguay is now on the international forefront of this issue,” said ruling party senator Alberto Couriel.

The bill passed the lower house of Congress in August and was assured of approval because the ruling coalition controls both chambers.

It authorizes the production, distribution and sale of cannabis, allows individuals to grow their own on a small scale, and creates consumer clubs – all under state supervision and control.

Mujica, a 78-year-old former leftist guerrilla fighter, has called his plan an experiment. “There are a lot of doubts and the doubts are legitimate,” he told Channel 4 television before the vote.

“But doubts shouldn’t paralyze us in trying new paths to deal with this problem that has gripped us.”

However, he added: “We are not totally prepared. But as in everything, you have to give it a chance.”

The legislation has caused unease in neighboring Brazil and Argentina.

The bill goes well beyond the marijuana legalization measures recently approved by the US states of Colorado and Washington, or the similarly liberal laws of the Netherlands and Spain.

Consumers over 18 will be able to grow their own marijuana, though no more than six plants per person. They can also get it through clubs or buy up to 40 grams per month from pharmacies.

In every case, they must be registered with the government.

Conde argued that the law strikes a balance between individual liberty and public health, while also resolving the “grotesque juridical inconsistency” arising from the status quo, in which marijuana consumption is not penalized but its production and sale is.

“Another blow against social hypocrisy,” said a smiling Valeria Rubino, a 37-year-old who took part in Tuesday’s “last march.”

Opposition parties rejected the measure, as did pharmacists, who reject the idea that marijuana will now be sold in drug stores.

There is also widespread public skepticism in this small country of 3.3 million. A poll taken in September found 61 percent disapprove of the law.

Legalizing cannabis will “diminish the perception of risk and foster consumption, especially among children and adolescents,” said Senator Alfredo Solari of the opposition Colorado Party.

“Neither our government nor the rest of the world should experiment with Uruguayans,” he said.

Uruguayan psychiatrists were divided over the measure. Some argue it will help tamp down the use of more dangerous drugs, while others say it trivializes marijuana’s harmful effects.

Not all users were in favor of the law, either, with some chafing at the government controls.

“It’s invasive, because it is not up to the government to determine how much marijuana can be consumed and the quality,” said Alicia Castilla, the author of a book on “Cannabis Culture” who spent three months in jail for growing the drug at home.

In a region where the war on drugs has claimed thousands of lives, the Uruguayan initiative won the support of former Latin American presidents who served on the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

But the International Narcotics Control Board, which oversees the implementation of international treaties on drugs, has warned that it violates the Single Convention of Narcotic Drugs, adopted in 1961 by Uruguay and 185 other countries.

The government has accompanied action on the law with a publicity campaign featuring the slogan, “All drug consumption has risks.”

Conde said the law deals with an already entrenched social reality.

“Marijuana is the illegal drug that is most consumed, fundamentally by young people, one that is perceived as extremely low risk and is easily obtained,” he said.

Consumption of cannabis has doubled here in the past decade, and now accounts for 70 percent of the illegal drug consumption in Uruguay.

The government estimates that 128,000 of the country’s inhabitants smoke cannabis, though marijuana consumer associations put the number at around 200,000.

Cheif Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry: A Persona Above Than His Institution

By: Rehan Hashmi

Ever since sense of realization awakened in me, I have heard that Pakistan is a country in which Rule of Law and Justice is barely practiced and this is the root cause of challenges  Pakistan facing over years. In the past military rules and so called ‘democratic’ regimes everyone knows how the judges was been kept in pockets of then executives. But then comes the day of March 9, 2007, which changed the history of judiciary and created a ray of hope for nation which was starving for ‘justice’ for decades. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s NO against General Musharraf and then an undaunted movement afterwards for his restoration was just a start for judicial independence. It worked in the end for CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry who was restored to his position first on July 20, 2007 and then on March 16, 2009 by more esteem and with responsibility of fulfilling the greater cause for which majority supported him.

And now on the completion of his eight year’s tenure as Chief Justice, some legitimate questions rises in our mind about his contribution as an head of a vital institution that
Did he meet the expectations of public for an independent judiciary and a judicial system which can ensure provision of justice to the poor at lower courts as well in short Justice at doorstep?

Did he really pay off the endeavors made for his restoration and have developed SC such institution public stood for?

Has he maintained the credibility of Supreme Court?

Has he done his role as an Institution head for creating balance among the state institutions and protecting the constitution?

Has he done enough that his foot-steps to be followed and his legacy to be inherited by his rest of the team?

These posed questions might be hard to answer and may take on hours’ debate, but could have been a simple yes if Chief Justice have done ‘justice’ to the supreme dignity of his position and with the confidence public has reposed in him.

In his term, Iftikhar Chaudry headed benches which dealt with high profile cases like NRO, Memo Gate, NICL Scandal, Rental Power Plants’ case, Ephedrine Quota Case and Asghar Khan Case mainly along with a long list of his suo motu actions, some of which was termed unnecessarily and against the dignity of SC head. Judicial Activism and Judicial Deliverance are quite apart, Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry though kept higher judiciary active but could not deliver much in terms of the outcomes as most of the cases, either still undecided or their judgments were not so convincing or should I say ‘distinctive’. Here I would definitely dare to say that a specific sector of the media portrayed him as savoir to Pakistani nation against all problems. The judicial activism of Iftikhar Chaudry’s court was overhyped in that sector of media (need not to mention) which turned Supreme Court as the biggest power house of the country.

Talking about the cases, the top most was the NRO case because the whole saga was dragged to more than three years but, of no avail, irrespective of Yousaf Raza Gillani’s dismissal as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Memo Gate Scandal was one of the crucial cases in which another state institution was on prosecution side. The accused Hussain Haqqani (Former Ambassador to US) keep defying court orders and did not appear in court premises, but what have been done to him?

CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry’s court did a fair job in Missing Persons Case to produce 14 missing of them recently after about three years of hearing, yet commendable.

Bad governance and incompetency of democratic governments have invited SC to intervene in the state affairs, otherwise if an independent NAB operates in the country, the corruption scams NICL, OGRA, EOBI, Ephiderine Quota could be tackled with due penalties. The mightiers who were the real faces behind these cases have not been sentenced by the court to set an example of Rule of Law.

Constitution of Pakistan was crumbled by the authoritative in past four years of Iftikhar Chaudry’s court, but it had selective approach and it was evident in the qualification, disqualification cases at General Elections. How badly the Article 62, 63 was humiliated in general elections by judiciary members under his command, but no action taken from Supreme Court. Even the Contempt of Court law was adversely used by his court and the upcoming days will decide how it mean to Justice Jillani’s Court will decide. Last but not the least, Arsalan Iftikhar Case has stigmatized his term which could never be removed.

It has been done in the history of Pakistan that an institution has been brought to trust dearth due to the misdeeds of its chief. In the case of Supreme Court, Mr Chaudhry continued to focused more to his own persona, led SC ineffectively and failed to develop this state’s pillar. Supreme Court will still be a power house due to its activism, but can it be able to retain public’s trust level where it was on 16 March 2009? is a question can only be answered by the passage of time. It is sad to see a person who was the most powerful head of Supreme Court by time, reinstated to his post twice with all high hopes, has left the institution with after dipping down its credibility.

Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry has played his innings ‘well enough’, battles through his ‘rivals’ but despite of it he could not turn out to be a match winner for his team.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudry’s name will definitely be remembered in the Judicial history of Pakistan but never be in ‘Golden Words’.