ISLAMABAD: Texters in Pakistan better start watching their language. Pakistan's telecommunications authority sent a letter ordering cell phone companies to block text messages containing what it perceives to be obscenities, Anjum Nida Rahman, a spokeswoman for Telenor Pakistan, said on Friday. It also sent a list of more than 1,500 English and Urdu words that were to be blocked. The order was part of the regulator's attempt to block spam messages, said Rahman. The Pakistan telecommunication authority refused to comment on the initiative. Many of the words to be blocked were sexually explicit terms or swear words, according to a copy of the list obtained by The Associated Press. It also included relatively mild terms like fart and idiot. The reasons for blocking some words, including Jesus Christ, headlights and tampon, were less clear, raising questions about religious freedom and practicality. Any word could conceivably be part of a spam message.

MELBOURNE: Three young men, who were accused of attacking an Indian-origin doctor in Australia while on a violent robbery spree, were on Friday given reduced jail sentences by the Court of Appeal. Alfer Azzopardi, Michael Baltatzis and Sean Gabriel were aged 19 at the time of crime and one of their victims was the former president of Australian Medical Association Dr Mukesh Haikerwal in September 2008. A Melbourne based court on Friday agreed that the original sentence had involved some double punishment.
"It is impermissible for an offender to be punished twice for the same act," Justice Robert Redlich said. He said six counts involved double punishment and this would allow an appeal. In the County Court in November 2009, Judge Joe Gullaci jailed Azzopardi for 18-and-a-half years with a minimum of 13-and-a-half years, Baltatzis for 16-and-a-half years with a 10-and-a-half year minimum and Gabriel for nine years and nine months with a minimum of six years.

However, Justice Redlich said Judge Gullaci had "failed to give sufficient weight to the youth of each applicant." Their youth, though subjugated to other punitive sentencing considerations, remained a relevant mitigating circumstance requiring some degree of leniency that would not be extended to a mature offender.
"The orders for cumulation and their aggregation failed to adequately reflect the applicants' youth and their prospects for rehabilitation." Justice Redlich said the total sentences exceeded what was necessary to achieve all relevant sentencing objectives. He slashed their sentences by up to four-and-a-half years each. Azzopardi's sentence is now 16 years, with a minimum of 10-and-a-half years, while Baltatzis' is now 12 years with a minimum of seven. Gabriel's sentence is now seven years with a minimum of four years.

The trio pointed a knife at Haikerwal and demanded his phone and wallet. He was hit up to 12 times with a baseball bat. Part of Haikerwal's brain was removed in surgery following the assault.

There were 34 victims in 21 separate incidents on 11 different evenings.