MORSI SUPPORTERS GATHER OUTSIDE EGYPT’S TOP COURT
CAIRO: Hundred supporters of President Mohamed Morsi gathered outside Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday, ahead of ruling on the legality of a panel that drafted a controversial new charter.

The Islamists had spent the night outside the courthouse to prevent judges from entering. The judges are expected to deliver a verdict on the legality of the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly, which drafted the constitution, defying a presidential decree barring any judicial body from dissolving the panel.

IRAQ MAJOR WEAPONS ROUTE TO SYRIA
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The air corridor over Iraq has emerged as a supply route for weapons for the beleaguered government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including rockets, antitank missiles, rocket-propelled grenade and mortars, The New York Times reported on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said that to the disappointment of the administration of President Barack Obama, US efforts to persuade the Iraqis to randomly inspect the flights have been largely unsuccessful. Iran has an enormous stake in Syria, which is its staunchest Arab ally and has also provided a channel for Iran’s support to the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, the report said.

CHINA JAILS LOCAL GOVERNMENT ‘INTERCEPTORS’ – REPORT
BEIJING: A Chinese court handed jail terms to 10 “interceptors” for illegally imprisoning citizens hoping to lodge complaints with the central government, state media said on Sunday. The 10 were imprisoned after they illegally detained people from the central province of Henan who had traveled to Beijing to complain about local government abuses. Under China’s long-standing “petitioning” system, people can request that the central government step in to investigate abuses by local officials at a dedicated complaints office in the Chinese capital. AFP