Major setback for Nepali Congress
KATHMANDU, June 28 — The month-old Nepali Congress Government of Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai received its first major setback here when the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxists-Leninists) swept the biennial elections to the Rashtriya Sabha, the Upper House of the Nepalese bicameral Parliament.

UN starts return of Kosovo refugees
STANKOVIC, Macedonia, June 28 — The UN today launched the organised return of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees from Macedonia as NATO troops struggled to keep the lid on tit-for-tat violence in Kosovo.

A plainclothed policeman fires up a tear gas to disperse fighting demonstrators on Sunday in Karachi. Militants of two rival Sunni Muslims sects clashed while marching together in a street to celebrate the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad. No casualties were reported. — AP/PTI

Zinni mission not bid at mediation: USA
WASHINGTON, June 28 — The Clinton Administration today made it clear that the Zinni mission to Islamabad was not an attempt at the US mediation between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

US pop singer Michael Jackson performs with guitarist Slash during the benefit concert "Michael Jackson & Friends-What more can I give" at the Munich Olympic stadium on Sunday. The proceeds of the show will go to the Red Cross, UNESCO and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. AP/PTI

Jackson, Rehman enthral audience MUNICH, June 28 — Melodious strains of “Satyameva jayate” (truth shall triumph) by music wizard A.R. Rehman provided an appropriate icing to an enchanting concert by pop king Michael Jackson here last night in aid of the world’s needy children with a fusion experiment promoted by the Hinduja family.

China’s Panchen Lama under heavy guard
SHIGATSE, Tibet, June 28 — The nine-year-old boy picked by Beijing as Tibet’s second holiest figure is under heavy police protection because of fears for his safety on his first return to the Himalayan region.

‘Rogue’ Leeson to be freed
SINGAPORE, June 28 — Rogue trader Nick Leeson, whose exploits led to the collapse of the world’s oldest merchant bank, is due to emerge from Singapore’s Changi Prison this week in time to cut more deals in the wake of a film portrayal of his escapades.

Gore’s bid to move away from Clinton ‘‘justified’’
WASHINGTON June 28 — Washington pundits yesterday supported moves by Mr Al Gore to distance himself from us President Bill Clinton, as the Vice-President seeks to lure supporters in his bid for the presidency in 2000.

US Stealth jets not so ‘‘stealthy’’
WASHINGTON, June 28 — The US Stealth jets that carried out NATO bombing sorties against Yugoslavia may not be so “stealthy” as they were billed to be, according to a Newseek report.

Upper House poll
Major setback for Nepali Congress

KATHMANDU, June 28 (UNI) — The month-old Nepali Congress Government of Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai received its first major setback here when the main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxists-Leninists) swept the biennial elections to the Rashtriya Sabha, the Upper House of the Nepalese bicameral Parliament.

In the elections held yesterday for the representatives from the five development regions of the Hindu Himalayan kingdom to the 60-member House, the CPN (UML) wrested all five from the Nepali Congress and in the process frustrated the NC attempts to retain its numbers in the Rashtriya Sabha through last-minute poll alliances with the so-called “Reactionary and anti-Indian forces’’ comprising the CPN (Marxist-Leninst) and Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (Chand).

The NC electoral tie-up with the CPN (ML) and RPP (Chand) also failed to click on yet another seat which figured in the yesterday’s Upper House balloting — the mid-western region seat — since local-bodies elections in the region could not be held in view of an armed insurgency by Maoists there.

What, however, clicked was the recent poll understanding between the CPN (UML) and the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (Thapa) with the latter’s nominee finally getting elected from here for the remaining four-year term for the seat.

The electoral college for the “development-regions” seats comprised the office-bearers of the respective village development committees and executives as well as members of the district development committees and municipalities in the kingdom.

With 20 seats in the 60-member Rashtriya Sabha going to the polls every two years, there are yet another 12 seats which would be contested on July 10 next with the electoral college comprising the 205 members of the Pratinidhi Sabha, the Lower House of the Nepalese Parliament. Another three members shall be nominated by the Nepalese constitutional monarch King Birendra.

With the completion of the elections to all 205 Pratinidhi Sabha seats, the ruling Nepali Congress finally ended up with 111 while the main opposition CPN (UML) won 71.

UN starts return of Kosovo refugees

STANKOVIC, Macedonia, June 28 (Reuters) — The UN today launched the organised return of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees from Macedonia as NATO troops struggled to keep the lid on tit-for-tat violence in Kosovo.

Refugees in the sprawling Stankovic camp near the border with Serbia crowded aboard UN buses for the ride back to their homes in and around the Kosovo capital Pristina.

Many have already gone back on their own, ignoring earlier NATO warnings to wait until mines, booby-traps and unexploded NATO bombs had been neutralised by peacekeepers.

“We’ve seen 400,000 return on their own,” said Mr Ron Redmond spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Macedonia. “A lot of people in these camps don’t have the resources to do that,” he said.

The organised repatriation is happening sooner than the UNHCR has said it would have wanted because of the continuing security problems. The past two days have been marked by reports of murder, looting and arson in the devastated Serbian province.

In Pristina, officials were investigating the shooting of two persons, one of whom had previous links with an international organisation. They died overnight on Saturday.

Zinni mission not bid at mediation: USA

WASHINGTON, June 28 (UNI) — The Clinton Administration today made it clear that the Zinni mission to Islamabad was not an attempt at the US mediation between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, reiterating that it would like the issue to be settled directly by the two countries themselves.

"This must be done directly between India and Pakistan. The USA is not a mediator nor have we offered any specific solution for resolving this dispute," State Department spokesman James Rubin said, setting at rest doubts raised in certain quarters about the Zinni mission.

In reply to a question, Mr Rubin said he had no information about the report that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif might arrive here for talks with President Clinton. Since it was about the visit of a Prime Minister, the question should be directed to the White House, he added.

Later, a White House spokesman also pleaded ignorance about the visit. Pakistani Army chief Pervez Musharraf was quoted in reports from Islamabad as saying that Mr Sharif might go to Washington for talks with the President.

Mr Rubin also said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Strobe Talbott had no plans to visit the region as a peace-maker.

In reply to another question, Mr Rubin clarified that the USA had not proposed any delay in the grant of loans by international financial institutions to Pakistan as a kind of pressure to make Islamabad withdraw its troops from the Indian side of Kashmir.

Jackson, Rehman enthral audience

MUNICH, June 28 (PTI) — Melodious strains of “Satyameva jayate” (truth shall triumph) by music wizard A.R. Rehman provided an appropriate icing to an enchanting concert by pop king Michael Jackson here last night in aid of the world’s needy children with a fusion experiment promoted by the Hinduja family.

Rehman and his fellow artistes, including Shobhana and Prabhu Deva, rung the curtains down on the nine-hour open air concert after Jackson electrified over 55,000-strong audience belting his famous numbers including his favourite “We are the world” at the gigantic Olympic Stadium.

Jackson, who briefly joined the Indian troupe’s show sponsored by the Hinduja Foundationa, gave a rendition of the English translation of a Sanskrit verse and Rehman’s number “Ekam satyam” (one truth) with folded hands wearing a white outfit designed by Indian fashion designer Manish Malhotra.

Jackson, however, had to cut short his concert for a hospital treatment for unspecified reason. He was discharged early today.

Vinoo Hinduja, daughter of Srichand P. Hinduja, who initiated the move to bring Indian music on the world stage, said, “I hope this little effort of mine would make the world savour the richness of the Indian music.

Rehman used a synthesis of contemporary sounds with the help of traditional Indian instruments like thavil, ganjira, ghatam and sarangi to echo the richness of the Indian music.

China’s Panchen Lama under heavy guard

SHIGATSE, Tibet, June 28 (Reuters) — The nine-year-old boy picked by Beijing as Tibet’s second holiest figure is under heavy police protection because of fears for his safety on his first return to the Himalayan region.

The Panchen Lama was today escorted in a 21-vehicle police motorcade to a sacred Buddhist ritual in his own monastery in Shigatse, Tibet’s second city.

Monks with walkie-talkies patrolled the grounds of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and Buddhist pilgrims were kept at a distance.

The motorcade included an emergency medical vehicle and three police cars, with flashing red and blue lights.

The Chinese authorities are using the visit to try to boost the legitimacy of the 11th Panchen Lama against a rival named by the Dalai Lama.

‘Rogue’ Leeson to be freed

SINGAPORE, June 28 (DPA) — Rogue trader Nick Leeson, whose exploits led to the collapse of the world’s oldest merchant bank, is due to emerge from Singapore’s Changi Prison this week in time to cut more deals in the wake of a film portrayal of his escapades.

Leeson is scheduled for deportation from the city-state on July 3, deemed eligible for early release based on his good behaviour after serving just over half of a six-and-a-half year sentence.

‘‘He’s in fine spirits,’’ said Mr Clive Alderton, head of chancery at the British High Commission. He has regularly visited the 32-year-old Leeson, who was jailed in 1995 for fraud and forgery in connection with the failure of Britain’s 233-year-old Barings Bank.

In a stark departure without ceremony or even a news conference, Leeson, responding well to treatment for colon cancer, is to be turned over to Immigration officials at the prison who will whisk him to Changi airport. He will board a regular British Airways flight to London, where his lawyer Stephen Pollard will be waiting.

The son of a plasterer from a north London suburb who played a key part in the most spectacular banking breakdown in recent years has not faded into anonymity.

A movie about Leeson’s life, aptly titled “Rogue Trader,” opened in Britain last week with a relatively sympathetic portrayal of the whizzkid Leeson, who dazzled his superiors in the frenzied world of big risks and big losses.

Leeson is reportedly negotiating with several of Britain’s tabloids for his prison saga. The $ 7,50,000 he secured for his book, published shortly after his conviction, went on legal fees.

Whether he can directly profit is questionable. The UK Press Complaints Commission’s code of conduct forbids payments by the media to convicted criminals.

‘‘Leeson knew from the day he was sentenced he would be eligible for early release if he obeyed the rules,’’ said Mr Alderton. ‘‘He has,’’ Mr Alderton added, in contrast to the unauthorised futures deals worth millions of dollars made from his Singapore base.

Gore’s bid to move away from Clinton ‘‘justified’’

WASHINGTON, June 28 (AFP) — Washington pundits yesterday supported moves by Mr Al Gore to distance himself from us President Bill Clinton, as the Vice-President seeks to lure supporters in his bid for the presidency in 2000.

“Gore is right to distance himself from Clinton,” former Clinton adviser Dick Morris told Fox News yesterday, one of several chat shows featuring political pundits in the us capital.

In particular, Mr Gore has been seeking to show Americans that while he supports Mr Clinton’s economic and social policies, he was appalled by the President’s behaviour during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Washington observers said.

“Gore has to continue separating himself from Clinton. There is a Clinton fatigue in this country,” said Mr Dane- Strother, a Democratic consultant quoted in The Washington Post.

US Stealth jets not so ‘‘stealthy’’

WASHINGTON, June 28 (AFP) — The US Stealth jets that carried out NATO bombing sorties against Yugoslavia may not be so “stealthy” as they were billed to be, according to a Newseek report.

Citing numerous military and defence industry experts, the US newsweekly suggests the Stealth bombers are actually vulnerable to Russian-made radar detection systems at the disposal of countries considered enemies of the USA.

This vulnerability was displayed when Serb forces on March 27 shot down a US F-117 that was on a bombing mission near Belgrade, the magazine report said.

Ex-minister’s “feat”
PRAGUE: Former Czech Interior Minister Jan Ruml, 46, has for the seventh time failed the entry test to get into law school, according to a news report. His worst marks were in the foreign-language section of the matriculation examination last week at the University of Western Bohemia law school in Plzen. The leader of the Freedom Union (US) shrugged off his failure. “Six of the times I failed were under the Communists before 1989,” he said. “This was only my first time under proper conditions,” he remarked. — DPA

Fergie’s daughters
LONDON: The daughters of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, formerly Sarah Ferguson, will be asked to renounce their titles of princess when they turn 18, The Sunday Times said, citing another move to slim down and modernise the Britain’s royal family. Quoting unnamed royal sources, the newspaper said Princess Beatrics, 10, and Princess Eugenie, 9, would instead have the more modest “lady” before their names and would also lose their titles of her royal highness. — AP

Marquez is exhausted
BOGOTA: Celebrated writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez checked himself into a Bogota hospital last week suffering from exhaustion but is not seriously ill and should be released in four or five days, his wife said on Sunday. The 1982 Nobel literature laureate, hospitalised on Thursday, was undergoing a series of tests of determine the cause of “a syndrome of general fatigue.” His wife Mercedes Barcha would not specify the exact nature of the 71-year-old writer’s ailment. — AP

Italian Right wins
ROME: The Italian Right has captured a majority in the Left-wing bastion of Bologna and several Tuscan Hill towns for the first time since the World War II, according to early results from Sunday’s communal elections. Mayoral candidate Giorgio Guazzaloca, who is aligned with the Rightist Forza Italia Party of Mr Silvio Berlusconi, gained 50.7 per cent of the vote to win in Bologna, which has been ruled by Communists and the Left for more than 50 years. — DPA

Di mania subsiding
LONDON: Diana mania is subsiding this summer, officials said on Sunday in reporting that nearly one-fifths of the tickets available to visit the family home of the late Princess of Wales remain unsold four days before the estate opens for the summer. A year ago only about 3,000 of the 152,000 available tickets were unsold as the staff prepared to open gates for the two-month summer season. But this year 30,000 have yet to be sold. — DPA