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Saturday,
May 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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No British visa for under-18 Asian
spouses Osama ordered Saudi bombings:
report
Hundreds protest against Nepal King
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‘Devdas’ sweeps IIFA awards Indian out of SARS
hospital 14 dead in Mecca
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No British visa for under-18 Asian spouses London, May 16 The minimum age of spouses brought to Britain has also been raised to 18. The Home Secretary David Blunkett introduced the measure on April without making an announcement, responding to mounting concerns over the number of schoolgirls who are forced into marriages with men from their parents’ home country. The Home Office does not publish how many British 16 and 17-year-olds get spouses from overseas, but it estimates that one in five of them is a victim of forced marriage. Studies have suggested that up to 70 per cent of marriages in Britain’s Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities are arranged with people from their country of origin. Only a small proportion are forced marriages or sham marriages to gain residence. There were also a few cases of forced marriages in Punjab. However, the new rules will affect all 16 and 17-year-olds with a foreign spouse, whether the marriage is forced, arranged, sham or a love-match, and whatever the nationality of the spouse. It does not affect people from the EU, who have an automatic right to live in Britain. Under the new rules British 16 and 17-year-olds can no longer sponsor a husband or wife to come to Britain from outside the European Union. The Home Office increased the age limit after Ann Cryer, the Labour MP who has been helping victims of forced marriage, lobbied the government to increase the age to 21. “I am hopeful it will protect a lot of girls who are forced into these unfortunate marriages, often to their first cousins. The older girls know what their rights are, but the younger ones don’t,” Cryer said. However, the new rules were opposed by groups representing those most directly affected. Hannana Siddique of Southall Black Sisters, which campaigns against forced marriage, said, “It’s outrageous they have done this secretly without consultation. “Tightening immigration controls will not solve forced marriages. Most marriages from overseas are perfectly genuine. It’s discriminatory because it says you are mature enough to marry someone from here, but not from overseas.”
PTI |
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Osama ordered Saudi bombings: report Washington, May 16 Six other countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Liberia, Somalia and Kenya, are likely targets next, NBC TV reported, quoting US intelligence and counter-terrorism officials who wished to remain anonymous. The officials said the Al-Qaida might have been severely weakened by 19 months of counter-terrorism operations but could try to prove that it was still active by launching more terror attacks. The officials said the bombings in Saudi Arabia demonstrated Al- Qaida’s patient adaptability and continued ability to coordinate multiple attacks. The attack may also illustrate a shift in power within the beleaguered terrorist group. The terror cell that Saudi officials blame for the attack is headed by Khaled Jehani, who was previously viewed by US officials as a low-level operative, The Washington Post reported. Counter-terrorism officials and experts said the Al-Qaida was still operating in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Yemen, Chechnya and Egypt. The terror network has made frequent use of plastic explosives, and it may still have active smuggling routes to Saudi Arabia through Lebanon. Mr Pasquale “Pat” D’Amuro, the FBI’s chief of counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence, told the House Judiciary Committee last week, “While Al-Qaida may very well be in disarray, I believe it still has the capability to attack our interests. I still want to emphasise that it is a severe threat to this nation.” RIYADH: American FBI and CIA agents joined the hunt for masterminds behind the suicide bombings in Riyadh, which US Ambassador Robert Jordan compared to a Pearl Harbour or September 11 terror attack for Saudi Arabia. A team of up to 60 members of the FBI and the CIA arrived in the kingdom on Thursday to help the Saudi authorities hunt down those behind Monday’s bombings in the world’s biggest oil exporter. Mr Jordan, who had criticised the kingdom for not responding quickly to US warnings before the bombings, told foreign journalists on Thursday that the attacks marked a watershed for Saudi Arabia’s role in the global battle against terror.
PTI, Reuters |
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Hundreds protest against Nepal King Kathmandu, May 16 The supporters of five major political parties took part in the rally, watched over by at least 100 policemen. There was no violence. The five opposition parties have said the government appointed by King Gyanendra, led by pro-monarchist Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, is unconstitutional, and have called for fresh elections. Nepal’s constitutional monarchy gives the king power to dismiss an elected government, but many believe Gyanendra went too far in firing the previous Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for postponing parliamentary elections against the king’s wishes. Today’s demonstration was part of a series of protests organised by opposition parties since last week. Gyanendra ascended the throne in 2001 after his brother, Birendra, and eight other members of the royal family were gunned down, allegedly by the crown prince who then took his own life.
AP |
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‘Devdas’ sweeps IIFA awards Johannesburg, May 16 Addressing the first event of the three-day extravaganza in this beautifully landscaped city, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan said the aim of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) was to take Indian cinema across the shores. “Our content and potential are really strong. It needs larger exposure to more markets”, he said. Pointing out that films are Hollywoods (USA) second-largest export after aeroplanes, Bachchan said “It’s time to ask why not India?” Acknowledging the help and support of South African government to help bring the award back to Johannesburg once again, he said, “I am moved by the support to us by the government and the people of South Africa, since 1990, when I did my first show here. Later, the technical awards, which had been announced earlier, were given away by stalwarts of the moviedom like Ramesh Sippy, David Dhawan and Pehlaj Nihlani. ‘Devdas’ bagged the award for sound recording, re-recording, song recording, make-up, costume designing, cinematography, dialogue, art direction and choreography. ‘Company’ won the award for editing and action, ‘Kaante’ for special effects and ‘Raaz’ for best screenplay.
PTI |
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Indian out of SARS hospital Beijing, May 16 “I am a free man now,” the Canada-based Indian, who is on a visit to Beijing, said. The man, a chef by profession, was admitted to Peking Union Medical College here on April 23 when he showed SARS symptoms. “Since my family in India would be horrified to know that I was admitted to a SARS-designated hospital, I don’t want to be named,” the man, who hails from a city near Delhi, said. “I will return to Canada and then inform my parents on my experiences here in the isolation ward,” he told PTI. After initially treating him as a suspected case of SARS, doctors later diagnosed that he was suffering from typhoid fever, a life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium salmonella typhi. A doctor at the PUMC said that typhoid fever, a rare disease, is normally not found in China. Even though the Indian did not have SARS, he could not be shifted to another hospital since he was already admitted to the PUMC, a SARS-designated hospital for foreigners in Beijing.
PTI |
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14 dead in Mecca Riyadh, May 16 The fire started in a mattress storeroom at the bottom of the building, which houses Muslim pilgrims, before spreading to the upper floors, the paper said.
AFP |
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