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‘Bobby’ Jindal loses by small margin Race factor behind Jindal’s defeat
Bush faces tough talks during UK visit
Saddam tape aired on Arabic TV? |
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China supplying N-aid to Pak, says CIA Washington, November 16 Despite China’s assurances that it would not help Pakistan in its nuclear programme, Beijing continues to provide nuclear-weapon and ballistic missiles assistance to Islamabad, according to the Central Intelligence Agency. Window on Pakistan
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‘Bobby’ Jindal loses by small margin Washington, November 16 The 34-year-old, whose parents hail from Punjab and came to the USA in 1971, finished closely behind Democratic contender Kathleen Blanco, who has become the first woman governor of the state. She polled just two per cent more votes than him. — IANS Race factor behind Jindal’s defeat Washington, November 16 While the 32-year-old Republican candidate polled 48 per cent of the votes Saturday night, his Democratic rival emerged winner with 52 per cent votes. Finally, race factor may have determined the Louisiana Governor’s election, analysts say. Had Jindal won, he would have been the first non-white to be popularly elected governor and the nation’s first Indian American Governor. Said Katherine Tate, professor and chairwoman of the political science department at the University of California at Irvine: “Race is a factor in any election. People of colour have a hard time winning.” Some analysts said Blanco’s remarkable victory was aided by her ability to capture more white voters than Democrats typically can count on in statewide races against Republicans. White voters preferred a white woman, to a coloured man. Jindal’s bold push to win over African American voters with high-profile endorsements succeeded to a point. However, a key to Blanco’s victory was the white votes, of which she won 40 per cent. In the end, Blanco won 91 per cent support among black voters. Significantly, her support among black voters in the New Orleans area was slightly smaller at 89 per cent. But Jindal’s bigger problem, it turned out, was among white voters. Republicans typically need about two-thirds of the white votes in order to succeed in a statewide race, said Elliot Stonecipher, a political analyst based in Shreveport Jindal achieved that in the New Orleans area, winning 70 percent of white voters. But in the rest of the state, he trailed Blanco among white voters, getting only 48 per cent, says a leading New Orleans
newspaper. — IANS |
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Bush faces tough talks during UK visit
Washington, November 16 Bush said ahead of his historic visit that it was an “exciting” time for both to be leaders. But in many ways the American President’s visit to London will be a test of the so-called “special relationship” between the trans-Atlantic allies. Bush and Blair maintained a united front against reluctant allies before and during the Iraq war but now both are paying the price of the failure to find any weapons of mass destruction. The British Prime Minister’s popularity has plummeted because of the war and the apparent suicide of top British weapons expert David Kelly over the way evidence against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was presented. With US casualties mounting daily in Iraq, opinion polls show most of the American public disapproves of Bush’s policy in the country. And the US President has been forced to seek ways to speed up a return of Iraqi self-rule. Winning the post-Saddam peace will be the key topic when Bush and Blair hold their talks on the sidelines of Bush’s engagements with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, which is the official reason for the visit from Tuesday until Friday. — AFP |
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Saddam tape aired on Arabic TV? Baghdad, November 16 The speaker called on the Iraqis to escalate resistance against the US-led coalition, saying the “road of jihad (holy war) and resistance is the best way and the only one that would make the armies of the unjust occupation leave our country.” He criticised Iraqis cooperating with the coalition forces. The tape was broadcast on Arabic language television station Al-Arabiya, which is widely seen in Iraq and throughout the Middle-East. The voice sounded like Saddam’s but was huskier than usual. He greeted the Iraqi people on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan and said the “evil ones will not be able to occupy Iraq.”
— AP China supplying N-aid to Pak, says CIA Washington, November 16 “We cannot rule out, however, some continued contacts subsequent to the pledge between Chinese entities and entities associated with Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme,” it said in its latest six-monthly report to Congress. The unclassified report noted that Beijing promised Washington in May, 1996, not to provide assistance to unsafeguarded nuclear facilities. It also noted that China had taken some steps to educate individuals and firms on new missile-related export control regulations.
— PTI |
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Window on Pakistan It was natural for some leading newspapers to take note of the conference of SAARC Information Ministers in Delhi. Many saw a great deal of positive achievement. M.H. Askari, writing in Dawn, bemoaned India’s refusal to grant visa to certain Pakistani journalists, but was happy to note, “the two countries did not let the regional organisation be scuttled despite the choppy weather that it has been encountering.” His regret was that Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee was only keen for economic and cultural ties among the SAARC members but did not agree to broaden to include political matters as suggested by Pakistan. He also hoped, as did other commentators, that the 12th SAARC conference in Islamabad in January would be a success. But Askari was worried about the final success of the SAARC. “Unfortunately, one has to recognise that it is India’s formidable size in the context of the region and its not very stable relationship with its neighbours, which have proved to be the main stumbling block.” But deplored the Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri’s somewhat abrasive statement about the ineffectiveness of the confidence-building measures offered by India to Pakistan. Nation in an editorial on Vajpayee’s Moscow visit touched again on Indo- Pakistan relations and the issue of cross-border terrorism and Kashmir. It regretted that Pakistan was unable to fashion its foreign policy to take advantage of the changed world situation. It wrote: “It was an oblique reference to the Kashmir problem that his government refuses to accept as the core Indo-Pak dispute; and that’s the issue, which keeps it from coming to the negotiation table. Pakistan on the other hand remained opposed to this tricky ‘step-by-step’ process of normalisation that it believes is bound to put the Kashmir Issue, now a real flashpoint, on the backburner. But has Islamabad been able to make out a strong case on the Kashmir dispute to make the world see Indian falsehoods for what they are? Despite our capitulation to the forces desperate to obliterate terrorism, something remains terribly wrong with our foreign policy, shown by its failure to reap dividends of its abrupt turnaround.” Nation also suggested a change that could take protect Pakistan’s sovereignty. “President Putin and Mr Vajpayee reaffirming the strength of their strategic partnership, reflected in the signing of several bilateral agreements on science, trade and military cooperation, sounded vocal on issues that might irk the Americans and that probably keep us from raising our voice. It was all about the resurgence of Talibanisation in Afghanistan as well as delay in the restoration of peace in Iraq. But it is disconcerting that, despite all this, Washington continues to treat New Delhi as its natural ally, as evident from the Bush Administration’s expression of dissatisfaction with Islamabad’s sincerity in fighting terrorism. Isn’t it time for Pakistan to go for a makeover of its diplomacy that could take care of its own sovereignty rather than the interests of those who keep picking holes in our policies?” Daily Nawa-e-Waqt quoted Justice Raja Farrukh Afrasiab Khan (retd) as saying that he was convinced that if the Islamic countries got together in an alliance, the issues of Palestine and Kashmir would be resolved in favour of the Muslims. The Islamic states should remember that the world’s’ sole superpower, the USA was against them and will one-by-one take all the Islamic states under its influence and destroy their sovereignty. But there were no takers. Khalid Ahmed’s comment in Daily Times was apt. “The retired judge was very unfair in deciding that the US was in principle determined to finish us off. We are sheltering behind the US to ward off India; the other power that we think is going to destroy us. Taking on both would be a bit much. And persuading other Islamic states that India too was bad would be tough, Kashmir or no Kashmir.” |
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