W O R L D

Scientists detained to protect country’s sovereignty, says Pak
Islamabad, February 12
The Pakistan Government has told the Lahore High Court that if the nuclear scientists and officials were not detained, the country’s security and sovereignty could have collapsed.

B’desh strike leaves 1 dead, 100 injured
Dhaka, February 12
A junior police officer died and at least 100 persons, including key Awami League leaders, were injured following clashes between protesters and the police as an opposition-sponsored strike paralysed normal life and businesses across Bangladesh today.

Chandrika jeopardising peace process: Ranil
Colombo, February 12
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today accused President Chandrika Kumaratunga of seriously jeopardising the Norwegian-brokered peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels, by sacking 39 junior ministers after dissolving Parliament and calling for a snap poll unilaterally.

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses supporters at Moscow State University on Thursday. Putin launched his bid for re-election on Thursday, saying he had ended "uncertainty and fearful expectation" and promising a better life for millions yet to benefit from post-Soviet change. — Reuters

Indian appeals against caning in Singapore
Singapore, February 12
An Indian former television presenter convicted of molesting a colleague has appealed to Singapore President S.R. Nathan to avoid the four strokes of the cane, the Straits Times reported today.

Indians among 6 killed in UAE

BRIEFLY

A Bolivian inmate is seen after being crucified during a protest by inmates as part of their 10th day of hunger strike, at the Palmasola jail in Santa Cruz on Wednesday. Some 3,000 prisoners across the country continue their strike to demand reforms of the rules governing their sentences and for better conditions inside the jails. — Reuters

EARLIER STORIES Yoga organisation sues flamboyant guru February 12, 2004 Bird flu: WHO warns Asian nations February 11, 2004 Beyonce wins five Grammy awards February 10, 2004 Powell asks Pervez to share nuclear probe results February 9, 2004 Bofors destroyed Rajiv’s promising career: Pitroda February 8, 2004 Moscow Metro blast claims 40 lives February 7, 2004 Pervez hopeful of Kashmir solution by year-end February 6, 2004 Bush, Annan discuss India, Pak dialogue February 5, 2004 Khan names Musharraf February 4, 2004 General Niazi dead February 3, 2004

Scientists detained to protect country’s sovereignty, says Pak

Islamabad, February 12
The Pakistan Government has told the Lahore High Court that if the nuclear scientists and officials were not detained, the country’s security and sovereignty could have collapsed.

Ali Khan told the court that the nuclear scientists were arrested under the Security Act, 1952, and their arrest orders issued by Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Sultan Ahmed Khan. — PTI

B’desh strike leaves 1 dead, 100 injured

Dhaka, February 12
A junior police officer died and at least 100 persons, including key Awami League leaders, were injured following clashes between protesters and the police as an opposition-sponsored strike paralysed normal life and businesses across Bangladesh today.

Former Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina had called for a dawn-to-dusk strike as part of her one-point “oust-government movement” after her one-month ultimatum expired unheeded on February 10. — UNI

Chandrika jeopardising peace process: Ranil

Colombo, February 12
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today accused President Chandrika Kumaratunga of seriously jeopardising the Norwegian-brokered peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels, by sacking 39 junior ministers after dissolving Parliament and calling for a snap poll unilaterally.

Referring to the sacking of Milinda Moragoda, a key minister involved in the peace dialogue with the LTTE and other related activities, Mr Wickremesinghe stated that Ms Kumaratunga’s actions had crippled the efforts of the government to fulfil its responsibilities under certain provisions of the truce agreement. — UNI

Indian appeals against caning in Singapore

Singapore, February 12
An Indian former television presenter convicted of molesting a colleague has appealed to Singapore President S.R. Nathan to avoid the four strokes of the cane, the Straits Times reported today.

Vidya Shankar Aiyar is claiming he is medically unfit to endure the punishment, using a report from a “renowned, local government hospital”, a spokesman from the High Commission of India was quoted as saying. — AFP

Indians among 6 killed in UAE

Dubai, February 12
Six Indian and Pakistani workers were killed and six injured today when a building under construction collapsed in Dhaid, 55 km east of Sharjah city. The unfinished ceiling of the one-storey building collapsed on top of the workers. The ceiling gave way because of shaky support structures. — UNI

BRIEFLY

‘LADEN’S DRIVER IN US HANDS’
MIAMI: The USA may not have captured Osama bin Laden yet, but they have their hands on his former driver, The Miami Herald has reported. Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a 34-year-old Yemeni, is being held at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with hundreds of other Taliban and Al-Qaida suspects captured in Afghanistan, his military attorney, Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift, told the Florida daily on Wednesday. — AFP

CHINA EXECUTES EX-VICE-GOVERNOR
BEIJING: The former Vice-Governor of east China’s Anhui province, Wang Huaizhong, found guilty of corruption, was on Thursday executed by administering lethal injection, becoming the highest ruling Chinese communist party leader to be punished in this manner. Wang, 57, found guilty of taking more than 5 million Yuan ($600,000 US) in bribes and possessing 4.8 million Yuan that he could not account for, was executed after losing an appeal for lighter penalty in January at the Shandong provincial higher people’s court, Xinhua news agency reported. — PTI

HILLARY DECLARED TOUGH GUY
NEW YORK: US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been called many things: a savvy politician, a devoted wife, but Men’s Journal magazine is adding one more description to that list: Tough Guy. In its March issue, already on news stands the magazine publishes its annual list of “The 25 Toughest Guys in America” — and Clinton weighs in at No. 25, just behind human crash test dummy Rusty Haight, who has been in 740 car wrecks. It’s the first time Men’s Journal has put a woman on the list, senior editor Tom Foster said. — AP

POLITICIAN FOUND DEAD IN HOTEL
KUALA LUMPUR: An assistant minister in Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state on Borneo island was found dead in her hotel room with stab wounds to the neck and face, reports said on Thursday. A 27-year-old man was arrested hours after Sabah’s Assistant Rural and Entrepreneural Development Minister, Norjan Khan Bahadar (52) was discovered lying in a pool of blood in her room at the Shangrila Hotel in the state capital of Kota Kinabalu, the Star daily reported. — DPA