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New York, March 3 Shortly after cementing his Democratic nomination to challenge Republican George W. Bush in the November Presidential elections, Senator John Kerry launched a major attack on the incumbent’s domestic, economic and foreign policies.
Rocca praises Vajpayee for his ‘vision’
Pope, Bush nominated
for Nobel Peace Prize
Iraq blasts: 15 arrested
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Pakistan mosque fire kills
13
French PM survives no-trust vote
Haitian rebel leader to arrest PM
41 die as Maoists, troops clash
Malaysian PM calls snap poll
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Kerry wins 9 out of 10 states
New York, March 3 Mr Kerry won nine out of the 10 states in huge super Tuesday triumphs in California, New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and just managed to defeat Mr Edwards in Georgia (45 to 43 per cent). Only former Governor Howard Dean, who had earlier dropped out of the race, won in his home state of Vermont and blocked a clean sweep for Mr Kerry. The Massachusetts Senator knocked out his main rival John Edwards in the primaries yesterday, forcing him to withdraw his candidature and then told his cheering supporters in his Washington headquarters: “We will win this election and we will build one America of freedom and fairness for all.” Mr Kerry’s sharp attack on Mr Bush came after the President had called him to congratulate him on winning against a “trough field” and said he was looking forward to “spirited race” leading up to the November 2 elections. Referring to Mr Bush’s campaign calling the election a referendum on national security, Mr Kerry told cheering supporters: “Bring it on.. tonight the message could not be clearer all across our country - change is coming to America.” “Get ready: A new day is on the way,” Mr Kerry said attacking Mr Bush as a President who looked after wealthy, alienated allies abroad and divided Americans at home. From his first major speech, it was clear that Mr Kerry plans to make outsourcing one of the major issues. He promised to seal loopholes which allowed companies to gain by sending jobs abroad and incentives to those who create jobs in America and keep them in the country. Mr Kerry also accused the Bush Administration of running “the most inept, reckless, arrogant and ideological” foreign policy in US modern history and pledged to repair world ties damaged by the war in Iraq. He also assured supporters that he would work to reverse President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy and invest money in education and healthcare to raise minimum wage and to protect environment. —
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Rocca praises Vajpayee for his ‘vision’
Washington, March 3 Ms Rocca, while testifying yesterday on the budget request for South Asia for fiscal 2005, also lauded Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the governments of both countries for “the remarkable progress recently achieved towards resolving the issues dividing them.” She said regional stability was a high policy priority in South Asia and the USA would continue to support the peace moves. “We will be watching developments with hopes for continued success and will continue to support these efforts to resolve the long-running conflict”, she said. While praising the peace moves, she also mentioned the Government of India’s talk process with the Hurriyat Conference. On Indo-US ties and nuclear non-proliferation issues, Ms Rocca said President George W Bush and Mr Vajpayee had announced the “Next Steps in Strategic Partnership,” an initiative to “cement strategic ties with the world’s largest democracy.” This expanded cooperation on civilian nuclear activities, space programmes, high technology trade and an expanded dialogue on missile defence, she said, “will bring significant economic benefits to both sides, while also achieving our non-proliferation goals through enhanced export controls in India and maintaining all our international non-proliferation obligations.” The bilateral interaction of the USA with India and Pakistan, Ms Rocca said, included wide-ranging discussions on how to control the proliferation of nuclear technology. “We are urging both countries to bring their export controls in line with international standards and to enforce them effectively,” she said. “Our fiscal 2005 request includes programme support for their efforts in this regard.” The “rapprochement” between India and Pakistan that began last year, she said, had enabled not only a successful meeting on regional cooperation (SAARC) in January but the beginning of a composite dialogue on the issues that divide them. “Impressive as these developments are,” she said adding, “we cannot afford to rest until we see a fully peaceful, democratic and prosperous South Asia, entirely free from terror and nuclear threat.” —
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Pope, Bush nominated
for Nobel Peace Prize
Oslo, Norway, March 3 The nominating deadline yesterday brought the number of candidates for the prestigious prize to 194 — 50 organisations and 144 individuals, said Geir Lundestad, secretary of the secretive awards committee. The winner of the $1.3 million award will be announced in
mid-October. The five-member committee keeps the list of candidates secret for 50 years, only releasing the number of nominations it receives, but those making the nominations often announce their choice. This year, those nominated include Mr Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, former Czech President Vaclav Havel, the Pope, the European Union, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and Mohamed Elbaradei, who still heads the International Atomic Energy Agency. Other known candidates for the 2004 award are kidnapped Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya and jailed Israeli technician Mordechai Vanunu, for exposing his country’s nuclear weapons programme. —
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Iraq blasts: 15 arrested
Baghdad, March 3 The authorities tried to sort out the number of dead and how militants staged Iraq’s bloodiest attacks since the war ended. There were contradictory death toll from yesterday’s bombings at Shiite holy shrines in Baghdad and
Karbala. The American count of the dead was revised down, from 143 to 117, a senior coalition official said. But Iraq’s Health Ministry said 185 persons were killed, and some unofficial Iraqi death totals were as high as 230. Estimates of the wounded ranged from 300 to more than 400. The coalition official said 15 persons were detained in Karbala after the blasts, nine of them in Iraqi custody. The others, being held by coalition forces, included four Farsi speakers thought to be Iranians, the official said. US officials and Iraqi leaders named an al-Qaida-linked Jordanian militant, Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, as a “prime suspect” for the attacks, saying that he is seeking to spark off a Sunni-Shiite civil war in Iraq to wreck US plans to hand over power to Iraqis on June 30. —
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The fire late last night was apparently caused by a short-circuit on the mosque's upper floor reserved for women in Parachinar, a town near the Afghan border, said Ali Hussain, a local Shia leader. Eight women and five children were killed. Some died of burns while others fell to their deaths from a staircase in a stampede to escape the fire, said Ahmed Khan Orakzai, a government administrator in Parachinar. Most of the injured were women. Parachinar is located about 290 km west of the capital Islamabad. The blaze happened on the same day when at least 42 Shia worshippers were killed and more than 150 injured by armed attackers in the southwestern city of Quetta. Shia Muslims marked Ashoura yesterday, their most important day during the holy month of Muharram. The Government officials said the carnage was an effort by extremist groups to destabilise the country. —
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French PM survives no-trust vote
Paris, March 3 The motion won the support of only 175 of the 577 members of Parliament, far short of the 289 needed to pass. The government has a big majority in Parliament and had never been in danger of losing the vote. But the debate yesterday gave the Opposition a chance to attack the government and allowed Raffarin to defend his record which he did by highlighting a return to economic growth. “All the economic indicators show us today that the policy we chose to accelerate the return of growth was well founded and that it will be right,” Raffarin said in a 35-minute speech which his foes booed and hissed but his allies applauded. “We were right not to opt for an austerity policy — as was suggested to us — because France is hitting a growth in job creation faster than expected.’’ The government has forecast economic growth of 1.7 per cent in 2004 following a paltry 0.2 per cent rise in 2003. —
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Haitian rebel leader to arrest PM
Port-Au-Prince, March 3 “The country is in my hands!” Philippe announced on radio signal FM. He summoned 20 police commanders to meet him and warned that if they failed to appear, he would arrest them. US Marines guarded Neptune’s office in Petionville suburb where Philippe was headed with hundreds of supporters in a convoy impeded by adoring and cheering crowds who walked alongside. Local radio reported that Neptune was evacuated by a helicopter. His whereabouts were not immediately known, and it was unclear if US or French Marines would try to protect him. Neptune is a top member of Aristide’s Lavalas Party and its former Presidential spokesman. In a phone call to an AP reporter, Philippe said he would arrest Neptune on corruption charges. —
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41 die as Maoists, troops clash
Kathmandu, March 3 The rebels raided the district headquarters, attacked the telecommunications tower and a commercial bank in Bhojpur, 175 km east of here, an Army spokesman, Col Dipak Gurung, told a press conference here today. The Maoists, who lost at least 10 of their cadres, damaged the tower and the bank, he said. The bodies of the 10 rebels were recovered from the clash site but the Maoist casualties could be higher as they usually carry away their fallen cadres. Colonel Gurung said 31 security personnel were also killed in the fighting which began last night and continued till this morning.—
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London daily pays tribute to Suraiyya
London, March 3 "The distinctive talent of Suraiyya lay in the fact that she sang songs of her screen roles herself — in contrast to many actors who had their songs dubbed by others," The Guardian wrote. Born in Lahore, Suraiyya made her screen debut at the age of 12 in "Taj Mahal" in 1941, playing the young Mumtaz Mahal. Though Suraiyya was not trained in classical music, great Indian music directors like Naushad and S.D. Burman recognised her versatility and worked with her to create songs that did not depend on the use of modern instruments, the daily said. She sang her first song in "Sharda" (1942) and had to stand on a stool to reach the microphone. She made her first big impression in "Oamar Khayyam" (1946), as the lover of the Persian poet played by K.L. Saigal. Suraiyya's success was rivaled only by the other great female singer-actor, Noorjehan, and later in 1946, they appeared together as rivals in "Anmol Ghadi". After Noorjehan left for Pakistan, Suraiyya became India's most sought-after singing movie star, the daily said. It said Suraiyya was vivacious and had a passion for literature, especially for Urdu poetry. She was very fastidious about the company she kept. Unmarried, she lived alone all her life in a flat overlooking the sea at Mumbai: By retiring from public view for the last 40 years, she ensured that her image remained forever young, the paper said. —
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Kuala Lumpur, March 3 The poll will be Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s first electoral test
since taking over in October, when Mahathir retired after 22 years in power.
They are seen as make-or-break for Abdullah, and will signal whether Islamic fundamentalism is moving into the political mainstream in a multi-ethnic but Muslim-dominated country of 25 million people. —
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The Iraqi police and US troops detained 15 persons, including several possible Iranians, in connection with the devastating suicide attacks against Shiite pilgrims, an official said today.
Peshawar, March 3