W O R L D

Volcker to cooperate with India
No definite information whether Natwar’s comments were sought
New York, November 9
Mr Paul Volcker, author of the controversial report that named Mr Natwar Singh and the Congress party as beneficiaries in Iraqi oil payoffs has offered full cooperation with Indian investigations into the allegations but it was not definite whether he had sought the former External Affairs Minister’s comments before recording the observations against him.
In video (28k, 56k)

Pak police unable to find evidence
in rape case
Islamabad, November 9
A police team investigating the allegation of rape of Sonia Naz has found ‘‘no evidence’’ to establish the charge against the accused police officials. The Supreme Court, which had ordered the Punjab Inspector-General of Police to hold the inquiry, expressed dissatisfaction over the finding and asked the team to collect more evidence.

Blair loses vote on  terror law
London, November 9
In a major setback to his authority, British Prime Minister Tony Blair today suffered a defeat when the Parliament rejected his controversial draft legislation allowing the police to hold terror suspects without charge for 90 days.

Raids on UK mosques
London, November 9
Anti-terror unit detectives raided two mosques in Dewsbury, home town of Mohammad Sidique Khan, leader of the 7/7 London suicide bombers, following tip-offs that videotapes and DVDs used to recruit terrorists were handed out there.

Now terror alert in China
Beijing, November 9
Chinese police has warned that Islamic extremists could be planning to attack luxury hotels in the Communist nation next week, according to the US embassy here.

Nobel Prize winner in prison for deadly crash
Santa Maria (US), November 9
A Nobel Prize-winning physicist has been sentenced to two years in prison for killing a man and injuring seven other persons while going over 161 kph in his sports car.

Europe’s mission to Venus emits first signal
Moscow, November 9
The first space mission, in over 10 years, to earth's closest neighbour- Venus emitted its first signal today, after a successful launch from the Russian cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. "The baby cried. Venus Express has begun its operational mission," said Jean-Pierre Cau, an official from EADS Astrium, the company that built the spacecraft's propulsion system, after receiving the signal.


The Soyuz FG-Fregat vehicle carrying Venus Express, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) first probe to Venus, lifts off from a launch complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. — Reuters photo

Women drinking cola prone to hypertension
Houston, November 9
Women who drink cola are more prone to hypertension than those who drink coffee, a study has found. The study published today in the journal of the American Medical Association quoted researchers at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital who analysed data collected over 12 years from the Nurses’ Health Studies I and II.

Khalil al-Dulaimi, chief lawyer for Iraq's former President Saddam Hussein, holds a letter indicating that he will stop all dealings with the tribunal trying Hussein during an interview in Ramadi on Wednesday. Saddam Hussein's lawyers are to sever contact with the court trying the former President and seven co-defendants after the murder of a second defence counsel since the trial began last month. — Reuters

Volcker to cooperate with India
No definite information whether Natwar’s comments
were sought

New York, November 9
Mr Paul Volcker, author of the controversial report that named Mr Natwar Singh and the Congress party as beneficiaries in Iraqi oil payoffs has offered full cooperation with Indian investigations into the allegations but it was not definite whether he had sought the former External Affairs Minister’s comments before recording the observations against him.

The assurance came during a 45-minute meeting India’s Ambassador to the UN Nirupam Sen had with Mr Volcker yesterday. After the meeting, Mr Sen said his impression from the discussions is that Mr Singh was not sent any notice by the Committee prior to publicaiton of his name as a “non contractual beneficiary” of the Iraqi oil-for-food programme.

He, however, said the committee was still examining documents to reach a final conclusion on that.

Asked to elaborate on the term “legal constrains,” Mr Sen said the evidence had been collected from several witnesses and some of them might have given it on the understanding that they should not be identified.

In those cases, the committee would need to get a waiver from them before releasing the documents.

Asked about the remarks of Mr Volcker that responses were sought from all those who had been mentioned in the report, Mr Sen said the report contained those who were thoroughly investigated and those who were just mentioned on the basis of documents which the committee considered authentic.

Apparently, Mr Singh’s case was not thoroughly probed by the Committee, Mr Sen said. But he cautioned that final judgement would have to await the examination of all relevant documents by the committee. Those who were thoroughly investigated were given the chance to respond.

He said the committee, as a policy, would share information and documents only with the investigating agencies after they inform it exactly what they are looking for. But it would be necessary to move quickly as the committee’s mandate ends in just over a month.

India has already sent a letter to the committee on the information it is seeking but that would need to be fine-tuned, he added.

Asked whether the probe would stall if some witnesses refuse to give waiver, Mr Sen said there are other ways also to get the information.

The ambassador conveyed to Mr Volcker the Government of India’s decision to hold inquiry.

Mr Sen said Indian investigators would have to look into allegations that the names were not given by the Iraqis but by other “vested interests.” That is why India is asking for documents and other information.

To a question whether the fact that response from some of the Indian commercial and non-commercial entities was not sought constituted discrimination, Mr Sen said that is one way of looking at it. — PTI

Pak police unable to find evidence in rape case
Nasir Iqbal
By arrangement with The Dawn

Islamabad, November 9
A police team investigating the allegation of rape of Sonia Naz has found ‘‘no evidence’’ to establish the charge against the accused police officials. The Supreme Court, which had ordered the Punjab Inspector-General of Police to hold the inquiry, expressed dissatisfaction over the finding and asked the team to collect more evidence.

“The members of the inquiry team spent most of the time in investigating us rather the accused,” Ms Naz told Dawn after the team submitted the inquiry report to the court on Tuesday. She accused the Punjab Government of protecting the offenders.

“The federal government and the Supreme Court provided me justice, but the Punjab Government is out to protect its police officers,” she said, adding that her telephone was being tapped.

The apex court was hearing an application of a local lawyer Zulfikar Ahmed Bhutta who had pleaded that a suo motu cognizance should be initiated against police excesses towards Ms Naz.

According to the inquiry report, submitted by team leader SSP Mohammad Aslam Tareen, the offences under Sections 10, 11, 16 and 18 of Offence of Zina Ordinance 1979 and Sections 344, 354 and 355 of the Pakistan Penal Code “were not made out, as such the same were being deleted.”

However, the report confirmed that Ms Naz and her family members were subjected to harassment, mental torture, threat and malicious prosecution forcing them to keep changing their abode.

Blair loses vote on terror law

London, November 9
In a major setback to his authority, British Prime Minister Tony Blair today suffered a defeat when the Parliament rejected his controversial draft legislation allowing the police to hold terror suspects without charge for 90 days.

The House of Commons defeated the measure by 322 votes to 291. The defeat, the first reversal since the new Labour came to power in 1997, is a severe blow to the authority of Mr Blair, who had made the legislation a prestigious issue.

The House later backed a compromise detention time limit of 28 days, which was earlier suggested by opposition conservative MPs.

The vote, in which there were 50 abstentions, also does not mean Mr Blair will have to stand down as Prime Minister, since Labour has a majority of 66 over other parties in the Commons. — PTI

Raids on UK mosques

London, November 9
Anti-terror unit detectives raided two mosques in Dewsbury, home town of Mohammad Sidique Khan, leader of the 7/7 London suicide bombers, following tip-offs that videotapes and DVDs used to recruit terrorists were handed out there.

West Yorkshire police confirmed that tapes were actually found and officers were studying a copy of one of the tapes, which purportedly contained readings from the Koran.

Sources said the tapes were readily available at the mosques in Savile Town during the weekend’s Id festival.

Local resident Safiq Patel was quoted saying Muslims picked up the tapes thinking they were readings or prayers from the Koran but were stunned to find they were violent ‘jehad’ videos.

‘’These tapes were left at points of public access in the reception areas of the mosques,’’ he told BBC News. — UNI

Now terror alert in China

Beijing, November 9
Chinese police has warned that Islamic extremists could be planning to attack luxury hotels in the Communist nation next week, according to the US embassy here.

“The Embassy has learned that Chinese police advised hotels that Islamic extremist elements could be planning to attack four and five star hotels in China sometime over the course of the next week,” it said in a statement on its website today.

American citizens visiting Chinese four and five-star hotels should review their plans carefully, remain vigilant with regard to their personnel security and exercise caution, the embassy said.

However, it said that “Chinese authorities have assured the Embassy that they are taking appropriate security measures. — AP

Nobel Prize winner in prison for deadly crash

Santa Maria (US), November 9
A Nobel Prize-winning physicist has been sentenced to two years in prison for killing a man and injuring seven other persons while going more than 161 kph in his sports car.

John Robert Schrieffer, 74, a Florida State University professor who taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara until 1991, had nine prior speeding tickets and was driving with a suspended licence at the time of the crash last year. His attorney said the scientist fell asleep at the wheel of his Mercedes-Benz.

Schrieffer pleaded no contest July 25 to vehicular manslaughter. — AFP

Europe’s mission to Venus emits first signal

Moscow, November 9
The first space mission, in over 10 years, to earth's closest neighbour- Venus emitted its first signal today, after a successful launch from the Russian cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

"The baby cried. Venus Express has begun its operational mission," said Jean-Pierre Cau, an official from EADS Astrium, the company that built the spacecraft's propulsion system, after receiving the signal.

Venus Express separated successfully from the Soyuz Fregat carrier rocket more than 90 minutes after its 0903 hours IST launch at the start of a 163-day journey to Venus.

The European Space Agency's (ESA) first probe to the planet, Venus Express will explore its unusual stormy atmosphere and runaway global warming in the hope of understanding better earth's greenhouse-gas problem.

Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is similar in size, mass and age to Earth but has a vastly different and ferociously hot weather system.

Also known as the Evening Star, thanks to the bright light it reflects from the Sun, the planet is blanketed by thick clouds of suffocating gas driven often by hurricane force winds and a surface pressure and temperature high enough to crush and melt lead.

The planet's clouds reflect back 80 per cent of the Sun's radiation and absorb another 10 percent, leaving just 10 per cent to filter down to the surface. — AFP

Women drinking cola prone to hypertension

Houston, November 9
Women who drink cola are more prone to hypertension than those who drink coffee, a study has found.

The study published today in the journal of the American Medical Association quoted researchers at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital who analysed data collected over 12 years from the Nurses’ Health Studies (NHSs) I and II.

The NHS had researched on 1,55,594 US women, aged 26 to 71, who were free from hypertension. The women were regularly asked to answer a set of questions to ascertain caffeine intake. The data showed that drinking coffee or caffeinated tea did not increase the risk of developing chronic high blood pressure.

“Women who enjoy their morning or afternoon coffee don’t need to be concerned that coffee consumption may lead to high blood pressure,” said Mr Wolfgang Winkelmayer, the Brigham & Women’s researcher who led the study.

However, the women who drank at least four cans of cola daily needed to worry, as they were at a 28 per cent to 44 per cent increased risk of high blood pressure, compared with women who drank few colas or none. Diet sodas also increased the risk, although slightly less than the non-diet drinks. — PTI