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Kerry Packer, Australia’s richest man, dies
Australia tightens rules on Islamic clerics
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Pak bans export of N-material
Harmeet Singh’s parents appeal to Iraqi captors
4 US Marines charged with raping Filipino
Arab world’s first Parliament meets in Cairo
Bangladesh ratifies SAFTA
2 Indian firms to face US sanctions
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Kerry Packer, Australia’s richest man, dies
Sydney, December 27 Billionaire Packer owned 30 per cent of PBL, which operates Australia's Channel Nine television network and publishes a string of magazines, and had interests in Australian casinos. In 1990, he had a heart attack while playing polo in Sydney and was clinically dead for eight minutes until emergency medical officers revived him by electric shock treatment. "The good news is there's no devil. The bad news is there's no heaven. There's nothing," Packer said after the incident. At 6'2", Packer's bulky physique helped make him one of Australia's most recognisable public figures. Health problems dogged him for many years, including heart surgery and a kidney transplant. Packer was a major figure in the cricket world, particularly in the late 1970s when his World Series challenged the existing organisation of the sport. Packer is considered to be the person who transformed sport on television, especially cricket. In the late 1970s, he took on the cricket establishment and signed up the world's best players under the World Series banner. —Agencies
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Australia tightens rules on Islamic clerics
Sydney, December 27 Council member Yasser Soliman said the proposed guidelines were in response to suggestions from the Muslim community and clerics concerned about “self-appointed, unqualified backyard clerics,” the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) reported today. “We are trying to put together some sort of guidelines about who can become a cleric. The guidelines are in response to suggestions by the community and the clerics,” Soliman told the ABC. He said some of them (clerics) come from overseas not being able to speak English and they occupy thereafter a position of leadership, “and we don’t think that people who can’t speak English will be able to lead effectively.” He said the proposals had happened in other religions too. “So why should we be any different?” Soliman, however, agreed that the council had no power to enforce the code of conduct or force clerics to register, but he predicted that only five or six clerics would refuse to register. The Muslim Advisory Council was established by Prime Minister John Howard after the July 7 London bombings.
— PTI |
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Pak bans export of N-material
Islamabad, December 27 The Control Lists have been notified pursuant to the ‘Export Control Act on Goods, Technologies, Materials, Equipment related to Nuclear and Biological Weapons and their Delivery Systems’, which was adopted by the country’s Parliament in September 2004, a Foreign Office statement said. The Control Lists adopted by Pakistan encompass the lists and scope of export controls maintained by Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Australia Group (AG), which relates to biological agents and toxins, and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), it said. The classification system is based on the European Union’s integrated list and latest international standard in this regard, the statement said. Lists controlling the exports of chemical weapons related agents and their delivery system are already being maintained by Pakistan pursuant to the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Ordinance 2000.
— PTI |
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Harmeet Singh’s parents appeal to Iraqi captors
Toronto, December 27 According to Canadian Press, the family has recorded another broadcast message for the captors to be sent out to the media. Besides 32-year-old Sooden, the other three hostages are Canadian James Loney, 41, Briton Norman Kember, 74, and American Tom Fox, 54. A little known group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade had kidnapped them on November 26. The captors threatened to execute them unless all Iraqi prisoners in the country were released. The Sooden family's earlier appeals failed to secure the release of the hostages, though it appears that the death threats have not been carried out so far. Sooden, like the other three, belonged to the group called Christian Peacemakers Team that had been active in Baghdad for sometime, focusing on civilian deaths and the plight of ordinary Iraqis since the US invasion. Sooden is a Canadian electrical engineer from Montreal. He studied at McGill University and is now working on a Masters degree in English literature in Auckland University in New Zealand to prepare for a teaching career. — IANS
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4 US Marines charged with raping Filipino
Olongapo (Philippines), December 27 “The case is strong. There is evidence. Conviction hinges on the credibility of the victim, and we are banking on that,” prosecutor Raymond Viray said. “They took advantage of the victim’s intoxication, who they later abused using superior strength,” Viray said. The Filipino driver of the van, in which the crime allegedly took place, was also named as a primary suspect after he recanted his earlier statement supporting the victim’s allegations that she was raped. Two other US Marines initially named as suspects were, however, not included in the charges. Viray said only one of the four Marines actually sexually assaulted the woman, but the other three and the driver provided “moral assistance” in committing the crime. “Under our criminal law, there can be gang rape in the sense that others were together, encouraging or cooperating with the rape itself. And that is considered rape by all of them,” added the woman’s lawyer, Katrina Legarda. — AFP
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Arab world’s first Parliament meets in Cairo
Cairo, December 27 The 88 members, four from the Parliament of each Arab League member, met at the league’s Cairo headquarters for a session addressed by Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The interim Parliament has no binding legislative authority and can give its opinion only on matters referred to it by the Arab League Council, which represents Arab governments. Based in Syria, it will meet twice a year. Rawhi Fattouh, speaker of the Palestinian legislature, said the Parliament would be valuable only if it kept an eye on the actions of Arab governments. “It must be a monitor of Arab executive institutions, but if it is just a union of parliaments then it’s not going to be important,” he said. Some Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, do not have elected Parliaments, so their representatives in the Arab Parliament are drawn from appointed advisory councils, which have little power. — Reuters
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Bangladesh ratifies SAFTA
Dhaka, December 27 Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Cabinet ratified the SAFTA agreement last night, they said. Dhaka was hoping that SAFTA would help boost its economy by way of increased exports within the South Asian region. Based on his studies, he said Bangladesh would be the top gainer among the LDCs in the region as it has the ability to offer more products for trading regionally than countries like Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.
— PTI |
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2 Indian firms to face US sanctions Washington, December 27 The penalties apparently have been under consideration for the past several weeks and have been approved by Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and will be formally published in the Federal Register over the next several days, The Washington Times reported today, citing unnamed Administration officials. The two Indian firms identified are Sabero Organics Chemical and the Sandhya Organics Chemical. According to the media report, the sanctions announcement will also state that the Bush Administration is lifting restrictions on one of the two Indian nuclear scientists linked to Iran’s nuclear programme. The sanctions on Chaudhary Surendar will be lifted. The Government of India has long denied that Surendar was linked to any Iranian nuclear proliferation activities. Washington had slapped sanctions on Surendar in September 2004 under the Iran Non-Proliferation Act for his role in providing Teheran with weapons of mass destruction and missile goods.
— PTI
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Australia's richest man Kerry Packer (68), who controlled Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd, one of the country's major media groups, died in his sleep overnight on Tuesday.
Billionaire Packer owned 30 per cent of PBL, which operates Australia's
Channel Nine television network and publishes a string of magazines, and
had interests in Australian casinos.
(
