W O R L D

Saran holds parleys with Nepalese leaders
Fourth round of voting to elect new PM today
Kathmandu, August 5
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy Shyam Saran today held wide-ranging talks with Nepalese leaders across the political spectrum to help forge a consensus to end the month-long constitutional crisis in the country.

Flood waters enter Sindh
3 lakh evacuated from banks of the Indus
Karachi, August 5
Pakistan’s worst floods in 80 years surged into southern Sindh province today amidst criticism over failing to provide speedy relief to the 4.5 million people affected by the deluge, even as about 3,00,000 have been evacuated along the swollen Indus river. After causing widespread devastation in the north western and central parts of Pakistan, the floods entered Sindh.

Obama goes without birthday cake
Washington, August 5
President Barack Obama did not get to eat his own birthday cake as he turned 49 with only family dog Bo to keep him company on a trip to his home in Chicago. Instead of taking the day off to celebrate, Obama yesterday went to the Washington Convention Centre to address members of the AFL-CIO, the American union movement, where union president Richard Trumka revealed that he had planned a celebration for him.

Got blood diamonds from Taylor: Naomi
The Hague, August 5
Supermodel Naomi Campbell, testifying reluctantly at the war crimes trial, today said that she was given "dirty looking pebbles" but did not know if they were blood diamonds from former Liberian ruler Charles Taylor. Complaining that having to appear at the court in The Hague was an “inconvenience”, Campbell said two unidentified men came to her bedroom after she attended a charity dinner with Taylor and then South African President Nelson Mandela in 1997.

Saran holds parleys with Nepalese leaders
Fourth round of voting to elect new PM today

Kathmandu, August 5
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy Shyam Saran today held wide-ranging talks with Nepalese leaders across the political spectrum to help forge a consensus to end the month-long constitutional crisis in the country.

On a two-day mission, Saran, a former Indian ambassador to Nepal, met Maoist supremo and former Prime Minister Prachanda, Nepali Congress acting president Shushil Koirala and the party's vice-president Ramchandra Poudyal, CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and other leaders, ahead of tomorrow's fourth round voting to elect a new Prime Minister in the constituent Assembly.

Prachanda and Poudyal are in the race for the top post. Nepal has failed to elect a new prime minister since the resignation of Madhav Kumar Nepal on June 30 with the ruling coalition and the Maoists unable to agree on a consensus candidate. During his parleys, Saran made it clear that India has no favourites and it was for the political parties in Nepal to choose a new leader.

Dinanath Sharma, the spokesman for the Unified CPN-Maoist, said Saran had told Prachanda that New Delhi was keen to see a stable, strong and prosperous Nepal. It is up to the Nepalese political parties to decide whom they would like to elect as the new Prime Minister, he said quoting Sharan.

The remarks came at a time when senior Maoist leaders have said they would not accept any interference by India in Nepal's internal affairs.

Bilateral relations, ongoing peace process and constitution making process mainly figured during the talks between Prachanda and Saran, Sharma said, adding the talks were positive. “I am here as the special envoy of our Prime Minister to forge consensus for peace and the constitution,” Saran had said on his arrival yesterday.

The visit of India's former Foreign Secretary comes at a time of deepening political crisis as Nepal's Parliament has failed to elect a new Prime Minister for over a month even though the House has held three rounds of voting.

Both Prachanda and his Nepali Congress rival Poudyal have failed to garner a majority support as two largest faction, CPN-UML and the UDMF alliance of four Terai-based Madhesi parties with 84 lawmakers have remained neutral and abstained from voting. — PTI

Flood waters enter Sindh
3 lakh evacuated from banks of the Indus

‘Dummy' relief camp during PM’s visit ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities set up a “dummy” relief and medical camp during a visit to flood-hit areas by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who handed patients cheques worth Rs 5,000 each, a media report said on Thursday. The incident occurred in the Mianwali area of Punjab province on Wednesday, Geo News reported. The channel juxtaposed scenes from the Bollywood comedy "Munnabhai MBBS", which centres round a gangster going to medical school, with footage of Gilani's visit to the "dummy" medical camp. — PTI

Karachi, August 5
Pakistan’s worst floods in 80 years surged into southern Sindh province today amidst criticism over failing to provide speedy relief to the 4.5 million people affected by the deluge, even as about 3,00,000 have been evacuated along the swollen Indus river. After causing widespread devastation in the north western and central parts of Pakistan, the floods entered Sindh.

The number of people affected by floods across the country today rose to an estimated 4.5 million, officials at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Islamabad said.

Over 1,500 people have been killed by the floods, which also washed away livestock and inundated thousands of acres of crops.

Though floods abated in Mianwanli, Bhakkar and Layyah districts, conditions were worse in Dera Ghazi Khan and Muzaffargarh districts, said Punjab Relief Commissioner Ikhlaq Ahmad Tarar.

“Around 90 people have died due to the rains and floods. Some 1.4 million people have been displaced in Punjab,” Tarar said. A total of 1.42 million acres of crops and nearly 1,350 villages have been destroyed in flood- affected areas of Punjab. — PTI

Zardari to dine with Cameron but won’t stay at Chequers

London, August 5
President Asif Ali Zardari has spurned an offer to spend the night at British Prime Minister’s country retreat at Chequers, but is to go ahead with his meeting with David Cameron to confront his charges of Pakistan promoting “export of terror” head-on.

Though the ‘Daily Mail’ described the turning down of invitation as ‘Zardari’s snub to Cameron’, Downing Street denied that Pakistan President had snubbed the Prime Minister by refusing to spend the night at the picturesque Chequers. The decision not to stay at the Chequers was said to be due to a “diary clash”, sources at Downing Street said.

Zardari’s first “face-to-face” meeting with Cameron over dinner would come after the recently-elected British leader suggested elements in Pakistan backed “the export of terror” to its neighbours Afghanistan and India. The Pakistan President in comments made in Paris before flying to London had vowed to confront the charges head-on during his visit here. “I will explain face to face that it is my country that is paying the highest price in human life for this war,” he told the French Daily ‘Le Monde’.

The meeting at the informal dinner would come amid continuing diplomatic tensions between the two countries, with officials hoping that the strains would be eased. — PTI

Obama goes without birthday cake

Washington, August 5
President Barack Obama did not get to eat his own birthday cake as he turned 49 with only family dog Bo to keep him company on a trip to his home in Chicago. Instead of taking the day off to celebrate, Obama yesterday went to the Washington Convention Centre to address members of the AFL-CIO, the American union movement, where union president Richard Trumka revealed that he had planned a celebration for him.

The plan was that they would sing "Happy Birthday", cut the cake and help the POTUS, as the secret service code calls the president of the United States, enjoy his day. "But the Secret Service nixed the cake," Trumka told the Hill. As a result of the security decision not to authorise a cake for the president, the singing was apparently also put on hold. "I was disappointed there wasn't a cake," Obama joked with Trumka after his remarks. Then, looking over at the Secret Service, Obama revealed what really might have happened to the cake. "They're probably eating it right now."

Obama is celebrating his birthday without his immediate family because first lady Michelle Obama just arrived in Spain for a planned mini-vacation with the couple's youngest daughter, Sasha, while eldest daughter, Malia, is away at a summer camp.

Obama may have gone without a cake yesterday, but the CNN said there would be a hush-hush party at the White House on Sunday with close family and friends to make it up to him. — IANS

Got blood diamonds from Taylor: Naomi

The Hague, August 5
Supermodel Naomi Campbell, testifying reluctantly at the war crimes trial, today said that she was given "dirty looking pebbles" but did not know if they were blood diamonds from former Liberian ruler Charles Taylor.

Complaining that having to appear at the court in The Hague was an “inconvenience”, Campbell said two unidentified men came to her bedroom after she attended a charity dinner with Taylor and then South African President Nelson Mandela in 1997.

“I was sleeping when two men knocked at the door that woke me up. They gave me a pouch and said: “A gift for you,” she told the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone. “I went back to bed. I looked into the pouch the next morning," the British model said. "I saw a few stones, they were very small, dirty looking stones."

“I'm used to seeing diamonds shiny and in a box ... If someone had not said they were diamonds, I would not have known they were diamonds," she said. Prosecutors summoned Campbell to support their allegations that Taylor received so-called blood diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone and used them to buy weapons during his 1997 trip to South Africa. Taylor denied the allegations as "nonsense".

He is charged with 11 counts of instigating murder, rape, mutilation, sexual slavery and conscription of child soldiers during wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in which more than 250,000 people were killed. He denies all the charges. Campbell initially refused to testify and told the judges she feared for her family's safety after reading on the Internet about Taylor's alleged involvement in mass killings. — Reuters