W O R L D

Iran ‘worked’ on N-bomb design
IAEA report suggests Tehran wants nuclear arms capability
Big powers divided over how to handle row
Vienna, November 9
Iran appears to have worked on designing an atomic bomb and may still be conducting secret research, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report likely to raise tensions in the Middle East.

Supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave flags during his speech in Shahrekord in Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari province, on Wednesday. — Reuters

Berlusconi’s vow to step down fails to lift Italy Rome, November 9 Italy was plunged into political and economic turmoil today with borrowing rates hitting “dangerous” levels after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would resign and not run for office again.

Russian mission to Martian moon fails after launch
Moscow, November 9
A daring Russian mission to fly an unmanned probe to Phobos, a moon of Mars, and fly samples of its soil back to Earth was derailed right after its launch by equipment failure.

Pak schools teach Hindu hatred: US panel
Washington, November 9
Textbooks in Pakistani schools foster hatred and intolerance of minorities, the Hindus in particular, and teachers view these groups "as enemies of Islam," a US government report has said.

Gilani condemns murder of Hindu doctors
Islamabad, November 9
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the killing of three doctor brothers belonging to the Hindu community and directed that the culprits be brought to book.

 

 

Iran ‘worked’ on N-bomb design
IAEA report suggests Tehran wants nuclear arms capability
Big powers divided over how to handle row

Vienna, November 9
Iran appears to have worked on designing an atomic bomb and may still be conducting secret research, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report likely to raise tensions in the Middle East.

Citing what it called "credible" information from member states and elsewhere, the agency listed a series of activities applicable to developing nuclear weapons, such as high explosives testing and development of an atomic bomb trigger.

The report immediately exposed splits among the big powers about how best to handle the row over Iran's nuclear aims: the United States signalled tougher sanctions on Tehran but Russia said the report could hurt chances for diplomacy.

It was preceded by Israeli media speculation that the Jewish state may strike against its arch foe's nuclear sites. But Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday no decision had been made on embarking on a military operation.

Iran, which denies it wants nuclear weapons, condemned the findings of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "unbalanced" and "politically motivated."

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano is "playing a very dangerous game," Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the agency, said.

Tehran's history of hiding sensitive nuclear activity from the IAEA, continued restrictions on IAEA access and its refusal to suspend enrichment, which can yield fuel for atom bombs, have drawn four rounds of U.N. sanctions and separate punitive steps by the United States and European Union.

The report detailed evidence apparently showing concerted, covert efforts to acquire the capability to make atomic bombs. Some of the cited research and development work by Iran have both civilian and military applications, but "others are specific to nuclear weapons," said the report, obtained by Reuters on Tuesday before an IAEA board of governors meeting.

Western powers have pressured the major oil producer, which says its nuclear programme is aimed at increasing electricity generation, over its record of hiding sensitive nuclear activity and lack of full cooperation with UN inspectors.

The United States will look to put more pressure on Iran if it fails to answer questions raised by the IAEA report, a senior US official said in Washington. "That could include additional sanctions by the United States. It could also include steps that we take together with other nations," the official told reporters.

Russia criticised the report, saying it would dim hopes for dialogue with Tehran on its nuclear ambitions and suggesting it was meant to scuttle chances for a diplomatic solution.

"We have serious doubts about the justification for steps to reveal contents of the report to a broad public, primarily because it is precisely now that certain chances for the renewal of dialogue between the 'sextet' of international mediators and Tehran have begun to appear," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Russia and the United States are among the six big powers, also including China, Britain, France and Germany, which have been involved in stalled attempts to find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear dispute with Iran. — Reuters

Iran vows no retreat on N-programme

Tehran, November 9
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed today a report from the United Nations' nuclear agency that highlighted concerns Tehran had worked on designing an atomic bomb, saying it was based on "invalid" information from Washington.

"You should know that this nation will not pull back even a needle's width from the path it is on," he said in a speech carried live on state television.

However, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Iran remains ready to engage in negotiations with world powers concerned about its nuclear programme, but only if the other parties show it due respect

"We have always announced that we are ready for positive and useful negotiations but, the condition for those talks to be successful is that we enter those negotiations in a stance of equality and respect for nations' rights," Ramin Mehmanparast said.

Berlusconi’s vow to step down fails to lift Italy

Rome, November 9
Italy was plunged into political and economic turmoil today with borrowing rates hitting “dangerous” levels after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would resign and not run for office again.

Ten-year bond yields broke through the 7.0-per cent threshold seen as unsustainable for refinancing of Italy’s massive debt of 1.9 trillion euros as the head of state warned that the country’s very credibility was at stake.

“I won’t run for office,” Berlusconi said after announcing he will step down once a key economic reform law is adopted in Parliament, effectively announcing the end of a political career spanning two decades.

“As soon as the reforms are approved I will resign... the procedure will be complete by the end of the month,” the 75-year-old billionaire tycoon said.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, who will lead efforts to form a new government or call early elections after Berlusconi’s resignation, voiced concern about the situation in the eurozone’s third largest economy.

“We have to regain credibility and trust as a country. Above all today we have to get out of a very dangerous crunch on our bonds,” he said.

“There needs to be new behaviour by political forces... A lot of closures and old taboos need to fall to get out of the critical and alarming situation we are in,” he said in apparent reference to a possible unity government.

Italian stocks initially opened higher but later plunged by more than 3.0 per cent, reflecting investor fears over the political uncertainty following a parliamentary revolt that precipitated Berlusconi’s resignation announcement. — AFP 

Russian mission to Martian moon fails after launch

Moscow, November 9
A daring Russian mission to fly an unmanned probe to Phobos, a moon of Mars, and fly samples of its soil back to Earth was derailed right after its launch by equipment failure.

The Phobos-Grunt (Phobos-Soil) craft was successfully launched by a Zenit-2 booster rocket at 12:16 am Moscow time today from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It separated from the booster about 11 minutes later and was to fire its engines twice to set on its path to the Red Planet, but it never did.

The Zenit-2SB rocket with Phobos-Grunt craft blasts off from its launch pad in Baikonur, on Wednesday. — AP/PTI

Russia’s Federal Space Agency chief Vladimir Popovkin said neither of the two ignitions worked, probably due to the failure of the craft’s orientation system. He said in televised remarks that space engineers have three days to reset the craft’s computer programme to make it work before its batteries die.

The mishap is the latest in a series of recent launch failures that have raised concerns about the condition of the nation’s space industries. The Russian space agency said it would establish its own quality inspection teams at rocket factories to tighten oversight over production quality.

The $170 million Phobos-Grunt would have been Russia’s first interplanetary mission since Soviet times. A previous 1996 robotic mission to Mars also ended in failure when the probe crashed in the Pacific following an engine failure.

The Phobos-Grunt originally was set to blast off in October 2009, but its launch was postponed because the craft wasn’t ready.

The 13.2-metric ton craft is the heaviest interplanetary probe ever, with fuel accounting for most of its weight. It was manufactured by the Moscow-based NPO Lavochkin that has specialised in interplanetary vehicles since the dawn of the space era.

The company designed the craft for the failed 1996 launch. Earlier, two of its probes sent to Phobos in 1988 also failed. One was lost a few months after the launch due to an operator’s mistake, and contact was lost with its twin when it was orbiting Mars.

If space experts manage to fix the craft, it will reach Mars orbit in September 2012 and the landing on Phobos will happen in February. The return vehicle is expected to carry up to 200 grams of soil from Phobos back to Earth in August 2014. — AP

Pak schools teach Hindu hatred: US panel

Washington, November 9
Textbooks in Pakistani schools foster hatred and intolerance of minorities, the Hindus in particular, and teachers view these groups "as enemies of Islam," a US government report has said.

"Ssocial studies textbooks in Pakistan are rife with negative comments regarding India and Great Britain, but Hindus are often singled out for particular criticism in texts and in interview responses," said the report.

This intolerance and prejudice also extends to other minorities like the Christians and Ahmadis, who consider themselves Muslims but are not considered so by the Pakistani constitution." The Islamisation of textbooks, the commission has said began under the army rule of late dictator Zia-ul-Haq who courted Islamists to support his rule.

Though in 2006 the government announced plans to reform the curriculum, this has not been done under apparent pressure of hardliners, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a report made public today.

The commission in its 139-page report said though Pakistan was envisaged as a moderate state where minorities would have full rights, but three wars with India and appeasement of hardline clerics by successive weak governments had led to steady radicalisation of society.

Chairman of the commission, Leonard Leo, warned "the teaching discrimination increases the likelihood that violent religious extremism in Pakistan will continue to grow, weakening religious freedom, national and regional stability, and global security." "Although an unbiased review of history would show that Hindus and Muslims enjoyed centuries of harmonious co-existence, Hindus are repeatedly described as extremists and eternal enemies of Islam.

Hindu culture and society are portrayed as unjust and cruel, while Islam is portrayed as just and peaceful," USCIRF said in its report.

"This study, the first-ever study of its kind, documents how Pakistan's public schools and privately-run madrassas are not teaching tolerance but are exacerbating religious differences," said Leonard Leo, US Commission on International Religious Freedom chair.

According to the Minorities Concern of Pakistan, students are encountering problems because of their minority status and faith. They are forced to study from textbooks and curricula that are biased against them and routinely face discrimination and intimidation from Muslim students and teachers. — PTI

Gilani condemns murder of Hindu doctors

Islamabad, November 9
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the killing of three doctor brothers belonging to the Hindu community and directed that the culprits be brought to book.

The prime minister spoke to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah about the "abhorrent murder" of Ajeet Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Ashok Kumar, reported Associated Press of Pakistan. The brothers were gunned down in Shikarpur district Monday.

He said some elements wanted to create unrest in the country, but vowed that their intentions will be foiled. — IANS