Wednesday, August 5, 1998
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W O R L D | Wednesday, August 5, 1998 |
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USA asks India, Pak to
resume talks |
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 Russian soldiers stand guard near the sarcophagi containing the remains of Russia's last czar, his wife, three of their five children and four servants at the city morgue in Yekaterinburg recently. The remains were put into coffins standing next to the sarcophagi. — AP/PTI Hundreds die in blow-up of China’s dykes HONG KONG, Aug 4 — Hundreds of soldiers and residents were killed as the Chinese authorities ordered dykes along the Yangtze river to be blown up to save major cities from rising floods. |
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Butler’s talks with
Iraq collapse |
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USA asks India, Pak to resume talks WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (UNI, PTI) — Concerned about artillery exchanges across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, the Clinton Administration has decided to despatch shortly formal messages to India and Pakistan, asking them to refrain from “provocative” actions and rhetoric with a view to preventing the escalation of tension in the volatile region. It also made an appeal to the two countries to resume their “senior-level dialogue as soon as possible and to approach these talks imaginatively and constructively.” “We are willing to assist the parties in this process at the request of both parties. We don’t offer to mediate unless requested by both sides,” said State Department spokesman James Rubin here yesterday while commenting on the recent developments along the LoC in Kashmir. Asked whether the USA intended to send a special envoy to Delhi and Islamabad to deliver the messages to the two governments, he said” “I am talking about a diplomatic message from our government to the Indian and Pakistani governments, not a new trip or a new envoy or anything.” Mr Rubin agreed with a questioner who characterised the situation “as an across-the-board deterioration” in the region. He said clearly the meetings between Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart in Colombo last week were not “fully successful.” He, however, said “we have been in touch with both Indians and Pakistanis in a very intense discussion in recent weeks.” In this context, he made it a point to refer to the meetings that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and her Deputy Strobe Talbott had with Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Jaswant Singh. “Albright had some opportunity to do that on her trip and obviously Deputy Secretary Talbott has gone through extensive discussions with the two sides,” Mr Rubin remarked. “He’s going to continue to do that, and there are additional meetings planned in the coming weeks. So that is the diplomatic efforts that we’re doing and we believe there is enough reason for optimism to continue working on it,” he added. Mr Rubin struck a cautious note, hastening to add “that doesn’t mean that we’re likely to see a breakthrough by any stretch of the imagination, but we’re working on the problem.” With respect to the fighting along the Line of Control, he pointed out, the information that he had received was that “it tends to go up and down at this time of year. This was a particularly intense outburst of fighting with a particularly tragic loss of life, but it has calmed down today (Monday) and Yesterday (Sunday).” “From Thursday to Saturday, artillery and small arms exchanges across the Line of Control, separating Kashmir, intensified, reportedly killing several people — many of them civilians”, the spokesman added. LONDON: The British Government has called on Pakistan and India to resolve their differences through negotiations amid reports the two sides clashed for the sixth day on the Kashmir border. Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett said reports of shooting across the Line of Control “can only add to the already high levels of tension.” Mr Fatchett, who has just returned from a tour of southeast Asia, added: “It is essential that India and Pakistan resolve their differences through a dialogue”. “Both countries have agreed a number of confidence-building measures in the past to prevent incidents along the Line of Control. These should now be fully implemented,” he said. Mr Fatchett also referred
to the recent nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, saying
the two countries “need to take positive steps on
nuclear non-proliferation and regional security.” |
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Emergency declared in Lanka COLOMBO, Aug 4 (PTI) — Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today declared a state of emergency throughout the country, a move seen by political observers as the first step to postpone crucial provincial elections. In a special gazette notification issued here, Mrs Chandrika said the tough laws, under which suspects could be arrested and detained, were being invoked “in the interest of public security, protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community.” The state of emergency was being clamped because she felt there was a “public emergency” in the country, Mrs Chandrika said. The notification, however, made no reference to postponing the council elections. But speculations about the government taking a recourse to tough laws to put off the poll were rife after the opposition UNP expressed reluctance to support an official move to postpone the polls through an amendment in Parliament. The UNP instead demanded holding of presidential elections, two years ahead of the due date. Political observers said the move to invoke extraordinary laws was aimed at postponing provincial council elections as the main Opposition had refused to amend laws to delay the vote which was due on August 28. The main Opposition UNP sources alleged the government move to declare emergency was a clear indication that it was backing down from holding key elections, fearing defeat. The government had earlier said the postponement of council elections was necessary in view of preoccupation of the security forces fighting LTTE rebels and difficulty in mobilising enough security for poll. The Inspector-General of Police, the highest police official of the country, Mr W.B.S. Rajaguru, had written to the Election Commission expressing his inability to provide adequate number of police personnel for elections. Two prominent Buddhist monks, representing popular Buddhist sects, also called for the postponement of elections till the war against the rebels was won. The Sri Lankan constitution, however, does not allow the government to delay the vote for the provincial councils, the highest level of local government, unless a state of emergency is declared across the country. Also all the major political parties, including the ruling People’s Alliance, have already fielded their candidates for the crucial poll. Today’s proclamation
of emergency would enable the government to indefinitely
postpone the poll. |
Hundreds die in blow-up of China’s dykes HONG KONG, Aug 4 (AFP) — Hundreds of soldiers and residents were killed as the Chinese authorities ordered dykes along the Yangtze river to be blown up to prevent major cities being engulfed by rising floods, a rights group said here today. At least 150 soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from an air force unit based in the central Chinese city of Wuhan lost their lives along with several hundred residents who were fighting flood waters, the Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said. The incident happened on Saturday in Jiayu county, 70 km north in the upper reaches of Yangtze river in Wuhan, spokesman Frank Lu said. Lu said hundreds of residents were drowned in the sudden deluge of flood waters in the countryside. As of yesterday, at least nine bodies of PLA soldiers were recovered, but the Chinese authorities have imposed a news blackout over the event. The water level in the Yangtze in Wuhan has dropped by some 10 millimetres. China only admitted yesterday that it had begun blowing up dykes along the Yangtze to flood the countryside in a bid to prevent major cities being engulfed by the river. The strategy was aimed at
protecting Wuhan - a major industrial city with a
population of seven million that has been threatened for
weeks by the record high waters on China’s longest
river, the report said. |
Butler’s talks with Iraq collapse DUBAI, Aug 4 (PTI) — A fresh UN-Iraq standoff loomed today as Chief UN Weapons Inspector Richard Butler cut short his visit to Baghdad following collapse of the talks on further investigations into Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. “My duty is to report what has happened to the security council and the United Nations,” television networks quoted Mr Butler as saying. “I’m going to New York to do that.” Earlier after meeting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, Mr Butler had said he did not know whether the talks would continue and that they could be suspended. Mr Aziz on the other hand, said he did not see any point in deciding on a programme of action if UNSCOM was still up to its “old tricks”. Observers have no doubt that Mr Butler would report that Iraq had refused to cooperate with the UN weapons inspectors’ investigations, which may bring about yet another stand-off with the USA. Reuters adds from Manama: Mr Butler said Iraq had rejected his proposal to extend his work on missile and chemical weapons for another month and instead demanded he close his files immediately. Mr Butler, who cut short
his Baghdad visit, said on arrival in Bahrain that the
request was submitted to him by Deputy Prime Minister
Tariq Aziz during talks in the Iraqi capital. |
Magsaysay award for Aquino SINGAPORE, Aug 4 (PTI) — Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino has won this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award for international understanding, the award body said today. Ms Aquino (65), who helped depose the late President Ferdinand Marcos through a peaceful revolution in 1986, has been cited for “giving radiant force to the non-violent movement for democracy in the Philippines and in the world”. Ms Aquino emerged from the shadow of her late husband, Sen Benigno Aquino Jr, after his assassination on August 21, 1983. Following Aquino’s death, his wife became the unifying symbol for the divided Opposition against the Marcos rule, which culminated in the four-day non-violent “people’s power” revolution in 1986 that drove Marcos out of the country. Ms Aquino, who challenged
Marcos in a snap presidential election in 1986, was
eventually installed as President of the Philippines
after Marcos fled into exile. She governed the country
until June 30, 1992. |
US visa plan bars India WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (AFP) — China and India are among the nations excluded from an annual lottery programme to issue some 55,000 US permanent resident visas to people from regions with low immigration rates. In a statement yesterday, the US State Department said countries barred from the “Diversity Visa 2000 Lottery” were nations from which the USA had received more than 50,000 immigrants during the past five years. The list of the countries that do not qualify is subject to change each year. The countries excluded from the “Diversity Visa 2000 Lottery” are Britain, Canada, China, Colombia, The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Poland, the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan. People born in Hong Kong
and in Northern Ireland remain eligible. The department
said it expected the national visa counter to receive
between six million and seven million qualified entries
during the registration period. |
NATO nod for Kosovo military plan WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (AP) — NATO has approved plans to use firepower against the Serb forces in Kosovo, the Clinton Administration has said, adding its concern that the latest Serb offensive could generate a “humanitarian catastrophe” for tens of thousands of people forced to leave their homes. The plans, focused on an aerial assault, are being fine-tuned by the NATO council, State Department officials said yesterday. There was no immediate word on what would trigger an attack by NATO, US State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said that was up to President Bill Clinton and the other NATO political leaders. Nor was it clear whether this was mostly an attempt by the Administration to unnerve Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic by raising the threat again publicly. The USA has raised the threat of bombing Serb forces in Kosovo several times since the current crisis erupted earlier this year. But Mr Milosevic has ignored the warnings, forcing the Administration to back down each time. Mr Rubin did indicate an attack was not imminent, saying “further refinement is ongoing.” And a NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity from the organisation’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, played down the possibility of military intervention, saying that at this stage NATO was simply putting the final touches on a number of possible actions in Kosovo and the region. In Kosovo, a weekend of
fighting displaced tens of thousands of people, some of
them taking refuge in forests outside towns and now
beyond the immediate reach of relief organisations. The
UN relief agency estimated that 35,000 people fled their
homes during the weekend. The Red Cross reported finding
twice that number in one area alone. |
“Blair’s babes burning
out” WOMEN Labour Party MPs who entered the British Parliament last year in Tony Blair’s landslide victory — the so-called “Blair babes” — are sitting on a time-bomb of failed relationships, no sex, unhappiness and loneliness, according to US psychologists. Symptoms of the “supercouple syndrome” which plagues the USA’s high-achievers have surfaced in Westminster debates and media interviews, cracking the facade of a successful juggle between work, family and play, they said. Husbands who shared their partner’s joy at being elected have started phase one of a cooling process, leading to resentment at the energy and time consumed by Westminster, which often leaves their wives too stressed for sex. Numbness from all-night debates wreaks havoc when the time comes for husbands and children to be nurtured, said Wayne Sotile, a clinical psychologist, who runs a therapy practice in North Carolina. He and his wife Mary, a marriage counsellor, hope to visit Britain to help MPs avert the “three Ds” which have doomed US couples: drained, downsized and divorced. Evaporating romance can also produce TINS couples — two incomes no sex. The Sotiles believe the women catapulted to Westminster in Labour’s election triumph are unprepared for the havoc that afflicts high-flyers. Male MPs are safer from the syndrome because their partners are less likely to be in full-time employment. Last March a survey by psychologists from the University of Manchester showed that the mental health of first-time MPs was worse than a matched group of candidates before the election. Labour’s female backbenchers recorded the highest levels of burnout, possibly because many did not expect to be elected and were unprepared for juggling career and home. They displayed anxiety, stress, depression, fatigue and low self-esteem. A group of new MPs has formed a self-help group which meets about once a month in the Commons. Dr Sotile said therapy techniques pioneered in the USA, which turned stressed supercoupled into “dynamic duos”, were needed in Britain. “The Blairs are beautiful examples of the dynamic duo. They seem to have it all — highly successful careers yet focused on each other. It’s the rest of the party I worry about”. Based on a 20-year career of counselling more than 5,000 couples, the Sotiles have constructed a nine-step programme, Beating Stress Together (BEST), which they hope to introduce to Westminster. Tips include: eat lunch in silence at least once a week; show humanity to a trusted aide by disclosing a worry or regret. The advice sparked
indignation among MPs. Helen Brinton, who won
Peterborough for Labour, said it patronised women.
“If the Sotiles do come I certainly won’t be
going to any of their seminars. This is a new job and a
tough one, but I’m glad I’m in it”. —
The Guardian, London |
| Global monitor Physicians’ plea to
India, Pakistan IAEA money Opinion polls Smoking Pak poet dead Panda cub |
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