Thursday, July 29, 1999
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W O R L D | Thursday, July 29, 1999 |
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Safe passage for 2,000
Tamils VAVUNIYA (Northern Sri Lanka), July 28 — More than 2,000 Tamils today obtained a safe passage to their home town via the heavily-forested Wanni route which had been closed due to security operations. UN team destroys nerve gas in Iraq BAGHDAD, July — A United Nations Disarmament team left Baghdad today after destroying a controversial UN laboratory which contained small samples of VX nerve gas and other toxic materials. |
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Columbia space shuttle lands CAPE CANAVERAL, July 28 — With the first female commander at the controls, space shuttle Columbia returned to earth after a quick trip to orbit to drop off the world’s most powerful x-ray telescope “Chandra”.
WB
lending to India down No
IMF loan to Pak Court
slams France for torture Britons
caught in time trap Severe
heat claims 30 lives in USA China
burns books of banned sect |
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Safe passage for 2,000 Tamils VAVUNIYA (Northern Sri Lanka), July 28 (UNI) — More than 2,000 Tamils today obtained a safe passage to their home town via the heavily-forested Wanni route which had been closed due to security operations. A convoy of 29 buses crowded with people, who had been stranded here for the past one month, was escorted by the Sri Lankan army and reached Tunekkai, an LTTE-controlled area, after travelling about 30 km. The road between here and the LTTE-controlled parts of Wanni had been closed on June 25 after the army began operations to take control of rebel-dominated areas. This road had been opened by the government to help ease the problems caused by the detour to reach the uncleared areas where more than three lakh Tamils are living. Subsequent to the closure of this road to the LTTE-controlled areas, the government was unable to send essential food items to some three lakh people living in those areas. Besides, more than 2,400 people stranded here could not travel. Today, at the request of these people security forces arranged their passage, though apprehension prevailed that the LTTE may indulge in an attack. Several media personnel witnessed the safe passage of the people. Meanwhile, Tiger guerrillas blasted a telecommunication tower Kumbukwewa in Trincomalee last night, reports said today. In another incident late last night another bomb blast occurred at the Pettah bus station, in the heart of Colombo. No injuries or damage was reported as the bomb was of low intensity. Meanwhile, 14 army personnel, including three officers, and a policeman were arrested for the alleged rape and murder of a young woman and the burning of houses in the strife-torn northwestern part of Sri Lanka, a military spokesman said yesterday. The arrests came after strong protests from human rights groups and villagers in Mannar, 312 km north of the capital, who called for an immediate investigation into the rape and murder of the 21-year-old woman on July 12. The Sri Lankan
government has been taking strict action against army
personnel and policemen getting involved in human rights
abuses in the north and eastern parts of the country,
where the security forces have recaptured rebel-held
areas and are trying to build up confidence among the
people. |
UN team destroys nerve gas in Iraq BAGHDAD, July (Reuters) — A United Nations Disarmament team left Baghdad today after destroying a controversial UN laboratory which contained small samples of VX nerve gas and other toxic materials, eyewitnesses said. They said the team left their hotel in the Iraqi capital early this morning heading for Jordan on the 1,000-km desert highway between Baghdad and Amman. The UN disarmament experts had delayed their departure from Iraq for few days until the UN Security Council gave them the go-ahead to destroy seven vials of VX nerve gas which were a centre of row in the Council between Russia and other permanent members. The destruction of the deadly VX took place yesterday. Russia, backed by China and France, suspected that the nerve gas may have been used in “foul play” by UN inspectors, such as contaminating Iraqi missile warhead fragments. Last week the team of scientists found seven vials of diluted samples of VX, three of them opened. Each vial contained less than 0.1 milligrams of concentrated VX. Other toxic materials discovered by the team, including mustard gas and chemical standards, were destroyed and packed in concrete and sand to render them harmless last week. The team, recruited for the UN by the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), came to Iraq to destroy materials left behind when UN weapons inspectors were evacuated hastily before US and British bombing raids on Iraq last December. The materials belong to
the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) charged with
dismantling Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. |
Delay in Timor referendum JAKARTA,July 28 (Reuters) —The head of the U.N special mission in East Timor, Mr Ian Martin, said today there would be a further delay in a key vote on the future status of the troubled territory. “I can’t give you any ballot date, however, there will be some further slight delay and the (U.N.) Secretary-General will be making an announcement about the ballot shortly,’’ he told reporters after meeting detained independence leader Xanana Gusmao. U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan has the final decision on the date for the U.N.-organised ballot. The ballot had already been delayed once to August 21 or 22, but persistent unrest and logistics have hampered preparations. East Timorese are to choose at the ballot whether to accept greater autonomy within Indonesia or to opt for independence. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed it in 1976 in a move not recognised by the United Nations. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister said today in Singapore that East Timor’s ballot on self rule would be delayed to August 30. “There has been an
announcement by the U.N. Secretary-General that the
balloting will take place now on Monday, August
30,’’ Mr Ali Alatas said. |
Columbia space shuttle lands CAPE CANAVERAL, July 28 (AP) — With the first female commander at the controls, space shuttle Columbia returned to earth after a quick trip to orbit to drop off the world’s most powerful x-ray telescope “Chandra”. Chandra, named after India-born physicist S. Chandrashekhar, is using its thrusters to eventually reach an orbit extending one-third of the way to the moon. Air Force Col Eileen Collins landed the shuttle at 11:20 pm last night (8.50 a.m.IST), the first woman to ever do so. The runway was illuminated with xenon lights for the rare night landing, and the moon was nearly full. “Welcome home, Eileen to you and the crew, just an outstanding job deploying Chandra (telescope) and bringing Columbia home for a beautiful landing” Mission Control said as soon as the shuttle rolled to a stop. The five-day flight was NASA’s shortest planned mission in nine years. The mileage for the trip — a relatively modest 1.8 million miles (2.9 million km). Despite its brevity, the telescope-delivery mission was a plum assignment for Collins. She was the first woman to command a space mission in 38 years of US human space flight, the only woman to actually land a spaceship of any kind, anywhere. The astronauts
accomplished their main goal just seven hours into the
flight, flawlessly releasing the $ 1.5 billion Chandra
x-ray observatory, which began a five-year journey to
search for signs of black holes and study galaxies. |
WB lending to India down WASHINGTON, July 28 (PTI) — Under pressure from the USA and its allies over the Pokhran nuclear tests, World Bank lending to India registered a massive decline from $ 1,068 million in 1998 to $ 400 million for the fiscal 1999, latest figures said. The International Development Association (IDA) lending to India also declined sharply from $ 1,073 million in 1998 to $ 654 million for the fiscal year ended on June 30, 1999, the figures released yesterday revealed. Lending from the two international agencies put together showed a decline of a whopping $ 1,087 million between 1998 and 1999. The two are associate institutions. In fiscal 1999, the World Bank and IDA commitments to India were for a total $ 1,054 million even after the US chose to exempt “basic human needs” from its embargo on the two international lending agencies. By contrast, in 1998, World Bank lending to India was $ 1,068 million and IDA lending $ 1.073 million a total of $ 2,141 million. The normal level of lending from the World Bank and the IDA has been around $ 2,000 million a year for quite some time. Under its charter, the World Bank is an apolitical body “deciding on projects without political influence brought to bear by member states”. However, the figures show the gap between theory and reality. For South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, a total of $ 2.56 billion in new Bank and IDA commitments was approved in 1999 for 18 projects. Of this, $ 750 million came from the Bank. The impact of the
Western sanctions following the nuclear tests by India
and Pakistan was also evident from the fact that combined
lending to the South Asian region in 1999 was $ 2.56
billion as against $ 3.86 billion in 1998, showing a
decline of $ 1.3 billion to the region. |
No IMF loan to Pak WASHINGTON, July 28 (PTI) — Pakistan has failed to persuade the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release the next tranche of a three-year $ 1.6 million package to rescue its troubled economy in August. A high-level Pakistani delegation, headed by Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, failed to convince the IMF during talks here yesterday that Islamabad was fulfilling all major commitments to the multilateral funding agency. Mr Dar told reporters shortly after the talks that “the money (about $ 200 million) will be released, God willing, in September. There should be no problem now.” An IMF spokesman,
however, told reporters that the two sides had made
“good progress” and would meet again in Lahore
to sort out the issue. |
Court slams France for torture STRASBOURG, July 28 (Reuters) — The European Court of Human Rights today found France guilty of torturing a jailed drug dealer, making it the first European Union state to be condemned on those grounds. The C-based court found that “the physical acts of violence visited on (Ahmed Selmouni) caused acute pain and suffering and were of a particularly cruel and serious nature.’’ The court also found France guilty of excessive delays in the administration of justice as seven and a half years went by before the conviction of the police officers accused by Selmouni, who is now 57, of torture and sexual exploitation. Selmouni, who is serving a 13-year sentence in France for drug trafficking, complained to the French authorities in 1992 that he was kicked, beaten with a baseball bat and a police truncheon while in a suburban Paris jail. Selmouni, who is of
Dutch and Moroccan origin, lost the use of his left eye
as a result of the beatings, according to his lawyers. |
Britons caught in time trap LONDON, July 28 (DPA) — Life is so frantic these days that many people simply do not have time for their friends and families, according to a new study in Britain. Four out of 10 Britons say they have too little time to spend with the people who mean the most to them. More than a third are so busy that they have forgotten a loved one’s birthday or anniversary recently. And the problem is far worse for parents, with two thirds admitting they cannot even cope with the housework. The picture of a nation caught in a “time trap” emerges from a poll of 960 adults by Abbey National. Seven out of 10 people in Britain agreed that the pace of life makes it hard to manage their time. A third cannot cope with the demands of their careers, rising to nearly half of people with children. Fortyseven per cent — and 66 per cent of families — cannot manage the domestic chores and 56 per cent of families do not always have time for a supermarket trip. The report adds: “Friends, hobbies and relaxation are increasingly sidelined in the relentless pursuit of wealth and the need to be super-parents.” Abbey National’s
Bridget Walsh said: “We are all working harder just
to stand still.” |
Severe heat claims 30 lives in USA NEW YORK, July 28 (PTI) — Severe heat sweeping eastern half of the USA for the past three days left at least 30 dead, forced several countries to declare water emergencies and made power companies appeal to the people to conserve electricity. Most of the stores selling air conditioners ran out of supplies as mercury crossed 38 degree C for the third straight day. Weathermen held out no hope for relief and predicted still more uncomfortable weekend. Most of the victims of
heat were elderly who has lived in apartments without air
conditioning. |
China burns books of banned sect BEIJING, July 28 (PTI) — In a countrywide crackdown on the banned semi-religious sect Falungong, Chinese authorities have burnt and destroyed hundreds of thousands of cassettes, videos and books written by sect founder Li Hongzhi, state-run media said today. Departments concerned throughout China have launched an intensive crackdown on its publications, cassette tapes and videos. The police confiscated over 73,000 books on Falungong in the northern port city of Tianjin while in the central China city of Wuhan, some 130,000 books and 27,000 audio and video tapes have been destroyed, it said. In Urumgi, the capital
of northwest China’s Xinjiang-Uygur autonomous
region, authorities have seized 3,200 books, 1,200 video
compact discs and over 10,000 cassette tapes related to
the sect since July 24, it added. |
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| 18 dead, 6 hurt in river accident BOENIGEN (Switzerland): Eighteen persons were killed and six injured in a canyoning accident on the Luetschine river near Interlaken in central Switzerland, the police said. Many more were reported missing at the site in the Saket-Bach gorge, southeast of Bern, the police said. Several helicopters and teams of rescuers were dispatched to the area. Eighteen bodies were found in Lake Brienz, east of Interlaken. — AFP ‘Indecent’
Tarzan Teacher molester Topless bathers Ship grounded Impostor held Damaging curries Daughters locked
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