 |
| Thursday, July 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Clinton delays G-8 trip to strive for W. Asia accord THURMONT, July 19 — With tense West Asia peace talks at the crossroads, President Bill Clinton early today put off his trip to Japan by a day to extend the Camp David summit. Rebels release seven
Malaysian hostages Putin’s diplomatic foray into N. Korea |
|
|
Brazilian oil spill contained CURITIBA (Brazil), July 19 — Workers raced to contain Brazil’s biggest oil spill in 25 years as it flowed down the southern Iguacu river, endangering drinking water, farm land and animal life along a 140-mile (230 km) stretch. India denies N-ties with Israel NEW YORK, July 19 — Indian American parents of a young woman with cerebral palsy have sued the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) for denying her citizenship, a media report said. Lift sanctions: US Congmen |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cholesterol lowers life expectancy CHICAGO, July 19 — Middle-aged people have been warned about the dangers of high cholesterol for some time, but a study shows it is equally risky for young men.
|
|
Clinton delays G-8 trip to strive for W. Asia accord THURMONT, July 19 (AP, AFP, DPA) — With tense West Asia peace talks at the crossroads, President Bill Clinton early today put off his trip to Japan by a day to extend the Camp David summit. The dramatic move shortly after midnight gave Mr Clinton another day to try to reach settlement terms that balance the diverse demands of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. “The President believes this is in the best interest of the peace process,” the White House said in announcing the trip delay. The goal remains an agreement before Mr Clinton departs for weekend summit with leaders of seven other nations. Even with his takeoff delayed for a day, he can still arrive in time for meetings in Okinawa, skipping only the preliminary talks in Tokyo. “There are intense discussions and negotiations going on now between the two parties,” White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. “I think they understand what they’re up against, so far as the issues and the timing.” “He stands ready to talk to either leader separately, together, the negotiators — whatever we think is peaceful and constructive,” Mr Lockhart said. Any agreement is likely to provide President Arafat with the Palestinian state he has long sought, but Mr Barak was said to be holding firm on east Jerusalem not falling under Palestinian sovereignty. In Jerusalem, Israel’s Parliament Speaker, Mr Avraham Burg, said the talks could end with a partial deal in which Israel recognised a Palestinian state. Late yesterday, another White House spokesman, Mr PJ Crowley said Prime Minister Barak and Mr Yasser Arafat were ready to work another sleepless night. “They are hard at work,” he told reporters. “The leaders (Arafat and Barak) have spent virtually the entire day with their respective teams,” he said, adding that Mr Clinton was just “finishing dinner” with negotiators on the terrace of his chalet at Camp David, without specifying which negotiators. Mr Clinton had “an extensive meeting with our US delegation earlier. Earlier the peace talks hit a storm in their final hours with negotiators deadlocked on the crucial issue of Jerusalem, but aides said President Clinton would work late into the night to try to salvage an accord. A senior Palestinian official said talks were bogged over Israel’s insistence on undivided sovereignty over Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their capital. The spokesman, Joe Lockhart played down talk of a crisis, saying: “I wouldn’t use that phrase. There are obviously very difficult issues in front of them but the parties are continuing to work at it.’’ He said the fact that Mr Barak and President Yasser Arafat were not meeting each other, or jointly with Mr Clinton, did not mean the talks had broken down. “The atmosphere at times has been tense but they are still working at it,’’ Mr Lockhart said. But a source in touch with both sides said there had been no real movement all day on the central issues of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, and both were waiting to see what face-saving conclusion the USA might propose. “They are in an impasse. I don’t see how they can get out of it,’’ the source said. Palestinian officials said Mr Arafat had been preparing to report a breakdown to other world leaders on Tuesday morning when Mr Clinton asked to see him. Barak’s spokesman Gadi Baltiansky also hinted at serious difficulties at the mountaintop presidential retreat where Israel and Egypt struck a historic peace accord in 1978. ‘The Prime Minister is leading a difficult and tough battle on Israel’s security and other interests, to strengthen Israel and strengthen Jerusalem, and we don’t yet know how the summit will end,” he told reporters. |
|
Rebels release seven Malaysian hostages MANILA, July 19 (AP) — Muslim rebels have freed all seven remaining Malaysian captives from a group of 21 mostly foreign hostages they abducted nearly three months ago from a Malaysian diving resort, a news report said today. The seven hostages were being taken by boat from Jolo in the southern Philippines to Zamboanga, government radio station Radyong Bayan said. Chief government hostage negotiator Robert Aventajado said he could not confirm the Malaysians had been released because of power failure in Jolo that had cut communications. But he said he was “very optimistic” they would be freed. The Malaysian hostages originally were to have been released on Monday, but the Abu Sayyaf rebels insisted at the last minute on raising their ransom demand from $ 67,500 to $ 337,500 for each, negotiators said. The negotiators returned to the rebels’ hide-out on Jolo today to negotiate further. It was not immediately clear how much ransom may have been paid. The Abu Sayyaf have already freed two Malaysian hostages — a policeman released last Friday and a forest ranger freed last month. Since the 21 hostages were abducted on April 23 from Malaysia’s Sipadan diving resort, Muslim extremists on Jolo have kidnapped several other groups and now hold about 31 people following the Malaysians’ reported release. The remaining hostages consist of five French, three Germans, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese and 18
Filipinos. |
|
Putin’s diplomatic foray into N. Korea MOSCOW, July 19 (Reuters) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Pyongyang today for the first-ever visit to North Korea by a Soviet or Russian leader, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported. Russian television had earlier shown pictures of a sunny Pyongyang with crowds preparing to greet Mr Putin on his arrival. His meeting with the Stalinist state’s leader, Kim Jong-Il, is aimed at forging a new relationship and promoting economic ties which have floundered since the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991 and Russia opened wider ties with its rival South Korea. The visit also provides the outside world with its second chance to watch the once-reclusive Kim play the statesman, after he played host to South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung for historic summit last month. Mr Putin has said Moscow will do all it can to ease tensions on the peninsula. He also aims to bring Pyongyang further out of isolation, a process which Russia and China say undermines US arguments for an anti-missile shield they oppose. BEIJING: China and Russia signed four more agreements today, including two on petroleum and gas, bringing the number of documents signed by the two countries to nine during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s maiden state visit to China. The four documents signed today include an agreement between the two education ministries and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on approving certain designated companies from South Korea to participate in the feasibility study of a gas pipeline project in Russia. |
|
Brazilian oil spill contained CURITIBA (Brazil), July 19 (Reuters) — Workers raced to contain Brazil’s biggest oil spill in 25 years as it flowed down the southern Iguacu river, endangering drinking water, farm land and animal life along a 140-mile (230 km) stretch. Parana state officials yesterday said the 1.06 million gallons (4 million litres) of crude oil that leaked on Sunday at a refinery operated by state-owned oil giant Petrobras constituted the worst river contamination ever in Brazil. The oil spill creeping up the scenic Iguazu river has been contained, avoiding contamination of famed waterfalls downstream, according to the state oil company Petrobras. According to the statement, half of the 4 million litres of oil was contained within the refinery area, “about 341,000 liters has been collected by clean-up workers, and 20 to 30 per cent had evaporated.” The company said it would take technicians some 10 days to clean the oil from the river. Environmental Minister Jose Sarney Filho threatened to fine Petrobras more than $ 80 million and assured disaster crews would stop the spill before it reached the world famous Iguacu waterfalls, which divide Brazil and Argentina nearly 400 miles (635 km) downriver. “The barriers are working,” Mr Sarney said. “Petrobras hired a company specialised in environmental disasters and their people arrived with adequate material.’’ But Parana’s environmental agency warned the situation was much worse than Petrobras oil spill six months ago in Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay, where 3,45,000 gallons (1.3 million litres) blackened beaches and decimated marine life. “There it was much easier to control the situation because in the river you have a current,” — agency president Jose Antonio Andreguetto told reporters. Environmental experts downriver said the slick was nearing an area where the Iguacu widened, at which point it would be very difficult to bring under control. “What we are seeing is disorganisation and Petrobras is improvising solutions,” said Tereza Urban, coordinator of environmental group Rede Verde. The spill occurred 13 miles ( 20 km) downstream from the state capital of Curitiba, sparing the prosperous city’s 1.5 million inhabitants of any immediate danger. Curitiba is located 240 miles (390 km) south of Sao Paulo. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said it had informed the governments of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay of its efforts to keep the oil from spilling over Brazil’s borders. |
|
India denies
N-ties with Israel DUBAI, July 19 (UNI) — Vehemently denying any nuclear cooperation between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, India has assured Kuwait that any improvement in its relations with Israel would not be at the expense of its age-old ties with the Arab world. New Delhi’s clarification came when the head of Kuwait’s Fifth Parliamentary Friendship Committee met Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Prabhu Dayal and conveyed to him his country’s resentment over Home Minister L.K. Advani’s recent visit to Israel and concern over reports of Indo-Israeli nuclear cooperation. However, the Indian Ambassador told Mr Ahmed al-Shuraian, who is also said to be the head of an Indo-Kuwaiti Parliamentary Friendship Group, that “India had established diplomatic relations with Israel as it is our policy to improve relations with all countries of the world.” |
|
Disabled Indian denied US citizenship NEW YORK, July 19 (PTI) — Indian American parents of a young woman with cerebral palsy have sued the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) for denying her citizenship, a media report said. Vijai Shree Rajan, 24, was denied citizenship as she is incapable of understanding and taking the oath of allegiance, an INS spokesman was quoted as saying. Anybody applying for US citizenship has to swear allegiance to the USA and indicate comprehension of the democratic principles contained in its constitution by raising their hand, nodding their head or repeating the oath when it is read out. The case has even found an echo in the Congress where three US senators have filed legislations to give her citizenship. The Senators have also filed a legislation that would give discretion to California’s Attorney General to waive the oath provision in cases like this. Vijai, according to CNN which first reported the story, cannot walk or talk or get around without a wheelchair. All she can do is to move her head, smile, blink and stick out her tongue. Vijai, who was born in Madurai with muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy and contracted crohn’s disease later, has been a permanent resident of USA since she was four months old. According to doctors, Vijai has the mental level of an infant, requires round-the-clock medical care and lives with her parents, Shakunthala and Sunder Rajan, both US citizens. But Vijai is not in danger of deportation as she holds the green card which gives her permanent residency in the USA. |
|
Lift sanctions: US Congmen WASHINGTON, July 19 (PTI) — US Congressmen have urged the Clinton administration to lift all sanctions against India and view it as a political, economic and military ally to bring stability to Asia, which is threatened by “Chinese hegemony and terrorism backed by Pakistan and Afghanistan”. Calling for lifting of sanctions before the visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to the USA in September, Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman said “Continuing to keep India under a sanctions regime.... is a shortsighted policy.” “I strongly urge the administration to initiate immediate measures to remove all economic and dual-use technology sanctions against New Delhi”, he said at the annual banquet of the Indian American friendship Council yesterday. “Our goal should be to remove the sanctions regime before Mr Vajpayee visits Washington so that some genuine and lasting progress in our relations with New Delhi can be accomplished”. Republican Congressman Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said India and the USA had to draw closer in the face of “China’s attempt at hegemony, spread of Islamic terrorism spilling out of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the dictatorship in Myanmar.” |
|
Cholesterol lowers life expectancy CHICAGO, July 19 (AFP) — Middle-aged people have been warned about the dangers of high cholesterol for some time, but a study shows it is equally risky for young men. Men under 40 with high cholesterol have a shorter life expectancy and are more likely to die of related diseases than peers with lower cholesterol levels, according to the study by Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago released yesterday. Dr Jeremiah Stamler, Professor of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern Medical School and his team, who reviewed three long-term studies, found that men with cholesterol of 240 mg per decilitre or higher were up to 3.6 times more likely to die of coronary heart disease than their peers with less cholesterol. The same group was up to 2.9 times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than their more cholesterol-conscious counterparts. And their life expectancy was between four and nine years shorter than men who kept their cholesterol level at or below the recommended 200 milligrams per decilitre level, according to the study published in the Journal of American Medical Association. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
