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| Friday, October 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Israel lifts siege of
W. Bank, Gaza areas Ramallah lynching:
suspects captured Gore emerges
as safe bet Amnesty wages war on torture US vote on food export to
Cuba 'Ding-a-Ling affair'
may spell doom for minister Douglas, Zeta Jones
to wed on Nov 18 Beethoven died of lead poisoning
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Israel lifts siege of
W. Bank, Gaza areas JERUSALEM, Oct 19 (Reuters) — Israel lifted a siege of Palestinian cities and started a 48-hour countdown for ending violence under a deal brokered by US President Bill Clinton at the Sharm el-Sheikh emergency
summit. Despite the agreement yesterday to pull back from the brink of all-out war, sporadic clashes flared in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and tension remained
high. At least 35 Palestinians were wounded in confrontations in which Palestinians hurled rocks and petrol bombs at Israeli soldiers. The Israeli army said troops responded with rubber-coated metal bullets and
teargas. While ordering his army to implement the summit ceasefire, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he still feared Israel may no longer have a peace partner in the Palestinian
leadership. “I am sorry to say that I am not convinced that at this time, we have a partner for the difficult and courageous decisions needed for peace,” he said in a
speech. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, speaking on her way home from West Asia, said the first steps taken by Israel and the Palestinians since the summit had been
positive. “We’ll just have to see how they are carried out further and what the reaction is and how you can break this very raw atmosphere which I clearly felt even in a room in a resort in Sharm el-Sheikh,” she
said. Meanwhile, Israel opened the Karni border crossing with the Gaza Strip to commercial traffic today as part of the implementation of an agreement reached at the
summit. The Israeli army said the border had been opened for the transfer of goods in and out of the Gaza Strip, but not to Palestinian
people. Israel closed all its borders with the West Bank and Gaza strip about two weeks ago for what it called security reasons. It opened international border crossings
yesterday. united nations (pti): Palestine and Israel have clashed at an emergency session of the United Nations with Israelis saying that the deliberation in the session might disrupt the effort to put an end to violence in West
Asia. Addressing the emergency session of un General Assembly yesterday, Palestinian un Observer Nasser al-Kidwa said it would be a “very dangerous development” if “rumours” that Israeli security forces had kidnapped a number of Palestinians proved
correct. Kidwa was referring to reports that Israelis had kidnapped a number of Palestinians in connection with killing of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah town last
week. But Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Lancry objected to the session, requested by the Palestinians, and said it was contrary to the spirit of the declaration of Sharm el-Sheikh summit
Lancry said the deliberations of the assembly had the potential of disrupting the efforts to bring an end to the
violence. After hearing them and two other speakers, the assembly adjourned the session till tomorrow when it would hear Secretary-General Kofi Annan and more than 40 other member states before taking up any resolution. |
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Ramallah lynching:
suspects captured JERUSALEM, Oct 19 — Israel’s dramatic capture of Palestinians suspected of involvement in last week’s lynching of two soldiers in the West Bank fits into a long tradition of hunting down enemies with “blood on their hands” — however long it
takes. Details remained sketchy last night, but the operation was reportedly the work of the Shin Bet security service, whose agents led the army to hiding places in the Ramallah
area. The Palestinians captured after the Ramallah lynching, which took place inside the city’s police station, are likely to stand trial. But it was clear from the start that the Israelis would ensure they did not escape
retribution. Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the Deputy Prime Minister, issued a chilling warning hours after an Israeli helicopter gunship fired a rocket into the window through which the bodies of the two soldiers were
thrown. “We will get them, one by one,” he declared. “We will do whatever it takes and find them when they are least expecting us. These are not human beings but wild
animals.’’ The Israelis were middle-aged reservists who blundered into the Palestinian-controlled town on their way to report to their transport unit in a nearby Jewish
settlement. The killing was a grave embarrassment for the Palestinian Authority as it gave Israel a grisly propaganda advantage. Yasser Arafat was reported to have ordered that participants in the lynching be arrested. Speculation was rife last night that Palestinian security services had helped Shin Bet track down the culprits |
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ON the final, hyped, stereotyped TV clash between the fibber and the fumbler, between the dullard and the dunce, between the man who cooks the books and the man who makes syllabub of syllables, Al Gore emerged as America’s safe choice. The Democrats’ presidential candidate again demonstrated his mastery of the issues, if not the means of addressing them. Mr Gore’s new watchword is ``prosperity’’. In emphasising a record of continuous economic growth, falling unemployment, falling crime, and rising incomes, he asked why Americans should gamble on a change at the top. After eight years as Vice-President, he argued, he represents continuity while his inexperienced rival, George W. Bush, represents risk. The Republicans would squander the nation’s fortunes on tax cuts for millionaires, wreck social security, neglect education, drill for oil in your backyard, and transform US global leadership into one big exit strategy. If it isn't broke, don’t fix it, says Mr Gore, the panjandrum of policy, the feisty facts-and-figures guy, the Mr Competent who knows how government works - and will make it work for you! Mr Gore’s problem, and maybe the reason why he trails marginally in the polls, is that safe is not sexy. Mr Bush came across in the debate as likeable, more relaxed and humorous. Unabashed at his lack of Washington savvy, he portrayed his know-nothingness as a virtue (a long American political tradition). He was an outsider, he said — a stunning claim given his presidential lineage. He would end paralysing partisan bickering. He would shrink federal government, trust the individual and yup, fry killers. Mr Gore was just a Dukakis-school liberal spendthrift (the ultimate insult). ``If this were a spending contest, I’d come in second,’’ Mr Bush said with his trademark lop-sided smile. Here were conscious attempts to echo the ever-popular Ronald Reagan, who navigated by first principles, ignored the details, worked the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. day Mr Bush prefers, and cracked jokes. As Senator Lloyd Bentsen might have said, he is no Ronald Reagan. But he does have the common touch Mr Gore lacks. If this election were about urgent crises, big problems, complex choices, the Democrat would clinch it. But it is not. Right now, middle America is on easy street. It can afford to indulge itself, take a bit of a chance. Mr Gore has less than three weeks to stop that happening. For all his worthiness, he could yet be a victim of the very prosperity he now exalts. On Tuesday night, Mr Gore finally did what he needed to do in the last of the three American presidential debates with George W. Bush: he scored a win. It was only a narrow win, with Mr Bush once again putting in an above-expectations performance. But the battle, if not the war, clearly went to Mr Gore, setting up a neck-and-neck contest for the White House in the last three weeks before the election. Instant polls among debate watches confirmed the view among commentators that Mr Gore had beaten Mr Bush. A CBS survey gave Mr Gore a five-point lead on the night, while a CNN instant poll gave him a two-point advantage. The tightness of the contest for the White House was underlined by four new polls in swing states. In all four — Florida, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington — Mr Gore had only a one or a two-point lead over Mr Bush. A top Gore adviser said yesterday that the Vice-President will now concentrate his efforts in Florida, Pennsylvania and
Michigan. |
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Amnesty wages war on torture LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) —Amnesty International launched a worldwide campaign against torture yesterday, urging an end to the sort of state-sanctioned beatings, rape and violence routinely meted out in more than 150
countries. No region is immune; no method too cruel. “People are beaten with fists, sticks, gun butts, make-shift whips, iron pipes, baseball bats, electric flex. Victims suffer bruises, internal bleeding, broken bones, lost teeth, ruptured organs and some die,’’ the human rights group said in a
report. Amnesty said it had received reports of abuse by “state agents” in more than 150 countries since 1997, with criminals or suspects making up the majority of
victims. “In more than 70 countries, torture or ill-treatment by state officials was widespread and in over 80 nations people reportedly died as a result,” it said. “Amnesty International members will be lobbying officials at all levels of government to declare torture-free
zones.” Amnesty was launching its year-long campaign to abolish torture with events stretching from Tokyo to Nairobi, Beirut to Buenos Aires. Activists planned to wrap buildings in yellow and black “torture-free zone” tape while victims would relate their chilling
stories. According to Amnesty’s global torture report: — electric shocks were reported in more than 40
countries. — beatings on the soles of the feet in more than 30. — mock execution or death threats in 50-plus
countries. “Torture feeds off discrimination. It is easier for the torturer to inflict pain on someone who is seen as less than human,” it said, citing a clear link between racism and
torture. “Many, if not most, of the victims of police brutality in Europe and the USA are black or from other ethnic minorities,” it said, adding that indigenous Americans and Australians are frequently victims of torture or abuse in
custody. Immigrants, too, are easy prey. “In Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the UK, foreign nationals have died during deportation, apparently as a result of excessive use of force by the police or dangerous methods of restraint. Migrant workers accused of criminal offences in Saudi Arabia are more likely to face amputations or flogging than Saudi nationals. And in Japan, foreign workers who have overstayed their visas have been beaten and
humiliated.” Amnesty wants progress in three key areas: prevention of torture, overcoming impunity and confronting
discrimination.
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US vote on food export to Cuba WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (AFP) — The US Senate has approved a legislation authorising the export of food and medicines to Cuba. The Bill includes strict provisions banning US financing of food and medicine sales. It also codifies earlier measures which effectively ban travel by most US citizens to the island. The Bill was approved by the US House of Representatives yesterday by a vote of 340 to 75. US President Bill Clinton has already pledged to turn the Bill into a law. Meanwhile Havana has rejected the Bill out of hand, saying that the provisions that accompany it actually reinforce the 40-year-old embargo. The Bill — which will end the practice of withholding food and medicines for foreign policy purposes — also applies to Iran, Libya, Sudan and North Korea, other countries subject to unilateral embargoes by Washington. However, in the case of Cuba, the Bill strictly prohibits financing of sales by the US Government or private banks. |
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'Ding-a-Ling affair'
may spell doom for minister SYDNEY, Oct 19
(AFP)—A senior minister, considered a serious contender for Australia’s next leader , is fighting for his political life today after new evidence emerged over the misuse of a parliamentary telecard dubbed the “ding-a-ling affair”.
The scandal, which has already cost workplace relations minister peter reith 50,000 australian dollars ($ (US)26,500 ), came back to haunt him after fresh claims by a Ms x that could lead to charges being laid.
Reith has admitted breaching parliamentary laws by giving his government telecard and pin number to his eldest son in 1994. Since then $ 50,000 worth of calls have been made through fraudulent misuse of the
card. Reith initially repaid $ 950 which his merchant banker son paul admitted to having racked up while on
holiday. He subsequently agreed to pay back the outstanding amount after political pressure and said he considered the matter over after the director of public prosecutions last week decided not to take action. |
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Douglas, Zeta Jones to wed on Nov 18 BERLIN, Oct 19 (Reuters) — Actor Michael Douglas and his fiancee, Catherine Zeta-Jones, have finally fixed a date and venue for their wedding. It will take place at Plaza Hotel in New York on November 18. “It will be a sumptuous party. The invitations have already been sent to our friends,” Douglas told Germany’s Gala entertainment weekly in an interview during a visit to Berlin. Douglas, (56) and Zeta-Jones (31) have become one of Hollywood’s most glamorous couples since their engagement on New Year’s eve last year. The pair had said they planned to marry by year-end but kept the details under wraps, denying a recent report that they were planning a wedding at a Santa Barbara resort. Douglas said the birth of their son, Dylan on August 9 had made him incredibly happy and said he saw no problems with being an older father. “You are only as old as you feel. I have a young, 31-year-old wife and with acting, a creative job. That fulfils me. What is more wonderful than becoming a father again at 56?” he said. The baby is the first for Welsh actress Zeta-Jones. Douglas has an adult son, Cameron, from his first wife, Diandra Douglas. Douglas said his father, Kirk, was very proud of Dylan, who is said to have a dimple in his chin like the Hollywood veteran. “Dylan looks incredibly like him. When I watch my father playing with the little one, it really touches my heart,’’ he said. Douglas said Zeta-Jones was his dream woman. |
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Beethoven died of lead poisoning ? NAPERVILLE (USA), Oct 19 (Reuters) — Strands of hair clipped from Ludwig van Beethoven’s head in 1827 suggest lead poisoning caused the composer years of chronic illness and may have contributed to his death, researchers have reported. A four-year study of the hair yesterday found concentrations of lead more than 100 times the amount found in healthy human hair, said William Walsh, chief scientist of the Health Research Institute in Naperville, where eight strands of the musician’s brown and grey hair were analysed. Beethoven, who died in 1827 at the age of 57, consulted many physicians in search of a cure for his physical ailments, which began in his twenties. He suffered from severe abdominal pain, depression and irritability, all symptoms of lead poisoning, Walsh said. The study also helped discount the possibility that the composer had syphilis, thought by some to be the cause of his ailments, researchers said. Beethoven’s hair had undetectable levels of mercury, which would have been the most likely treatment for syphilis and would have left greater amount of evidence in his hair if consumed, they said. Before Beethoven died, he wrote a letter to his brothers that said: “As soon as I am dead, if Dr Schmidt is still alive, ask him in my name to discover my disease, and attach this written document to his account of my illness so that the world may be reconciled with me after my death.” The hair sample was clipped from Beethoven’s head the day after he died by a young musician, Ferdinand Hiller. It was then passed from generation to generation of Hillers, and wound up in the hands of a Danish physician, Kay Fremming. |
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