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| Monday,
October 30, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Palestinian state date put off Israel on verge of unity govt NICOSIA, Oct 29 — The Palestinian leadership has decided to postpone the proclamation of an independent Palestinian state that was slated for November 15, a senior aide of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was quoted Sunday as saying. New York Times backs Gore Hindus, Sikhs get place at cenotaph service English lawn faces German threat Opposition accord to force out Estrada |
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Fujimori purges military to preempt unrest Clinton signs law to curb attacks on women Clinton seeks
apology from Republicans LDK claims win
in Kosovo poll Crash accused to
face court today
PM snubs Fiji leader 4 prisoners killed in clash
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Palestinian state date put off NICOSIA, Oct 29 (DPA) — The Palestinian leadership has decided to postpone the proclamation of an independent Palestinian state that was slated for November 15, a senior aide of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was quoted Sunday as saying. “We shall announce no specific dates... so as not to give Israel a new date she can exploit,’’ International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath told the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat. The interview was conducted with Mr Shaath during a stopover in Abu Dhabi as part of a tour of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the two countries he has singled out as “the springboard for implementing the resolutions’’ of the recent Arab summit in Cairo. Mr Mahmoud Abbas, another senior Arafat aide, told the same paper that it would not be rational for Arab countries to take direct charge of spending the $ 1 billion pledged by the summit for Jerusalem and for the families of victims of the current Intifida uprising. Mr Abbas told Al-Hayat’s Moscow correspondent during a visit to Russia that a mechanism was being discussed for collecting the money, 25 per cent of which has been pledged by Saudi Arabia. He also denied that there were any secret agreements to disarm the Tanzeem at the recent Sharm el-Sheikh summit. He expressed regret that the Arab summit that followed the Sharm meeting had not taken up Palestinian suggestions for providing employment in the Arab countries to 130,000 Palestinians who are losing their jobs because of the Intifida. In Cairo, the Nasserite opposition weekly Al-Arabi said that it obtained minutes of the closed sessions of the Arab summit showing that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had rejected that particular Palestinian suggestion. Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said today that he was closer than ever to forging a national emergency government with hawkish Likud leader Ariel Sharon to cope with raging Israeli-Palestinian violence. “We are closer than a week ago first of all because of the emergency situation that goes on. But I don’t know exactly what day it will be established,’’ Mr Barak told Israel’s Army Radio. “We are first of all truly closer than in the past,’’ he said. He insisted his left-centre Labour party would not abandon its bid for peace with the Palestinians even in a partnership with the rightist Likud. He also ruled out giving Mr Sharon any veto over security or diplomatic issues, saying: “There is no veto over the Prime Minister.’’ Mr Barak said he would be ready to hold peace talks in the USA if there is a drop in violence that has rocked the Palestinian territories for a month but was pressing ahead with plans to form an emergency government with the right wing. “If the violence drops we will go to Washington to see if there is something to discuss,” he added. President Clinton had invited both Mr Barak and Mr Yasser Arafat for separate talks, but said he was disturbed by the continued killings and that there could be no negotiations until the violence eased. At least 145 people have been killed in violence since September 28. All but eight of the dead have been Arabs. The violence erupted following a highly publicised visit by Sharon to a Jerusalem shrine revered by Muslims and Jews. In a related development acting Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami is to visit Paris, London and Washington next week, a ministry spokesman was quoted by AFP as saying. During the trip, he will be insisting that Palestinian leader “Yasser Arafat should respect the arrangements of Sharm el-Sheikh,” which calls for a halt to the violence in the (Palestinian) territories, said Moshe Bebby yesterday. The Israeli minister will also stress his country’s opposition to what it calls “any unilateral measure” —meaning the declaration of an independent Palestinian state. Nablus (West Bank):
Thousands of Palestinians today held marches across the West Bank similar to those that have frequently turned into violent clashes with Israeli troops over the past month. Clashes also broke out in and around Bethlehem but there were no immediate reports of injuries. In Nablus, some 7,000 Palestinians took to the streets to mourn a Palestinian teenager who died today after being declared brain dead the day before from injuries sustained in clashes on Friday. Thousands of protesters also marched in the West Bank cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqilya, witnesses said. ROME:
Pope John Paul made a fresh appeal for peace in West Asia today, urging all sides to re-establish a climate of dialogue and return to negotiations. Addressing 70,000 people at a sporting event at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, the Pope urged the crowd not to forget that people were suffering and dying, particularly in West Asia. Reflecting the nature of the venue, the Pope said the finish line in the area had to be peace. Washington:
Thousands of Palestinian supporters rallied outside the White House, demanding an end to what they see as unconditional US support for Israel. Brandishing placards “the occupation gets to go,” the demonstrators also demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank and Gaza, where they are involved in clashes with Palestinian protesters. About 4,000 people took part in yesterday’s rally, according to independent observers, and 10,000, according to organizers. |
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New York Times backs Gore WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) — With Election Day just 10 days away, Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush called Democratic rival Al Gore a big spender, while the Vice President tied Bush to a measure he said enriches big health-care companies while shortchanging ordinary Americans. Mr Bush and Mr Gore travelled to major battleground states that could weigh heavily on the outcome of the election. The Texas governor, clinging to a small lead in opinion polls, campaigned in Wisconsin and Missouri, while Mr Gore focused on Pennsylvania and Minnesota. Leading newspapers declared their endorsements for the candidates over the weekend, with The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer throwing their weight behind Mr Gore. Mr Bush won the backing of Chicago’s two daily newspapers and Denver’s Rocky Mountain News. Mr Gore travelled to Minnesota, where he drew a crowd of about 7,000 people in one of a handful of states where Green Party candidate Ralph Nader is giving the Vice President fits. Minnesota is generally a reliable state for Democratic presidential candidates, but polls show Mr Bush with a slim lead over Mr Gore thanks to a strong showing by Nader, who many Democrats feel is siphoning liberal voters away from Gore. Mr Bush has claimed a small lead over Vice-President Al Gore in the race for electoral votes, with an unusually high number of states up for grabs. The political picture is clouded by two wild cards: President Bill Clinton and Ralph Nader. Ten days before what could be the closest election in generations, Republican and Democrats alike say they can’t predict the outcome. “I have given up trying to look into cloudy crystal balls,” said Dawn Clark Netsch, a former Democratic nominee for Illinois governor. She was one of more than 70 political activists and analysts in 24 battleground states interviewed by The Associated Press for a survey of the Electoral College race. The US presidential election is decided by electoral votes, with each state given a certain number of votes based on its population. In most cases, winning in a state by even the smallest of margins entitles a candidate to all of that state’ electoral votes. It takes a majority, or 270 of 538 electoral votes, to win the presidency. As national polls show Mr Bush opening up a small lead in popular opinion, 25 states with 214 electoral votes are solidly in the Texas governor’s control or leaning his way -56 votes short of the 270 needed to win. Eleven states plus the District of Columbia favour the vice president for 179 electoral votes. That leaves 14 states with 145 electoral votes as tossups, but even that understates the campaign’s volatility. |
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Hindus, Sikhs get place at cenotaph service LONDON, Oct 29
(PTI) — For the first time in its 81-year history, the remembrance service at the cenotaph, a tomb-like monument dedicated to all war dead of the commonwealth, is to include Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist representatives. British Home Secretary Jack Straw has sanctioned the changes to the ceremony, to be held in two weeks, to recognise the contribution of non-Christian men from the nations of the former British empire who fought for the Crown, the Sunday Times reported today. The Indian army lost 1,61,000 men in the two World Wars. Three million Indian soldiers fought with Britain in the Second World War and 140,000 in the first World War. In 1914, Indian troops were mobilised so quickly that they arrived in France still dressed in their tropical uniforms, and within a month had won their first Victoria cross. The initiative for giving representation to Hindu and other non-Christian religions was taken in February by Lord Weatheril, former Speaker of the House of Commons, who served in the Indian Army in the World War ii with the 19th lancers. He wrote to Straw, urging him to invite Hindu, Sikh, Muslim representatives to the cenotaph ceremony. In his letter, Weatherill wrote “I am in close touch with the Indian and Pakistani community, who feel very strongly that the contribution of their forebears has never been adequately understood or appreciated.” Weatherill’s campaign, which is supported by the Royal British Legion, was helped by the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who consulted Buckingham Palace over the change in prayer. Reacting to the government decision, Weatherill said “I am delighted by the news. We are at last recognising the contribution of the Indian subcontinent, but it is long overdue.” The cenotaph ceremony first took place on November 11, 1919. The monument, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, is dedicated to all war dead of the Commonwealth. The service is now held on the Sunday closest to November 11, the anniversary of the armistice that ended the World War ii in 1918. The Queen, who will lead the homage to the war dead, has also agreed to a change to the main prayer used during the short act of commemoration. |
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English lawn faces German threat LONDON, Oct 29 (DPA) — After the language itself, the lawn is England’s greatest gift to the world. From Gibraltar to Cape Town, from Hong Kong to Harare, the neatly trimmed lawn is the hallmark of the presence of the English in the empire over which the Queen once reigned. The English lawn has long been a symbol of a certain type of civilisation, but now an ecologically-minded gardener has recommended giving it up in favour of a more natural parkland — following, of all things, a German practice. Nigel Dunnett of the University of Sheffield regards the planting of lawns and their surrounding flowerbeds as a sin against ecological balance. “They consume huge quantities of water and by their very nature exclude biodiversity”, he says. Who has ever seen a butterfly fluttering over an English lawn? German meadows are home to wild herbs, mosses and a wide variety of beetles. Nature is not made to conform but is encouraged to bloom in all its promiscuous glory”, he says. The conservative British press was not about to take this lying down and girded itself for a battle over a sacred English tradition. German gardening — what could that be but asphalt paths painted green and huge garden gnomes trying to catch goldfish in recycled sewage water, it said. “The English no longer rule the waves, not even the airwaves, but the English herbaceous border is still top of the world’s gardening league tables. It beats efficient German parklands into a rock garden,’’ The Times said. Alao most household deaths occur when a grim-faced reaper drives his mowing machine over the electrical cord linking it to the mains. The lawn, named according to one version after the landscape gardener Sir Nottleigh Lawn (1572-1654), remains a deeply serious business. Dogs and children are to be kept off. Moles are pursued with fanatical determination, hunted down and poisoned or driven away with sound waves. Millions of Britons are deeply engaged in a love-hate relationship with their lawn. They spend half their lives repaying the mortgage they took out when they bought it, only to long for the winter so that they can at last relax on Saturday afternoons instead of having to mow it. |
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Opposition accord to force out Estrada MANILA, Oct 29 (Reuters) — The Philippines’ main opposition leaders signed a unity pact urging President Joseph Estrada to “resign immediately’’ and calling on Filipinos to step up protests to force him out of power. In an unprecedented meeting which ended before midnight, last night, Vice-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and four other opposition stalwarts warned of threats from extremist groups if President Estrada, facing impeachment on charges of taking bribes from gambling lords, ignored their call. “The united opposition is complete. Estrada is as good as buried,’’ said promdi party chief Lito Osmena, a grandson of World War Two Philippine President Sergio Osmena and one of the five signatories to the statement. The opposition chiefs set aside political differences to come up with a common declaration signifying a swelling of anti-Estrada forces in the country. The beleaguered former movie actor is facing an impeachment action in Congress for allegedly taking 8.2 million dollar in bribes from gambling syndicates running an illegal numbers game. He has said he is clean and blamed moves to oust him from office as engineered by church, business and political groups who had never accepted him as president. Mr Estrada’s ruling coalition dominates both the House and the Senate and it is unlikely he will be forced from office by impeachment, barring major defections, analysts said. |
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Fujimori purges military to preempt unrest LIMA, Oct 29 (Reuters) — President Alberto Fujimori, facing doubts over the military’s loyalty amid Peru’s worst crisis in a decade, has fired four powerful generals considered close to the ex-spy master who challenged his grip on power. Mr Fujimori said the armed forces chief and the heads of the navy and air force — all three considered loyal to fugitive former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos — had tendered their resignations “in an enormous patriotic gesture’’. “There would be no authentic democratisation if the armed forces and police had not made this enormous sacrifice,’’ Mr Fujimori told reporters outside the presidential palace yesterday. He then left in a helicopter and palace sources said he had gone to dismiss Montesinos’ brother-in-law Gen Luis Cubas, who headed Lima’s powerful military Garrison with control of the tank regiment. In his place the president appointed a trusted personal pilot. Montesinos fled to Panama a month ago amid a scandal that prompted Mr Fujimori to say he would step down early, but he returned this week and went into hiding, sparking fears of military unrest. Mr Fujimori’s purge swept out a military command that, according to a report in Argentine newspaper Clarin on Friday, had plotted to assassinate him at a military parade a month ago. AFP adds: The announcement to reporters at the Presidential Palace, came after a three-hour meeting with the joint chiefs-of-staff, including Defence Minister General Carlos Bergamino and Interior Minister General Walter Chacon. Mr Fujimori named Gen Chacon as army chief, replacing General Jose Villanueva. Gen Chacon is also to assume overall command of the armed forces as chairman of the joint chiefs. In command of the navy, Rear Admiral Victor Ramos replaces Antonio Ibarcena, while General Carlos Balarezo replaces General Elesvan Ballo as air force chief. Gen Fujimori named police chief Fernando Dianderas as Peru’s new interior minister. Vladimiro Montesinos, current whereabouts inside the country are not known. |
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Clinton signs law to curb attacks on women WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (AP) — US President Bill Clinton, noting that a woman was beaten in America every 12 seconds, signed a law yesterday increasing aid for the abused American and immigrant women and attacked the international traffic in human beings. The new law, he said, was “the most significant step we’ve ever taken to secure the health and safety of women at home and around the world.” Domestic violence was the highest health risk for American women between the ages of 15 and 44,
Clinton said. Almost one-third of women killed in the USA were victims of husbands, former husbands or boyfriends. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act also contains a provision to help stop what the President called the “insidious global practice” of trafficking in human beings. Each year as many as 50,000 persons were being brought to the USA for this cruel purpose,” he added. |
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Clinton seeks
apology from Republicans
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (PTI) — US President Bill Clinton, who almost lost job over his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky in 1998, has demanded an apology from the Republicans for impeaching him over the issue. “They (Republicans) never apologised to the country for impeachment. They never apologised for all the things they’ve done. But folks, I think that they haven’t necessarily put their abuse of power behind them,” Mr Clinton said in his ‘exit interview’ to the ‘Esquire’ magazine. “Unlike them (the Republicans), I have apologised to the American people for what I did wrong, and most Americans think I paid a pretty high price,” he said. The article, to be published in December in order to avoid any focus on the “character” issue during the US presidential elections, has been leaked by a London newspaper and by iconoclastic US cyber columnist Matt Drudge. In the interview, Mr Clinton says he believes that the Republicans had less noble motives than those they claim. They were “trying to precipitate this great constitutional crisis for political advantage,” he says. “And the American people knew things were rocking along pretty well in our country, and they did not want their government to go away. Asked whether the Republicans can make him an issue in the current presidential campaign (to hurt Vice-President Al Gore, the Democratic candidate), Mr Clinton said, “Well, they can’t,”. |
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LDK claims win in Kosovo poll PRISTINA, Oct 29 (DPA) — The moderate Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) led by veteran pacifist Ibrahim Rugova today claimed to have won a landslide victory in local elections. Party sources said the LDK had, so far, won up to 60 per cent of the vote, with a significant majority in most main towns in the province. In Pristina the LDK claims to have won 63 per cent. Counting was still continuing on Sunday. First official results are not expected before tomorrow, election officials said. Against the trend, there was a lower turnout for the LDK in Serbia, a stronghold of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). The LDK says it has won only 25 per cent in the town. Meanwhile, sources with the PDK, led by the former militia leader Hashim Thaci, announced that the party has won large majorities in Glogovc and Serbia, with 89 and 80 per cent, respectively. PDK sources also say the party has won only 32 per cent of the votes in Pristina. |
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Crash accused to
face court today OTTAWA, Oct 29 (DPA) — Two men were due to face a Canadian court tomorrow over the worst terrorism attack on an airliner, the 1985 bombing of an Air-India Boeing 747 that killed all 329 persons aboard. The police arrested the Indian immigrants in Vancouver on Friday after an investigation lasting more than 15 years. The men are accused of having smuggled a bomb aboard the jet at Vancouver airport, causing it to crash off Ireland on June 23, 1985. The police also believes that they smuggled explosives aboard another Air-India jet, causing a blast at Tokyo’s Narita airport on the same day that killed two Japanese airport staff. The suspects are Sikhs alleged to be members of the Babbar Khalsa terrorist group. The police identified the suspects as Ripudaman Singh Mailk, 53, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, 51. Sikh leaders had often complained about the slow pace of the probe, saying the failure to make arrests left a cloud over the entire religion, and say the laying of charges could ease tensions. “The fingers have been pointed at our whole community. Now people can see that it (the violence) doesn’t involve 99.9 per cent of the Sikhs,” Mr Gurnam Singh Sanghara told the Vancouver Sun. The police complained during the probe that silence in the Sikh community made their work more difficult. The slogan on the RCMP Air-India task force’s web site reads: “To commit a crime is immoral - to tolerate a crime is unforgivable.” |
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PM snubs Fiji leader TARAWA, (Kiribati), Oct 29 (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark today cancelled a Pacific leaders’ summit lunch here because she did not want to host Fiji’s interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. “I could not agree to hosting a lunch to which a non-constitutional Prime Minister of Fiji turned up,” she told New Zealand reporters. She said Fiji was still unstable after the May 19 coup by failed businessmen George Speight which eventually led to the formation of a military government. |
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4 prisoners killed
in clash islamabad, Oct 29
(PTI) — At least four prisoners were killed and 18 others injured in a clash between prisoners and jail officials in Peshawar today, media reports said. The clash reportedly started when prisoners protested against the harsh attitude of jail officials and lack of facilities,
nni news agency said. However, the jail authorities claimed that the clash took place after they started a search operation to recover narcotics from prisoners. Assistant Inspector-General (Jails) Masood
ur Rahman, who was heading the operation, was also injured in the violence. The confrontation between officials and prisoners over body search led to clash. The police used tear gas to control the unruly prisoners but failed and resorted to firing, killing four inmates and injuring 18 others. The administration sent in re-inforcement after the police failed to control the angry prisoners. Prisoners pelted stones on police after they were baton charged and torched the carpet making workshop inside the prison, the agency reported. |
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15 hurt on plane manila, Oct 29
(ap) —At least 15 passengers were injured today when a Philippine Airlines plane travelling from the USA to Manila hit strong turbulence about 45 minutes before landing, airport officials said. The Airbus 340 plane suddenly lost altitude, sending some of its 227 passengers, many of whom were not wearing seat belts, crashing into the overhead baggage bins and ceiling, officials said. At least 15 passengers, including some children and elderly people, were taken to a clinic at Manila’s airport. |
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Typhoon strikes Philippines Explosion kills 11
in China German Reichstag
member dead Nigerian President
canes securityman European countries set back clocks Pig did fly, US Airways admits Woman held for bid to sell grandson Anti-Euro protest held in London Man gunned down
in Belfast
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