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| Friday, November 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Quake causes tidal
wave in Papua Rockets hit Arafat’s HQ History being repeated
in Bush-Gore race? |
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Gore says he will fight ‘all
the way’ Clinton arrives in Vietnam Clean chit to Beatle’s attacker Russian jets sink US aircraft
carrier Nepal general strike call
withdrawn Russia to dump Mir
space station in Feb Senate approves
rules for Estrada impeachment Pakistan to buy MiGs from China
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Quake causes tidal wave in Papua BRISBANE, Nov 16 (Reuters) — An earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter Scale caused a tidal wave to hit the Papua New Guinea port of Rabaul today, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries, officials said. “There was a small tsunami (tidal wave) in the harbour,’’ Rabaul Vulcanological Observatory spokesman Steve Saunders told Reuters by telephone. “No one has been hurt that we know of. “There was a slight high tide, it seemed to come in quite slowly and measured about a metre (three feet),’’ he said, adding a tsunami alert had been issued. Residents in Rabaul, at the northeast tip of the island of New Britain, said the ground shook strongly for 40 or 50 seconds and aftershocks were continuing. “It was terrifying - the glass was breaking - it was like a giant crack - it came so fast,’’ said Susan Alexander, manager of Hamamas Hotel at Rabaul. “It feels like we are constantly in motion,’’ she said of the aftershocks that have persisted since the quake. There had been superficial damage to buildings and power lines in the town and nearby areas, she told
Reuters from Rabaul. Australian Associated Press (AAP) said local authorities had urged people in low-lying areas to evacuate immediately, amid reports of tidal surges. The
Australian Geological Survey Organisation said the earthquake struck in the Bismarck Sea 50 km north of Rabaul at 10.24 a.m.
IST, with an epicentre 3.9 degrees south and 152 degrees east, between New Britain and New Ireland to the north, and at a depth of 30-60 km. “It’s very large,’’ said seismologist Craig Bugden, adding that the Canberra-based centre had no reports of major damage. “We’ve had reports of water storage tankers being damaged ... And a small landslide on one of the roads near Rabaul,’’ he said. A major gold mine on the island of Lihir, to the north of New Ireland, also appeared to have escaped any damage. “We’ve been around the mine and there’s no apparent damage,’’ Lihir Gold Ltd Company’s secretary Rod Antall told newsmen from the mine site. About 2,500 people were killed by tsunamis on papua new guinea’s north coast in 1998, triggered by two underwater earthquakes measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale. |
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Rockets hit Arafat’s HQ jerusalem,
Nov 16 (afp) — Israeli combat helicopters attacked four Palestinian targets in West Bank early today, hours after a meeting of Israel’s Security Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the Israeli army announced. The army also confirmed in a communique that helicopters had fired at buildings in the Palestinian town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem in reprisal for shots fired at the Jewish settlement of Gilo on the border between annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank. An army spokesman said he was not aware of any wounded, but witnesses said seven Palestinians had been injured yesterday by tank shells and rockets fired at Beit Jala by two Israeli helicopters. The army communique said three of the four targets of the combat helicopters were bases of the “Tanzim”, a generic term used by the Israelis for Palestinian militias, including that of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement. The bases were at Tulkarem and Salfit, in the north of the West Bank, and Hebron in the south. The fourth target was a munitions dump at Jericho, in the east. A spokesman said the army had not warned the Palestinian authorities of the strikes, contrary to the normal procedure, but said the four targets were in sectors that were normally deserted at night. The four strikes were apparently ordered by the Security Cabinet meeting late yesterday, which was aimed at deciding on a riposte to the increasing number of attacks on Israelis. On Monday four Israelis died in two ambushes. Sources close to Mr Barak made it clear at the same time that he did not want a stepping up of the violence, despite pressure from part of the military hierarchy and public opinion to carry out strong measures against the intifada (uprising). Eight more Palestinians were killed yesterday as violence surged in the Palestinian territories, bearing out an Israeli warning of ending its “policy of restraint,” while Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told Israeli television there was “no option but peace.” Witnesses also reported Israeli tank shelling in several trouble spots in West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday, shelling and helicopter rocket attacks on Beit Jala near Bethlehem left two houses destroyed and the building housing members of Arafat’s “force 17” bodyguard was hit by rocket fire. Israel’s Security Cabinet had agreed on operational decisions which would not provoke a worsening of the violence, Public Radio reported. Meanwhile, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said he had not lost hope that US President Bill Clinton could still pull off a peace deal before he leaves the White House in January. Asked about that prospect, Arafat told reporters. “We are hoping so, not to forget that President Clinton is insisting to achieve something before his departure.’’ Mr Barak, however, poured cold water on the idea of a meeting with Arafat and Clinton to halt violence that has killed at least 228 people, most of them Palestinians, in seven weeks. Mr Arafat was speaking after talks at his Gaza headquarters with US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross. Mr Ross told reporters after meeting Arafat that neither side could impose its will. “There is no military solution for this problem. There is only a political solution,’’ he said. “If we are going to get back to making peace we’ve got to change the environment. We have to affect the psychology,’’. Mr Arafat made an unprecedented appearance via cassette on Israeli
television to pay a moving tribute to his “sister” Leah Rabin a few hours after the burial of the widow of the slain Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin. |
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History
being repeated in Bush-Gore race? Washington, Nov 16 — It was the United States of America’s most hotly contested presidential election. The Democratic candidate was ahead in the popular vote. His Republican rival was heading for victory in the electoral college. Florida held the key, with both parties engaged in a ruthless battle to claim the state. The outcome in Oregon, as well as Florida, remained up for grabs. The year was 1876. If this month’s presidential election in the USA seems to set
new standards for a close-fought contest that is bound to leave a big legacy of bitterness, consider the White House race 124 years ago between the Republican Governor of Ohio, Rutherford Hayes, and the Democratic Governor of New York, Samuel Tilden. Early returns in the 1876 election suggested a comfortable victory for Tilden, seeking to recapture the presidency for the Democrats for the first time since the Civil War. When the votes were tallied, Tilden had 51 per cent of the popular vote, against 48 per cent for Hayes, a lead of more than 250,000 votes among the 8 million cast. Tilden had won the swing states of New York, Indiana and New Jersey. Assuming that he would win the southern states — which could be relied on to vote for the Democratic party in those days - Tilden went to bed thinking that he was one vote short of the 185 electoral college votes then needed for a majority. But Tilden reckoned without Florida, whose four electoral college votes were among the southern total that both candidates were counting on to win. The balloting and its aftermath in Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina were the focus of ferocious argument and manipulation. Fraud raged on both sides. Boxes of votes were discovered hidden under water. Black voters were pivotal, with Republicans — the party of Lincoln — aggressively persuading blacks to vote while the Democrats, as the traditional party of the southern whites, struggled to stop them. Physical intimidation and legal challenges abounded, and so did bribery. The results in Florida ended with both sides claiming victory. The Republicans said Hayes had it by 922 votes. Democrats said Tilden won by 94 votes. The US justice department sent detectives to Florida to investigate. The election ended with all three southern states claimed by both sides and Oregon’s votes also in dispute. To try to resolve the disputes, the US Congress was compelled to set up a 15-member bipartisan commission that included Supreme Court judges, senators and members of the House of Representatives. By eight Republican votes to seven Democratic votes, the commission voted to accept the Republican claim in each of the cases, starting with Florida. Hayes was declared the winner by 185 electoral votes to 184 for Tilden. On March 2, 1877, just two days before the expiry of President Ulysses Grant’s term, the US Senate confirmed Rutherford Hayes as his successor. During his single term he was known as “Mr Fraudulency”. — The Guardian, London Gore says he will fight ‘all the way’ washington, Nov 16 (AP) — The us Vice-President Mr Al Gore today said he would “fight all the way” to ensure every vote was counted in Florida’s disputed election, saying it’s a matter of principle. “The voters are going to win this election by having every vote count,” the Democrat said on a radio show one day after offering to meet Mr George W. Bush to “improve the tone of our dialogue in America.” Mr Gore suggested a compromise that the Republican rejected. “If I’m successful, I will certainly fight all the way for the principles that need to be defended,” Mr Gore said, adding he would at the same time try to “reach out to the people who disagree with me.” Asked if the Republicans were trying to “steal” the election, Mr Gore cautioned: “I would discourage the use of that word because, we’re going to come behind the winner and please understand there are high emotions on the other side.”  Clinton arrives in Vietnam HANOI, Nov 16 (Reuters) — Mr Bill Clinton arrived in Vietnam today and received a muted late-night welcome as the first serving U.S. President to visit the Communist country that humbled and traumatised America a generation ago. Air Force One arrived at Noi Bai International Airport where Vietnamese officials waited to greet the President. Vietnam’s Chief of Protocol Dinh Xuan Luu and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson went inside the aircraft to welcome Mr Clinton. As flags of the two former enemies fluttered over the terminal building in a gentle night breeze, Mr Clinton descended the steps hand-in-hand with his daughter Chelsea. He was handed a bouquet of flowers and was greeted by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien and Trade Minister Vu
Khoan. |
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Clean chit to Beatle’s attacker LONDON Nov 16 — The family of George Harrison yesterday criticised a “legal loophole” which led a jury to find a schizophrenic who tried to kill the former Beatle and his wife not guilty of attempted murder. A jury was directed to return the verdict on Michael Abram, who had set out to kill Harrison because he believed he had possessed him, by reasons of insanity. Later, the pop star’s son Dhani, 22, speaking on behalf of the family, expressed sympathy for Abram after it emerged that he had been misdiagnosed for years by a string of psychiatrists and so had not received proper treatment. However, Dhani said the idea of Abram, who was ordered to be detained “without any time restriction”, ever being released back into society was “abhorrent”. The court had heard how Harrison, 57, and his wife Olivia, 52, had fought for their lives after finding the intruder, armed with a knife and a stone sword broken from a statue, in their gothic mansion in Henley-on-Thames. Abram, believing he was on “a mission from God”, stabbed the guitarist at least 10 times before battering him with a table lamp and threatening to kill Mrs Harrison with the flex. Harrison suffered a punctured lung and said he thought he was going to die. He is believed to have been so shaken by what happened that it was thought better that he did not give evidence during the trial. Dhani, speaking on the steps of the Oxford Crown Court, said: “It is tragic that anyone should suffer such a mental breakdown to commit such a brutal act. “We shall never forget that he was full of hatred and violence when he came into our home” he said. “We understand that the jury was given no real choice in this matter and that the ancient law of the Lunatics Act provides a loophole.” he said. The Act, which dates back to the 19th century, sets in law the principle that a jury must return a verdict of not guilty on an offender who is declared criminally insane at the time of the offence. The Harrisons argued that they should be notified of any plans to release Abram, 34, because they believed he could still be a danger to them in the future. — The Guardian |
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Russian jets sink US aircraft carrier MOSCOW, Nov 16 (PTI) — The Russian “Sukhoi-Su-24Mr” naval reconnaissance jets “pounded and sank” the formidable US aircraft carrier “Kitty Hawk” in the sea of Japan in the course of a military exercise, Russian state TV said today. On two occasions on October 17 and November 9, the Russian jets “ripped open” the mighty air defence cover of the Kitty Hawk and flew over it undetected to take close-up photos, the TV said, showing the videotapes recorded from the diving Russian planes. In the actual combat, this means a “sure hit” and sinking of the ship, the TV commented is an obvious attempt to boost the sagging morale of the Russian armed force in the wake of the Kursk disaster. “For the Americans, our planes were a complete surprise. Pictures clearly show panic on board the ship,” Russian air chief Gen Anatoly Kornukov said in his TV interview. General Kornukov said the US military noticed the Sukhois only when they were making their second round over the Kitty Hawk, and only then sent their planes to deal with the intruders. “However, our SU-27 fighters were present there to provide cover to the reconnaissance jets and American planes did not take any provocative step,” he added. |
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Nepal general strike call
withdrawn KATHMANDU, Nov 16 (AFP) — A two-day general strike call by Left-wing opposition groups in Nepal has been withdrawn after the government agreed to reduce kerosene prices, officials said today. The last-minute announcement —the strike was due to start today —came after marathon talks between the groups and Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Paudel, who is also the Home Minister. The main opposition Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist and Leninist (ncp-uml) and nine other Left-wing groups had planned the protest over a price hike in petroleum products last month. But during the negotiations, the government agreed to cut $ 0.05 per litre off the kerosene price. In October the price had been fixed at Rs 26 rupees, up from Rs 13. All fuel prices were increased between 17 and 100 per cent, with the government citing increase in international oil prices. Mr Paudel said the meeting had also agreed that the government would set up an all-party committee to examine the actual cost of fuel products imported by the state-run Nepal Oil Corporation from international markets. |
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Russia to dump Mir
space station in Feb MOSCOW, Nov 16 (Reuters) — Russia today decided to dump its ageing Mir space station in the Pacific Ocean in February next year, the head of the Russian space agency said. “The government has agreed that Mir be taken out of orbit and brought down into the Pacific Ocean in a pre-determined area off Australia between February 26 and 28,” Yuri Koptev told reporters after a government meeting. Much of the giant spacecraft will burn up on re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere before most of the remainder ditches into the sea. Officials have said parts of the craft could hit land. |
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Senate approves
rules for Estrada impeachment MANILA (Philippines), Nov 16 (AP) — The Philippine Senate yesterday quickly approved rules which could determine the outcome of President Joseph Estrada’s Senate impeachment trial, the first in the country’s history. Estrada, who has denied charges that he accepted millions of dollars in payoffs from illegal gambling operators, flew to Brunei yesterday for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders. In new allegations against Estrada, newly elected Senate President Aquilino Pimentel said the President earlier offered him money and a car. Mr Pimentel said Estrada tried to give him a Christmas gift of 2,00,000 pesos ($ 4,000) last year and offered him with an imported luxury car seized by the Customs Bureau, both of which he rejected. “I said no, Mr President, I can’t swallow that,” Mr Pimentel said. Mr Pimentel said Estrada could never bribe him into clearing him in the impeachment trial. “He should not try me. Nobody is above law and nobody is below it either. Whatever is right will be brought out and whatever is the truth will be brought out,” Mr Pimentel said. |
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Pakistan to buy MiGs from China ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (PTI) — In a bid to boost its air defence, Pakistan is planning to buy at least 30 F-7 MiG fighter jets from China, the new Air Chief-Designate Air Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir is today quoted as saying. “At the moment we’re looking at about 30 to 40 (MiGs) but later we may buy some more,” English daily The News quoted him saying. However, the Air Chief-Designate refused to elaborate on the price of these aircraft or when the deal would be struck. The move follows after the USA refused to sell F-16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan. Marshal Mir also said Pakistan was negotiating with some Middle East countries regarding the sale of indigenously designed and manufactured trainer aircraft super Mushshak. |
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