 |
| Wednesday, February
14, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
Israeli
missiles kill top Fatah officer US copters
collide off Hawaii: 6 die Bush to
push for Indo-Pak talks 4 killed
in B'desh gunbattle All humans
‘descended’ from African mother |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
LTTE
plea to lift ban “Gladiator” leads
with 12 Oscars nominations DNA catches killer 18
years later Thai-Myanmar border
shut
|
|
Israeli missiles kill
top Fatah officer GAZA, Feb 13 — An Israeli helicopter fired three missiles at a car in the Gaza Strip today, killing a Palestinian military leader in an attack that Israel called a clear message that militants must not harm its citizens. The Israeli army said the man, Masoud Ayad, was setting up a Palestinian branch of the Lebanese Hizbollah group in the Gaza Strip and accused him of being behind a series of shooting, bomb and mortar attacks against Jewish settlements in the Strip. “Anyone who intends to harm Israelis will not escape and the long arm of the Israeli defence forces will know how to locate and even the score with him,” Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, said in a statement. The Palestinian Authority issued a statement condemning the killing as “an ugly crime” and said it was part of Israel’s “assassination policy against (Palestinian) cadres and citizens”. It denied Ayad was working on behalf of Hizbollah and said he had been a loyal member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction for 30 years. Palestinians in the Palestinian-ruled Strip said Ayad (60) had been recently promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel from Major in Force 17, Arafat’s elite force. They said he was also known as an arms dealer. Meanwhile, Palestinian Cabinet Minister Hassan Asfour told newsmen that Ayad’s killing would not stop Palestinians from continuing their uprising and that Palestinians were capable of retaliating against Israel’s “aggressions”. “The Israeli will feel no peace and no security if the Palestinian does not feel the same peace and security,” he said. Israel has been widely criticised by human rights groups for assassinating Palestinian military figures whom they suspect of attacks against Israelis. Palestinians say at least 20 activists have been killed since the Intifada (uprising) erupted almost five months ago. Barak, defeated in an election last week by right-wing Likud party leader Ariel Sharon, praised the Israeli security forces for “its attack on a senior terrorist”. Ayad’s body was trapped under the twisted metal of the car, which was destroyed by at least three missiles fired from a helicopter hovering overhead, witnesses said. Smoke rose from the black and twisted metal of Ayad’s car which was driving along a road near the Erez crossing with Israel when it was struck by the missiles. Hundreds of Palestinians shouting “Death to Israel”, arrived at the scene soon after the missile strike and one man held up a bloody “kaffiyah” taken from the wreckage. A damaged Kalashnikov automatic rifle was also seen in the rubble. Witnesses said the helicopter had been hovering for around three hours before the attack. Some 389 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed during the revolt. These include 53 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs. The Israeli army said Ayad headed a dangerous Palestinian organisation of the Hizbollah in the Gaza Strip and carried out a long series of terrorist attacks. It said Ayad was involved in attempts to kidnap Israelis and accused him of being a known weapons and drug smuggler. The army said he was in Lebanon last summer. Palestinians accuse Israel of deliberately killing at least 20 military activists.
Reuters |
|
US copters collide off Hawaii: 6 die HONOLULU, Feb 13 — The U.S. army said today that six soldiers died, nine were injured and two were unhurt after two U.S. army helicopters crashed during an exercise on the north shore of Hawaii’s Oahu island on Monday night. “There are six dead, nine were injured, two unhurt,” said army Major Cynthia Teramae. She said there had been 17 soldiers on the two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Earlier, Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Richard Soo had said seven soldiers died and four were injured in the crash. She said the injured were being treated at local hospitals but gave no details. She said the army could not confirm reports that the helicopters had collided. Officials did not yet know what caused the accident that occurred in a remote area at about 7:40 p.m. local time (0540 GMT Tuesday). Media reports said the crash occurred during heavy rain. She said the helicopters involved in the incident were participating in the annual Lightning Thrust Warrior exercises of the 25th Infantry Division, a light aviation brigade. The exercise involved 30 copters ferrying nearly 1,000 soldiers from Wheeler Army Airfield to a base in Kahuku. It began on February 5 and was scheduled to end on Friday. The exercise was not related to the search for nine people missing from a Japanese trawler that was struck by a surfacing U.S. submarine off Diamond Head, Hawaii, last Friday. washington: The US Navy spurned three official recommendations aimed at preventing submarine mishaps like the one that sank a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii on Friday, leaving nine persons missing, feared drowned. The National Transportation Safety Board had faulted the Navy’s submarine surfacing procedures, it’s way of reporting accidents, and what the Board deemed inadequate rest time for key watch officers while the submarine was under way. When the Navy rejected its advice, the independent five-member Board shut its books on the case, terming the Navy’s response: ''Closed — Unacceptable Action,’’ documents made available on Monday showed. ''It is regrettable that the Department of the Navy does not plan to act positively on any of the three recommendations suggested by the Safety Board,’’ then Board Chairman James Kolstad wrote to Adm Frank Kelso, who was then the Chief of Naval Operations. ''The recommendations were made, not with the intent of compromising the Navy’s important and strategic mission, but rather to ensure the safe and legitimate use of US coastal waters by all who sail upon them,’’ he said in an April 29, 1991,letter to the Navy chief. The Board prodded the Navy after investigating a June 14, 1989, fatal accident in which the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Houston caused a tug boat to sink off Long Beach, California. The Houston belongs to the Los Angeles class of submarines, the same as the USS Greeneville, which rammed the trawler Ehime Maru on Friday while surfacing in a drill about 10 miles (15 km) south of Pearl Harbour. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters yesterday US-Japan relations were “very solid,” and dismissed suggestions Pan-Pacific relationship was under pressure.“One week has not changed a trend of history,” said Boucher.
Reuters, AFP |
|
Bush to push for Indo-Pak talks WASHINGTON, Feb 13 — The US President, Mr George Bush has said that he would impress upon Islamabad the need to create a congenial atmosphere for resumption of the stalled dialogue with New Delhi. In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee delivered by US Ambassador to India Richard Celeste, President Bush urged the Indian side to demonstrate its willingness and start in earnest the stalled dialogue process with Pakistan, emphasising that the momentum which Mr Vajpayee generated following his courageous visit to Lahore should be maintained. The letter of February 7 indicated that the present administration was set to pursue the same course which former President Bill Clinton had followed during his last year in office. During his short visit to Islamabad last year, Mr Clinton had made it clear to the military regime that violence and cross-border terrorism were unacceptable to his government and stressed the need for renunciation of violence and resumption of dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue. Mr Bush also advocated that the bilateral talk was the only way to end bickerings in the South Asian region. He lauded Mr Vajpayee for his successful trip to Lahore and his perseverence in the peace process despite attacks by extremists who are all set to derail the ongoing peace process in Kashmir. Expressing his appreciation for efforts taken by the Indian Government to assist victims of the Gujarat earthquake, the US President assured Mr Vajpayee that his government would continue to provide long-term assistance for the rehabilitation of the affected people. The USA has already announced an aid to the tune of $ 5 million to the quake relief fund. Meanwhile, a high-level meeting between US Secretary of State Colin Powell and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh could be held soon. During his 30-minute meeting with India’s Ambassador to the USA, Mr Naresh Chandra yesterday, Mr Powell was receptive to the idea of his meeting Mr Jaswant Singh, Indian Embassy officials said. A US State Department official said the possibility of a meeting between Mr Powell and Mr Jaswant Singh was discussed but no date had been finalised. Mr Powell expressed his desire to visit New Delhi as early as possible, but expressed his inability to include it in his next week’s tour programme to the West Asia.
UNI |
|
DHAKA, Feb 13 — At least four persons were killed and several others were injured here today in a gun battle between pro and anti-government activists during an Opposition-called general strike, witnesses said. The dead included an old man and two other suspected Opposition activists, according to the witnesses. The clashes erupted in the capital’s Malibagh district as the two sides staged pro and anti-strike marches. Hundreds of passersby took cover when shots were fired. Three bombs also exploded earlier in the area, the witnesses said. The bodies were taken to a hospital and it was not clear immediately who fired the shots during the rival marches. A wave of violence over the past nine days has now left more than a dozen persons dead. Few private cars were on the roads on the fifth general strike of the year, but a large number of buses and taxis along with thousands of rickshaws were operating in Dhaka. The government says each one-day strike costs the nation 3,860 million taka ($ 71.48 million ). Many offices were shut or operating behind closed doors, but factories in Tejgaon and nearby Tongi industrial town remained open. The strike was called as part of the Opposition’s campaign to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed to quit and in protest at alleged harassment of Opposition members.
AFP |
|
All humans ‘descended’ from African mother WASHINGTON, Feb 13 — The human genome sequence shows that every person on the earth shares 99.99 per cent of the same genetic code with all other people, which substantiates the theory that humankind has descended from one African mother, a report in journal ‘Science’ said. In fact, people from different racial groups can be more genetically similar than individuals within the same group. Individual variations represent about 0.10 per cent, or 1 in 1,250 different “letters “ in the entire sequence, the report being published in February 16 issue of the journal has revealed. Some experts, on the basis of these conclusions, have announced that it proves the theory that humankind has descended from one African mother — all Whites on the earth, all Blacks, all Browns, all Reds, all Yellows — whatever. The sequence sets the total number of human genes somewhere between 26,383 and 39,114. If the final tally lies somewhere around 30,000, then people have only about 13,000 more genes than the fruit fly, according to the “Science” paper by lead author J. Craig Venter of Celera Genomics and 282 others. This range is surprisingly low as some researchers had predicted up to 1,40,000 genes in the human genome. “This stunning accomplishment, representing the most accurate human genome sequence ever completed, offers new and exciting prospects for targeting new medical improvements,” Science Editor-in-Chief Donald Kennedy said. “It can tell us much about our place in the diverse panorama of life,” he said. Also revealed in the science paper are vast stretches of desert-like regions, where the human genome sequence contains relatively few or no protein-coding genes.
PTI |
|
LTTE plea to lift ban COLOMBO, Feb 13 — Campaigning to stave off possible proscription in Britain, the LTTE has asked Sri Lanka to lift the ban imposed on it if serious negotiations are to take place between the warring sides. “The LTTE will not be able to enjoy the political status of a representative organisation as a banned, illegal entity, therefore, the time is approaching for Sri Lanka to lift its own ban,” LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham told London-based weekly Tamil Guardian in an interview. Mr
Balasingham, the rebel outfit’s chief negotiator in preliminary parleys with Norwegian peace-facilitators, has conveyed the organisation’s demand through Oslo envoy Erik
Solheim, according to the interview to be published tomorrow. The LTTE was banned in Sri Lanka after it bombed the temple of the Tooth at Kandy early in 1998 long after India outlawed it in 1992. It is also proscribed in the USA. Mr Balasingham rejected the government’s contention that a ban in Britain would not affect the peace process, arguing that he would then lose his legal status and political freedom in Britain.
Reuters |
|
|
“Gladiator” leads with 12 Oscars nominations BEVERLY HILLS (Calif), Feb 13 — Roman empire drama “Gladiator” conquered the Oscar nominations with 12 nods today including best picture, best actor for Russell Crowe and best director for Ridley Scott. Along with “Gladiator” in the best motion picture category were director Ang Lee’s Chinese language film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” which was second among the most nominated films with 10 nods. Also in the best film category were “Chocolat,” “Erin Brockovich,” and “Traffic.” Included with Crowe in the best actor category were Tom Hanks in “Cast Away,” Jevier Bardem in “Before Night Falls,” Ed Harris in “Pollock” and Geoffrey Rush in “Quills.” In the best actress category, the nominees included Julia Roberts for “Erin Brockovich,” Laura Linney in “You Can Count on Me,” Ellen Burstyn in “Requiem for a Dream,” Juliette Binoche in “Chocolat” and Joan Allen for “The Contender.” The Oscars, handed out each year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, are the top film industry honours in the USA. |
|
DNA catches killer 18 years later BRISBANE, Feb 13 — A man convicted today of murdering an English tourist at an Australian resort 18 years ago was caught after the police used modern DNA testing on his semen. Financial adviser Wayne Edward Butler (57) was found guilty by a jury in the Queensland Supreme Court of murdering Celia Natasha Douty on Septemebr 1, 1983, on the Great Barrier Reef resort of Brampton Island. Douty (40) was working on the island at the time. She went nude sunbathing on the morning she disappeared. Her body was found later behind the tree-line above one of the island’s beaches. Douty’s head had been caved in, and her body covered with her own new red beach towel — which bore a semen stain. Butler was first arrested in 1988 after relatives told the police he and his then wife had been on the island the day Douty died. They also told of Butler’s shocked reaction when they raised the murder and his steadfast refusal to go to the police, even though he knew they wanted to interview him.
Reuters |
|
MAE SAI (Thailand), Feb 13 — Thailand closed a key border checkpoint today and sent troop reinforcements following heavy fighting with Myanmar when this border town came under mortar attack. Col Wanthip Wongwai of Thailand’s Pha Muang border task force told Associated Press that Myanmar had sent “heavy reinforcements into the area” and “we are also doing that to ensure the security and sovereignty of the nation.” “The situation has become more tense,” he said.
AFP |
 |
| 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 | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
