W O R L D

SARS claims 9 more lives in China
Beijing, April 23
China has recorded nine more SARS deaths, seven of them in Beijing, and 147 new cases, the Health Ministry said. Of the total new cases 105 were in Beijing, taking the capital’s cumulative number of confirmed SARS cases to 693 and its death toll to 35.

A Chinese doctor inspects a resident of China's Guangdong province. A group of volunteer medical workers from local hospitals and medical schools in the southern city started to provide free medical checkup and information on the prevention of SARS on Wednesday.  — Reuters photo

Jamali invites Opposition to end standoff
Islamabad, April 23
Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali has invited the country’s opposition parties to meet in a bid to end a lingering standoff over constitutional changes, a senior Cabinet minister said today.

GLOBAL MONITOR

Freestyle Motorcross rider Peter McCann performs an aerial stunt at the Sydney Royal Easter Show on Wednesday. The 14-day Easter show features more than 2500 entertainers with street performances, stage shows, dance, live music and large-scale productions.
— Reuters

France proposes lifting of sanctions 
against Iraq
United Nations, April 23
In a move that surprised diplomats and took its allies, Russia and Germany, off guard, France has proposed immediate suspension of economic sanctions against Iraq, thus meeting halfway the position of Americans who want the embargo to be completely lifted.

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon walks past a portrait of Saddam Hussein being displayed by British troops during Hoon's visit to the Umm Qasr port on Wednesday. Hoon, who is the first senior coalition politician to visit Iraq, said his visit was simply to thank the British troops for a job well done. — Reuters

USA, India to destroy chemical weapons
The Hague, April 23
USA, Russia and India are on target to meet the deadline for destroying some of their chemical weapons, the Director- General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said today.

SARS claims 9 more lives in China

Beijing, April 23
China has recorded nine more SARS deaths, seven of them in Beijing, and 147 new cases, the Health Ministry said.

Of the total new cases 105 were in Beijing, taking the capital’s cumulative number of confirmed SARS cases to 693 and its death toll to 35.

The other fatalities occurred in Guangdong province and Ningxia autonomous region.

China now has 106 SARS deaths and 2,305 cases, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, China today ordered the closure of all schools in the capital for a fortnight and sent hundreds of investigators to look for those with symptoms of the killer disease to be treated in six designated hospitals.

A daily deadline to every town in the country has also been given to report SARS, with the Health Ministry giving strict orders to include cases in all hospitals, including military facilities.

Education authorities in China have decided to extend the suspension of classes for an extra two weeks. The measure has been taken to “protect the lives and health of more than 1.7 million students,” according to an official statement.

Schools were due to close next week over the May day holiday, but the break has been extended.

Mid-term examinations have been cancelled and students have been asked not to go to public places, reports said.

The authorities have also ordered a policy of “zero reporting” whereby even if there are no confirmed cases counties must still make a daily report.

Meanwhile, China has not yet decided on attending the special informal ASEAN summit on SARS, a senior official has said.

While expressing China’s support for such a summit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the government has not yet taken a decision.

In Shanghai, a World Health Organisation (WHO) team began its third day of investigations.

Hong Kong which has recorded 250 suspected cases of SARS, announced a $ 1.5 billion economic package to lessen the impact of the deadly outbreak. According to the WHO, SARS has resulted in the death of 228 persons and infected 3,947 persons in 25 countries. AP, PTI

Jamali invites Opposition to end standoff 

Islamabad, April 23
Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali has invited the country’s opposition parties to meet in a bid to end a lingering standoff over constitutional changes, a senior Cabinet minister said today.

The talks, planned for Friday, aim to settle differences over changes to the Constitution decreed by President Pervez Musharraf, after he ousted the elected government of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999. Under international pressure, General Musharraf allowed parliamentary elections last year and promised to stay out of the day-to-day running of the government. However, he insists that his constitutional changes remain, including ones giving him power to dismiss Parliament and the Prime Minister.

Farhatullah Babat, a spokesman for the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, said he hoped the government would be flexible.

Mr Jamali has also invited a coalition of six religious parties, the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, to the talks. AP

France proposes lifting of sanctions against Iraq

United Nations, April 23
In a move that surprised diplomats and took its allies, Russia and Germany, off guard, France has proposed immediate suspension of economic sanctions against Iraq, thus meeting halfway the position of Americans who want the embargo to be completely lifted.

France’s UN Ambassador, Jean-Mare de La Sabliere, said it was time for the Security Council “to take into account the new realities on the ground” and adopt “a very pragmatic approach” to dealing with Iraq.

“I have proposed that the decision should be taken to immediately suspend the civilian sanctions,” he told reporters shortly after making the proposal to the Council.

The proposal if accepted would suspend the ban on trade and investments but keep the arms embargo intact. It would also remove the ban on flights to and from Iraq. But it was not clear what impact a suspension would have without an Iraqi Government in place.

So far as ‘oil for food’ programme is concerned, France would like it to be kept under the United Nations for the time being but adjustments made with a view to phasing it out.

The Council appeared to be ready to extend the authority of the Secretary-General over the programme till June 3 as it decides how to handle the issue.

Diplomats and officials scrambled to explain the shift in Paris’ position which came during the Security Council’s closed door consultations yesterday on Iraq at which Chief Weapons Inspectors Hans Blix briefed the members.

Analysts said the French Government was under intense pressure from the country’s businesses to mend fences with the USA as they fear that the US boycott could affect their exports and Washington might sideline French companies in the rebuilding of Iraq. American and Russian and German ambassadors, though not fully satisfied with the French position for different reasons, offered to work with Paris to find an agreeable solution. PTI

USA, India to destroy chemical weapons

The Hague, April 23
USA, Russia and India are on target to meet the deadline for destroying some of their chemical weapons, the Director- General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said today.

“Four member states have declared to have chemical weapons in their possession: the Russian Federation, the USA, India and a fourth state that does not want to be named,” Director- General Rogelio Pfirter told journalists.

“By April 29, all four possessor states will have destroyed the percentage of munition and chemical agents that they have committed themselves to reduce under the (1993 chemical weapons) Convention.”

Based in The Hague, the OPCW brings together 151 member states that have signed the 1993 convention, which aims to eliminate chemical weapons by 2007.

Russia had the largest chemical stockpile, with 40,000 tonnes, and has undertaken to destroy 1 per cent of that by April 29.

The USA had 28,000 tonnes of chemical weapons and has successfully destroyed 20 per cent of its stocks, fulfilling its undertaking to the OPCW.

According to the OPCW, both India and the fourth, anonymous state have fulfilled their objectives. AFP

Vij hopes Nepal peace talks will succeed

Kathmandu, April 23
The Chief of the Army Staff, Gen N.C. Vij, who is on a goodwill visit here, has expressed the hope that peace talks between the rebel Maoists and the Nepalese government will be successful.

‘’I wish they will succeed in the talks,’’ General Vij told representatives of the Indian media here last evening but did not elaborate. On India’s cooperation with the Nepalese Army, he said, ‘’I will discuss the requirement of the Nepalese army and we will provide whatever they require.’’

General Vij will hold talks with senior army officials and meet Prime Minister Lok Bahadur Chand and King Gyanendra. The Indian Army chief will be honoured with the title of Honorary General of the Nepalese army. UNI

GLOBAL MONITOR

A model displays an outfit inspired by Indian design during a rehearsal before the opening of an exhibition entitled "Land of Spirituality, Glimpse of Indian Civilisation," in Taipei's National Museum of History on Tuesday. The exhibition features Indian artefacts dating from 2500 BC to the 20th century. — AP/PTI

MADONNA NEW ALBUM’S REVIEWS HARSH
NEW YORK: Madonna’s latest album, “American Life,” has left critics asking if the Material Girl, after 20 years atop the musical heap, had lost her touch as pop’s music’s successful chameleon. As with all of the singer’s offerings, her latest opus which hit the stores on Tuesday has come with its fair share of controversy aimed at stoking the public’s interest before the album’s release, her first in almost three years. The video for the album’s first single was pulled due to offending images of her throwing a hand grenade at a George W. Bush look-alike. Reuters

BATS TO COMBAT MOSQUITO MENACE
WARSAW: In a bid to save townsfolk the itchy discomfort of mosquito bites, a Polish town has hit on the idea of using bats rather than risky pesticides to consume swarms of mosquitoes in a local park. The park authorities in Kilelce, central Poland, have decided to use 40 custom-made bat-houses perched in trees to attract the bats. One bat can eat up to 500 mosquitos in a single night, Polish Radio said. DPA

OLDEST PERSON IN USA DIES AT 113
SAN FRANCISCO: The USA’s oldest persons, a 113-year0old woman who witnessed the aftermath of the great San Francisco earthquake, enjoyed junk food and lived alone until she turned 102, has died. Mary Dorothy Christian died on Sunday at the Creekside Care Center in San Pablo, where she had lived since 1992. She had come down with a cold that turned into pneumonia, nurse Ester Aballa said. AP

‘THRILL KILLER' EXECUTED IN TEXAS
HUNTSVILLE (TEXAS): A man who became known as the “Thrill Killer’’ in the USA after being linked with at least 12 murders was executed in Texas. Juan Chavez, 34, is believed to have killed at least 12 persons from March to July, 1995. Chavez was sentenced to death for the murder of Jose Morales, whom he shot in a phone booth in Dallas before taking his wallet. He shot most of his victims in the face. DPA

COP, 5 ROBBERS DIE IN PAK SHOOTOUT
ISLAMABAD: A police officer and five suspected bandits were killed in a bloody gunbattle in the Pakistani industrial city of Faisalabad early on Wednesday, the police said. The gunbattle erupted when the police raided a house on a tip-off that five alleged criminals wanted for a string of robberies were hiding there. The bandits opened fire and hurled grenades at the police, killing one officer and injuring another, local police officer Mohammad Arif said. AFP