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Pak for Foreign Secy-level talks
China confirms move to recognise Sikkim Eyewitness to Diana’s car crash says Probe into US Islamic charities begins |
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Robot scientist
as good as human Black celebrities back Jackson
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Pak for Foreign Secy-level talks Islamabad, January 15 Dialogue at a level lower than Foreign Secretaries would send a “negative signal” and give an impression that the “process was not serious”, said Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri in an interview here. He added that India had proposed that the talks be held at the level of Joint Secretaries. Kasuri sounded positive about the outlook for Indo-Pak ties, declaring that the worst was over “unless we are particularly doomed people.” About the level of dialogue, agreed to by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf during their meeting in Islamabad on January 5, Kasuri said a “lot of people” preferred a political level i.e. that of Foreign Ministers. “But a good compromise would be the Foreign Secretaries level” although India had suggested that Joint Secretaries should commence it. While acknowledging that no timetable had been fixed for the dialogue process, the Foreign Minister said there was danger that a longer process could “bog it down like the peace efforts in Palestine.” A longer process need not necessarily create conducive atmosphere but would end up creating “bitterness as in the case of Palestine.” Kasuri said India’s suggestion to start the dialogue at the level of the Joint Secretaries would send a negative signal and dampen the euphoria generated by the peace process initiated by the two countries. Claiming that India had suggested talks at Joint Secretaries level, he said: “There are people who jocularly suggest that it should begin at the Section Officer level. Somehow, we are cheapening the whole thing. We are de-prioritising — giving an impression that this was not important enough.” Asked whether the eight-point composite dialogue, which was agreed to in 1997 remained the same or had undergone a change, Kasuri said Foreign Secretary level would be appropriate forum to discuss such issues. “That is why the Foreign Secretary-level dialogue is necessary. Do not reinvent the wheel. I do not want to pontificate. We would like the Foreign Secretaries to get together. They should have encouraging agenda. Some times, agenda determines results,” he said. He also said the two sides had not worked out any timetable for the talks but reached a political understanding at the highest level to continue the peace process.
— PTI |
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China confirms move to recognise Sikkim Beijing, January 15 “The Sikkim issue is a question left over by history. During Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to China, the two sides have launched a process of settling this question,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told reporters when asked to comment whether Beijing recognised Sikkim as part of India. Despite India and China signing a border trade agreement through Sikkim during Vajpayee’s visit to China in June last year, Beijing had not publicly acknowledged the process of recognising the northeastern Indian state as part of India. |
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Eyewitness to Diana’s car crash says it was accident London, January 15 Mohamed Medjahdi, 29, said he was driving directly in front of Diana’s Mercedes limousine when it crashed in a tunnel in the French capital in August ,1997. The car was speeding out of control, and no other cars or persons were involved, he said. “I am absolutely convinced, clear and certain that this was a tragedy — but it was an accident,’’ the Daily Mail quoted him as saying today. “Any conspiracy would have had to be carried out by invisible men.’’ Diana, her lover Dodi al Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul died in the crash. French investigators, who the Mail said had repeatedly interviewed Medjahdi, concluded in 1999 the accident was caused by Paul being drunk and driving too fast. But more sinister theories have continued to flourish, most recently fuelled by the revelation that Diana had written a letter 10 months before her death in which she claimed her former husband, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, was plotting to kill her in a car crash. Dodi’s father Mohammed al Fayed, multi-millionaire owner of the exclusive London store Harrods, has long claimed British secret services were responsible because the couple’s relationship was an embarrassment to the royal family. At the opening of an inquest into Diana’s death this month on the same day details of Diana’s letter were published, Britain announced there would be a top-level police probe to clear up the speculation. Their findings will be revealed at the full inquest due next year. Describing the crash, Medjahdi said: “The car was slewing across the carriageway, a car which was completely out of control. “But as I accelerated away, it hit the pillar. I heard a huge noise just like an explosion, boom boom, like a bomb going off. The front of the car exploded, disintegrated with pieces flying off in all directions.’’ He said there was no sign of the paparazzi on motorbikes who had been chasing the couple, nor a mysterious white Fiat which some theorists claim pushed the Mercedes into the pillar. Royal commentators have said it is likely the British authorities will concur with their French counterparts that it was an accident.
— Reuters |
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Probe into US Islamic charities begins Washington, January 15 The Senate Finance Committee said yesterday it had asked the Internal Revenue Service to provide all tax forms filed by these groups — as well as any audit materials which the US tax agency may have on them. In a joint letter sent to the IRS, Republican Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and ranking Democrat Max Baucus said they were interested in these groups because the US Government had identified “the crucial role that charities and foundations play in terror financing.” But the Senators also made clear they wanted to know their contributors as much as their beneficiaries. “While much attention has been paid to where their money ends up, the source of their funds is equally important,” they said. The list includes groups like the Holy Land and Global Relief Foundations whose assets have already been frozen by the US Government because of suspected terrorist connections. At the same time, the letter mentions the Islamic Society of North America, an umbrella organisation which is home to a variety of religious and cultural groups operating across the United States and Canada.
— AFP |
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Robot scientist
as good as human Paris, January 15 Computer expert Stephen Muggleton at Imperial College, London and colleagues created the robot in an experiment to see how they could free scientists from the routine analytical chores of genome research. Their creation was programmed to figure out the functioning of a set of genes in brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), one of the most intensely studied organisms for its genetic makeup. The robot was programmed to have background information about how genes work as well as a model of the type of experiment to be carried out and was then linked up to handle standard lab equipment - the only role that humans played was to carry test dishes to and from an incubator. Using two software packages, the robot was tasked with finding which set of genes controlled the breakdown of essential amino acids in the yeast. It had to make comparisons between normal and mutant strains of the yeast, using different nutrients, and measuring the resultant growth. The robot was 98 per cent accurate, about the same as a graduate student doing the same experiments, but did not need to perform as many experiments because its "hypothesis generator" a programme to devise and test theories - found solutions more quickly. As a result, its costs was around two-thirds that of a human.
— AFP |
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Black celebrities back Jackson Los Angeles, January 15 Hollywood friends like Liza Minelli, Brooke Shields and Macaulay Culkin have largely remained silent about the charges filed on December 18, claiming that the King of Pop molested a 14-year-old boy. The legendary Elizabeth Taylor did speak out in his defence, but black celebrities have been far more vocal.
— AFP |
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