 |
|
Bird flu: WHO warns Asian nations French lower House votes to ban Lankan businessman key figure in nuclear inquiry: report
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
India hands over two Maoist rebels to Nepal 3 held for kidnapping Indian-American Rushdie, Lakshmi to tie the knot in April, says report
Scheme to encourage Bollywood films in Leicester Man wants home to be public toilet
|
|
Bird flu: WHO warns Asian nations Hanoi, February 10 The bird flu has forced the slaughter of some 50 million poultry across Asia, and killed a total of 19 persons — 14 in Vietnam and five in Thailand. “It can be anticipated that human cases will also be detected in other countries where outbreaks in poultry are spreading,” the WHO said in a statement posted on its website. Eight other governments in Asia also have reported bird flu outbreaks - Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, South Korea and Taiwan. In addition, officials in the United States confirmed an outbreak in the state of Delaware last week. The scope of the outbreaks “are historically unprecedented in their scale, geographical spread, and economic consequences,” the WHO said. HONG KONG: SARS checks were being carried out today on 10 patients at a Hong Kong hospital after they were struck down with fever and coughing. The 10 men, all elderly patients at Hong Kong’s Prince of Wales Hospital, were in an isolation ward while the checks were conducted, a Hospital Authority spokeswoman said. Results of the tests are expected later today after chest X-rays and other examinations are completed at the hospital, where scores of patients and staff were infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) last March. Patients showing fever symptoms or with pneumonia are routinely placed in isolation and tested under safeguards to prevent a return of SARS to Hong Kong. There have been no new confirmed cases of SARS in Hong Kong since last July at the end of the outbreak which killed 299 and infected 1,755 in the former British colony.
— AP, DPA |
|
French lower House votes to ban head scarves
Paris, February 10 The measure, which will outlaw conspicuous religious clothing and symbols in classrooms, was approved 494-36. It goes to the Senate, where little opposition is expected, in early March. Its implementation is expected for the 2004-2005 school year that starts in September. The Bill stipulates that “in schools, junior high schools and high schools, signs and dress that conspicuously show the religious affiliation of students are forbidden.” It would not apply to students in private schools or to French schools in other countries. Sanctions for refusing to remove conspicuous religious signs and clothing would range from a warning to temporary suspension from school to expulsion. The Bill got far more than the 288 votes in the 577-seat National Assembly that were needed to pass - a measure of its wide popularity within France, demonstrated in repeated public opinion polls.
— AP |
|
|
Lankan businessman key figure in nuclear inquiry: report Washington, February 10 Bukary Syed Abu Tahir was said to be a key operative for Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who last week confessed to illicitly selling nuclear expertise and hardware to third countries and named Tahir as an associate in the effort, The Wall Street Journal said in a report from Kuala Lumpur. The officials and acquaintances say Tahir and Khan have been friends for years, often travelling together on business. Tahir operates a computer supply and trading business known as SBM Group from his headquarters in Dubai. Among his close friends in Kuala Lumpur is Kamaluddin Abdullah, son of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the report said. Since late November, Tahir has been the focus of a Malaysian investigation into the sale of centrifuge parts made by one of Kamaluddin’s companies in a Dubai-based company, Gulf Technical Industries. The investigation followed the interception of a Libya-bound shipment of the Malaysian components by European intelligence agencies last October, the journal said.
— PTI |
|
Pervez for action against ‘honour killings’ Islamabad, February 10 “We must deal with the culprits of honour killings most harshly with all the force available to the government,” Mr Musharraf said addressing the third summit of the First Ladies of the Regional Steering Committee for Advance of Rural and Island Women, Asia-Pacific region (RSCAP)’, being hosted by his wife Sehba Musharraf here and attended among others by Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha Najma Haptullah. He said the “Hudood Ordinance”, introduced by previous military ruler Gen Zia-ul Haq in 1980s prescribing stringent legal conditions for women to prove incidence of rape and violence against them, needed to be reviewed with a national debate whether it confirmed to the teaching of Islam.
— PTI |
|
India hands over two Maoist rebels to Nepal Kathmandu, February 10 Indian security forces have handed over two members of the Rebels Governing Central Committee to Nepal — Matrika Yadav, who is also the chairman of the so-called Madhesiya Autonomous People’s Government and another CWC member Suresh Alemagar, they said. Yadav was part of a five-member rebel negotiating team during last year’s failed peace talks with the Nepalese Government. The two central-level Maoist leaders were arrested by Indian security forces in Lucknow and handed over by the Indian Immigration Department to the Nepalese Immigration Department on Sunday. This is the first time that the Government of India has handed over central-level Maoist leaders to the Nepal Government. India has in the past handed over a dozen Maoist cadres to the Nepal Government in a gesture of its cooperation to fight against terrorism. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shyam Saran had recently said Nepal and India needed to share intelligence information to check Maoist activities.
— PTI |
|
Blast in Nepalese shopping mall Kathmandu, February 10 There were no casualties in the morning explosion at New Road, the central market in the capital. The explosion damaged the statue of late King Mahendra, located at the main entrance of the shopping complex. The window panes of some shops were also smashed by the impact of the explosion. Security has been tightened around the supermarket complex and a hunt has been launched for those responsible for the incident, the police said. The Bishalbazaar is a major attraction for Indian tourists, who usually visit for imported goods. However, no visitor was there at the time of the explosion, which occurred just after the shops opened.
— PTI |
|
3 held for kidnapping Indian-American Washington, February 10 He was kidnapped on Friday night by three men who claimed to be FBI agents, handcuffed and driven to the neighbouring Montgomery County before being freed by Montgomery County officers who chased the car for speeding and jumping a red light, police said.
— PTI |
|
Rushdie, Lakshmi to tie the knot in April, says report London, February 10 After a four-year heady romance, the 56-year-old Booker Prize winning author will marry Lakshmi, who will become his fourth wife. Asked if she was officially engaged to Rushdie, the 33-year-old Lakshmi said, “I guess so”, adding that her ring had been designed “a while go ” by a New York jeweller. However, Rushdie is yet to get a divorce from his third wife Elizabeth West whom he married six years ago in 1997. A report said invitations were being sent out to friends on both sides of the Atlantic for what would surely be a great social event.
— UNI |
|
Scheme to encourage Bollywood films in Leicester London, February 10 The scheme offers investors tax relief incentives and the chance to back up to 10 films made in the city whose appeal lies in its large Indian community, a BBC report said today. The scheme will be formally launched by UK Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt and has the backing of the City Council of the city whose Indian residents make up for 25 per cent of the total population. Investors in the scheme receive generous tax breaks under a plan conceived by the UK Chancellor Gordon Brown in 1997 to stimulate film production. The films would mix traditional Bollywood plot lines with modern tales, the report said quoting Indian entrepreneur Rajeev Saxena. “Obviously we wanted a base where there were plenty of people who can speak Hindi and many of them can take part as extras in the films. But the cultural diversity of the area, the food and other factors make it a home away from home,” he added. Though Bollywood films have been made in England in the past, this is the first-ever plan to produce so many films, the report added.
— UNI |
|
Man wants home to be public toilet Hong Kong, February 9 |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Hanoi, February 10
Video
