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Copter shot down in Iraq, 9 die
Pak National Assembly
flays EU
Pakistan’s call to stop work on Baglihar
Parents lose legal battle to save baby
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How Ratzinger became Pope
Disaster risk reduction need of hour: Natwar
Indian doctor jailed for fraud
Russia signs agreement with NATO
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Copter shot down in Iraq, 9 die
Baghdad, April 21 The Russian-built aircraft was flying just north of Baghdad when it was hit, possibly by a rocket-propelled grenade, one source said. Reuters Television received footage of a helicopter that had been shot down in the area and which was still on fire. The military sources said three crew and six passengers, all civilians, were on board. Their nationalities were not known, although it was believed that the crew may have been Bulgarian. The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry in Sofia said it had no information on any incident. ‘’It was a contract aircraft that was not being used by the military, although the Mi-8 is also a military helicopter,’’ the source in Iraq said. ‘’We are trying to investigate right now what happened, but we believe it was shot by small arms fire, possibly by a rocket-propelled grenade,’’ he said. Russia’s twin-engined Mi-8 has been the transport workhorse of military and civilian fleets for more than 30 years. It has a crew of three and can carry up to 24 passengers. Footage received by Reuters showed mangled and burning wreckage, including rotor blades, in a desert area north of the capital, near the town of Tarmiya.
— Reuters |
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Pak National Assembly flays EU
Islamabad, April 21 Pakistan Foreign Office summoned Ambassadors of Belgium and the EU to lodge a “strong” protest over the incident, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar told the National Assembly, parliament’s lower house. The protest came after Maulana Samiul Haq, a pro-Taliban cleric who was part of the Pakistani Senate delegation, was stopped for questioning at the Brussels airport yesterday by
Belgian immigration officials. He was allowed to go only after other members of the delegation, led by ruling PML-Q secretary general Mushahid Hussain, protested and refused to leave without Haq, who heads a faction of the Jamat Ulema Islami. Haq, who also heads a prominent Islamic school in Pakistan, was known for his outspoken support for Taliban and Al-Qaida in the past.
— PTI |
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Pakistan’s call to stop work on Baglihar
Islamabad, April 21 Speaking at his weekly press briefing here, Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said the World Bank would soon appoint its neutral mediator to help resolve the issue. He said India wanted to resolve the matter bilaterally but Pakistan did not agree because Islamabad had exhausted all options to find a settlement through bilateral talks before approaching the World Bank as a last resort under the Indus Waters Treaty. However, the spokesman said, even now if India stopped work on the dam, Pakistan was willing to consider the Indian proposal for bilateral talks. The Kishanganga project being executed in Kashmir was another violation of the treaty, the spokesman said, and added that Pakistan was taking necessary steps under the treaty and an Indian experts team was expected here soon to hold talks under Article 9l of the treaty. Mr Jilani said Pakistan had taken the step so that if no agreement was reached between the two sides it would have the option of moving the World Bank. About the joint statement issued after President Pervez Musharraf's meeting with Indian leaders, the spokesman said it was a ‘‘landmark statement’’ both because of its contents and the wide scope of issues that came under discussions. He said the meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was ‘‘very significant’’ and it provided them an opportunity for engagement in a very conducive (political and diplomatic) atmosphere on all issues that had bedevilled their relations. Mr Jilani made the observation while refuting a remark by a reporter that cynics considered the statement as ‘‘a document of surrender’’. The spokesman said there were no differences on ‘‘the basics’’ in the position taken by President Musharraf in his New Delhi meetings on the Kashmir dispute and that of most of APHC leaders, and recalled that the President had taken into confidence these leaders on issues which had been discussed with the Indian side. The spokesman told a questioner that the issue of de-nuclearisation in the context of the Kashmir issue had been a subject in discussion between Pakistan and India in all bilateral interactions. |
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Parents lose legal battle to save baby
London, April 21 High court Judge Justice Hedley rejected Darren and Debbie Wyatt’s plea to overturn his earlier ruling, saying it would not be in the best interests of baby Charlotte. The Wyatts argued their 18-month-old daughter had a chance of survival and that Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust should do everything possible to keep her alive. Charlotte was born prematurely at 26 weeks and weighed just 458 grams (16 oz). She suffered severe brain, heart and lung damage and doctors have said she has ‘’no feelings other than continuing pain’’. But, Darren 32, and Debbie 23 said that contrary to all expectations of doctors, baby Charlotte was reacting to human contact by smiling and kicking and did not need as much medication as she did when the original ruling was made. The Judge said he understood the parents’ view, which was supported by one doctor, but declared the weight of medical opinion was against them. Specialists have said Charlotte was unlikely to survive infancy. ‘’I am quite clear that it would not be in Charlotte’s best interests to die in the course of futile aggressive treatment,’’ he said. Charlotte’s life should be nurtured and protected up until the point she needs intensive invasive care, he added. A spokeswoman for Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust said doctors would
maintain a dialogue with the Wyatts over the care of their daughter. —
Reuters |
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Leaders from 94 countries to
Jakarta, April 21 On Sunday, leaders from 94 countries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese Premier Hu Jintao and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, will meet at the same grand classic colonial building which gave birth to the principles of Bandung. The Jakarta Post, listing the legends of 1955 and the leaders to watch at the 2005 summit mentioned Nehru and Singh. The other legends featured included Sukarno of Indonesia, Zhou Enlai of China, Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. The commemoration of the golden jubilee of the Asian-African Conference of 1955 in Bandung will begin with a historical walk by the heads of states and presidents as well as state representatives from 94 countries. Nehru and other leaders too had walked 50 years ago.
— PTI |
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How Ratzinger became Pope
Vatican City, April 21 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger arrived with a solid base of votes that staved off the emergence of any real challenger, culminating a juggernaut of a campaign months in the making, cardinals and Vatican-watchers said Wednesday. As Ratzinger gathered momentum during the conclave, some holdouts changed their votes ‘‘for the unity of the church,’’ British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said. The fourth ballot resulted in victory on Tuesday afternoon, a speedy outcome that seemed to awe the
new Pope. ‘‘When the majority of 77 or 78 was reached, there was a gasp,’’ Murphy said. ‘‘Everyone clapped. He had his head down. He must have said a prayer. I didn't see his face. He must have been aware this could happen, but when it does, it is a very special moment.’’ After the traditional burning of ballots and the Pope’s triumphant balcony appearance on Tuesday, Benedict XVI invited the cardinals back to a hasty celebratory dinner. Caught off-guard, 20 nuns at the cardinals' Vatican residence improvised a repast of soup, beans, cold cuts, ice cream and champagne. Ratzinger's career had been building toward that night of pomp and joy. He accumulated clout during two decades as the chief of the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog office and, more recently, as dean of the College of Cardinals. During the waning years of Pope John Paul II, he essentially ran the church. He enjoyed unique access to an increasingly infirm pontiff who helped pave his path to succeeding him. The German cardinal drew increasing speculation as a papabile, or papal candidate, late last year. The groundswell came partly from quiet promotion by powerful conservative movements such as Opus Dei and Communion and Liberation, an organization that is strong among the Italian political and business elite. A telltale sign of his ascent took place at the funeral of Msgr Luigi Giussani, the founder of Communion and Liberation. The mass in Milan’s Duomo cathedral on February 24 drew Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other
notables. On April 8, Ratzinger stepped into the international limelight at another funeral, that of John Paul II. His eloquent homily won praise. His dominance of subsequent assemblies of cardinals added to an aura of momentum going into the conclave. The conclave disproved the dictum that front-runners do not become Pope. It was the first papal election subjected to the 24-hour barrage of the 21st-century media machine. The coverage may have affected some cardinals; several noted on Wednesday that the Press had anointed Ratzinger as the man to beat. By arrangement with the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post |
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Disaster risk reduction need of hour: Natwar
Jakarta, April 21 "Disaster risk reduction needs to be an essential investment for sustainable development. We cannot only limit our focus and resources on responding to disaster. We must also reduce the risks of disaster," External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh told Asian-African Ministerial Meeting here ahead of the Asia-Africa summit beginning here tomorrow. Asking his counterparts from Asia and Africa to take note that natural hazards need not inevitably lead to widespread disaster, he said they could be handled if a country's social economic system was resilient to the impact of natural disasters.
— PTI |
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Indian doctor jailed for fraud
Washington, April 21 The prosecution case was that Arijit Kumar Chowdhury entered the US in the late 1980s on a student visa. After spending two years at the A&M University his visa expired. He then used the name Steven Valdez and a social security number from a person with a similar name, falsely claimed to be a US citizen of Hispanic ethnic background. Chowdhury used the false information to get admission to Tufts Medical School, financing his education with scholarships that were earmarked for students from disadvantaged backgrounds as well as student loans that were available only to US citizens. In sentencing Chowdhury, Judge Joseph Tauro noted, ‘’He used up several hundred thousand dollars of financial aid that could have gone to people who belonged in this country and I view that as a serious offence.’’ — UNI |
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Russia signs agreement with NATO
Moscow, April 21 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer signed an agreement on the legal status of the armed forces (SOFA) of the bloc and parties to the Partnership for Peace programme on the territory of each other. The agreement signed in Vilnius, the capital of the Baltic Republic of Lithuania, stipulates damage liability and regulates other aspects of temporary deployment of military groups, including during exercises on foreign territory, reported RIA Novosti. The SOFA pact would come into force after its ratification by both Houses of the Russian Parliament. It would simplify the transit of NATO forces to Afghanistan through the Russian territory.
— PTI |
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