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US counsels India on veto
US ready for N-attacks on hostile nations
Iran parliament backs N-project
S. Asian Parliamentarians discuss regional issues
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3 Indian Americans honoured
Al-Zarqawi wounded
Uzbeks bury dead after troops fire on protesters
Rice makes surprise Iraq visit
Al-Qaida, Taliban ‘products of establishment’
Iraqi Governor freed
Jackson slept with children, but it was not sex: lawyers
Jehadis ‘damaged’ Kashmir cause
Pervez a music fan
Anti-smoking vaccine coming
Aishwarya in ‘Provoked’ cast
Star of George Lucas’ out-of-competition film ‘‘Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith’’ Natalie Portman at the 58th Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. — Reuters
photo
Envoy, angry wives and Madonna
10 donors to pull out of Nepal
Riot police detain a student activist during a demonstration against King Gyanendra in Katmandu, Nepal, as police arrested more than 50 students who rallied in the capital in defiance of a government ban Sunday, May 15, 2005. Gyanendra seized power on Feb. 1, declaring a state of emergency under which all protests were banned. He lifted emergency rule last month, allowing some protests, but has retained most of his powers.
— AP/PTI photo
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US counsels India on veto
The United States has told India, Brazil, Germany and Japan that it will not back their bid for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council unless they give up their demand for a veto power, the New York Times reported on Sunday, quoting senior diplomats and Bush administration officials.
Bush administration officials said they were opposed to giving new members veto power out of concern that it might paralyse the Security Council. All four nations are reportedly unhappy about Washington's position. "The Security Council is not like an aircraft, with first class, business and economy seats," said Ryozo Kato, Japan's Ambassador to the
USA. Ronaldo Sardenberg, the Brazilian Ambassador to the United Nations, said his country would propose that the four nations be granted veto power that they could not use for 15 years. In 2020, he said, the United Nations could hold a conference to decide whether to lift the ban on the use of veto power. India, Brazil, Germany and Japan need the support of 128 nations, two-thirds of the United Nations' 191 members, to amend the United Nations charter. The issue is scheduled for a vote during the September meeting of the General Assembly. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has sent conflicting signals on the broader question of the US support. During External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh's visit to Washington last month, Miss Rice sidestepped questions about the US support for India's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council. When pressed, said this would be offered in the "broader context of the UN reform." State Department sources say Shirin
Tahir-Kheli, who is advising the secretary on the UN reform, will be traveling to a number of places, including India, to discuss this matter. Meanwhile, all four nations, including India, have launched a concerted campaign for seats on the Security Council. Mr Natwar Singh admitted that India had sent some "special envoys to various parts of the world to promote our cause" for a permanent seat on the council. Shyam Saran, the Indian foreign secretary, plans to visit Washington next week, in part to lobby for support, ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit in July. |
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US ready for N-attacks on hostile nations
Washington, May 15 Early last summer, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved a top secret ‘Interim Global Strike Alert Order’ directing the military to assume and maintain readiness to attack hostile countries that are developing weapons of mass destruction, specifically Iran and North Korea, the Washington Post reported. Two months later, Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force, had said that his fleet of B-2 and B-52 bombers had changed its way of operating so that it could be ready to carry out such missions. “We are now at the point where we are essentially on alert,” Carlson said in an interview with the Shreveport Times. When military officials referred to global strike, they stressed it was conventional elements. However, global strike also included a nuclear option, which ran counter to traditional US notions about the defensive role of nuclear weapons, the Post said. The official US position was to de-emphasise the importance of its nuclear arsenal. But a confluence of events, beginning with the September 11, 2001 attacks and the President’s forthright commitment to the idea of preemptive action to prevent future attacks, had set in motion a process that had led to a fundamental change, the Post said. “President Bush spelled out the definition of ‘full-spectrum’ global strike in a January 2003 classified directive, describing it as “a capability to deliver rapid, extended range, precision kinetic (nuclear and conventional) and non-kinetic (elements of space and information operations) effects in support of theatre and national objectives,” it
said. — PTI |
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Iran parliament backs N-project
Teheran, May 15 The vote will increase pressure on talks with France, Germany and the UK aimed at allaying fears about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. They had persuaded Iran to suspend the fuel cycle last year to clear the way for talks. But, frustrated with the sluggish pace of negotiations, Iranian officials have threatened to restart nuclear activities. The three nations said a resumption would force them to back Washington’s plan to haul Teheran before the U N Security Council for possible sanctions.
— Reuters |
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S. Asian Parliamentarians discuss regional issues
Islamabad, May 15 More than 30 Indian Parliamentarians representing all major political parties, including Congress, BJP, CPM, CPI, RJD and Samajawadi Party exchanged views on the evolving South Asian fraternity with their counterparts from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the inaugural session of a six-day conference being held here and the neighbouring hill station Muree. In a message to the conference organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the meeting was yet another example of the earnest desire among the people for peace and friendship. “We need to build further on this common reservoir of goodwill on both sides based on our affinities and commonalities.” The Prime Minister said that greater contact was taking place between the civil societies of the region across the spectrum in overwhelming numbers, which would open the door for a better appreciation of mutual viewpoints and contribute towards efforts of the governments to build a durable structure for peace and stability in South Asia. He said India attached great importance to the ongoing process of engagement and confidence building in its neighbourhood and towards building a network of comprehensive and constructive relationship in the South Asian region. Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani, in his message, appreciated initiatives of SAFMA in discussing not only media-related issues but also those concerning peace and stability. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz were expected to interact with the participants at the conference, which was also attended by senior editors of the region. Congress Party’s Ashwani Kumar and Nikhil Kumar, BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ravishankar Prasad, CPIM’s Nilotpal Basu, CPI’s Sudhakar Reddy, RJD’s Alok Mehta, BSP’s Ilyas Azmi, Lok Jana Shakti’s Ram Chandra Paswan, Samajawadi Party’s Shahid Siddiqui and National Conference’s A.R. Shaheen attended the meeting along with their Pakistani counterparts including, Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, Amir Hussain, Leader of the Opposition, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sherry Rehman.
— PTI |
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3 Indian Americans honoured
New York, May 15 The medal was instituted in 1986 by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organisations
(NECO) to recognize ancestral groups which, through struggle, sacrifice and success, helped build the USA States. The winners were awarded at a function here last night. Among the medal winners each year, five names are chosen and they remain on permanent display at the site. The names of two Indians, Shah and
Parikh, this year are being included on the display for their exemplary
services. NECO Chairman William D. Fugazy said, “These individuals exemplify the American dream. They are known for both their professional successes and their acts of philanthropy, which have helped those in need here in the USA and abroad. They join a prestigious list of Americans honored for making the world a better place. I congratulate them all and thank them for their continued efforts that touch the lives of so many.”
— UNI |
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Al-Zarqawi wounded
London, May 15 The doctor, who claimed to have treated him, told an Iraqi reporter in the western city of Ramadi that Zarqawi, also described as Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's 'emir' in Iraq, was bleeding heavily when he was brought to hospital on Wednesday, 'The Sunday Times' reported. After treating his wounds, the doctor tried to persuade him to remain in hospital, but the Jordanian-born terrorist's minders drove him away, it said. "He was bleeding heavily and his escorts were well dressed with a look about them that was different from the casualties and family members we had been receiving from the al-Qaim offensive," the doctor, who recognised Zarqawi from his photograph on
television, was quoted as saying by the paper. Last week, US forces launched an offensive near al-Qaim in Iraq and claimed to have killed scores of insurgents. "I treated his injury and asked that he remain in hospital for further observations and told him that we would have to register him and take down his name and details. But he became very nervous and agitated. He refused and told me he would not be staying. "The three men with him asked me politely that he be allowed to leave hospital immediately and that I supply them with a prescription and a list of medication that he may need," the doctor, who was not named, was quoted as saying. The claim was supported yesterday by a senior commander in the Iraqi resistance who had been to Ramadi to investigate the report.
— PTI |
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Uzbeks bury dead after troops fire on protesters
Andizhan, Uzbekistan, May 15 Two days after an uprising in the mostly Muslim Central Asian state’s Ferghana Valley, wet blood and body parts hastily covered in soil were to be seen on the pavements, streets, and gutters in the centre of this city of 300,000 people. Human rights campaigner Saidzhakhon Zainabitdinov estimated that up to 500 persons might have been killed, which would make it the bloodiest incident in Uzbekistan’s post-Soviet history. The slaying triggered panic in some quarters, causing up to 4,000 persons to flee to the border with Kyrgyzstan. On Friday, armed rebels broke comrades standing trial for religious extremism out of prison, took 10 policemen hostage and occupied Andizhan’s local government building. Around 3,000 protesters opposed to President Islam Karimov staged a rally outside, which troops later dispersed by opening fire. “They shot at us like rabbits,” said a boy in his late teens standing outside School Number 15. Witnesses say part of the crowd fled towards the school, only to be caught in crossfire. Karimov, a close ally in the U.S. war on terrorism since giving Washington an airbase in 2001, said on Saturday 10 policemen and troops had been killed and a higher number of rebels. He gave no figure for civilians killed.
— Reuters |
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Rice makes surprise Iraq visit
Saladhin, Iraq, May 15 Rice said she wanted to discuss ways to move the political process forward in Iraq to help quell an insurgency that had
killed more than 400 persons in just over two weeks. “The insurgency is very violent but you defeat insurgencies not just militarily — in fact not especially militarily — you defeat them by having a political alternative
that is strong,’’ she told reporters travelling with her on the plane.
— Reuters |
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Al-Qaida, Taliban ‘products of establishment’
Mansehra, May 15 He said the language that Gen Pervez Musharraf was using against Baloch leaders had been used by Gen Yahya Khan against Bengali leadership in 1971. He said the military rulers by damaging the sanctity of institutions had ridiculed parliamentary democracy. Pakistan had undergone a very odd experience of parliamentary democracy under the rule of Gen Musharraf. Referring to the judiciary, Asfandyar Wali Khan said the President and Prime Minister had taken oath under the constitution, but the judges of superior judiciary were working after taking oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order. He said it was astonishing that during operation in Fata, the people were being arrested on the allegations of providing shelters to suspected militants, but the Al-Qaida operatives had been arrested from either Punjab or Sindh. Referring to the 1973 constitution and the issue of provincial autonomy, he said the 1973 constitution was unanimous, but conditional. He said the ANP stood firm to the stand that the centre should keep only defence, foreign policy and currency with it and the provinces should be given autonomy in all other
matters. Asfandyar Wali said the federal budget was in the offing, but neither the NFC award had been announced nor the President could address the joint session of Parliament. |
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Iraqi Governor freed
Baghdad, May 15 “He was released and he is currently in the (village) of
Obeidi,” Governor Raja Nawaf Farhan al-Mahalawi’s cousin Safi Jalal said.
Al-Mahalawi was seized on Tuesday The Governor’s kidnappers told the family that he would be released when US troops withdrew from
Qaim. They also offered to exchange the Governor for three followers of Iraq’s most wanted terrorists, Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, who, they said, were seized in the US offensive, according to the family.
— AP |
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Jackson slept with children, but it was not sex: lawyers
Santa Maria
(USA) May 15 Jackson himself has admitted in the past he
liked sharing his bed with children, making it all the more difficult
for his defence team to convince jurors at his child sex trial that he
is innocent. The lawyers hope the 12 jurors will eventually believe
that the “King of Pop” is a misunderstood genius whose love for
children is pure and innocent, and who, at age 46 is still like a child
himself. A criminal lawyer who worked for Jackson in 2003 testified
yesterday that Jackson did indeed tell him at the time he shared his bed
with children, but that it was out of “unconditional love.” Mark
Geragos testified that Jackson had told him “nothing untoward, nothing
sexual” happened during the sleepovers. The prosecutors have
portrayed the entertainer as a sexual predator who used porn and booze
to lure young boys into his bed. The prosecutors also claim Jackson
molested at least five young boys in the 1990s, though none of those
allegations figure in the charges against him. — AFP |
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Jehadis ‘damaged’ Kashmir cause
Islamabad, May 15 “Jihad has become a business now. In fact the worst damage to the Kashmir cause has been caused by the jehadis. They have maligned jehad and true
mujahideen. Jehad has no future. It is over,” Sardar Qayyum said in an interview with the ‘Friday Times’. Underlining the differences between the jehadis and “indigenous freedom struggle”, the Muslim Conference leader, who served as the PoK President and Prime Minister several times during his six- decade-long political career, said the Pakistan Government had no jehad policy. “It only extends moral and diplomatic support to the indigenous freedom struggle in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added. But at the same time, he admitted that “militancy had benefited the Kashmir cause”. “The cause had almost died and militancy gave it a new life and turned it into a volcano. Although a solution to the Kashmir problem is political, militancy will not end until there is a clear roadmap to the Kashmir dispute,” he added. On the question of converting the Line of Control (LOC) into the international border, Sardar Qayyum said it would not help solve the problem.
— UNI |
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Pervez a music fan
Islamabad, May 15 “There is conflict in our minds. On one side we award pride of performance to artists and on the other hand we treat them with bias,” President Musharraf said in an interview to the local daily ‘The News’ published today. “From the mid 70s to 90s there was a period when art was rejected. Musically we saw a period when songs were banned. We did not want to have music in any place and we want to come back to the centre,” he said, adding “extremists held sway and they pushed the soft face, the art face of Pakistan into background calling it un-Islamic where as it is not.” Focussing his thoughts on reviving music, which he believes was very important to project the “soft face” of Pakistan to the world, the President said: “I think there is some abnormality in a person who does not like music. Some people like classical and dislike pop, but I do not think like that at all.
— PTI |
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Anti-smoking vaccine coming
Washington, May 15 Nearly 60 per cent of smokers who achieved high levels of antibodies against nicotine after receiving the vaccine stopped smoking completely for at least six months, according to a new study presented on Saturday at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, Fla. About one-third of those who developed lower levels of antibodies stopped smoking, about the same fraction as those who received a placebo vaccine, according to Dr Jacques Cornuz of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois in Lausanne, Switzerland, who led the study. ‘‘The data clearly suggest that antibodies against nicotine are effective in helping people quit smoking,’’ Cornuz said. ‘‘This confirms the concept of vaccination (against smoking).’’ Only about one-third of people who received the vaccine achieved the highest levels of antibodies. Before the company can begin larger clinical trials, Cornuz said, it must find ways ‘‘to intensify the immunisation scheme’’ so that more people achieve the necessary antibody levels. That might mean more injections, he said, or higher levels of the immunising agent in each dose. He estimated it would be as long as three years before new trials could begin. Dr Roy Herbst of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston said he found the results intriguing. ‘‘The best way to help patients is to prevent them from getting cancer in the first place,’’ he said. ‘‘I find it very encouraging that there is something to treat the addiction (to tobacco).’’ Smoking is thought to be the cause of 30 per cent of all cancer deaths, including 87 per cent of deaths from lung cancer. It also plays a role in cancers of the bladder, head, neck and pancreas. But tobacco is very addictive — more so than cocaine and heroin —according to some
researchers. A variety of prevention tools are available to combat smoking, including nicotine patches, nicotine gums and drugs such as bupropion. ‘‘ But there are groups of patients who fail all these therapies,’’ Herbst said. Vaccines potentially offer a biological approach to breaking the addiction. At least four companies are testing nicotine vaccines: Cytos Biotechnology of Zurich, Switzerland, whose vaccine Cornuz studied; Xenova Group of Berkshire, England; Nabi Biopharmaceuticals of Boca Raton, Fla.; and Prommune Inc. of Omaha, Neb. Xenova and Nabi have conducted small clinical trials and also found promising results. The Cytos trial is the largest to date. The concept behind the vaccines is simple. Antibodies to nicotine bind to it in the blood and remove it, preventing the drug from reaching the brain and stimulating it. The only side effects of the vaccinations were redness and tenderness at the injection site and, occasionally, flulike symptoms that resolved within 24
hours. By arrangement with the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post |
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Aishwarya in ‘Provoked’ cast
London, May 15 The film to be shot non-stop here in the coming weeks also has Nandita Das playing an important role and will be ready for release on June 15, said
Mundhra, whose next film entitled ‘Sonia’ would be based on Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s life. “Provoked brings together an international cast of characters from India, Los Angeles and the UK. Both Aishwarya and Nandita Das, who are at Cannes Film Festival now, are very excited about the project,” he told PTI last night. Das, a member of the 58th annual Cannes Film Festival jury, plays a feisty social activist who fights for justice for the young woman played by Aishwarya Rai, also a former jury member who is in Cannes as the face of L’Oreal this year. “The story is an adaptation based on a book titled ‘The Circle of Light’, which traces the life of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who snapped after suffering 10 years of abuse and set her husband on fire while he was asleep. “Her landmark case formed the basis for a redefinition of the word ‘provoked’ in British law and she was set free after her first-degree murder charge was reduced to manslaughter,” Mundhra
said. Kiranjit’s real-to-reel life story enacted by Aishwarya Rai is expected to underline the rash courage that took one provincial Punjabi woman and a small group of British Asian feminists into the English legal
history. It is also expected to spark renewed interest in Kiranjit who became a household name here in 1992 after winning freedom from fear and prison by forcing British law to recognise the trauma of a battered
wife. Mundhra said the film was part of a ‘trilogy’, the other two earlier films being ‘Kamala’ and
‘Bawandar’. He said after completing ‘Provoked’, he would pursue his next film entitled ‘Sonia’ based on Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s life. ‘Sonia’ will be ready for release in August this year, he said.
— PTI |
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‘Star Wars’ jabs at Bush empire
Cannes, May 15 “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the
Sith” was seen ahead of a celebrity-laden evening screening to be attended by its creator and director, George Lucas, and its cast, including, Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen. Reaction at advance screenings was effusive, with festival-goers, critics and journalists at Cannes applauding at the moment the infamous Darth Vader came into being. But there were also murmurs at the parallels being drawn between Bush’s administration and the birth of the space opera’s evil Empire. Baddies’ dialogue about bloodshed and despicable acts being needed to bring “peace and stability” to the movie’s universe, mainly through a fabricated war, set the scene. And then came the zinger, with the protagonist, Anakin Skywalker, saying just before becoming Darth Vader: “You are either with me — or you are my enemy.” To the Cannes audience, often symptthetic to anti-Bush messages in cinema as last year’s triumph here of Michael Moore’s “Fahreinheit 9/11” attested, that immediately recalled Bush’s 2001 ultimatum, “You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror.” And for fans hungry for a last look at “Star Wars” elevated above the disappointing, and often boring, two other films that preceded
“Sith”, it was satisfying closure. — AFP |
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Envoy, angry wives and Madonna
Jerusalem, May 15 Underlying the dizzying swirl of accusations is a long-running rivalry between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry over who controls Israel’s relations with the USA. Traditionally, the prime minister is in charge of the all-important ties and picks the Israeli Ambasador to Washington. Successive Israeli foreign ministers have complained they are being sidelined by their Prime Ministers when it comes to ties with Washington. The current Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, reportedly was upset with the Israel Ambassador to Washington, Mr Danny Ayalon, for failing to get him invited to the White House. Tensions erupted over the weekend, with the two camps trading accusations of inappropriate behavior by Shalom’s wife, Judy Nir-Moses, a member of the publishing family of the Yediot Ahronot daily, and the Ambassador’s wife, An Ayalon. The Ambassador, meanwhile, accused Shalom’s wife of pushing to have his personal assistant Liran Peterzil fired, and wants the Attorney General to open an investigation, the Justice Ministry said HAP. Ayalon claims that Judy Nir-Moses pushed to get the assistant fired after he failed to arrange a meeting for her with Madonna during the pop star’s visit to Israel in September.
— AP |
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10 donors to pull out of Nepal
Kathmandu, May 15 The Maoists have seriously assaulted and robbed one female and one male worker of the Rural Community Infrastructure Works Programme in Kalikot district and seriously injured them. This was stated in a joint statement issued by the 10 international donors. The local staff members of the German Developent Agency GTZ were severly beaten by the rebels when they refused to hand over money, it added. The woman was ordered to dig her own grave before a fee was paid and the two were released. It said projects run by groups from Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Finland, Japan, Denmark, Swede, Norway and Canada would be suspended in the district. The agencies who condemned the Maoist attack include Japan International Cooperation Agency, World Food Programme, Department for International Development, the UK, and
GTZ. They have decided to suspend their development assistance from the district, which would affect the lives of more than 6,000 people who earn a living through working at the roads there.
— PTI |
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18 students held in anti-King
protest
Kathmandu, May 15 The police intervened when the All-Nepal National Free Students Union
(ANNFSU) held anti-King demonstrations at Ratnapark in Kathmandu, the area declared prohibited by the Royal government. As soon as some 500 students raising anti-King slogans marched in the restricted area, the police indiscriminately lathicharged them, injuring at least 12 students, five of them seriously, said ANNFSU president Khimlal
Bhattarai. — PTI |
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