W O R L D

Biases shackle free-trade zone in America
Mar Del Plata, Argentina, November 6
Leaders from around the Americas failed to resolve key differences over how to create a hemisphere-wide free trade zone during a regional summit overshadowed by violent anti-US protests.

Iran allows UN inspectors
Tehran, November 6
Iran today confirmed it had allowed UN nuclear inspectors to visit a military complex as part of its efforts to counter US accusations that it is secretly developing nuclear arms.

French flare-up: 200 arrested
Paris, November 6
Arson around Paris and other French cities reached a peak today with over 900 cars torched in one night, and nearly 200 arrests were made as authorities vowed to step up action against the youths responsible for 10 nights of violence.

HuM cadres also active in Myanmar
London, November 6
The links of Pakistan-based militant outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), which has been indulging in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, have been traced to other countries, including the Philippines and Myanmar, by a leading international strategic think-tank.

Indian woman to head UK judicial panel
London, November 6
Britain’s judges will henceforth be appointed by a judicial commission chaired by a person of Indian origin. In what is officially described as a “significant step in setting up a transparent and robust method” of appointing judges, a judicial appointments commission has been established to make all judicial appointments in courts and tribunals.

Indian film festival likely in Yorkshire
London, November 6
Britain's biggest county, Yorkshire, could be the likely spot for hosting the 2007 International Indian Film Awards (IIFA).

Arun Nayar gets divorce
London, November 6
The last hurdle to Liz Hurley and Arun Nayar's marriage has been cleared --- Nayar's divorce application against his ex-wife has been was granted by the English courts.

Communists pay tribute to Lenin
Moscow, November 6
Hundreds of Russians laid red carnations at Lenin’s tomb today, the eve of a former holiday marking the Bolshevik Revolution, which will be an official working day for the first time in decades.

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Sikhs in USA seek "clean chief" for apex body back home.  (28k, 56k)

Biases shackle free-trade zone in America

Mar Del Plata, Argentina, November 6
Leaders from around the Americas failed to resolve key differences over how to create a hemisphere-wide free trade zone during a regional summit overshadowed by violent anti-US protests.

The United States and Mexico had been hoping to set an April date to move the trade talks forward, a move opposed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Washington's most aggressive antagonist in the region for his self-styled socialist revolution, arrived at the fourth summit of the Americas vowing to ''bury'' efforts to move FTAA forward and rallied 25,000 anti-free trade protesters on Friday.

Some 200 protesters battled riot police for more than two hours during the protest before torching a bank branch and shattering store windows along a major boulevard in this Argentine beach resort. Officials said 64 people were arrested but no major injuries were reported.

National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley later told reporters that although no accord was reached, progress was still made in the bid to create a free-trade zone stretching from Alaska to Argentina.

''It's not deadlocked,'' Mr Hadley said. ''We went from a summit that was supposed to bury FTAA to a summit in which all 34 countries actually talked in terms of enhanced trade and an FTAA.''

He added: ''There is nothing in stone that says any time leaders get together, they have to have a communique.'' Talking about Mr Bush he said, ''His approach is to not to try and dominate but to participate as one of equals and listen, and that's what he did,'' Mr Hadley said, ''At critical times he made his views obviously clear.'' ''Their paths did not cross,'' he said.

Although not outrightly opposed to FTAA like Chavez, leaders from Latin America's big agricultural economies Brazil and Argentina have also voiced concern over any free trade deal, complaining about US farm subsidies.

''Free trade is very important if we respect equality among nations,'' Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told. He added that it was ''not opportune'' to discuss FTAA before a crucial WTO meeting next month in Hong Kong where subsidies would be a key issue. — Reuters

Iran allows UN inspectors

Tehran, November 6
Iran today confirmed it had allowed UN nuclear inspectors to visit a military complex as part of its efforts to counter US accusations that it is secretly developing nuclear arms.

The United States believes Iran may have experimented with high explosives appropriate for atomic weapons at Parchin, 30 km southeast of Tehran.

Iran says it has no interest in such arms but only in civilian nuclear technology to generate electricity.

''We opened the doors of Parchin again to the inspectors. The site had been visited in the past,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told.

Mr Asefi denied Iran was conducting any nuclear weapons research there or anywhere else in Iran. ''Our nuclear activities are only for peaceful purposes. Our activities are based on the International Atomic Energy Agency's regulations,'' he said.

The IAEA's board of governors passed a tough resolution in September which brought Tehran to the brink of referral to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

''Since the resolution was passed, we said that Iran was ready to implement some parts of it,'' Asefi said.

Besides, urging Iran to give better access and cooperation to UN inspectors, the IAEA's September resolution also called on Tehran to halt uranium processing work which it resumed at its Isfahan facility in August.

But Iran has refused to mothball the Isfahan plant and last week informed the IAEA of plans to start processing a fresh batch of uranium at the plant.

Iran said today that it will convert new consignments of uranium at its plant outside the central city of Isfahan, in defiance of pressure to renounce such sensitive nuclear activities.

"We have told the IAEA that we are going to inject new initial materials (uranium ore) into the production chain," Javad Vaidi, an official from Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state television. — Reuters

French flare-up: 200 arrested

Paris, November 6
Arson around Paris and other French cities reached a peak today with over 900 cars torched in one night, and nearly 200 arrests were made as authorities vowed to step up action against the youths responsible for 10 nights of violence.

The police deployed helicopters and continued their arrests of youths responsible for the street violence that has rocked France, as troubles flared for the 10th consecutive night in suburbs around Paris.

The outskirts of other cities around the country - including Toulouse, Rennes, Nantes and Lille - were hit by copycat arson attacks.

Fires were also started in central Paris itself, where a petrol bomb set alight four cars near a major square, Place de la Republique, while half a dozen vehicles went up in smoke in the 17th district. — AFP

HuM cadres also active in Myanmar

London, November 6
The links of Pakistan-based militant outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), which has been indulging in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, have been traced to other countries, including the Philippines and Myanmar, by a leading international strategic think-tank.

A report ‘The Military Balance 2005-06’ published by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies said the cadre of the HuM, which was also known as the Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA), was mainly operating in the Kashmir valley.

However, the outfit had presence in Russia, Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Tajikistan.

The militant outfit, which had been listed in the “Selected Non-State Armed Groups”, were also operating in Myanmar and the Philippines, besides engaging in suicide attacks, it said.

The HuA, which had floated a shadow group Al-Faran to kidnap six western tourists from Pahalgham of South Kashmir in 1995, had changed its name to HuM after the incident.

The fate of the four — Paul Wells and Keith Mangan (both British), Donald Fred Hutchings (American) and Derk Hassert (German) — was not known so far while John Childs (American) managed to escape. The militants had severed the head of Hans Ostro Christo (Norwegian) within days of the kidnapping.

The outfit was one of the oldest militant groups and was formed in 1985, the report said.

The think-tank has listed 11 militant outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir and claimed that the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) had the maximum cadre strength of 1500.

It had also labelled HM as pro-Pakistan group and an armed wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, an allegation denied by the organisation.

Among other outfits operating in the state, the think tank listed were the Tehrik-e-Jihad, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, the Al-Badr Mujahideen, the Lashker-e-Toiba, the Save Kashmir Movement and the Lashker-e-Jabbar. Another outfit, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Almi was also shown operating in Kashmir. The outfit was responsible for the assassination bid on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the strength of the group was not known. — PTI

Indian woman to head UK judicial panel

London, November 6
Britain’s judges will henceforth be appointed by a judicial commission chaired by a person of Indian origin. In what is officially described as a “significant step in setting up a transparent and robust method” of appointing judges, a judicial appointments commission has been established to make all judicial appointments in courts and tribunals. As of now, the country’s Law Minister, the Lord Chancellor, appoints the Judges.

Queen Elizabeth has appointed Baroness Usha Prashar as the first chairperson of the commission which will consist of 14 Commissioners, including five “lay people” and five judges.

The commission will come into being from April next year.

Hailing from Punjab, the Prashar family migrated to Kenya in 1930 where Usha was born in 1948. The family later moved to the United Kingdom, where she studied.

With a distinguished record of public service, the 57-year-old Baroness has been the First Civil Service Commissioner since 2000. Prior to that, she held the post of Executive Chairman of the Parole Board for England and Wales for three years.

Ms Prashar has also held the post of Director of National Council of Voluntary Organisations and Director of the Runnymede Trust. — PTI

Indian film festival likely in Yorkshire

London, November 6
Britain's biggest county, Yorkshire, could be the likely spot for hosting the 2007 International Indian Film Awards (IIFA).

Yorkshire Forward, a regional development agency which is behind the proposal for hosting the 2007 awards, said there had been a "positive response" to Yorkshire's approach to launch an official bid following a fact-finding mission to the region by IIFA officials in September.

Yorkshire towns such as Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York would each hold one aspect of the glittering awards, according to Yorkshire Forward.

The event is expected to boost the region's economy by 30 million pounds, increase tourist numbers, bridge cultural divides and raise the region's profile internationally. — IANS

Arun Nayar gets divorce

London, November 6
The last hurdle to Liz Hurley and Arun Nayar's marriage has been cleared --- Nayar's divorce application against his ex-wife has been was granted by the English courts.

The divorce came through in end-October and Hurley is reported to be delighted with the news. She travelled to India last week to deliver the news to Nayar and his family.

The Mail on Sunday reported that Nayar paid nearly 700,000 pounds to his ex-wife, Italian former model Valentina Pedroni, to whom he was married for seven years.

The paper quoted friends as saying that the payout had left him financially stretched but deeply relieved that he was now free to marry the woman he loved.

"Elizabeth is delighted that Arun's divorce has finally come through," a friend told the paper. — IANS

Communists pay tribute to Lenin

Moscow, November 6
Hundreds of Russians laid red carnations at Lenin’s tomb today, the eve of a former holiday marking the Bolshevik Revolution, which will be an official working day for the first time in decades. About 2,000 people, led by Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov, streamed across Red Square to pay tribute to Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin, whose embalmed body is still kept on display in a stone mausoleum just outside the Kremlin.

President Vladimir Putin’s government has ended the November 7 holiday that used to commemorate the 1917 revolution. Beginning this year it has been replaced with a November 4 celebration of the end of Polish intervention in 1612. — AP