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Koirala under house arrest
Bin Laden threatens USA
USA holds talks with North Korea
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Iran willing to talk Nuclear issues
Egyptian experts inspect Clemenceau
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Koirala under house arrest
Kathmandu, January 19 It also cut off mobile and wireless phone services in an attempt to foil tomorrow’s rally by the seven-party Opposition alliance, which Mr Koirala was expected to lead. This is a “defeated mentality” of the government, which is “terrorising” people in the name of Maoist infiltration in the anti-King agitation, Nepal Communist Party-UML (CPN-UML) General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said, reacting to the arrest of political activists, including senior leaders. The Royal government, which claimed to have broken the backbone of the Maoists, now finds them everywhere, he said addressing a function of media group ‘Press Chautari’ here. Mr Nepal was reacting to Home Minister Kamal Thapa’s remarks that the seven-party front created a suitable environment for the Maoists to attack Kathmandu. Mr Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress (NC), has been confined to his house in Maharajgunj, which is guarded by security personnel. Outsiders were not allowed to see 84-year-old Koirala and no body was permitted to leave the house, although no formal arrest warrant had been handed over to him so far, a family source said. Security personnel also searched the house of Mr Nepal early this morning, but he was allowed to move around. The government was worried after the massive participation of people in last week’s anti-King rally in Janakpur, where about two lakh people turned up. The seven parties were planning to hold a similar protest show in Kathmandu tomorrow to call on people to boycott the February 8 Municipal polls. Party sources said at least 200 activists were arrested, adding that more arrests were planned by the government. Human Rights Organisation of Nepal, however, confirmed about 100 arrests.
— PTI India expresses concern
TNS adds: Less than a fortnight before King Gyanendra completes one year of his absolute rule over Nepal, India today threw another spanner in the works of the King by expressing “grave concern” at arrests of political leaders and human rights and civil society activists. In response to a question on developments in Nepal, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said apart from arrest of leaders of political parties as well as human rights and civil society activists, New Delhi was also aware of the latest measures announced by King Gyanendra’s curbing political activity in Kathmandu and other cities. |
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Bin Laden threatens USA
Dubai, January 19 "The operations are under preparation and you will see them in your houses as soon as they are complete, God willing," said the speaker on the audio tape, who sounded like Osama. In the tape, broadcast by Al Jazeera television, Osama said Al-Qaida was willing to respond to public US opinion in favour of withdrawing troops from Iraq. "We have no objection to responding to this with a long-term truce based on fair conditions." It was not immediately known when the tape was recorded. A US counter-terrorism official said the intelligence was assessing the tape in an effort to determine its authenticity. Analysts saw the move at the time as an attempt to drive a wedge between the USA and its allies and to scare wavering coalition members out of
Iraq. Osama’s last audio tape was in December 2004. The interval between then and now was by far his longest public silence since the September 11 attacks on the USA in 2001. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera said the audio tape was dated in the Muslim month which corresponds to the month of December.
— Reuters |
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USA holds talks with North Korea
Beijing, January 19 Confirming this, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill had a bilateral meeting with North Korean Foreign Vice-Minister Kim Kye-gwan yesterday. While Kong did not go into the details of their unannounced meeting, it was believed that the three discussed Washington’s clampdown on companies it suspected of helping North Korea with counterfeiting, money laundering and drug trade. The issue had been a sticking point in six-party talks to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programmes. The six-party talks, which grouped China, North Korea, South Korea, the USA, Japan and Russia, were last held in November. The six-party talks made progress late last year when Pyongyang agreed to dismantle its atomic weapons programmes in exchange for aid and security guarantees. The six nations were meant to meet again at the start of this year, but North Korea had threatened a boycott because of a US crackdown on its finances. Hill’s visit to Beijing came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il returned from China, ending an international trip conducted under a veil of secrecy. Kim paid an unofficial visit to China from January 10 to 18 as Chinese President Hu Jintao’s guest. Hu and Kim discussed the North Korean nuclear issue and described the six-party talks as an efficient mechanism to solve the Korean peninsula nuclear issue appropriately. Hu reiterated China’s principled stance, noting that it was a correct choice to properly settle the relevant problems by peaceful means through dialogue. China was ready to make joint efforts with relevant parties, including North Korea, to promote the six-party talks process, the Chinese President said.
— PTI |
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Iran willing to talk Nuclear issues
London, January 19 "We are willing to discuss concerns about an alleged weapons programme and offer guarantees," Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijan told the BBC last night. "We have not closed the path to compromise. In principle I believe some complicated international issues can be best solved through talks," he said. "For obtaining nuclear fuel, there are many methods and formulas, and we can continue negotiations and use the different opportunities that there are in the world. I don't think the path is closed." However, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltaneih threatened to withdraw cooperation with international nuclear inspectors if a decision was taken to refer it to Security Council, a move that could lead to international sanctions. "The IAEA inspectors will no longer be allowed access to nuclear facilities if Tehran's activities are reported to the UN," Ali Asghar told the BBC News 24 channel last night. The US and EU said there was no point in further negotiations unless Iran offered fresh proposals. Britain, France and Germany, who have been trying to win guarantees that Iran will not use its atomic energy drive as a cover for weapons development, have called for an emergency meeting of IAEA on February 2 in response to Iran's resumption of uranium enrichment research early this month. The IAEA emergency meeting of February 2 will discuss whether to refer Iran to the UN Security Council. Iran denies US and European allegations that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons and claims it wanted the technology for energy purposes only. The uranium enrichment activity which Iran has resumed is part of a process which could ultimately be used both to generate electricity and to make nuclear weapons. Asked whether there were any circumstances in which Iran would suspend enrichment research, Larijani answered in the negative, saying, "They should not ask a brave nation with very good scientists to expect not to engage in nuclear research." However, he called for a resumption of talks in search for a compromise. "If they want guarantees of no diversion of nuclear fuel, we can reach a formula acceptable to both sides in talks." However, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there was not much to talk about, adding the EU had made it clear that Iran had crossed an important threshold. France, Germany and the UK have been circulating a draft IAEA resolution referring Iran to the Security Council which can impose sanctions. While the US is likely to join European powers in pushing for referral, China and Russia opposed stern measures against Iran at talks on Monday. “The Iranians want to make this about their rights. It’s not about their rights. It’s about the ability of the international system to trust them with the capabilities and technologies that could lead to a nuclear weapon,” she said. “They have a history with IAEA of not disclosing, with covering their activities and so no one does trust them with those technologies.”
— PTI |
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Indian is ‘Inventor of the Year’
Silicon Valley, January 19 Bharat Rao, senior director of Engineering Research Development, Computer-Aided Diagnosis and Therapy Group at Siemens Medical Solutions, is one of 12 Siemens inventors to receive the award. Rao of Malvern, Pennsylvania was chosen from Siemens’ 57,000 research and development employees worldwide for his pioneering work in developing an automated data collection and analysis tool, REMIND, that enables caregivers to utilise disparate healthcare information to personalise patient care plans and enhance patient outcomes. “Much of the data in the healthcare system is not in a format that can be readily accessed or applied at the point of care,” Rao, an IIT graduate from Madras, said, adding “for example, key clinical information is stored as written text in patient records, discharge summaries, progress notes and radiology reports.” Without requiring any manual entry or change in workflow, Reliable Extraction and Meaningful Inference from Nonstructured Data, integrates patient data with medical information and current treatment guidelines.
— PTI |
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Egyptian experts inspect Clemenceau
Egypt, January 19 Brig. Gen. Mohammed Moussa, Director of Public Relations at the Suez Canal Authority, said the committee, formed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif yesterday, will determine if the ship can transit the canal without any threat to the environment or the safety of the canal. The Clemenceau, which is still waiting off Port Said, was thrust into the spotlight last week when two Greenpeace activists boarded it in the Mediterranean, claiming it carried hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste, including 500 tonnes of asbestos, that France intends to dump in India. Egypt’s Environment Ministry said yesterday it had given permission to the aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal, saying it posed no environmental risk. Prime Minister Nazif yesterday appointed a committee to re-examine the ship because of the international and local scrutiny. Expectations that Egypt would allow the ship through the canal provoked hostile articles and protests in the country’s Opposition press, which prompted the Parliament to meet on Tuesday evening to discuss the issue and answer lawmakers’ questions about the safety of the crossing. Speaker Fathi Sorour said the ship would be allowed to sail after a second check.
— AP |
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