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Israeli forces push into Lebanon An Israeli army convoy of vehicles moves into Lebanon from near the Israeli town of Avivim, along the Lebanese border, on Monday. — Reuters photo
Talks with India to resume soon, hopes Kasuri
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Pak building powerful N-reactor: report
Washington, July 24 Pakistan is constructing a powerful new reactor for producing plutonium leading to apprehensions that this could signal a fresh arms race in the South Asian region, a media report said today.
NRI beer baron is House of Lords member
Miss Universe faints
Restaurant owner held for enslaving Indian
Liz dismisses wedding rumours
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Israeli forces push into Lebanon
Jerusalem, July 24 Troops took control of the area surrounding the town of Bint Jbail this morning after a heavy artillery barrage in the area. Several soldiers were wounded, the military said, but gave no further details. Israeli media reports said a number of guerrillas were also wounded. Bint Jbail, a major town, is east of the hilltop town of Maroun al-Ras, another Hezbollah centre. Over the weekend, other Israeli ground troops took control of Maroun al-Ras after a fierce battle. Israel Radio also reported that Israeli airstrikes destroyed nine rocket launchers in the area of Tyre, a Lebanese port 20 km north of the Israeli border, where Hezbollah guerrillas have been firing rockets at the port of Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city. The report said one attack knocked out a 14-tube launcher that was to be used today for further rocket strikes. Also today, the army said it had captured two Hezbollah guerillas, the first during the fighting.
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Rice in Beirut
Beirut, July 24 Ms Rice travelled by helicopter from nearby Cyprus under heavy security and chose the epicenter of the conflict with Israel to launch her Middle East trip aimed at averting full-scale war across the region.
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Talks with India to resume soon, hopes Kasuri
Islamabad, July 24 Talking to Dawn on Sunday, Mr Kasuri said the two-and-half-year peace process had built great hopes and expectations in both countries and it was the responsibility of their leaders not to let the people down. “A lot of hard work has been done by both sides and let us not throw it away. Let us take it forward,” was his message to the Indian side. Mr Kasuri emphasised that Pakistan was a more confident country today from the conventional defence standpoint and had also achieved the credible minimum deterrence. He underscored that it was not out of weakness but responsibility that Pakistan had taken the lead in peace initiatives and asserted: “The international community respects Pakistan.” When asked about his statement during an interview with an Indian news channel suggesting that Pakistan had received from New Delhi written proposals on Kashmir just ahead of the Mumbai blasts, Mr Kasuri indicated that they were in the form of a ‘non-paper’. He was of the view that importance of the proposals should neither be exaggerated nor understated. He saw it as a promising sign but cautioned against creating hype about it. Asked if the proposals also pertained to the Siachen issue, he said: “We were discussing that also.” On whether the Indian proposals on Kashmir were anywhere close to President Pervez Musharraf’s ideas of self-governance and joint management, he said there were differences and the two sides had been working on narrowing them down before the Mumbai blasts. “We were discussing these proposals before the Mumbai blasts and it needs a lot of hard work,” he said, adding: “It is not an easy situation, it is a complex issue and both sides have to work collectively.” Mr Kasuri said Pakistan also had the extra responsibility of safeguarding the Kashmiri interests. Mr Kasuri was cautiously optimistic about early resumption of discussions on the proposals that had been put on hold.
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Pak building powerful N-reactor: report
Washington, July 24 “Satellite photos of Pakistan’s Khushab nuclear site have shown what appears to be a partially completed heavy-water reactor capable of producing enough plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year-a 20-fold increase from Pakistan’s current capabilities,” it said, citing a technical assessment by Washington-based nuclear experts. If verified the move would signal a potential new escalation in the region’s arms race, ‘The Washington Post’ said. The Bush Administration has not commented on the development but is aware of the goings on the media. The construction site is adjacent to Pakistan’s only plutonium production reactor, a 50-mw unit that began operating in 1998, the report said. The dimensions of the new reactor suggest a capacity of 1,000 mw or more, according to the analysis by the Institute for Science and International Security. Current estimates are that Islamabad has between 30 to 50 uranium warheads, which tend to be heavier and more difficult than plutonium warheads to mount on missiles. “South Asia may be heading for a nuclear arms race that could lead to arsenals growing into the hundreds of nuclear weapons, or at minimum, vastly expanded stockpiles of military fissile material,” institute’s experts David Albright and Paul Brannan have concluded in the technical assessment, a copy of which was provided to The Post. — PTI
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India was informed
Islamabad, July 24 “I have seen the article in (Washington Post). It basically says Pakistan has nuclear weapons programme and nuclear facility at Khushab. This ought to be no revelation to anyone. Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state. I have no specific comments on Pakistan’s facilities and programme in the centre,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
— PTI
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NRI beer baron is House of Lords member
London, July 24 Hyderabad-born Bilimoria and another NRI Prof. Kamlesh Patel, an academic and government adviser on mental health, drugs and ethnicity, are among the seven new members appointed recently on the recommendation of the Appointments Commission of the House of Lords. The commission’s remit is to find people of distinction who bring authority and expertise to the House of Lords. Forty-four-year-old Lord
Bilimoria, who is also the Chancellor of Thames Valley University, said: “It’s a great privilege and I am truly humbled.” As one of the 10 youngest members of the 714-member House, Lord Bilimoria said he would focus on entrepreneurship, enterprise, trade, investment and the emerging India story. “India’s importance will see a sustained increase in the decades to come,” Lord
Bilimoria, who is the UK Chairman of the Indo-British Partnership, said.
— PTI
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Miss Universe faints
Los Angeles, July 24 Pageant officials immediately said the lithe five-foot-nine 18-year-old was all right and had fainted. ''She's OK. She's fine,'' pageant representative Lark Anton told Reuters. ''She got dizzy. Its very hot up here. Her dress is tight - as you could see it was beaded and heavy. She passed out.'' Anton said. Mendoza attended the pageant's Coronation Ball after recovering from her collapse, according to guests including Donald Trump, co-owner of the Miss Universe Organisation. ''Yes, she's fine,'' Trump said as he left. The Puerto Rican beauty queen was named Miss Universe 2006 over runner-up Miss Japan, Kurara
Chibana, 24. Second runner-up was Miss Switzerland Lauriane Gillieron,
21. — Reuters
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Restaurant owner held for enslaving Indian
Melbourne, July 24 Yogalingam Rasalingam was arrested last night as he flew in from India for allegedly keeping Anbalagan Rajendran as a slave and subjecting him to gross human rights violation, including denying him pain-killers when he complained of pain from long and excruciating hours of standing in the kitchen, media reports said here today.
— PTI
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Liz dismisses wedding rumours
Washington, July 24 “It’s not true, all fiction, fiction. I’m in the country at the moment and I have about 50 helicopters circling overhead, but all I’ve done it feed the chickens and water the flowers”, Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.
— ANI
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Jerusalem, July 24
