Hours before Israel’s Security Cabinet met to decide on expanding military operations to target Hizbollah rocket launching sites deep within Lebanon, Israeli troops massed along the border while artillery units fired heavy barrages into Lebanon.

Hizbollah responded by firing nearly 100 rockets at Israeli towns and cities but these caused no casualties, officials said.

David Welch, the US State Department's top envoy for West Asia, arrived in Beirut and held talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, who wants the draft UN ceasefire resolution to be changed to include an immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from his country.

France and the US, which framed the draft, began re-working the document.

Israeli jets had struck north, east and central Lebanon this morning, killing at least nine persons, including a member of the Hizbollah's political wing and his family.

Israel also attacked Ghaziye town near the port city of Sidon, killing eight civilians. — PTI

Islamabad, August 9
It was a rare women’s day in the National Assembly on Tuesday when they and their male allies overcame party affiliations and conservative obstructions to introduce three private bills to promote women’s rights.

After stormy proceedings centring on whether they conformed to Islamic teachings or not, the Lower House majority voted for the introduction of the two bills seeking to protect women from domestic violence and a third seeking to amend a controversial Hadood ordinance about rape and adultery.

The bills, authored mainly by women members from both sides of the political divide, will now be considered by a house standing committee before coming back to be debated and voted for passage.

The main Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill seeking to make provisions for the protection of women, children and family was moved by Ms Sherry Rehman of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) while another — The Domestic Violence Against Women (Prevention and Protection) — by Ms Mehnaz Rafi of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League who got her draft to be clubbed with the first one.

Ms Rehman said her proposed legislation, which has been waiting on the House roster for a year, was needed because there was no provision now in the Pakistan Penal Code against domestic violence while women frequently became victims of offences such as acid-throwing, beatings and Kara-Kari (honour killings).

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi provoked an uproar mainly from PPP benches as he opposed the introduction of the bill arguing that it was contrary to the Holy Quran, which, according to him, permitted repeated beating of disobedient women by their husbands — an interpretation disputed by several opposition members, including some Ulema from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) alliance.

“If a wife is not on the right path, admonish her; if she does not change, then beat her; if she does not change even then, beat her again; and if that also does not work then send her out of the home,” he quoted the Holy Quran as saying.

PPP’s Aitzaz Ahsan, one of the 14 other sponsors of Mrs Rehman’s bill, said the constitution guaranteed equal rights to men and women and the new legislation sought to rectify the situation cited by the minister through a “wrong interpretation” of the Quranic verses and that allowed “man’s barbarism over woman”.

As PPP members pressed for a vote, Law and Justice Minister Mohammad Wasi Zafar agreed to the reference of the bill to the house standing committee concerned, apparently to avoid a formal test of strength between the two sides while the ruling coalition seemed divided on the issue.

MMA’s Ms Samia Raheel Qazi and pro-MMA Maulana Merajuddin from the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas cited the Holy Quran’s Sura Al-Nisa (Women) provided for admonishment of a woman destroying family life in violation of the Sharia and a slight beating without causing any injury was allowed only on the third stage after the husband’s counsel and separation of beds failed to change her attitude.

London, August 9
A secret inquiry into the death of an Indian-origin mother and her two children last year has revealed several official lapses in the way she was treated for mental illness.

Navjeet Sidhu (27), had jumped in front of a train killing herself and her two children, Simran (5) and Aman Raj (23 months) at the Southall train station on August 30, 2005. She had been receiving treatment for depression when she killed herself.

The report into the deaths by the West London Health Trust has concluded that there were 11 areas where Sidhu’s case “could have been managed differently”.

It found that anti-depressants prescribed to Sidhu were changed repeatedly without explanation just a month before her death and there was a series of communication failures between doctors and social workers.

Sidhu, a former receptionist, had quit her job after marrying India-born post office worker Manjit. On that day, she told a railway worker at the station: “I’m taking my children to see the trains.” In February this year, Sidhu’s mother, Satwant Kaur Sodhi, 56, committed a similar suicide by jumping in front of a train at the same spot. An inquest into all four deaths will take place next month.

Following the death of his wife and children, her husband, Manjit Sidhu was reported to have been severely depressed and is said to have returned to India.

Avtar Lit, who employed Navjeet Sidhu at his Southall radio station, Sunrise, told the Evening Standard: “Important lessons must be learned in a thorough investigation into their deaths. This young lady went to the professionals for help — the inquiry suggests that she was let down.”

Himmat Singh Sohi, a family friend and president of Southall’s Sikh gurdwara, told the tabloid: “When Asian people have depression, the authorities do not know how to give proper care as they do not understand the cultural pressures.” — IANS

Kathmandu, August 9
In a significant development, the Nepal Government and the Maoist rebels today agreed on UN monitoring of their ceasefire and the management of arms held by both sides, resolving their differences on the issue.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist chief Prachanda at the former’s residence here, Mr Koirala’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Suresh Acharya said.

The government has handed over a letter, jointly signed by Mr Koirala and Prachanda, to UN Representative to Nepal Abrah Abraham, seeking the monitoring of the ceasefire by the world body, a source close to the Prime Minister said.

The letter consists of five points, including management of the arms held by the Maoists and the Nepalese army, monitoring of human rights, monitoring the ceasefire code of conduct and observing the election to the Constituent Assembly, the source said. — PTI

Durban, August 9
South African President Thabo Mbeki today recalled the contribution of two Indian women, including Kasturba Gandhi, in the anti-apartheid movement while paying tributes to women activists who took part in a key rights march in Pretoria 50 years ago in protest against unjust laws.

Addressing thousands of activists who had gathered to re-enact the 1956 march, Mr Mbeki mentioned the names of Kasturba and Valiamma Munsamy for their contribution during the early days of “passive resistance”, initiated by Mahatma Gandhi.

Munsamy died in a jail in Pietermaritzburg after she had continued with her fast against her arrest despite being called upon by Gandhi to stop the hunger strike.

“On this day we pay tribute to all women since the days of slavery who contributed to our liberation. On this day I want to say that none of us will be free if the women are not free,” Mr Mbeki said.

On August 9, 1956, 20,000 women marched in protest against the extension of pass laws to black women, announced in January that year. — PTI