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Pope apologises to Muslims
Hindutva still influences govt policies: US report
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‘Historic opportunity’ exists to restart talks, says Pervez
Senators urged to pass law on N-deal
‘US is a real N-threat’
Bush defends CIA quizzing amid revolt
Indian student gets life term for murdering wife
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Vatican City, September 16 “The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers,” Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement. Meanwhile, Two West Bank churches were hit by firebombs early today, and a group claiming responsibility said it was protesting what many Muslims view as disparaging remarks about Islam by Pope Benedict XVI. Relations between Palestinian Muslims and Christians are generally peaceful, and the attacks on an Anglican and a Greek Orthodox church in the West Bank city of Nablus sparked concern about sudden tensions. Clergy played down the attacks as isolated incidents, but said they’d worry if more Christian sites are targeted. Yesterday, two small explosions went off near a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza, causing minor damage. “It is easy to worry,” Father Yousef Saada, a Roman Catholic priest in Nablus, said today. “The atmosphere is charged already, and the wise should not accept such acts.” The firebombs left black scorch marks on the walls and windows of the two Nablus churches. At least five firebombs hit the Anglican church. In a phone call to The Associated Press, a group calling itself the “Lions of Monotheism” claimed responsibility. The caller said the attacks were carried out to protest the pope’s remarks about Islam. Yesterday, about 2,000 Palestinians protested against the pope, accusing him of leading a new Crusade against the Muslim world. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the Islamic militant Hamas said the pope offended Muslims everywhere. Christians make up a small and dwindling minority of several tens of thousands among the more than 30 lakh Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. — Agencies
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Hindutva still influences govt policies: US report
Washington, September 16 The US State Department’s annual report on religious freedom worldwide, released here yesterday, however, said, “Hindutva-based policies could not be implemented without passing court review to determine whether they were consistent with the principles enshrined in the country’s secular constitution.” In March 2006, it recalled, the Rajasthan Government passed an anti-conversion bill. However, by the end of the period covered by this report, it had not taken effect, since it was not approved by the governor and continued to await presidential review. Despite the government’s 2005 action to withdraw controversial textbooks espousing a Hindu nationalist agenda, the report says, continuing problems with biased textbooks in some states led the government to take further action by recommending the formation of a National Textbook Council to ensure such books no longer appear in the curriculum. The US report notes that Indian constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. It, however, says the government sometimes did not act swiftly enough to counter effectively societal attacks against religious minorities and attempts by some leaders of state and local governments to limit religious freedom. “This resulted in part from legal constraints on government action inherent in the country’s federal structure and from shortcomings in its law enforcement and justice systems, although courts regularly upheld the constitutional provision of religious freedom,” it said. Despite government efforts to foster communal harmony, it points out, some extremists continued to view ineffective investigation and prosecution of attacks on religious minorities, particularly at the state and local level, as a signal that they could commit such violence with impunity, although numerous cases were in the courts at the end of the reporting period. The State Department’s eighth annual report made available to Congress, examines 197 countries’ commitment to advancing religious freedom. It is sharply critical of the record on that issue of Uzbekistan, Iran and China among others. But it credits several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam with improvements. — UNI
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‘Historic opportunity’ exists to restart talks,
Havana, September 16 "A historic opportunity exists that must be seized by the leadership of the two countries," he added. Calling for the 118-nation NAM to establish "a mechanism for conflict resolution", Musharraf said at the NAM summit that the two countries should put their full energy into making progress on the dispute. Pakistan was desirous to put an end to conflict with India by peacefully resolving all outstanding issues between the two countries including Kashmir, he said and added that the causes of terrorism must be addressed to root out the terrorism. Reports over the past couple of days have suggested that Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are scheduled to meet in Havana on the sidelines of the ongoing NAM Summit in a bid to restart negotiations on Kashmir. Earlier, Musharraf said that India should stop the "blame game", and adopt a "constructive approach" towards Pakistan. In an interview with a leading Indian television channel, he said: "I'm hoping that a substantive dialogue will take place." Musharraf's comments assume significance in that he will be meeting Prime Minister Dr. Singh after almost a year. The two last met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting.
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Senators urged to pass law on N-deal
Washington, September 16 The letter has as its signatories five leading business organisations, 28 leading American
companies, nine Indian American organisations and more than 20 leading foreign policy experts and have been sent to each of the Senators. “For over 50
years, the USA and India have sought to deepen their political, economic
and strategic relationships. The Senate will soon consider, hopefully this month, the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act. This legislation will clear a key hurdle to greater US-Indian relations and will help create major trade opportunities for US companies. We urge you to support this historic legislation, S.3709, which would put in place the framework necessary for the US and India to broker a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement that will finally bring India's civilian nuclear programme under international
safeguards," the signatories have told lawmakers. The signatories hoped that differences between the House and the Senate bills would be resolved in a way that would promote US nonproliferation objectives while
reinforcing the US-India strategic partnership.— PTI
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‘US is a real N-threat’
Havana, September 16 “Why should people live under the nuclear threat of the United States?” he asked yesterday at a summit of the 118-strong Non Aligned Movement in Havana. “What is the UN Security Council waiting for to react to those threats?” He urged his counterparts to help “counter attempts to prevent Iran from developing its peaceful nuclear activity.” The USA is pushing for sanctions against Iran to force Teheran to stop producing enriched uranium.
— AFP
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Bush defends CIA quizzing amid revolt
Washington, September 16 With US Congress considering legislation on how to try and question foreign terrorist suspects, Mr Bush is pushing a proposal to allow for what he calls “an alternative set of procedures” for CIA interrogations. A group of powerful Republicans, including Sen John McCain of Arizona, has endorsed legislation that would protect the rights of detainees. McCain and other critics of the administration’s proposal say it would weaken protections under the Geneva Conventions that bar inhumane treatment of prisoners.
— Reuters
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Indian student gets life term for murdering wife
London, September 16 The sensational murder of Deepti Anurag, 29, which has come to be dubbed a “Google murder” — because Johri, 34, did an Internet search on how to kill with a baseball bat without being detected — occurred in November 2005 in Birmingham. The jury convicted Johri for murdering his wife during the “prolonged and ferocious attack” and told him that he would serve a minimum of 13 years in jail before being considered for deportation to India. A London-based friend of Johri told IANS that the convicted student hailed from Lucknow and had the best of education at Sherwood College, Nainital, and Kirorimal College, Delhi University. — IANS |
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