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Japan, US warn North Korea on second N-test
China unveils its fighter jet
Bangladesh Poll |
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Maoists set deadline for interim constitution
‘Cup Noodle’ king dead
Sunita spends a busy week in space
Painting of Jolie creates a buzz
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Japan, US warn North Korea on second N-test
Tokyo, January 6 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a second nuclear test “no doubt would deepen its isolation.” Rice and South Korea’s foreign minister, Song Min-Soon, agreed at a news conference in Washington that their governments want negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program resumed. “If North Korea is prepared to return in a more constructive spirit” the talks could be reopened fairly soon, Rice said. But she added, “We know of no substantive response from the North Koreans.” The remarks came amid US media reports that Pyongyang has appeared to have readied for another nuclear test and that the preparation steps were similar to those taken before its first nuclear detonation on October 9. But Japanese and South Korean officials have not reported any signs that the North was preparing for another test. The talks, held in December 2006 in Beijing, would swap economic incentives and a US assurance of respect for North Korea’s security for cessation of the nuclear weapons programme that produced a nuclear test nearly two months ago. Shikata did not say what other steps might be taken, but said they would be pursued through the United Nations, which authorised trade restrictions against North Korea after its October test. Rice said “there is intensive discussion among the parties about the resumption of the six-party talks.” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said negotiators were looking for “clear commitments, clear indications, clear actions” that North Korea had made the “strategic choice” to abandon its nuclear weapons. “Obviously, conducting a second nuclear test sends the opposite signal and very clearly indicates that they have chosen to go down the pathway of deeper isolation for North Korea and the North Korean people,” McCormack said.
— AP
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China unveils its fighter jet
Beijing, January 6 China is the fourth country in the world capable of developing its own advanced fighter aircraft, engines and air-to-air missiles,People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, said in a front page story. The newspaper did not identify the three other countries, but defence analysts said it was apparently referring to the US, Russia and France. ''Jian-10 is superior to SU-27 but inferior to SU-30,'' a military source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters, referring to Russia's Sukhoi fighter jets. A five-minute video was shown to Chinese reporters in Beijing yesterday, revealing how the fighter takes off, lands, fires missiles and flies in formation, official Xinhua news agency said. Foreign journalists were barred from the news conference. The Beijing Daily, Guangming Daily, Farmers' Daily and Internet portals splashed pictures of fighters taking off and pilots marching past a row of fighters. ''It has increasingly become apparent that J-10 has the potential of becoming one of the most significant fighters in the next few decades,'' www.globalsecurity.org said on its Web site. But Xinhua quoted unnamed military experts as saying the Jian-10 cannot match the performance of fourth-generation US fighter jets, but its basic design and indigenous equipment are comparable to those of mainstream fighter aircraft in the West. As many as 300 Jian-10 may be produced, sinodefence.com said. ''It marks a breakthrough in China's research and development of heavy fighter aircraft,'' Liu Gaozhuo, executive commander in chief of the Jian-10 programme, told Xinhua. According to China's defence policy paper released last December, the air force is reducing the number of combat aircraft, giving priority to the development of new fighters as well as air and missile defence weapons. The China Aviation Industry Corp I, China's leading aircraft manufacturer, provided the armed forces with 90 per cent of its airborne weapons.
— Reuters
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Alliance vows to enforce siege
Dhaka, January 6 "We have no option but to go for street action to get justice. No threats of the army,the paramilitary troops or the police or could stop our movement," AL joint general secretary Obaidul Qader told members of the mega alliance here, demanding that President Iajuddin Ahmed quit the office of the chief adviser of the caretaker government to pave the way for fair poll. The combine, led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina , vowed to go for tougher actions like siege of the Bangabhaban presidential palace if the January 7 and 8 blockades failed to compel Mr Ahmed to step down. The Home Ministry on Wednesday said attempts to defy the Constitution or disrupt law and order would be dealt with "drastic actions". "The role of the law enforcement agencies will be to protect the interest of those who will take part in the election, not those who will try to defy the Constitution," a Home Ministry spokesman said. — PTI
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Maoists set deadline for interim constitution
Kathmandu, January 6 But the rebels will not desert the peace process nor break the ceasefire even if the deadline is not met, the 52-year-old guerrilla chief said late yesterday at Dolakha, 100 km northeast of Kathmandu. “There will be peaceful protests and the civil society will join them,” Prachanda said in Nepali on the independent Kantipur television. The Maoists signed a landmark peace deal in November declaring an end to the decade-old conflict.
— Reuters
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‘Cup Noodle’ king dead
Tokyo, January 6 Born in Taiwan in 1910 while it was under Japanese occupation, Momofuku Ando ran clothing and other companies in Taipei and Osaka early in his career. He was inspired to develop the world's first instant noodle product after coming across a long line of people waiting to buy fresh "ramen" noodles from a black market stall during the food shortages after World War II, Japanese media said. After his Chicken Ramen product became hugely popular in 1958, despite a luxury price-tag of 35 yen, he went on to bring out the Cup Noodle in 1971. Ando remained in the public eye until recently appearing on television in 2005 to promote a version of the Cup Noodle adapted for astronauts to eat aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Ando is survived by his wife, Masako.
— Reuters
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Sunita spends a busy week in space
Washington, January 6 With new gear delivered just before Christmas by space shuttle Discovery that brought Williams to the station, she and Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria installed in the Destiny lab the oxygen generation system delivered on the earlier shuttle mission. Also this week, the crew marked milestones in two lab experiments with Williams setting up the hardware for the Test of Reaction and Adaptation Capabilities.
— IANS
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Migiro is UN deputy chief
United Nations, January 6 Dr Migiro became the third person - and second woman - in history to be appointed the UN Deputy Secretary-General, when she accepted the post offered to her, a press note issued from the UN headquarters said.
— UNI
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Painting of Jolie creates a buzz
Raleigh, North Carolina, January 6 Kate Kretz has been painting for 20 years but none of her previous works has attracted the attention given to "Blessed Art Thou," which was to show at Art Miami, 2007, beginning yesterday. One reason for the attention was a posting of the painting on the popular gossip site,
www.perezhilton.com . The painting - acrylic and oil on linen - depicts an angelic Jolie in the clouds, holding her newborn daughter Shiloh with children Maddox and Zahara at her legs.
— AP
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50 feared dead in bus fire 15 killed in landslide
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