Washington, January 24
With his popularity dipping because of the Iraq war, an embattled President George W Bush appealed to a bitterly opposed US Congress to give his new strategy for the war-torn country "a chance" as the results of a failure would be "grievous and far-reaching".

A somber Bush facing a Democrat-controlled Congress stood his ground on foreign policy, especially on issues pertaining to terrorism, during his seventh state-of-union address yesterday, and maintained that in order to win the war terror, the "fight must be taken to the enemy".

"Many in this chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq, because you understand that the consequences of failure would be grievous and far reaching," the President warned lawmakers.

"Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work. And I ask you to support our troops in the field and those on their way.”

"Both parties and both branches should work in close consultation. That's why I've proposed to establish a special advisory council on the war on terror, made up of leaders in Congress from both political parties. We will share ideas on how to position America to meet every challenge that confronts us," the President said.

The Congress has been bitterly opposing plans to send 20,000 additional troops to Iraq to tackle the growing insurgency in the country.

Conceding that the present conditions in Iraq were not something expected, he said, "this is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in." — PTI

Kabul, January 24
Rarely has Pranab Mukherjee enjoyed some respite from his myriad responsibilities as a minister in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, and it took some snow in the Afghan capital Kabul to provide the visiting Indian External Affairs Minister with the much needed relaxation.

Though Mr Mukherjee has been travelling to various countries since taking over as External Affairs Minister in November 2006, January has been particularly hectic. In the last 24 days, Mukherjee has visited Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, the Philippines, Pakistan, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

The primary objective of these visits has been to extend an invitation to various leaders to attend the XIVth (14th) SAARC Summit to be held in New Delhi in April this year, besides a review of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of common interest.

Today’s heavy snowfall led to a curtailment of a number of pre-scheduled official programmes, but this did not stop Mukherjee from taking time off to enjoy the snow and visits to places of historical interest in Kabul in a leisurely manner.

At an official level, Mukherjee said today that the re-emergence of the Taliban regime after a gap of six years should be controlled if democracy was to take root in Afghanistan.

Mukherjee was in Kabul to invite Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai for the SAARC summit. Afghanistan is the newest member to the now eight-member regional grouping.

There are about 40,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, the most since 2001.

The commander of the 32,000-strong NATO force has sought more troops for countering the increasing Taliban attacks.

The US says that Taliban infiltration from Pakistan is a major problem for security forces in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, India announced that it was handing over an additional 100 million dollars in aid to Afghanistan, taking New Delhi's total assistance to Kabul to 750 million dollars since 2001.

The two countries also announced new projects under which India will help establish small projects of less than one million dollars and train civil servants. — ANI

Moscow, January 24
India's "profound interest" in controlling "dangerous forces" of terrorism and religious extremism in its neighbourhood has been underscored by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

He said, "Our neighbourhood provides the biggest infrastructure for perpetrating terrorism and religious extremism the world over. We have, therefore, a profound interest in controlling these dangerous forces for the benefit of the international community, as well as for ensuring our internal security." — PTI

London, January 24
Channel 4 has appointed NRI human rights lawyer Rabinder Singh QC to join its review of the reality show Big Brother, which came under flak after Jade Goody and other housemates were accused of racist bullying of Indian actress Shilpa Shetty.

Rabinder Singh, a barrister at Matrix Chambers, which he co-founded with the Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair, will sit as the independent member on a three-strong panel commission in the wake of the race row that erupted last week.

He will be joined on the review panel by Channel 4’s group finance director Anne Bulford and non-executive director Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House and a former chief executive of BBC News.

"I hope to be able to offer a robust and independent perspective to the process," said Singh last night.

In 2003 he became the first High Court Judge to wear a turban instead of a wig.

He has experience in advocacy at all levels, from the Employment Tribunal to the House of Lords, the Privy Council, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human rights. He has experience of public enquiries as well as court work.

Channel 4's chairman Luke Johnson and chief executive Andy Duncanboard commissioned a review of the "editorial and compliance processes" of Big Brother yesterday following the outcry against racial abuses shown in the BB show. There was even demand for axing the show. — PTI

London, January 24
Jade Goody, the TV celebrity who was in the centre of storm over her alleged racist remarks against Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty in the reality show Big Brother, has decided to visit India.

She has been in a mood of repentance after being voted out of the show following an uproar over her remarks.

Jade Goody yesterday applied for visa in the Indian High Commission in London. A spokesman of the High Commission said her visa application was “being processed.” The India Tourism Office here had extended an invitation to Goody to visit India and experience its “healing nature”.

Following protests over her alleged racist remarks, the perfume endorsed by her was withdrawn from stores. The plant in Gujarat which makes bottles for the perfume has also stopped production.

There have been reports that Goody has been living in fear since being evicted from the TV show. Goody, they said, wants to visit India and say sorry personally. Due to her Big Brother contract she can travel only after the show. In interviews after her eviction, Goody has been extremely apologetic about her remarks to the Bollywood actor.

While Goody’s career has nosedived following the row, that of Shilpa Shetty has got an unexpected boost. Her spokesman has already received 400 e-mails from people in the UK, making offers of advertisement campaigns, acting assignments, celebration lunches and even marriage proposals. Newspapers in Britain are offering free CDs of Shilpa Shetty movies to their readers.

Meanwhile, Shilpa’s mother has arrived in London to wait for her daughter’s exit from the Big Brother House.

PTI adds: Jade Goody, foul-mouthed tormentor of film star Shilpa Shetty in the Celebrity Big Brother, has claimed the windows of her house were smashed on Monday night, but the police denied being called out.

Appearing on Television Five’s The Wright Stuff This Morning for her latest PR offensive, the reality star attempted once again to seek pity from the public for her racist behaviour towards Shilpa Shetty. The 25-year-old told presenter Matthew Wright — who incidentally has the same agent as Jade — that she was living in “fear” and was worried for the “safety” of her children.

New York, January 24
An Indian American couple in the USA was found dead by their children when they returned home from school yesterday.

Jaspal Singh, 46, and Geeta Singh, 55, were likely to have died of gunshot wounds at their Doone Drive home in Long Island, the police said.

When the boys, aged 12 and 13, arrived home, they found the door locked. As their mother didn't answer the door as usual, the boys used a spare key to get into the house, according to News Day newspaper. — IANS