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Pakistan testfires N-capable missile
US okays design for N-warheads
Soldiers ‘ill-treated’ US troops not authorised to enter Pak: Govt |
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10 Benazir MPs join ruling party
Pak arrests 12 Indian fishermen
100-year-old stabbed to death for TV set
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Pakistan testfires N-capable missile
Islamabad, March 3 The missile, with a range of 200 m, was an "indigenously developed" short-range ballistic missile, which could carry all types of warheads, a defence statement here said, adding that the test firing was aimed at validating "desired technical parameters which has been successfully achieved". Abdali, named after the 18th century Afghan monarch Ahmad Shah
Abdali who invaded parts of India, was last time test-fired in February 2006. Pakistan said it had informed India of its plans to test the missile as per an agreement that had warranted the two countries to give prior notices of ballistic missile tests. Today's test had been carried out eight days after the testfiring of its longest range missile, Shaheen II also called Hatf VI, which officials claimed has a range of 2000 km. The missile tests were being conducted as Pakistan geared up for the first meeting of joint mechanism on terrorism with India which has been scheduled to take place here on March 6 and 7. Foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries have been scheduled for March 13-14. The missile test was carried out amid reports that the Pakistan army and troops of the Afghan National Army exchanged fire in Kudakhel yesterday. The missile with a short range was testfired amid deepening row between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the infiltration of Taliban. Under increasing pressure from the US and NATO, Pakistan had claimed to arrested Taliban number two, Mullah Akhund. Another significant aspect of its timing was that the missile test came amid reports that Iran, which shared a 700 km long border with Pakistan, had started building massive wall to prevent, what the Iranian officials said, "illegal immigration" from Pakistan.
— PTI
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US okays design for N-warheads
Washington, March 3 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that the new approved design for the replacement of warheads for a portion of the nation's sea-based weapons would provide a more secure, smaller and safer stockpile. "The reliable replacement warhead (RRW) design concept utilises modern technology that was not available during the cold war when our nuclear weapons were designed and built. This will permit significant upgrades in safety and security features in the replacement of warhead," said Thomas P D'Agostino, NNSA's acting administrator. Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories were selected to develop the RRW and the selected design can be certified without requiring underground nuclear testing. The selection of the new design comes at a time when the Bush administration is trying to control the nuclear programmes of both Iran and North Korea and critics have been saying that it sends the wrong signals. "The minute you begin to put more sophisticated nuclear warheads on the existing fleet, you are essentially creating a new nuclear weapon. And it's just a matter of time before other nations do the same," Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said. "This could serve to encourage the very proliferation we are trying to prevent" she added. — PTI
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Soldiers ‘ill-treated’
Washington, March 3 Defence secretary Robert Gates had announced Harvey's resignation yesterday but administration officials were quoted as saying that he was shown the door. The army secretary's resignation had come only two days after he had fired Major General George Weightman, in charge of the Walter Reed Medical Centre, following media reports of inadequate treatment given to returning soldiers from Iraq. According to versions doing the rounds, Gates was not happy about Harvey's choice of replacement at Walter Reed, Lt Gen Kevin Keley, whose role in the controversy had not been clearly addressed. "I am concerned that some do not properly understand the need to communicate to the wounded and their families that we have no higher priority than their care and that addressing their concerns about the quality of their outpatient experience is critically important," Gates told reporters at a press meeting in which he took no questions. President Bush had announced the appointment of a bipartisan presidential commission to take a comprehensive look at the conditions in America's military and veteran hospitals. "I'm announcing that my administration is creating a bipartisan presidential commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the care America is providing to our wounded servicemen and women," Bush said in his weekly radio address today. — PTI
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US troops not authorised to enter Pak: Govt Islamabad, March 3 “No one is permitted to cross our territorial borders,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in response to comments by US Lieut Gen Douglas Lute that US troops could target terrorist sites inside Pakistan. “There is no such understanding,” Aslam said, adding that mechanisms like the tripartite US-Afghan-Pakistani commission and the newly opened joint intelligence-sharing centre in Kabul dealt with the question of militant incursions. But Lute was categorical that engagement rules allowed US forces to pursue insurgents or any one “demonstrating hostile intent” into Pakistan in certain circumstances. “We have all the authority we need to pursue, either with (artillery) fire or on the ground, across the border,” Lute told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington on Thursday. Commanders on the ground could respond if they meet an imminent threat, he said, referring to a corresponding agreement with Pakistani authorities. But permission would be needed to go after a munitions factory further inside the border.
— IANS
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Liz marries Nayar London, March 3 Hurley (41) and Nayar (42) wed in a civil service at the Castle yesterday with two witnesses, Daily Mirror claimed. Quoting an unnamed insider, the tabloid said, “They wanted their wedding alone”. Today’s event has attracted massive media interest, with the couple reportedly having sold the exclusive rights for the ceremony to Hello! magazine. Singer Elton John, designer Donatella Versace, England soccer star David Beckham and a host of celebrities were among the invitees to the Castle, which belongs to the family of Hurley’s close friend, Henry Dent-Brocklehurst. But the tabloid, in a front-page and two-page inside story, said guests would instead be attending a glitzy party. “They wanted to enjoy their wedding night alone,” it quoted an unnamed source. Only six persons were present at the civil wedding. “She lives her life in a goldfish bowl and this was a very precious moment. Now they are having a big, public blessing with all their celebrity friends.” Hurley, the former partner of British actor Hugh Grant, and Nayar are to travel to Mumbai straight after today’s bash for the Indian leg of the wedding at the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur.
— PTI
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10 Benazir MPs join ruling party
Islamabad, March 3 The development came amid speculations that the back-channel talks between President Pervez Musharraf and Bhutto had failed to bring about a political reconciliation. The 10 members of the National Assembly, who had broken away from PPP and supported the pro-Musharraf government after the 2002 general elections to help it secure simple majority, had formally joined the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q at a meeting attended by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here yesterday. Five Ministers, including defence minister Rao Sikender, environment minister Faisal Salaeh Hayat and minister for parliament affairs Sher Afghan Niazi, were among the 10 members of the National Assembly who joined the PML-Q. In the 2002 elections, the PPP had emerged second by winning about 80 seats in the 342 member National Assembly. In all, 20 PPP members of the National Assembly broke away from party's ranks to support former Prime Minister Mir Zafaurllah Khan Jamali government, and later the Aziz government. The MPs reportedly took the decision after their efforts, to bring about a political understanding between Musharraf and Bhutto, failed. — PTI
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Pak arrests 12 Indian fishermen
Karachi, March 3 Maritime Security officials said that five fishing boats had also been impounded and the fishermen have been handed over to the dock police. "Maritime Security Agency (MSA) ship Nusrat has apprehended five Indian fishing boats along with 12 crew members onboard yesterday for fishing illegally in Pakistani waters," a statement by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, (MSA) said today. The ship was on routine patrol in the eastern maritime region when it found these boats fishing illegally around 23 nautical miles inside Pakistan.
— PTI
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100-year-old stabbed to death for TV set
Johannesburg, March 3 The Saturday Star said four robbers broke into the home of Herbert James Downs in the south-eastern region of KwaZulu Natal. A domestic worker found his body. A string of brutal murders has shocked even crime-inured South Africans in recent months in a country blighted by some of the highest violent crime rates. Crime has come into focus as South Africa prepares for the 2010 soccer World Cup. — Reuters
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