W O R L D

Prachanda threatens to quit alliance
Kathmandu, October 9
At a time when the national and international community has been expressing serious concern over the latest decision of the government to postpone the November 22 Constituent Assembly (CA) election, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist chairman Prachanda has increased trouble on the ongoing peace process by issuing a threat to quit the political alliance.

Nepal to nationalise more properties of King
Kathmandu, October 9
The Nepal government has decided to expedite the process of nationalising more of King Gyanendra’s property.

Indian boy, mother electrocuted
Dubai, October 9
A 13-year-old Indian boy and his mother were electrocuted at their home in Bahrain.

Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker

Inquest jury traces Diana’s final journey
London, October 9
The jury at the inquest into the death of Princess Diana, who was killed alongside her boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed, in a Paris car crash 10 years ago, is tracing the couple’s final journey through the French capital.

Sharif to return to Pak next month: Son
Islamabad, October 9
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was deported to Saudi Arabia last month within hours of setting foot on Pakistani soil after a seven-year exile, will return to the country between November 15 and 30, his son said.

Baloch journalist charged with sedition
A Baloch journalist Munir Mengal, director of the Baloch Voice television channel, has been charged with anti-state and anti-government activities after spending 19 months in the custody of intelligence agencies without anybody knowing his whereabouts.

French village rejects NRI’s £7 m bequest
London, October 9
A picturesque French village has rejected an NRI artist’s desire to donate his collection of paintings worth £7 million to it, saying the condition, that his work should go on regular display for the next 50 years, was “unreasonable”.

Van Gogh's final masterpiece on sale
Likely to fetch £17 million

London, October 9 Art collectors, this is perhaps your last opportunity to acquire ‘The Fields’ by Vincent Van Gogh. Yes, the masterpiece, believed to be the Dutch artist’s last painting before his suicide, is on show here. Though touched by tragedy, it was painted on July 10, 1890, 19 days before Van Gogh died at the age of 37. However, ‘The Fields’ conveys little hint of the depression that had driven the artist to shoot himself. The Fields (Wheat Fields) by Vincent van Gogh is displayed at a Sotheby’s preview in Hong Kong. — Reuters photo

50 militants killed in fresh air strikes in Pak 
Islamabad, October 9
At least 50 militants were killed today when Pakistani fighter jets pounded their hideouts in the country’s restive tribal region near Afghan border, taking to nearly 250 the total number of ultras who lost their lives in the latest crackdown by the security forces.

Man held with 100 heroin capsules in intestine
Dubai, October 9
A passenger from Pakistan was arrested at the Dubai airport attempting to smuggle in 100 heroin capsules worth at least $130,000 (Rs 50 million) in international markets concealed in his body.

Video

Ancient Hindu therapies boom in the US. (56k)

 

Maoist Arm-twisting
Prachanda threatens to quit alliance
Bishnu Budhathoki
Tribune News Service

Nepal to nationalise more properties of King
Tribune News Service

Indian boy, mother electrocuted

Dubai, October 9
A 13-year-old Indian boy and his mother were electrocuted at their home in Bahrain.

Clement Babu, who had earlier in the day celebrated his birthday, and his mother, Suma Abraham (44), collapsed in the bathroom of their home yesterday.

A friend of the family said the boy was taking a shower when he screamed after touching the tap.

Hearing his cries, his mother went to the bathroom and collapsed after she touched him, the Gulf Daily News reported. — PTI

Inquest jury traces Diana’s final journey

London, October 9
The jury at the inquest into the death of Princess Diana, who was killed alongside her boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed, in a Paris car crash 10 years ago, is tracing the couple’s final journey through the French capital.

The 11-member jury, accompanied by coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, arrived in Paris yesterday and visited the Alma tunnel in which the fatal car crash took place on August 31, 1997.

The coroner led the jurors into the tunnel and then stood silently next to the notorious 13th pillar, which still bears signs of a massive impact from the Mercedes carrying Diana and Dodi, their chauffeur, Henri Paul, and her bodyguard, Trevor Rees Jones.

Lord Justice Baker made no direct reference to the 13th pillar, breaking the silence only to suggest to the jurors that they might wish to walk further up the tunnel in order to look back down the underpass from its entrance.

“It may be helpful to look back down the tunnel to see the angle and the dip (of the road) as you come into the underpass,” he reportedly told the 50-member court party, including the jurors. — PTI

Sharif to return to Pak next month: Son

Islamabad, October 9
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was deported to Saudi Arabia last month within hours of setting foot on Pakistani soil after a seven-year exile, will return to the country between November 15 and 30, his son said.

Sharif’s son Hassan Nawaz said his father and uncle Shahbaz Sharif would return home together. He said his father was now in the holy city of Madina and would travel to Jeddah after Eid-ul-Fitr.

After staying in Jeddah for a few days, he would travel to London and after staying in London for two to three weeks, Sharif and his brother would return to Pakistan between November 15 and 30, Hassan said.

Sources in Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League(N) were quoted as saying that the Saudi government had allowed Sharif to leave that country after Eid. — PTI

Baloch journalist charged with sedition
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

French village rejects NRI’s £7 m bequest

London, October 9
A picturesque French village has rejected an NRI artist’s desire to donate his collection of paintings worth £7 million to it, saying the condition, that his work should go on regular display for the next 50 years, was “unreasonable”.

Syed Haider Raza (85), who was born in India but has lived in France since 1949, had announced that he offered to leave his personal collection to the municipality of Gorbio “in order to thank the people for all the happiness they have given me”.

Before agreeing to the bequest, Raza insisted that his works could be viewed for four months every summer in the tower of Gorbio’s 12th century castle, its main tourist attraction. He had offered to pay £500,000 for insurance and to set up a foundation.

After Gorbio’s council rejected the proposal, its financial director Patrick Simon said: “For me this isn’t a donation. It’s an unfair bargain: safeguarding the fame of an artist against any number of unknown factors.”

Raza is “irritated and hurt” by the affair, which he is observing from his studio in Paris, a close friend was quoted as saying in ‘The Daily Telegraph’.

“Reluctantly, he is considering leaving his bequest to other cities that have expressed interest: Paris, Nice or Mumbai,” he said. — PTI

Van Gogh's final masterpiece on sale
Likely to fetch £17 million 

London, October 9
Art collectors, this is perhaps your last opportunity to acquire ‘The Fields’ by Vincent Van Gogh. Yes, the masterpiece, believed to be the Dutch artist’s last painting before his suicide, is on show here. Though touched by tragedy, it was painted on July 10, 1890, 19 days before Van Gogh died at the age of 37. However, ‘The Fields’ conveys little hint of the depression that had driven the artist to shoot himself.

“Here is an artist literally on the verge of taking his life and filled with tremendous despondency, yet he is still painting with lemon yellows, azure blues and emerald greens,” David Norman, executive vice-president, Sotheby said.

In fact, this picture is one of the last of Van Goghs’ works in private hands. ‘The Fields’, which hung in his room as he bled to death, will be auctioned in New York next month, where it is expected to fetch £17 million. — PTI

50 militants killed in fresh air strikes in Pak 

Islamabad, October 9
At least 50 militants were killed today when Pakistani fighter jets pounded their hideouts in the country’s restive tribal region near Afghan border, taking to nearly 250 the total number of ultras who lost their lives in the latest crackdown by the security forces.

Pakistani air force jets bombed militant hideouts in North Waziristan tribal agency, military spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad said, adding there was no involvement of ground forces in the operation.

Reports said at least 50 militants were killed in the air strikes on their hideouts.

TV channels reported that dozens of civilians, including women and children, were also killed in the latest bombing, but the army said there had been no “collateral damage” in the strikes.

Earlier, the army said in a statement that 150 militants and at least 45 soldiers had been killed in clashes between security forces and pro-Taliban militants over the past three days. — PTI

Man held with 100 heroin capsules in intestine

Dubai, October 9
A passenger from Pakistan was arrested at the Dubai airport attempting to smuggle in 100 heroin capsules worth at least $130,000 (Rs 50 million) in international markets concealed in his body.

The passenger from Karachi whose nationality was not revealed was nabbed on a tip-off and inspectors at Dubai Airport Customs Centre subjected him to an X-ray examination leading to the detection of the capsules.

The passenger, who denied at first that there is any material in his intestine, confessed after a while and approved that he was carrying heroin capsules hidden inside his body, an official statement said.

Around 100 capsules of heroin were removed from the passenger’s intestines, each weighing around 10 gm, with an estimated total weight of 1,000 grams.

Many a time, drug mafia in Pakistan employ Africans to carry drugs in this fashion. — UNI