Washington, January 30
After weeks of neck-to-neck fighting, Republican John McCain appeared to be breaking from the pack as the 72-year-old edged out Mitt Romney and virtually dealt a deadly blow to Rudy Giuliani in Florida’s presidential primary ahead of the ‘Super Duper Tuesday’ vote in 20 states.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton won among the Demorcats but the victory will give nothing except some psychological boost to her campaign, reeling under the South Carolina drubbing and rival Barack Obama’s coup to get the endorsement of two influential Kennedys.

Like Michigan, which too was won by Clinton, Florida has been penalised by the central party for moving up its primaries and will have no delegates to the National Convention in Denver this August that will elect the Democratic presidential candidate.

This will be third staight win for the Vietnam veteran who earlier bagged North Hampshire and South Carolina.

However, it is his success in Florida with 57 winner-take-all delegates that has catapulted McCain to a front runner status.

Former New York Mayor Giuliani, who had banked on Florida, trailed with 15 per cent and indicated that he could drop out of the race in favour of McCain.

Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee who was tied with Giuliani for the third place made his intention known of staying in the race. In the overall delegate race, McCain has 93, Romney 59 and Huckabee 40. Paul has four and Giuliani one.

Clinton, meanwhile, pushed her party to restore delegates from Florida and Michigan. “I promise you I will do everything I can that not only Florida’s Democrats get seated but that Florida is in the winning column for the Democrats in November 2008,” the 60-year-old former first lady told supporters in Florida.

Obama’s campaign played down Clinton’s win saying “Our focus is on February 5. Honestly if she’s spending a night in Florida instead of a February 5 state, that’s just fine with us.”

Meanwhile, former North Carolina Sen John Edwards is dropping out of the race to become Democratic candidate for US president, cable news channels MSNBC and Fox News reported today. — Agencies

Pakistan’s retired military top brass will meet here on Thursday under the banner of Ex-Servicemen Society to coordinate their role in strengthening democratic movement in the country and save it from the current crisis.

Among those invited in formidable gathering is President Musharraf, who described them as ‘good for nothing paper tigers’ last week, when 100 of them asked him to step down. Musharraf’s close aides like Gen (retd) Ehsan-ul-Haq, Gen (retd) Muhammad Yousaf, Gen (retd) Aziz Khan, Gen (retd) Ahsan Salim Hayat and Lt-Gen (retd) Moeen-ud-Din Haider have also been invited to the meeting.

“We invite you as Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, along with your star-studded team of ex-servicemen to join us. Honour us with your presence and give us your wisdom so explicitly being expressed,” a letter co-authored by many said. They hoped to persuade Musharraf to restore the image of the army by resigning as the President and letting the electoral process be held in free and transparent manner.

A statement signed by 100 generals and top retired officials of air force and navy last week had expressed grave concern over deepening national crisis ahead of elections and in the aftermath of assassination of Benazir Bhutto and asked Musharraf to step down in larger national interests.

The statement was viewed within and abroad as fresh pressure was building up against the embattled President within his own institution. Reacting angrily during his European trip last week, Musharraf had ridiculed the signatories and boasted that they would not be able to penetrate the army that remains loyal to him.

The meeting would be presided over by Air Marshal Asghar Khan, who leads the Tehrike Istiqlal and had asked the army not to obey Musharraf’s illegal and unconstitutional orders in a repeat of 1977, when he wrote letter to army generals on the same lines.

Kathmandu, January 30
More than 50 persons were wounded when a bomb exploded today near a crowd of thousands attending a political rally held by Nepal’s governing alliance in the south of the Himalayan nation, the police said.

“We have 55 persons wounded in all,” a police official in the southeastern town of Birgunj, 62 km from Kathmandu, said. A doctor at the local hospital said at least three persons were in critical condition.

“I think it was a plastic bomb,” police official Yogeswor Romkhani said.

There was no immediate word on who carried out the blast, the latest in a series of blasts that have rocked the restive southern Terai plains in recent weeks.

“I was standing near the site when I heard a sudden blast,” said Jaya Narayan Yadav.

“Then I saw people running away in panic. Some were bleeding from their legs, hands and the back.” The police said the blast took place 200 metres from a political rally, which was being addressed by senior leaders of the ruling seven-party alliance.

The rally was the latest in a series of public meetings the ruling alliance had organised this month after setting April 10 for twice-delayed elections for a constituent assembly.

That assembly, a centrepiece of a peace deal with former Maoist rebels, is supposed to prepare a new constitution, declare Nepal a republic and make laws.

Ethnic groups from the Terai, including armed groups, have been demanding greater participation in the assembly or regional autonomy ahead of the vote.

They say the fertile area, which is home to nearly half of Nepal 26.4 million people, has been discriminated against by the government that is dominated by the people from the hills.

The United Nations condemned the blast.

“Violence and intimidation have no place in a democratic transition, and in particular Nepal’s constituent assembly election process,” said Ian Martin, chief of the United Nations Mission in Nepal, who is monitoring the peace deal and elections.

“Political differences must be resolved through peaceful means.” — Reuters

Toronto, January 30
An Indo-Canadian who was sexually assaulted in custody five years back in Edmonton is facing a nightmare and may be deported to India following the assault on his wife by him.

“The last five years have turned out to be a nightmare for me. I’m just really heartbroken. I have been completely destroyed,” said Raj (changed name), whose identity cannot be revealed because of a court-ordered publication ban.

Raj had hit his wife during a fight in 2006. That incident resulted in a 60-day jail sentence, a move which could be used by officials here to send him back to India.

Raj admits he’s made mistakes, but blames his actions on psychological problems he’s suffered due to the violent sexual assaults while he was in custody.

While Raj received $10,000 in victim’s compensation from the government, he says he continued to battle depression and addiction to prescription drugs as a result of repeated sexual assaults at the hands of Adam Paul Green while he waited to go to court on a theft charge in April 2003.

Due to privacy issues, the Canada Border Services Agency could say little about Raj’s case. But agency spokesman Lisa White said the government last year found him inadmissible to Canada due to “serious criminality.” Under federal laws, a non-citizen becomes inadmissible if convicted of a crime with a maximum penalty of at least 10 years, something that applies to the assault charge.

Complicating Raj’s difficulties is the fact police charged him with uttering threats against officials who had been helping his now ex-wife since the 2006 assault. — PTI

Jakarta, January 30
A 32-year-old Indonesian man who had tested positive for bird flu has died, a health ministry official said today adding authorities are still investigating the source of infection.

The man, from Tangerang west of Jakarta, died, yesterday, at Jakarta’s Persahabatan hospital, said Toto Haryanto from the ministry’s bird flu centre.

His death takes the country’s toll from the H5N1 bird flu virus to 101.

Initially, authorities suspected that the man had contracted the virus from pet doves kept in his neighbourhood, but subsequent tests revealed the birds and other fowl in the neighbourhood were H5N1-free.

“It’s a big mystery that has yet to be solved,” said Zulkarnain Hassan from the agricultural ministry’s bird flu control unit tasked with investigating the source of infection.

“There are three out of four persons who died of bird flu this week whose virus source remains unknown,” Hassan told Reuters.

The country’s death toll hit 100 on Monday when two separate laboratory tests confirmed a 23-year-old woman from east Jakarta and a 9-year-old boy from the capital’s outskirts had died of bird flu. The source of infection in both cases is still unknown.

The number of bird flu deaths has spiked recently, with six persons dying of the virus in January.

Emil Agustiono, a top national bird flu committee official, said the recent surge in cases was caused by a combination of several factors, including poor sanitation and weather. — Reuters

Nairobi, January 30
The Kenyan police has been ordered to shoot to kill looters, arsonists, people carrying weapons or blocking roads, a commander told AFP today, in a bid to stem weeks of clashes sparked by disputed elections.

“There are four categories of people who will face tough police action: those looting property, burning houses, carrying offensive weapons, barricading roads,” a police commander told AFP, requesting anonymity.

“We have orders to shoot to kill these categories of people if they are caught in the acts,” the commander added.

He said the authorities gave the order shortly after the formal launch of crisis talks yesterday between Kenya’s President and opposition leader, led by former UN chief Kofi Annan. — AFP