Washington, February 15
After her eight consecutive defeats at the hands of the party rival Barack Obama since the ‘Super Tuesday’ vote, Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton finally had some good news on Valentine’s Day with the New Mexico caucus result going her way.

Clinton (60), who is bidding to become the first woman President of the US, got 73,105 votes compared to Obama’s 71,396 in the New Mexico contest, which was one of the 24 held across the country on the February 5 ‘Super Tuesday’ showdown.

The result declared last night gave Clinton, the Senator from New York, one extra delegate. She narrowly trails Obama, 46-year-old first time Senator from Illinois, in the delegate count 1,237 to 1,289, according to an independent website.

They both need 2,025 delegates to secure their nomination for the Presidential election in November. In a statement, Clinton said, “As President, I will continue to stand up for New Mexico and will hit the ground running on day one to bring about real change”.

The New Mexico result came as a relief to Clinton after she lost eight consecutive primaries and two key members of campaign staff since the ‘Super Tuesday’ showdown which had failed to produce a clear front-runner for Democrats.

Of the two dozen contests on ‘Super Tuesday’, New Mexico was the last to report a winner. Now, both Obama, who is also seeking to script history by becoming the first black President, and Clinton are looking at the delegate-rich states of Texas and Ohio, which hold primaries on March 4.

Obama’s Ohio campaign director Carlos Monje Jr. appeared to accept the New Mexico result and said the Illinois Senator had gained momentum from his run of victories.

Campaigning in Ohio, Clinton told an audience at a General Motors plant that unlike Obama, she was a fighter.

“That’s the difference between me and my opponent. My opponent makes speeches. I offer solutions. It is one thing to get people excited. I want to empower you,” she said. — PTI

Islamabad, February 15
Pakistan’s upcoming parliamentary polls will be “massively rigged”, according to a purported audio recording of attorney-general Malik Qayyum.

In the recording released by a leading US-based human rights group, Qayyum appeared to be advising an unidentified person on what political party the person should approach to become a candidate in the February 18 general election.

The Human Rights Watch claimed the recording was made during a phone interview with a mediaperson on November 21 last year. Qayyum, while still on the phone interview, took a call on another telephone and his side of that conversation was recorded.

Qayyum, a retired judge who is a close aide of President Pervez Musharraf, is heard telling the unidentified person in Urdu and Punjabi to “leave” former premier Nawaz Sharif and seek a ticket from the party that “will massively rig to get their own people to win”.

The recording was made the day after the Election Commission announced the schedule for polls. The polls were originally set for January 8 but were postponed after former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.

“They will massively rig to get their own people to win. If you can get a ticket from these guys, take it,” Qayyum purportedly said. It was not known which party he was referring to.

The Human Rights Watch said its repeated attempts to seek a response from Qayyum by phone were unsuccessful. — PTI

Toronto, February 15
A Canadian-Indian Sikh has challenged a law which makes it mandatory for motorcyclists in Ontario to wear helmets, local media reported.

Thirty-nine-year old Bajendar Badesha, who wears a turban, says he should be permitted to ride a motorcycle without a helmet and is currently fighting a $ 110 ticket in court.

Three weeks after he began riding in Brampton in 2005, Badesha was issued the ticket by the Peel police.

“We want an exemption for our religion, we can’t put a helmet on it (turban),” Badesha was quoted as saying outside court by the Brompton Guardian.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission supports Badesha, and their lawyer, Scott Hutchison, told the court that the law which makes helmets mandatory is “indirectly discriminatory”.

“That requirement makes it impossible for Badesha to, like other motorcycle riders, take advantage of that service that is otherwise available as a normal part of life in Ontario, a service that is available to everybody,” said Hutchison in court.

Badesha, who runs his own second-hand vehicles business, said “I know it (wearing a helmet) is for safety, but people die in car accidents all the time.”

There are exceptions to motorcycle helmet laws for devout Sikhs in British Columbia, Manitoba, the UK and Northern Ireland, the court heard.

The province is expected to respond to the commission’s arguments soon. — PTI

London, February 15
With a rising number of people from Britain queueing up to visit India, the Indian high commission here will outsource the visa application process from May this year.

“From summer (May) this year, the same company that handles the visa application process for the British high commission in India - VFS Global - will do the visa application process for us,” acting high commissioner Asoke Mukerji said.

On an average the high commission issued 5,00,000 visas in a year, the same as the British high commission issues to Indians wishing to visit the UK.

Observing that in the last few years emergence of India as an economic power has attracted a lot of attention, Mukerji said Indian companies had so far acquired 65 British enterprises and “there may be an announcement about Tata acquiring Land Rover soon.” Contrary to perception that Indian companies take away jobs, they were creating jobs here, the envoy said at a function to celebrate the Republic Day of India at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan here last night.

Mukerji said the city of London proposed to hold an Indian cultural festival here in collaboration with the Nehru Centre this year and expected a quantum leap forward in the UK-India relations in the coming years.

Manick Dalal, chairman of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, UK and Lord Khalid Hameed highlighted India’s rapid progress during the last few years and noted that the country is being recognised now as one of the power houses of the 21st century. — PTI

Copenhagen, February 15
Danish Justice Minister Lene Espersen on Friday said a recent wave of fires deliberately set in several cities amid a new row over the Mohammed cartoons was “completely unacceptable.”

During the past week, cars and trash containers have been set on fire in Copenhagen and overnight on Friday several other cities, including Aarhus, also reported burning cars and dumpsters. A school in a Copenhagen suburb was also set ablaze overnight.

The authorities blamed mainly juveniles from immigrant families for the attacks, and welcomed efforts by parents and volunteers who have patrolled the streets trying to calm youths. A year ago, parts of Copenhagen were impacted by rioting when a building that housed an independent youth centre was evicted and torn down, triggering massive protests.

Karpantschof did not rule out a link to the recent arrests of three men suspected of plotting to murder a Danish newspaper cartoonist. Two of the men were Tunisian nationals and face deportation.

Kurt Westergaard, 73, who drew the cartoon that depicted Mohammed wearing a bomb as a turban, told public broadcaster DR in an interview late Thursday that he did not regret his work. “I am too old and stubborn to back down,” Westergaard said, saying he had been threatened by “fanatics” while “I only did my job.”

He said the cartoon was aimed at illustrating how some groups get “spiritual dynamite” from Islam. The cartoon was one of 12 published in newspapers that sparked violent protests in 2006 by Muslims around in the world.

Westergaard said his cartoon was made against the backdrop of the Danish context and was “sad” that the cartoon had caused deaths.

Leading Danish newspapers on Wednesday republished the cartoon after police said they had uncovered an alleged plot to murder Westergaard. The publication stood for freedom of expression. — IANS

Leaders of the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) on Friday met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

This comes just a day after Indian National Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh asked all agitating armed and unarmed groups in the restive southern region of Nepal and the ruling Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) to resolve the existing political deadlock on holding the Constituent Assembly (CA) election on April 10.

During the meeting held at the Prime Minister's residential office in Baluwatar, Koirala reportedly discussed the six-point demand of the UDMF, a newly formed front comprising three major Madhes-based political parties - Terai-Madhesi Democratic Party (TMDP), Madhesi People's Rights Forum and Sadbhavana Party.

However, TMFP chairman Mahanta Thakur said that no agreements were reached during the meeting. He said, "We discussed our demands with the Prime Minister and he only gave us some assurances.”

He also said that Koirala has asked them not to disclose anything about the meeting.

Another Madhesi leader Anil Kumar Jha said that Koirala would make the government’s stand known over their demands soon.

On Thursday, an Indian political delegation led by Indian National Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh had urged both the government and agitating groups to resolve the problem through dialogue and create a conducive environment for free and fair elections on April 10.

Immediately after the Indian leader’s suggestion, a team of the ruling SPA headed by minister for peace and reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel had sent a letter to the agitating Madhesi groups, who were reluctant to sit at the negotiating table with the government earlier, inviting them for talks.

Meanwhile, life across the southern plains remained tense on Friday due to the indefinite strike called by the UDMF and the Federal Republican National Front.

The strike across the southern plains has hit the capital hard with the shutdown of the only route to bring in petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene to the country from the sole supplier India.