W O R L D

Pak parliament to have first woman speaker
The National Assembly is set to elect on Tuesday its first woman speaker in Pakistan’s parliamentary history. Dr Fahmida Mirza (52), a PPP MP filed nomination papers on Tuesday as unanimous candidate of the four-party coalition that enjoys overwhelming majority in the House.

Fahmida Mirza (L), an MP from Pakistan People’s Party, submits her nomination papers for the post of national assembly speaker at the parliament house in Islamabad on Tuesday. — Reuters photo

PPP, allies decide to keep ministry to 40
Senior leaders of the four coalition partners in the prospective government today finalised a power sharing formula and decided to keep the strength of the Cabinet up to 40. The previous Cabinet under Shukat Aziz was the largest in the country’s history with 72 members, besides advisers.

Fahim proposes Zardari’s name for PM
Islamabad, March 18
As divisions remained over who would be Pakistan’s next Prime Minister, PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari’s name was proposed by initial front-runner and senior leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim and the prolonged suspense is set to end by Thursday.

Taiwan ignores Chinese plea for talks
Beijing/Taipei, March 18
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered today to resume talks with self-ruled Taiwan, but his plea was ignored in a barrage of anti-China rhetoric ahead of Saturday’s presidential election on the island.

24 Tibetan protesters held in Nepal
The Nepal police on Tuesday arrested around 24 Tibetan refugees in front of the gate of the United Nations office in Pulchowk. They were protesting against the recent crackdown in Lhasa by the Chinese authorities.

Lhasa will be opened to the world: China
Beijing, March 18
China today promised to “open to the rest of the world” riot-scarred Lhasa, locked down since Friday after the worst pro-independence protests in two decades, amid a clamour by foreign journalists seeking access to the Tibetan capital.

Kanishka Case
Indo-Canadian admits he tried to kill witness
Toronto, March 18
An Indo-Canadian has pleaded guilty to attempted murder of a witness who provided the police with information about the murder of a noted journalist.

Ex-New Jersey Guv admits to ‘threesomes’
New York, March 18
A former New Jersey Governor has admitted to three-way sexual trysts with his wife and a former aide after the latter revealed it to the media, while his wife contradicted the statements.

Pak parliament to have first woman speaker
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

The National Assembly is set to elect on Tuesday its first woman speaker in Pakistan’s parliamentary history.

Dr Fahmida Mirza (52), a PPP MP filed nomination papers on Tuesday as unanimous candidate of the four-party coalition that enjoys overwhelming majority in the House. The combined opposition has fielded Israr Tareen, a PML-Q member from Balochistan, to challenge Mirza.

Nomination papers of Faisal Karim Kundi, also from PPP, but supported by the coalition, were also approved after scrutiny for deputy speaker. Khushbakht Shujaat of MQM is the opposition candidate for the post. Elections will be held on Wednesday through secret ballot.

Dr Mirza, a medical doctor, will replace Chaudhry Amir Hussain who, incidentally, was defeated in the February 18 elections also by a woman, Dr Firdos Awan. He spent the longest tenure of nearly five and half years as speaker. Mirza belongs to a prominent political family of Sindh and has been elected on a general seat for the third time since 1997. She is wife of one of close friend of PPP vice-chairman Asif Zardari and owns a popular Sindh paper Ibrat.

In a brief chat with newsmen after filing her papers, Mirza said if elected her top priority would be to strengthen the parliament. She would not make any distinction between the government and the opposition members while conducting proceedings in the House, she said.

PPP, allies decide to keep ministry to 40
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Senior leaders of the four coalition partners in the prospective government today finalised a power sharing formula and decided to keep the strength of the Cabinet up to 40.

The previous Cabinet under Shukat Aziz was the largest in the country’s history with 72 members, besides advisers.

Leaders of the PPP, the PML-N, the ANP and the JUI at their meeting further decided that every coalition partner would be allocated Cabinet berths proportionate to the strength of its members in the Assembly. It, however, made one exception conceding the demand of Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI that it be given weightage on the basis of its larger presence in the Senate, where it had 15 members compared to six in the National Assembly, PML-N leader Ishaq Dar said.

Pak sacks IB chief

The Pakistan government has sacked the controversial Intelligence Bureau chief, Ijaz Shah, who was accused by slain former premier Benazir Bhutto of being involved in a plot to kill her. Shah, a former official of the Inter-Services Intelligence , was appointed Director-General of the IB in 2004.

A controversial figure, Shah has been accused of using his department for "political victimisation" and undermining the judiciary.

Fahim proposes Zardari’s name for PM

Islamabad, March 18
As divisions remained over who would be Pakistan’s next Prime Minister, PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari’s name was proposed by initial front-runner and senior leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim and the prolonged suspense is set to end by Thursday.

Fahim, who has expressed frustration that his nomination has not been announced, offered to stand aside for Zardari amid mounting speculation that the widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto wants the top job himself.

After meeting Zardari late last night, Fahim said he had proposed that the PPP chairman should become Prime Minister.

Asked by reporters if he was still a candidate for premiership, Fahim said: “I told him (Zardari) that he should be the candidate for the post of Prime Minister, and we will all support you. I have made the proposal on my part, it is up to him to take a decision,” he said. — PTI

Taiwan ignores Chinese plea for talks

Beijing/Taipei, March 18
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered today to resume talks with self-ruled Taiwan, but his plea was ignored in a barrage of anti-China rhetoric ahead of Saturday’s presidential election on the island.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island at the end of a civil war in 1949. Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Wen said he wanted talks as soon as possible, but also warned Taiwan that passage of a contentious referendum on UN membership would disrupt ties.

“We hope to resume peace talks across the Straits as soon as possible under the one-China principle. Any questions can be addressed, including such major issues as ending the hostile state between the two sides,” Wen said.

“Anyone who wants to separate Taiwan from the motherland will not succeed and is doomed to fail,” he added.

The Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s China policy-making body, denounced Wen and said the crackdown in Tibet raised doubts about China’s call for “peaceful development across the Strait”.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party also slammed China and said Beijing should avoid trying to interfere in Taiwan’s election.

Taiwan will also hold a referendum on UN membership alongside the presidential election, ignoring warnings from the United States, France, Japan and China. — Reuters

24 Tibetan protesters held in Nepal
Bishnu Budhathoki writes from Kathmandu

The Nepal police on Tuesday arrested around 24 Tibetan refugees in front of the gate of the United Nations office in Pulchowk. They were protesting against the recent crackdown in Lhasa by the Chinese authorities.

According to a police officer, all the detained have been taken to Mahargunj police office in Kathmandu and would be freed in the evening.

On Monday, 48 Tibetan refugees including five monks and a nun were arrested in a clash that ensued in front of the UN headquarters in Kathmandu and released later. At least nine demonstrators had sustained injuries when the police resorted to baton-charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse them.

Tibetan refugees, who have been taking shelter in Pokhara, in western Nepal, also carried out a peaceful demonstration.

Meanwhile, expressing serious concern over the excessive use of force by the police against the demonstrators, the UN Office of the High Commissioner of the Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal urged the government of Nepal to respect its obligations under international human rights law and to uphold the fundamental rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

Lhasa will be opened to the world: China

Beijing, March 18
China today promised to “open to the rest of the world” riot-scarred Lhasa, locked down since Friday after the worst pro-independence protests in two decades, amid a clamour by foreign journalists seeking access to the Tibetan capital.

Asked why China was not letting foreign journalists to travel to Tibet if it was sure of its version of the developments in the Himalayan region, Wen said the situation in Lhasa was “basically returning to normal. The situation is calm”. He assured the agitated western journalists that he fully appreciated the reason why the international media organisations would “like to go there at this moment”.

“Lhasa will be opened to the rest of the world,” he told reporters at the ornate Great Hall of the People. — PTI

Kanishka Case
Indo-Canadian admits he tried to kill witness

Toronto, March 18
An Indo-Canadian has pleaded guilty to attempted murder of a witness who provided the police with information about the murder of a noted journalist.

Rajinder Singh Soomel, a 33-year-old Surrey truck driver, was arrested last October by the special RCMP task force probing the assassination of Tara Singh Hayer, prospective witness in the 1985 Air India bombing.

Soomel was charged with attempted murder after the RCMP obtained evidence of an unfolding conspiracy to kill Hardip Singh Uppal. Uppal had come to investigators with information about a series of gangland hits - some allegedly involving Soomel's brother Robbie - as well as the death of Hayer, the publisher of the Indo-Canadian Times. — PTI

Ex-New Jersey Guv admits to ‘threesomes’

New York, March 18
A former New Jersey Governor has admitted to three-way sexual trysts with his wife and a former aide after the latter revealed it to the media, while his wife contradicted the statements.

Jim McGreevey, who resigned after admitting that he was gay and had relation with an employee, confirmed to his former male aide Teddy Pederson's version that they along with his wife indulged in three-way sex for two years until he was elected Governor.

Before McGreevey's admission, his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, who is fighting a messy divorce battle with him over finances and custody of their daughter, vehemently, denied it. She termed the 29-year-old former aide was her estranged husband "crony" and alleged Pederson had been set up by her husband since she was getting media attention. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Sikh challenges helmet law
Toronto: A Sikh who has lost his battle to ride a motorcycle without a helmet has decided to file an appeal against the Canadian Court decision, saying that it will be in “larger interest” of the community. The court had on March 6 dismissed a plea of Baljinder Badesha, who was fighting a $ 110 ticket he received in September 2005 for not wearing a helmet over his turban while riding his motorcycle. — PTI

Indian-American pleads guilty
New York: An India-origin businessman Jagdeep Singh Sidhu has pleaded guilty for running an illegal money transfer business in Bakersfield, California, for which he faces up to five years in prison and $2,50,000 of fine. The US attorney of eastern district of California McGregor W. Scott said in a statement that Sidhu has pleaded guilty in the US district court in Fresno to one count of conducting an illegal money transmitting business. The statement quoted assistant US attorney Mark E. Cullers, who is prosecuting the case, as saying that Sidhu in his plea agreement has admitted to transferring $1,71,710 to foreign locations without being properly licensed by the state of California. — PTI

Indian gets rare German award
Frankfurt: It is very rare for an Asian to be awarded the prestigious German Cross of Merit Award, but this is precisely what a Malaysia-born Indian has achieved. The septuagenarian's dedication to the cause of helping the sick and physically-challenged people finally caught the attention of the German politicians who recommended the prestigious award - almost as good as a knighthood -- be conferred upon him. Shivadas Pattanath is a man who avers "social service is my passon". The 74-year-old who is devoted to social work, helping the aged and those afflicted with disability after his retirement in 1996, was recently awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz, the German Cross of Merit. — Bernama

Halle Berry has baby girl
New York: Halle Berry does not just play a mom in movies anymore. The 41-year-old actress had a baby girl yesterday, and "is going great," her publicist Meredith O'Sullivan told People.com the Website of People magazine. It is her first child. The father is 32-year-old model Gabriel Aubry. The two met while shooting a Versace ad in Los Angeles two years ago. — AP