W O R L D

Iran Sanctions
Bush gets Europe’s backing
London, June 16
US President George W. Bush won strong backing from Europe on Monday to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also promised to send more troops to try and curb resurgent violence in Afghanistan after talks with Bush, who is making a farewell tour of Europe.

Anti-Bush protests in Britain, 25 held
London, June 16
At least 25 persons were arrested here as over 2000 people demonstrated against US President George W Bush and his much-criticised foreign policy, coinciding with his visit to Britain. An estimated 2,500 people held a noisy demonstration against the US president and his

Nepal’s last king gives crown, keeps throne
Kathmandu, June 16
Nepal’s last king Gyanendra gave away his crown, sceptre and other heirlooms to the government before exiting the Narayanhity Palace here. However, the dynasty’s spectacular snake throne, cleverly crafted to nurture the image that the monarch was a divine incarnation, is still in his possession.

GETTING TALL: Villagers dressed in traditional clothes race on stilts through the Marche region of Schieti town in Italy on Sunday. The winners takes a prize of a palio or cloth banner. — Reuters

Lawyers abandon sit-in
‘It was a collective decision’
Defending the decision of abandoning the sit-in that has caused strains within the lawyers’ movement after the ‘long march’, its top leaders have said the move had avoided a clash with the new democratic coalition.

Pak satellite to monitor Afghan border
Pakistan today launched a satellite for monitoring its border with Afghanistan, adviser to Prime Minister on interior security Rehman Malik told reporters here today.

Suicide bomber kills 12 cops
A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up killing 12 police personnel, including three women constables in the northern town of vavuniya on Monday morning, the military said. The explosion took place outside the office of the SSP as the cops were gathering to board a bus to head home on leave.

Hunger hormone ‘increases’ during stress
New York, June 16
Ever wondered why you tend to overeat when you are stressed? Well, a study has the answer finally-it's due to "hunger hormone" ghrelin which also has an "anti-depressant" effect. It is known that fasting causes ghrelin to be produced in the gastrointestinal tract, and that the hormone then plays a role in sending hunger signals to the brain.

Iran Sanctions
Bush gets Europe’s backing

London, June 16
US President George W. Bush won strong backing from Europe on Monday to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also promised to send more troops to try and curb resurgent violence in Afghanistan after talks with Bush, who is making a farewell tour of Europe.

Iran has rejected calls to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear bombs although Tehran says its nuclear programme is intended only for civil power generation.

“We will do everything possible to maintain the dialogue, but we are also clear that if Iran continues to ignore united resolutions and continues to ignores our offers of partnership, we have no choice but to intensify sanctions,” Brown told a news conference with Bush after talks in London.

“So today, Britain will urge Europe and Europe will agree to take further sanctions against Iran. First of all we will take action today that will freeze the overseas assets of the biggest bank in Iran, the bank Melli, and second, action will start today for a new phase of sanctions on oil and gas,” he said.

Iran again ruled out suspending enrichment on Saturday and dismissed a package of political and economic incentives put forward by six world powers.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said at the weekend he expected a formal reply soon from Iran on the incentives package, but senior Iranian member of parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Tehran was in no hurry to respond.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have all offered Bush support for efforts to prevent Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The three U.N. sanctions resolutions imposed so far on Iran have been relatively limited in scope — including targeting individuals, some firms with military links and several banks.

Flush with record oil revenues that have helped it withstand such sanctions, Iran has long ruled out ending its quest for its own uranium enrichment industry.

Brown also promised to send more troops to Afghanistan, but did not say how large a force would go.

“Today Britain will announce additional troops for Afghanistan, bringing our numbers in Afghanistan to the highest level,” he told reporters.

Britain, a troop contributor to the NATO force fighting Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents, has about 7,800 troops in Afghanistan, mostly in Helmand province. Five British soldiers were killed last week, bringing the total number of British military deaths in Afghanistan since 2001 to 102.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has seen its troop strength swell to some 52,000 in recent months but commanders say it is still under-resourced and struggles to hold areas captured from insurgents.

Anti-Bush protests in Britain, 25 held

London, June 16
At least 25 persons were arrested here as over 2000 people demonstrated against US President George W Bush and his much-criticised foreign policy, coinciding with his visit to Britain. An estimated 2,500 people held a noisy demonstration against the US president and his

"War on Terror" at the Parliament Square as he attended a private dinner nearby hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last night. Protesters blew whistles, banged their drums and voiced their opposition to the Iraq war, police said. Twenty-five people were arrested near Parliament Square after they pelted officers with placards and tried to breach a police cordon near Downing Street, as the US President arrived for dinner. Some of the placards read "Bush- terrorist", "We want welfare, not Warfare".

"This is a signal to the incoming US president that the people of this country are absolutely against this illegal war and destroying of civil liberties," said 71-year-old Sarah Cox, a retired teacher who carried a Bush effigy bearing a cowboy hat, toy pistol and miniature missile. Writer Sheila O'Callaghan, 59, said she hoped the next president would bring a change in America's relationship to the rest of the world. "Anything else would be a tragedy for the whole of humanity," she said. About 1,200 officers were deployed to secure the president's 24-hour visit to Britain, although Deputy Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison told reporters there was no specific threat to the trip. — PTI

Nepal’s last king gives crown, keeps throne

Kathmandu, June 16
Nepal’s last king Gyanendra gave away his crown, sceptre and other heirlooms to the government before exiting the Narayanhity Palace here. However, the dynasty’s spectacular snake throne, cleverly crafted to nurture the image that the monarch was a divine incarnation, is still in his possession.

A cluster of snakes forms a canopy over the throne to heighten the impression that the kings were incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu who, according to myth, was sheltered during his sleep by the world’s largest snake. This and at least least two other gold thrones are yet to come under the formal custody of the government, the state-run Gorkhapatra daily reported on Monday.

The thrones still lie in the old palace in Basantapur, from where the Shah kings shifted to the Narayanhity in the 19th century.

Gyanendra was the last king to sit on the majestic throne in June 2001, when he became the king following the stunning murder of his elder brother Birendra in the army-guarded royal palace. The ceremony took place at the old square near the Basantapur Palace.

Though the Basantapur Palace is now an archaeological site, parts of which have been opened to the public, a treasure trove of royal memorabilia, including priceless jewellery, wildlife artefacts and the thrones are said to be kept locked up in a room.

The daily said that according to employees at the old palace, a former palace official has been keeping the key to the locked room with him even though he retired some time ago. There was no immediate official reaction to the report.

On May 28, after Nepal’s newly elected lawmakers proclaimed the Hindu kingdom a secular, federal republic, the government formed a high-level committee to take inventory of the valuables in the Narayanhity Palace.

However, priceless objects are still said to be gathering dust at the Basantapur Palace.

While Narayanhity was formally unveiled as a national museum by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Sunday, it has not yet been announced officially what the government proposes to do with the six other palaces that were nationalised after the fall of the royal government in 2006. — IANS

Lawyers abandon sit-in
‘It was a collective decision’
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Defending the decision of abandoning the sit-in that has caused strains within the lawyers’ movement after the ‘long march’, its top leaders have said the move had avoided a clash with the new democratic coalition.

Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and Justice and Tariq Mahmood, while talking to reporters, said the implementation committee of the lawyers’ movement had unanimously decided on Saturday that continued agitation after the successful ‘long march’ would have created misunderstanding that the lawyers were out to demolish the new government.

Aitzaz, against whom a small crowd of younger lawyers had raised slogans accusing him comprising with the government and betraying the movement, said the lawyers would continue their campaign till the restitution of the deposed judges. He said the next time there could be a ‘train march’ and there would never be any compromise on restoration of judges.

Meanwhile, thirty lawyers from Bahawalnagar were sitting outside the Parliament even on Sunday. Talking to reporters, Justice Tariq said the decision not to stage a sit-in in front of Parliament at the conclusion of the ‘long march’ was a collective one.

Tariq said many participants of the march wanted to stage a sit-in to press the political leadership for restoration of judges. “We, however, decided otherwise because we were there to strengthen the Parliament and not threaten it. We just wanted the Parliament to realise peoples’ sentiments,” he said. “The impression that was being deliberately created that lawyers were working to destabilise the political setup has now been dispelled,” Tariq added.

He said the phenomenal success of the march was that it was recognised by PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari. “This has sent a positive message to the international community also,” he said.

Media reports said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who addressed the march on Saturday, also advised against extending the march beyond its culmination.

Pak satellite to monitor Afghan border
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Pakistan today launched a satellite for monitoring its border with Afghanistan, adviser to Prime Minister on interior security Rehman Malik told reporters here today.

Malik said the system would allow Pakistan to monitor all movements, including flights of drones or other planes, along the border in the tribal belt along Afghanistan.

The government would know about any incident involving the violation of Pakistan’s space within an hour.

He said media reports about the alleged missile attack in south Waziristan on June 14 by American drones had been proved wrong following due investigation.

He regretted that it took 48 hours to verify the facts on the reported incident because of lack of appropriate facilities.

With the launching of the satellite, this time gap would be reduced to only one hour, he added.

He said it was wrong that the American Ambassador was summoned on June 14 to lodge a protest against the attack.

Earlier that week another attack killed 11 Pakistani troops, including a Major. Last week, defence minister Ahmed Mukhtar said Pakistan did not possess the capability to intercept or preempt any drone attack because of their high altitude flights at 30,000 metre.

Suicide bomber kills 12 cops
Chandani Kirinde writes from Colombo

A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up killing 12 police personnel, including three women constables in the northern town of vavuniya on Monday morning, the military said. The explosion took place outside the office of the SSP as the cops were gathering to board a bus to head home on leave. Twenty three others, including several civilians were also injured.

The LTTE has been carrying out bomb attacks in several areas in the country targeting both the police and the military personnel as well as civilians in recent months as the military continues its push to take control of the last remaining areas in northern Sri Lanka from the LTTE control.

Hunger hormone ‘increases’ during stress

New York, June 16
Ever wondered why you tend to overeat when you are stressed? Well, a study has the answer finally-it's due to "hunger hormone" ghrelin which also has an "anti-depressant" effect. It is known that fasting causes ghrelin to be produced in the gastrointestinal tract, and that the hormone then plays a role in sending hunger signals to the brain. Now, a team at the University of Texas has found that ghrelin increases during chronic stress which in turn triggers feelings of hunger in the brain-however, behaviours linked to anxiety decrease when the "hunger hormone" levels rise. According to lead researcher Jeffrey Zigman, "Our findings suggest that chronic stress causes ghrelin levels to go up and behaviours associated with depression and anxiety decrease when ghrelin levels rise. An unfortunate side effect is increased food intake and body weight." The researchers have based their findings on an analysis of rodents. — PTI