W O R L D

Thirty killed in Tibet quake
Beijing, October 6
At least 30 people were killed today when a strong earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale jolted Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, the local government said. The victims were found in Gedar township of Damxung County, the epicenter of the quake. More people are feared buried under debris as many houses collapsed, said the Tibet Autonomous Region Government. Traffic and telecommunication were cut off in Gedar.

Suicide bomber kills 29 in Lanka
Colombo, October 6
A suicide bomber today killed 29 persons at a historic tourist town, including a retired army General who was an Opposition party provincial leader. The blast, immediately blamed on the rebel Tamil Tigers, also injured at least 80 persons, the military said.

Palin defends terrorist comment against Obama
Burlingame, October 6
Sarah Palin defended her claim that Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists,” saying the Democratic presidential nominee’s association with a 1960s radical is an issue that is fair to talk about. Obama has denounced the radical views and actions of Bill Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground group during the Vietnam War era.

‘Pak prez can order Sarbjit’s release’
After a meeting with Sarbjit Singh, the India spy on death row, law minister Farooq H. Naek on Monday said that President Asif Zardari had the authority to order his release, but no final decision had been taken yet.

A visitor walks past a painting by Spanish artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973) exhibited at the Grand Palais Museum in Paris. The exhibition would be on till February 2, 2009. — Reuters

Mixed response to Zardari’s statement on India
President Asif Zardari’s remarks about Indian threat and Kashmiri militants have evoked a mixed reaction in the country, though criticism has been surprisingly less strident than could be expected. In an interview to Wall Street Journal, Zardari said India has never posed any threat to Pakistan and that the Kashmiri militants are terrorists. Traditionally such talk would have shocked Pakistanis, in particular the rightist sections, provoking violent response.

German, 2 Frenchmen share Nobel medicine prize
Stockholm, October 6
One German and two French scientists won the 2008 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology for their discoveries of two viruses that cause severe human diseases, the prize awarding institute said today.

Thirty killed in Tibet quake

Beijing, October 6
At least 30 people were killed today when a strong earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale jolted Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, the local government said. The victims were found in Gedar township of Damxung County, the epicenter of the quake. More people are feared buried under debris as many houses collapsed, said the Tibet Autonomous Region Government. Traffic and telecommunication were cut off in Gedar.

Soldiers and medical staff were rushing to the site, official Xinhua news agency reported. Deaths and injuries were also reported in a neighboring county, but the exact number of casualties was yet to be verified.

The epicentre was located at 29.8 degrees north and 90.3 degrees east, 82 km from Lhasa, according to the State Seismological Bureau (SSB). Tremors were felt in Lhasa, but no major damages were found in buildings or historical sites there, including the famed Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple, the report said. The Qinghai-Tibet railway and Lhasa airport remained unaffected.

Meanwhile, officials in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region today confirmed the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that shook its far-flung western mountainous region last night didn’t cause any casualties but altogether 225 rural households were damaged. The quake also damaged telecom facilities in the region.

The epicentre was in the mountainous area around 100 km from the county seat of Wuqia, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture. The earthquake source was 33 km underground.

Meanwhile, the toll in the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that hit southern Kyrgyzstan on Sunday night has risen to 72, with authorities on Monday saying the number of casualties could grow, as many were feared trapped under the rubble. More than 100 people were injured and around 120 buildings were destroyed in the devastating quake that struck near the former Soviet republic’s densely populated border area with China in the southern province of Osh. — Agencies

Suicide bomber kills 29 in Lanka

Palin defends terrorist comment against Obama

Burlingame, October 6
Sarah Palin defended her claim that Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists,” saying the Democratic presidential nominee’s association with a 1960s radical is an issue that is fair to talk about. Obama has denounced the radical views and actions of Bill Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground group during the Vietnam War era.

He dismissed the criticism from John McCain’s presidential campaign yesterday, levelled by Palin, as “smears” meant to distract voters from real problems such as the troubled economy.

“The comments are about an association that has been known but hasn’t been talked about,” Palin said as she boarded her plane in Long Beach, California. “I think It’s fair to talk about where Barack Obama kicked-off his political career, in the guy’s living room.” At issue is Obama’s association with Ayers. Both have served on the same Chicago charity and live near each other in Chicago. Ayers also held a meet-the-candidate event at his home for Obama when Obama first ran for office in the mid-1990s, the event cited by Palin.

But while Ayers and Obama are acquainted, the charge that they pal around is a stretch of any reading of the public record. And it’s simply wrong to suggest that they were associated while Ayers was committing terrorist acts. Obama was 8-year-old at the time the Weather Underground claimed credit for numerous bombings and was blamed for a pipe bomb that killed a San Francisco policeman. — AP

‘Pak prez can order Sarbjit’s release’
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

After a meeting with Sarbjit Singh, the India spy on death row, law minister Farooq H. Naek on Monday said that President Asif Zardari had the authority to order his release, but no final decision had been taken yet.

Naek said the proposal to abolish death sentence was on the anvil and a final draft law would be introduced in parliament after taking into consideration religious edicts and the constitution. Naek said he met Sarbjit Singh in the Lahore jail on the instructions of President Zardari and had asked the jail authorities to provide him the file of the case for review. "It is, however, up to President Zardari to exercise his constitutional authority and order his release and extradition to India," the minister added.

Naek said the government was considering measures to reduce the current pressure on the country's jails, where about 90,000 prisoners had been kept against the capacity of 40,000. A law might be enacted to allow release on bail to prisoners serving less than five years jail sentence.

Mixed response to Zardari’s statement on India
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

President Asif Zardari’s remarks about Indian threat and Kashmiri militants have evoked a mixed reaction in the country, though criticism has been surprisingly less strident than could be expected. In an interview to Wall Street Journal, Zardari said India has never posed any threat to Pakistan and that the Kashmiri militants are terrorists. Traditionally such talk would have shocked Pakistanis, in particular the rightist sections, provoking violent response.

Information minister Sherry Rehman issued a convoluted explanation that stopped just short of a clear denial. She said the government was firmly committed to extend moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination, which has remained the central position of the PPP for the past 40 years.

“While insisting that there is no change in this policy, Rehman said: “The President has never called the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris an expression of terrorism, nor has he downplayed the sufferings of the Kashmiris. All his statements on India should be viewed in context of Pakistan’s current bilateral relations with that country.”

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chairman of the Kashmir Committee of Parliament, regretted characterisation of Kashmiri militants as terrorists but appreciated the observation that Pakistan does not consider India as a threat. He said he would ask Zardari to take back his words about militants because most Pakistanis consider them as freedom fighters and support their struggle. On India being not an enemy or a threat, Fazl said he would like to view it in the context of the current and future outlook in Pakistan. He was not sure about the reaction in the army but said traditionally every Pakistani soldier was trained on the concept of viewing India as the enemy. 

German, 2 Frenchmen share Nobel medicine prize

Stockholm, October 6
One German and two French scientists won the 2008 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology for their discoveries of two viruses that cause severe human diseases, the prize awarding institute said today.

The prize of $1.4 million recognised Harald zur Hausen of Germany for his work in the cause of cervical cancer and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier of France for their discovery of the virus that causes AIDS, Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said. Medicine is traditionally the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year. The prizes for achievement in science, literature and peace were first awarded in 1901 accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel. — Reuters