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Gilani: Delay in talks to benefit terrorists
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Suu Kyi’s verdict delayed to Aug 11
US rules out direct talks with N Korea
India first global buyer of
Boeing P-81 Poseidon
Britain withdraws troops in Iraq after six years
Oz PM once cleaned loos
US space shuttle Endeavour lands
safely
29 killed in Iraq blasts
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Gilani: Delay in talks to benefit terrorists
Terming the composite dialogue as the only way forward between Pakistan and India, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday warned that any delay would benefit the terrorists. “It is the role of the leaders to serve as a bridge, rather than erecting walls,” Gilani said when asked about his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the NAM summit. Responding to reporters after inaugurating the Islamabad Stock Exchange Towers, Gilani evaded direct comment on US envoy Richard Holbrooke statement that no information was handed over to India regarding Balochistan. “The issue was discussed between the two PMs,” Gilani said. He further said Pakistan wanted friendly relations with India and the upcoming meeting between the two foreign ministers and secretaries on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session in New York, would take forward the initiative. He said Pakistan has sought more information regarding the Mumbai attacks. Gilani also dismissed remarks by British High Commissioner Robert Brinkley that Osama Bin Laden or other Al-Qaeda leaders were in Pakistan. “I disagree with him,” Gilani added.
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Suu Kyi’s verdict delayed to Aug 11
Yangon, July 31 “The court said they had to consider legal problems, that’s why they said they would give the verdict on August 11,” her lawyer Nyan Win said after the brief court hearing at Yangon’s notorious Insein prison. “We are not surprised. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was also not surprised,” said Nyan Win, who is also the spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD). Daw is a term of respect in the Burmese language. The Nobel peace laureate faces up to five years in jail if convicted on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest, after an American man swam across a lake to her heavily secured villa in May. Suu Kyi’s international legal counsel, Jared Genser, said the postponement was another attempt by the junta to deflect international criticism. The riot police surrounded the prison and police trucks patrolled the city following warnings in the junta-controlled state media that protests against a guilty verdict would not be tolerated. — AFP
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US rules out direct talks with N Korea
Washington, July 31 The US statement comes in the wake of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon supporting direct talks between America and North Korea. “Our approach on North Korea is that we have to engage North Korea multilaterally through the six-party mechanism,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said at his daily press briefing. “That is our approach and is the approach of our five partners in the six-party talks as well,” Kelly said. The countries that are part of the six-party nuclear disarmament negotiations with North Korea are - South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the US. North Korea withdrew from the negotiations after the UN censured its long-range missile test in April.
— PTI
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India first global buyer of
Boeing P-81 Poseidon
Washington, July 31 Ceremonially rolled out on Thursday at the Boeing facility in Renton, Washington, the P-8A, a derivative of the Next-Generation 737-800, is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. "The P-8A Poseidon will equip the US Navy with the most advanced multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft in the world," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defence Systems. "The Poseidon is also the latest in a decades-long Boeing tradition of working closely with the Navy and other customers to deliver a wide range of platforms that meet their most critical mission requirements." As the replacement for the US Navy's P-3C Orion aircraft, the P-8A will provide greater payload capacity, significant growth potential, unprecedented flexibility and interoperability, and advanced mission systems, software and communications, Albaugh added. "The P-8A programme is an outstanding example of evolutionary acquisition at work," said Capt. Mike Moran, US Navy maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft programme manager. India is buying eight P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the Indian navy at a total cost of $2.1 billion with each aircraft costing about $220 million. These aircraft would replace Indian Navy's aging Tupolev Tu-142M maritime surveillance turboprops. Boeing will deliver the first P-8I to India by 2013 and the remaining seven by 2015. Interest has been expressed by many other countries, including Australia and Italy.
— IANS
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Britain withdraws troops in Iraq after six years
Baghdad, July 31 Under the agreement between Baghdad and London signed last year, the last of Britain's forces left this week ahead of a July 31 deadline for their withdrawal, a spokesman for the British Embassy in Baghdad told AFP. A small contingent of around 100 naval trainers currently de-camped in Kuwait could return once Iraq's parliament has considered a new agreement between London and Baghdad. Parliament will reconvene in September. “As our forces' existing permissions expire on July 31, we are now withdrawing the Royal Navy trainers while we discuss the position (of the new deal) with the Iraqi authorities,” a spokesman for Britain's defence ministry said. The agreement has been endorsed by Iraq's cabinet, he said adding that Britain will continue to offer training to Iraqi army officers as part of a NATO mission in the country and will provide training for Iraqi military personnel on courses in Britain. Today's withdrawal deadline comes just a day after Britain launched an inquiry into its role in the war. The probe will quiz key decision-makers, including ex-prime minister Tony Blair. — AFP
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Oz PM once cleaned loos
Sydney, July 31 ''There's a few realities out there. There's a global recession under way, collapsing economies around the world ... therefore let's just adjust to it flexibly and that might mean right now you don't have a job that's your heart's desire; maybe it's a stepping stone to something else," Rudd was quoted, as saying. Rudd revealed that the jobs that paid his way after he left school included flipping hamburgers, working on hospital wards as well as in a supermarket and pulling beers in a pub. ''What was the most difficult one? The job I once had as a cleaner at a sawmill, cleaning the loos. It's part of growing up doing different things," Rudd told Fairfax Radio.
— ANI
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US space shuttle Endeavour lands safely
Cape Canaveral (Florida), July 31 Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata is back after four-and-a-half months in space. He says he can't wait to eat some sushi and see his wife and son. Japan's space station lab got a porch for experiments during Endeavour's visit. The crew also installed fresh batteries and stockpiled big spare parts. It was eventful in other ways. The astronauts celebrated the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing with their own spacewalk. They also coped with a flooded toilet and an overheated air-purifier.
— AP
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29 killed in Iraq blasts
Baghdad, July 31 Security officials said the six apparently coordinated blasts, which were condemned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, occurred outside mosques and prayer centres in and around the capital, including one frequented by followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
— AFP
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Baghdad, July 31
