Toronto, October 9
In a grisly discovery, a young Sikh woman and three infants have been found dead under mysterious circumstances in an apartment at Calagry city in the Alberta province of Canada.

The police was called on Sunday after getting no response from Harsimrat Kahlon, 27, whom they found dead in her basement suite, Calgary Herald reported. The police earlier said Kahlon's death was not suspicious.

However, they later found the bodies of three infants in the house. It is not known whether they were her kids. Some reports said the bodies were wrapped in plastic.

The investigators yesterday said they did not believe Kahlon was killed - though they were trying to determine exactly how she died. However, the police is suspicious about the deaths of the three infants.

“Their deaths are definitely considered suspicious,” duty inspector Rob Williams said. The police has not revealed the children's ages or genders, or whether Kahlon is the mother of any of the children.

“No further details about this case will be released until tests are completed and the investigation progresses,” Williams said.

The woman was born in India and moved to Winnipeg when she was about 10 years old. Her parents stayed in India, so Kahlon was raised by an aunt and uncle, Param Sandhu, a friend of the victim said.

Sandhu said she didn't know whether her friend was recently pregnant, but had heard rumours she was.

Kahlon and her boyfriend, whom friends identified as Harnek Mahal, had been together for about eight years and were to be married in India at the end of this year, Sandhu said. — PTI

London, October 9
The surprise choice of US President Barack Obama for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize has evoked praise from world leaders who hailed it as an “incentive” for him and them to do more for peace. Some felt that the honour was aimed at encouraging the 48-year-old American President to carry on with his diplomatic overtures to perceived US enemies. The decision of the Nobel Committee has come as a surprise to many as Obama has been in office for just over eight months.

One of the first reactions came from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who called the honour an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace.

Expressing his “very great joy”, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it should strengthen Obama’s determination to work for peace and justice. The prize “does justice to your vision of tolerance and dialogue between states, cultures and civilisations,” he said in a message to Obama. Interestingly, America’s arch-rival Iran too described the selection as an incentive to Obama to “walk in the path of bringing justice to the world order.” “We are not upset and we hope that by receiving this prize he will start taking practical steps to remove injustice in the world,” a spokesman for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

“We do not yet have peace in the Middle East... this time it was very clear that they wanted to encourage Obama to move on these issues...” said 2008 winner and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas congratulated Obama and expressed hope that a Palestinian state would be created under his presidency. “The president wished that Obama will achieve his quest for peace throughout the Middle East by establishing an independent Palestinian state in the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem,” top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat was quoted as saying by AFP.

The 1983 Nobel Peace Laureate, Poland’s Lech Walesa, said the honour has come “too fast” for Obama as “he hasn’t had the time to do anything yet....sometimes the Nobel committee awards the prize to encourage responsible action,” he said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Obama was being recognised for “his hard work and new vision on global relations, his will and efforts for creating friendly and good relations at global level.” The Taliban condemned the choice, saying that Obama has done nothing for restoring peace in Afghanistan. The UN’s nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, another former peace prize winner, said Obama had “transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself.” — PTI

Washington and its NATO allies appear to have accepted the inevitability of a second term for Afghan President Hamid Karzai and are not pressing for a runoff election, despite charges that nearly a third of the votes in the August 20 elections were fraudulent, a US official and Afghan specialists say.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media, told this correspondent that Obama administration officials have discussed with their European counterparts the likelihood that Afghan electoral authorities would certify next week that Karzai had surpassed the 50 per cent mark needed for a first-round victory. The official said: “The international community has discussed openly expectations should Karzai prevail in the elections, either in the first round or in a runoff." The Afghan election bodies are expected to announce certified results on October 14, the official said.

The official said there had been no "attempt to twist Karzai's arm" to hold a runoff with his top challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. "We will support the winner as determined by the Afghan election process," the official said.

Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East and South Asia expert at the Congressional Research Service, said: "Many international officials believe that a second round would put the Afghans through unnecessary expense and risk of violence with not a significant chance of changing the election outcome." He added that it was his understanding that "US officials are proceeding on the assumption that Karzai will be in office for another five years."

Officials at the State Department, however, deny that such a decision has been made, noting that the Afghan electoral bodies have yet to certify a winner. "The publication of those final and certified results will tell us whether there is a need for a second round," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said on Thursday.

Katzman said should a final tally give Karzai less than 50 per cent, the US and its allies would press Abdullah not to push for a runoff. "There are already substantial discussions about such a situation," Katzman said. One possibility, he said, was to hold a ‘loya jirga’, a traditional Afghan assembly, to work out a power-sharing arrangement between Karzai and Abdullah that would allow the latter to appoint several Cabinet members. 

Washington, October 9
Standing its ground on the controversial clauses in the $7.5 billion US aid bill to Islamabad in the face of strong objections raised by the Pakistan military, the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee today said it was based on the stated policy of that country. Coming out with an extraordinary statement, the Senate Committee, whose Chairman John Kerry is the co-author of the bill, said the legislation was based on the stated policy of the Pakistan government, its military and opposition parties.

“The conditions ask nothing beyond what Pakistan's own leaders have already promised,” the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in an unusual statement “Separating myth from the fact on an enhanced partnership with the Pakistan Act of 2009”.

The statement is apparently an effort by the Congressional leaders to clarify the facts in the bill and clear the confusion as being created by the Pakistani army and opposition parties over the past few days.

The Kerry-Lugar Bill, as passed by the US Congress last week authorises military aid, conditions require the President of the US to certify to the Congress that Pakistan “is continuing to cooperate with the United States” on nuclear non-proliferation.

The bill also requires Pakistan “is making significant efforts towards combating terrorist groups”, including the Al-Qaida, the Taliban and their affiliates, and Pakistani military is not “subverting the political or judicial processes” of the nation.

“Each of these conditions is the stated policy of the Pakistani government, the major Pakistani opposition parties, and the Pakistani military,” said the statement.

“Pakistan and the US share common goals to bolster the security and democracy in the region and have been working together as allies towards these goals,” it said.

Responding to the allegation that the bill expands the predator programme of drone attacks on targets within Pakistan, the committee said there was absolutely nothing in the bill related to drones.

The committee asserted that there were no conditions on Pakistan attached to the $7.5 billion of American aid.

“These funds are unconditional - they are a pledge of the US friendship to the Pakistani people. There are strict measures of financial accountability on these funds to make sure the money is being spent properly. — PTI