W O R L D

Solving Afghanistan
NATO chief seeks broader ties with China, India
Munich, February 7
The head of NATO today said the alliance’s troubled mission in Afghanistan shows it is vital to boost ties with nations like China, India and Pakistan.

Ukrainians goes to polls
Kiev, February 7
Polls opened today in Ukraine's presidential runoff, with Ukrainians having to choose between opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a bitterly fought election. Yanukovych enjoys support of mainly Russian-speaking south-eastern regions. He won the first round of Ukraine's presidential elections on January 17 with 35 per cent of vote against 25 per cent by Tymoshenko.
Ukraine's PM and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko smiles after casting her vote during the presidential election at a polling station in Dnipropetrovsk on Sunday. — AP/PTI

Mission specialists Kay Hire and Bob Behnken walk out of the operations and check-out building at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral on Sunday. NASA postponed the launch of the space shuttle because of cloudy skies in Florida. — AP/PTI

Nepali media tycoon gunned down
Armed assailants on Sunday shot dead the chairman and owner of the Space Time Media Group Jamim Shah in a broad daylight at the high-security zone in Kathmandu.

UN’s Benazir probe likely to resume this month
The United Nations commission probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is expected to return to Pakistan this month, but a UN spokesperson declined to give specific dates citing security concerns.

Jha re-takes oath as VP in Maithali
Madhesi leader Parmananda Jha on Sunday re-took the oath of office and secrecy as the vice-president in Maithali and Nepali, ending the language row after Nepal's Supreme Court last year ruled his pledge in Hindi "unconstitutional".

Now, UK raises English bar for foreign students
London, February 7
Days after Britain suspended issuing student visas in north India, Home Secretary Alan Johnson has announced new measures intended to cut the number of student visas issued abroad and prevent abuse of the immigration system.

Defiant Ahmadinejad orders uranium enrichment
Tehran, February 7
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today ordered Iran's atomic chief to begin higher uranium enrichment, raising the stakes in a dispute with the West days after seeming to accept a UN-drafted nuclear deal. Ahmadinejad's declaration drew immediate fire from Britain, which said it was "clearly a matter of serious concern," while US Defence Secretary Robert Gates called for mounting "international pressure" on Iran.

Two die in US power plant blast
Middletown (Connecticut), February 7
At least two persons died and dozens were feared injured today when a massive explosion erupted in a gas power plant under construction here, the police said. The local CBS station WFSB reported on its website that nearly 250 persons were feared hurt but this could not be confirmed by other sources.

 

 

Solving Afghanistan
NATO chief seeks broader ties with China, India

Munich, February 7
The head of NATO today said the alliance’s troubled mission in Afghanistan shows it is vital to boost ties with nations like China, India and Pakistan.

Drawing from flaws exposed in Afghanistan, where NATO is struggling to hold off a Taliban and Al-Qaida insurgency, Anders Fogh Rasmussen called for the military alliance to become the hub of a broad global security coalition.

“This is a key lesson we are learning in Afghanistan today ... we need an entirely new compact between all the actors on the security stage,” he said at a major security conference in Munich, southern Germany.

“India has a stake in Afghan stability. China too. And both could help further develop and rebuild Afghanistan. The same goes for Russia. Basically, Russia shares our security concerns,” he said.

NATO and its partners have more than 1,10,000 troops in Afghanistan, but they have been unable to put down the insurgency more than eight years after a US-led coalition ousted the Taliban from power.

Under a recent switch of strategy, almost 40,000 extra troops are streaming into the conflict-torn country, aiming to protect civilians and win their support, rather than hunt down fighters, many re-supplied from Pakistan.

“We cannot meet today’s security requirements effectively without engaging much more actively and systematically with other important players on the international scene,” Rasmussen said.

“The alliance should become the hub of a network of security partnerships and a centre for consultation on international security issues-even issues on which the alliance might never take action,” Rasmussen went on.

“What would be the harm if countries such as China, India, Pakistan and others were to develop closer ties with NATO? I think, in fact, there would only be a benefit, in terms of trust, confidence and cooperation.” Rasmussen underlined that he did not seek to replace the work of the United Nations, and his stance was backed by German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.

“We don’t want to enter into any competition with the United Nations,” the minister said. “We don’t want to turn NATO into a global security agency.” Rasmussen said he envisaged a forum in which NATO and its partners world-wide could air views and concerns, and exchange best practice.

“And where, if it makes sense-if we decide that NATO should have a role-we might work out how to tackle global challenges together.” NATO has 28 member nations, but its partnership involves 44 countries in Afghanistan, as well as ties with other regional fora, such as the group of Mediterranean nations.

But Rasmussen said militaries did not train, plan or organise together, while non-governmental groups avoided armies out of concern it might harm their image, but that changing practices would require a “cultural revolution”. — AFP

Ukrainians goes to polls

Kiev, February 7
Polls opened today in Ukraine's presidential runoff, with Ukrainians having to choose between opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a bitterly fought election. Yanukovych enjoys support of mainly Russian-speaking south-eastern regions. He won the first round of Ukraine's presidential elections on January 17 with 35 per cent of vote against 25 per cent by Tymoshenko.

However, a 10-point lead in the previous round does not guarantee a clear victory for Yanukovych because those Ukrainians who spread their vote among other candidates could now opt for Tymoshenko as the only democratic candidate.

Tymoshenko believes that she could gain support of those who voted for former central banker Serhiy Tyhypko, who came third in the first round, ex-parliamentary speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk and incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko because they all share "similar ideology". In an attempt to attract "free votes", she has offered Tyhypko the Prime Minister's post, but he did not openly accept the offer and said he was ready to be Prime Minister if either of the two candidates wins a runoff.

According to Ukrainian analysts, Yanukovych has an advantage as an opposition candidate with a fair economic record during his premiership while Tymoshenko has to take responsibility for a current dire state of the Ukrainian economy. Both presidential contenders have continuously exchanged accusations of fraud before the crucial runoff. — RIA Novosti 

Nepali media tycoon gunned down
Bishnu Budhathoki writes from Kathmandu

Armed assailants on Sunday shot dead the chairman and owner of the Space Time Media Group Jamim Shah in a broad daylight at the high-security zone in Kathmandu.

A sharpshooter attacked Shah (52) just outside the French Embassy in Lazmipat on the main road. His driver Mathuraman Malakar sustained minor injuries. Shah was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead within 30 minutes of his being taken there.

“We are examining documents of the motorbike on which the assailant came. It seems a fake registration number was used by the killers”, said Ganesh KC, Police Superintendent of Kathmandu district. “We are exploring all angles and possibilities and it would not be appropriate to make them public at this point,” he added.

Shah who founded the Space Time Media House was the owner and chairman of the group right from its inception about a decade ago. His print products - Space Time Daily (Nepali) and Space Time Today (English), however, were shutdown after being in circulation for nearly four years.

The police said ‘it has not ruled out any possibility, including the use of cross border criminals and syndicate given the use of sharpshooter’ in the crime’.

Shah’s media business has been in controversy with some of his opponents linking him with underworld groups as well as ISI agent of Pakistani in Nepal. He, however, always refuted the allegation. 

UN’s Benazir probe likely to resume this month
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

The United Nations commission probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is expected to return to Pakistan this month, but a UN spokesperson declined to give specific dates citing security concerns.

Some people belonging to the commission are already in Pakistan, the spokesperson said. The commission, headed by Chile’s UN Ambassador Heraldo Munoz, is looking into the circumstances surrounding the attack that killed Bhutto after an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon set up the commission at the request of the government. The three-member panel is not expected to name suspected culprits. Any criminal investigation will be up to Pakistan.

Jha re-takes oath as VP in Maithali
Bishnu Budhathoki writes from Kathmandu

Madhesi leader Parmananda Jha on Sunday re-took the oath of office and secrecy as the vice-president in Maithali and Nepali, ending the language row after Nepal's Supreme Court last year ruled his pledge in Hindi "unconstitutional".

Jha, a former judge, had been rendered defunct since August 31, 2009, after he refused to abide by the Supreme Court order directing him to retake the oath in Nepali language. The apex court had ruled his oath in Hindi "unconstitutional".

Jha, whose position remained defunct for about five and half month, was administered the oath in Maithali and Nepali languages by President Ram Baran Yadav following last weeks' approval of a landmark parliamentary amendment that made it legal for President, Vice President and Prime Minister to take the pledge in their mother tongue, including Hindi.

This was for the first time in Nepal's history that an oath of office was taken in two languages. Today the Madhesi leader also swapped his usual wear, the dhoti and kurta, for the traditional Nepali dress, the daura-suruwal - a long shirt over tight trousers. He will attend the office from Monday, sources close to Jha said.

Maithali and Hindi languages are widely spoken among the Madhesi community based in Nepal's Terai plains, which is the home to about half of the country's 30 million people.

The three major parties - ruling CPN-UML and its key partner Nepali Congress along with main opposition UCPN (Maoist) - in a rare political consensus introduced a resolution to reactivate the defunct vice presidential post after the seventh amendment of the interim constitution.

Jha, a prominent leader from the Terai plains bordering India, has been supported by the parties from the region in the language row. They have urged the CPN-UML-led government to recognise Hindi as the official language. Jha's refusal to retake the oath of office in the Nepali language last year had sparked a language row and protests in the country as many questioned his loyalty to the country.

Now, UK raises English bar for foreign students

London, February 7
Days after Britain suspended issuing student visas in north India, Home Secretary Alan Johnson has announced new measures intended to cut the number of student visas issued abroad and prevent abuse of the immigration system.

In a statement, Johnson said Britain will continue to welcome genuine foreign students, but will come down heavily on those who use student visas to come to Britain mainly to work and abuse the system. He said, "We remain open to those foreign students who want to come to the UK for legitimate study - they remain welcome. But those who are not seriously interested in coming here to study but come primarily to work - they should be in no doubt that we will come down hard on those that flout the rules."

Under the new measures, successful applicants from India and other countries outside the European Union will have to meet a higher bar on English language requirement, and students taking courses below degree level will be allowed to work for only 10 hours a week, instead of 20 as at present. Those on courses which last under six months will not be allowed to bring dependants into the country, while the dependants of students on courses below degree level will not be allowed to work.

Student visas for courses below degree level will be granted only if the institutions they attend are on a new register, the Highly Trusted Sponsors List. Officials said they suspended issuing student visas in north India, Nepal and Bangladesh after the system had been overwhelmed amidst concerns that many cases were not genuine. The new rules a review ordered by Prime Minister Gordon Brown after he said the alleged Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who had studied in London, had linked up with al-Qaeda in Yemen after leaving the UK. In 2008-9, about 240,000 student visas were issued by the UK. — PTI

Defiant Ahmadinejad orders uranium enrichment

Tehran, February 7
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today ordered Iran's atomic chief to begin higher uranium enrichment, raising the stakes in a dispute with the West days after seeming to accept a UN-drafted nuclear deal. Ahmadinejad's declaration drew immediate fire from Britain, which said it was "clearly a matter of serious concern," while US Defence Secretary Robert Gates called for mounting "international pressure" on Iran.

Ahmadinejad in a speech at an exhibition on laser technology broadcast live on state television blamed world powers for the stalemate over the nuclear fuel deal, but left the door open for possible negotiation over the proposal.

"I had said let us give them (world powers) two to three months and if they don't agree, we would start ourselves," Ahmadinejad said.

"Now Dr (Ali Akbar) Salehi, start to make the 20 per cent with the centrifuges," the hardliner told the atomic chief, who was sitting in the audience, referring to high enriched uranium required as fuel to power a Tehran reactor.

Britain said that if Iran ploughed ahead with higher uranium enrichment, it would be in breach of five United Nations Security Council resolutions.

"Reports that Iran is planning to enrich some of their fuel to 20 per cent level of enrichment are clearly a matter of serious concern," a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry said in a statement issued in London. —AFP 

Two die in US power plant blast

Middletown (Connecticut), February 7
At least two persons died and dozens were feared injured today when a massive explosion erupted in a gas power plant under construction here, the police said. The local CBS station WFSB reported on its website that nearly 250 persons were feared hurt but this could not be confirmed by other sources.

Scores of ambulances and several helicopters rushed to the scene of the Kleen Energy plant on the banks of the Connecticut River.

Medical rescue personnel said two persons were dead and at least 100 were injured, four critically, according to the Hartford Courant newspaper website.

A fire official said 51 construction workers were believed to be on site at the time. Some might still be trapped under the rubble, and a search-and-rescue team was trying to find them, he said. There was no further danger to the public, the official told reporters. Local hospitals were on mass casualty alert.

The explosion happened just before 11.30 am (16.30 GMT) during tests at the plant, a 620 megawatt gas-fired power plant, which was due to come online in the summer.

Officer Kevin White of Middletown Police told Reuters there were “mass casualties” but could not give precise details. Firefighter Cliff Seifert confirmed there were numerous casualties.

State emergency official Betsy Hard said the local authorities had asked the state for help. — Reuters