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Rein in N Korea, Obama tells China
US President Barack Obama speaks at a press conference in Seoul. — Reuters
N Korea ‘transports’ rocket’s main body to launch site |
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Republican race to White
House
Myeik (Myanmar), March 25 Ill health forced Aung San Suu Kyi to abruptly cancel further campaign travel, her party said today, just a week before Myanmar byelections that are seen as a key test of regime reforms. The Nobel laureate, who is running for a seat in parliament in the April 1 polls, was put on a drip and ordered to rest by her personal doctor after falling ill in the town of Myeik in the far south of Myanmar.
Aung San Suu Kyi addresses supporters in Myeik, southern Myanmar on Sunday. — AFP
Will attack lawmakers if NATO routes are reopened: Pak Taliban
Our nuke assets are well guarded: Pak
UN Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan (L) with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavro. — AFP
Afghan gun massacre families paid compensation
China warns India against oil exploration
Campaign in Pak to relax visa regime with India
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Rein in N Korea, Obama tells China
Seoul, March 25 Such a launch would only further isolate the impoverished North, which much show its sincerity if on-again-off-again six-party aid-for-disarmament talks are to restart, Obama said. Seoul and Washington say the launch is a disguised test of ballistic missile. North Korea says it merely wants to put a satellite into orbit. Obama said that Beijing's actions of "rewarding bad behaviour (and) turning a blind eye to deliberate provocations" were obviously not working, adding he would raise the matter at a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday. "I believe that China is very sincere that it does not want to see North Korea with a nuclear weapon," he told a news conference in Seoul before a global summit on nuclear security. "But it is going to have to act on that interest in a sustained way." Obama's comments were his strongest push yet to get China to use its influence to rein in its ally North Korea and dovetails with recent calls for Beijing to meet its responsibilities as a rising world power. In an election year when Republicans have accused Obama of not being strong enough with Beijing, talking tough on China is seen as a vote-winner after three years of troubled diplomacy in dealing with Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. China is host to the six-party talks which also involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia. Obama earlier visited a U.S. base on the edge of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) as a solemn North Korea came to a halt to mark the 100th day after "dear leader" Kim Jong-il's death. "You guys are at freedom's frontier," Obama, wearing an Air Force One bomber jacket, told about 50 troops crammed into the Camp Bonifas mess at one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers. "The contrast between South Korea and North Korea could not be clearer, could not be starker, both in terms of freedom and in terms of prosperity." He spent about 10 minutes on a camouflaged viewing platform at the DMZ. The White House cast Obama's first visit to the DMZ, which has bisected the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953, as a way to showcase the strength of the U.S.-South Korean alliance and thank some of the nearly 30,000 American troops still deployed in South Korea. The 4-km (2.5-mile) wide DMZ was drawn up at the end of the 1950-53 civil conflict, which ended in a truce yet to be finalised with a permanent peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas in effect still at war.
— Reuters
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N Korea ‘transports’ rocket’s main body to launch site
Seoul, March 25 "South Korean and U.S. military authorities understand that North Korea has moved the main body of a long-range missile to Dongchang-ri in preparation for launch," a South Korean military official said, asking anonymity. The official confirmed a Japanese media report which said that a train took the main body to the launch facility in Dongchang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, yesterday, Yonhap news agency reported. North Korea has announced it will launch the rocket to put an observation satellite into orbit between April 12 and 16 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of its founding father Kim Il-sung, which falls on April 15. — PTI
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Republican race to White
House
Washington, March 25 Despite this big loss, 65-year-old Romney is still considered to be frontrunner as he has the maximum number of delegates (560), with Santorum a distant second (254) followed by Newt Gingrich who has 141 delegates with him. The candidates need 1,114 delegates to be able to earn the Republican Party's nomination to challenge incumbent Barack Obama in the November presidential elections. Jubilant by the Louisiana victory, 53-year-old Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator and social conservative, said the Saturday's results have shaken up the Republican presidential primary, adding that it is a two way race now. "We're here to fight. This race is long and far from over," Santorum said. "The entire Santorum campaign, and the conservative movement, is excited by tonight's results, that stand in the face of the media's and the establishment's declaration that we must fall in line with a moderate from Massachusetts," said Hogan Gidley, the national communications director of the Santorum campaign. "There is no other way to interpret tonight's results but as vindication for Rick Santorum's consistent, conservative message of strengthening our nation based on our founding values," Gidley said. "Louisiana voters overwhelmingly rejected Mitt Romney's push to press the reset button, because they know that we need a clear contrast to President Obama's disastrous policies," the spokesperson added.
— PTI
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Suu Kyi has cancelled Myanmar campaign travel: Party
Myeik (Myanmar), March 25 The Nobel laureate, who is running for a seat in parliament in the April 1 polls, was put on a drip and ordered to rest by her personal doctor after falling ill in the town of Myeik in the far south of Myanmar. But the democracy icon pressed ahead with a final rally in the remote area today and was cheered by tens of thousands of people as she urged supporters to vote for her National League for Democracy party, according to an AFP photographer at the scene. "I'm trying to keep in good health," she told the crowd. NLD deputy information officer Kyi Toe said Suu Kyi's health had "deteriorated" during the trip and she now planned to return to her home in Yangon later today. "According to the advice of her family doctor Tin Myo Win, she will take a rest at home. She should not travel far for trips anymore," he said. Kyi Toe said she has now scrapped plans for a final campaign trip on Tuesday to Magway, the central Myanmar region where her independence hero father was born. Suu Kyi fell ill yesterday after the boat she was travelling in got stuck on a sandbank for several hours during a trip in the far south of the country, Tin Myo Win told AFP earlier today. "She is exhausted because of being on the boat for such a long time," he told AFP, adding that she had low blood pressure and had been vomiting. Suu Kyi has fallen ill once before during her gruelling schedule of rallies and speeches across the country. The polls are the first time the democracy icon has been able to stand for election in Myanmar and are viewed as a key test of the new government's commitment to budding reforms.
— AFP
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Will attack lawmakers if NATO routes are reopened: Pak Taliban Miranshah, Pakistan, Mar 25 "If the parliament decides to restore NATO supplies, we will attack parliamentarians and their overlords," Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told Reuters. The US needs Pakistani permission to allow supplies to be trucked via two routes into Afghanistan, which prior to their closure, accounted for almost a third of all NATO cargo to Afghanistan. Pakistan's parliament is reviewing recommendations for a new direction in ties with Washington, including a possible reopening of the supply routes for NATO forces in Afghanistan, which were shut last November after a cross-border skirmish with NATO forces killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The national security committee said that if supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan are resumed, the shipments must be taxed. A halt in US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan, and an unconditional apology for the November incident, were the main recommendations from the parliament's national security committee. Pakistan's cooperation is considered critical to US efforts to stabilise Afghanistan before most foreign combat troops leave at the end of 2014. Pakistan has strong traditional links with the Afghan Taliban and other militant groups.
— Reuters
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Our nuke assets are well guarded: Pak Seoul, March 25 "There should not be any fear of any type. All our (nuclear) installations are well guarded," Pakistan Ambassador to South Korea Shaukat Mukkadam told reporters here. He said Pakistan has the best facilities and the best command and control systems. "There should be no fear absolutely. Everything has been revisited after the Fukushima incident," he said, apparently referring to safety and security of nuclear facilities in Pakistan. He said the nuclear power was essential for Pakistan as it has limited fossil fuel option and is also facing power shortage. "We hope nuclear energy will help in this regard," Mukkadam said. India yesterday voiced concerns over Pakistan's nuclear programme saying it has "very little confidence" on the capabilities of its western neighbour on securing its atomic assets. The possibility of "insider threat" was the prime concern among the Indian establishment and building capacities would be the key element in India's pitch at the Nuclear Security Summit which begins here on tomorrow. India has cautioned
that the fissile material from Pakistan's nuclear plants could get into the hands of terrorists, who could use it to make dirty bombs.
— PTI
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In Moscow, Kofi Annan seeks support for Syria peace effort Beirut, March 25 Meeting in Korea, US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan discussed how to support the opposition with non-lethal aid. Western and Arab states want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stand down but Russia, Syria's long-time ally, says the armed rebels must also ceasefire and withdraw their forces. As Annan, who is the United Nations and Arab League envoy, prepared to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow, a US-based human rights group accused Assad's forces of using human shields in their efforts to crush the rebellion. In a statement ahead of the meeting, the Kremlin said it would be hard to enforce a halt to the violence "until external armed and political support of the opposition is terminated". Annan has drawn up a six-point peace plan, including demands for a ceasefire, the immediate withdrawal of heavy armour from residential areas and access for humanitarian assistance.
— Reuters
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A broken heart can snuff out life London, March 25 Scientists have found that emotional upheaval at the loss of a loved one trigger suppression of parts of
the immune system, leaving grieving relatives more vulnerable to bacterial infections. The findings may help to explain anecdotal incidents of widows and widowers who have died days or even hours after their spouse. Former prime minister James Callaghan died of pneumonia aged 92 in 1995, just 10 days after Audrey, his wife of 67 years died. Now immunologists at the University of Birmingham have found that increased stress levels and depression brought on by grief can interfere with the function of a type of white blood cell known as neutrophils, which are responsible for fighting bacterial infections like pneumonia, the Telegraph reported. The impact becomes more pronounced in older adults as they lose the ability to produce a hormone that can stave of this dampening affect, meaning
even previously healthy elderly people can fall victim to disease following
a bereavement. Janet Lord, professor at Birmingham, who led the research, said: "There are a lot of anecdotes about couples who were married for 40 years - when one of them passes away and then the other dies a few days later. It seems there is a biological basis for this."
— IANS
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Afghan gun massacre families paid compensation
Kandahar, March 25 The families received around $50,000 for each person killed and about $10,000 for each wounded in the shootings in two villages in Panjwai district earlier this month. Afghan officials say 16 people, including nine children and women, were killed in the attacks.
— Reuters
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China warns India against oil exploration
Beijing, March 25 "The area is disputed one. So we do not think that it would be good for India to do (explore oil) that," Deputy Director General of Asian Department in Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong said. Asking New Delhi not to get involved in the "disputes", the top Chinese Foreign Ministry official said the sovereignty of the islands in the region was a major issue and India should not carry out oil exploration till resolution of the vexed issue. "We want common development in the region. We hope Indian side is not involved in those disputes. We hope India would do more to ensure peace and security in the region," Sun told a group of visiting Indian journalists here. When reminded about commercial nature of India's oil exploration in the region having huge oil and gas reserves, Sun said the issue was "very complicated" and China was trying its best to find
a peaceful solution to the problem. Asked why China was objecting to India's exploration projects in the Vietnamese oil blocs when Chinese companies were involved in carrying out infrastructure projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the top official in-charge of India affairs said both the issues are "totally different". "These are totally different issues. As far as Kashmir is concerned, we always said it was a bilateral issue and both India and Pakistan must resolve it bilaterally," Sun said. Noting that Chinese companies working in PoK are only focusing on developing the local economy of the area, Sun said there was no change in China's policy towards resolution of the Kashmir issue. "I think they (the Chinese companies) are only focused on development of the local economy (in PoK). I do not think it is against anybody... The issue of South China Sea is a very complicated one as many parties are involved in it," he said. China has been objecting any activity in South China Sea region including Indian oil exploration as it has territorial disputes with some ASEAN countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines. Unfazed by Chinese objections, India in October last year had inked an agreement with Vietnam to expand and promote oil exploration in South China Sea. The pact between the Indian and Vietnamese state-owned oil companies includes new investments and the exploration and supply of oil and gas to the two countries. The Chinese claim on the South China Sea has been rejected by both India and Vietnam, saying as per the UN, the blocks belong to Vietnam. India has said that its state-owned firm would continue to explore in the South China Sea. India has already made it clear that the entire Indian Ocean region stretching from East African coast to South China Sea remains crucial to its foreign trade, energy and national security.
— PTI
Major issue
Asking New Delhi not to get involved in the "disputes", the top Chinese Foreign Ministry official said the sovereignty of the islands in the region was a major issue and India should not carry out oil exploration till resolution of the vexed issue.
Disputes
China has been objecting to any activity in South China Sea region including Indian oil exploration as it has territorial disputes with some Association of South East Asian Nations member countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines.
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Campaign in Pak to relax visa regime with India
Lahore, March 25 The campaign was launched at an event in Lahore yesterday by Institute of Peace and Secular Studies to acknowledge the struggle of Kuldip Nayar and Mubashar Hassan for peace between Pakistan and India. Following introduction of "Relaxed Visa Regime Campaign" that aims to collect a lakh signatures to be presented to PM Gilani, there was a panel discussion on significance of a relaxed visa regime with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and Jatin Desai from India and civil society activists Hussain Naqi and Madiha Gauhar from Pakistan.
— PTI
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U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday urged China to use its influence to stop North Korea's "bad behaviour" in a nuclear standoff with the West and hinted at tougher sanctions if the reclusive state goes ahead with a rocket launch next month.
