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Bhutto terms hijacking of ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has described recent hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight IC-814 as one of the most ....more
Begum Zia ignores my phone calls, says Hasina DHAKA, Jan 9: Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina has alleged that opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia was not ...more Executed prisoners’ organs HONG KONG, Jan 9: Organs from executed prisoners are being offered for sale...more Down in high-tech SNA JOSE, Jan 9: Silicon Valley is renowned far beyond the United States as a...more |
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Jaswant’s visit to
Israel TEL AVIV, Jan 9: External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh’s upcoming four-day visit to Israel is .....more IRA disarmament to begin LONDON, Jan 9: The Irish Republican Army has invited Northern Ireland’s. ....more
US may deploy a limited WASHINGTON, Jan 9: United States may deploy a limited national missile defence....more Swiss currency NEW DELHI, Jan 9: The experience on the Indian Airlines plane.....more |
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Bhutto terms hijacking of IA plane as most successful in history ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has described recent hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight IC-814 as one of the most successful hijackings in the recent history as it succeeded in drawing the attention of the international community to the Kashmir dispute. In a statement issued from London, yesterday she said that New Delhi’s accusations against Islamabad of sponsoring terrorism in various parts of India have never been proved in the past. She urged both India and Pakistan to defuse tension through revival of dialogue process and resolve Kashmir dispute peacefully. Ms Bhutto supported signing of the CTBT by both India and Pakistan and warned that delay would put Pakistan into a corner. Army rule is no solution to Pakistan’s problems, Ms Bhutto said. She said, when peace of the region was being threatened, a military ruler was gunning for internal enemies, mostly parliamentarians through massive arrests, special laws and special courts. Does he have a foresight to take advantage of the US President Bill Clinton’s visit to South Asian visit to make possible breakthrough in Indo-Pak relations? she asked. Ms Bhutto deplored that major political forces capable of uniting the Pakistanis have been marginalized. She regretted that the constitution has been suspended, the Parliament silenced and the judiciary threatened with the spectre of accountability hanging over their head. She was of the view that the present un-elected, non-representative and un-constitutional Army-led set up was no solution to any crisis. She reminded that the military regime had been unable to come up with an economic policy that could give confidence to the market or bring in foreign investment. Ms Bhutto said that the regime is banking on the IMF loans alone . She deplored continued increase in unemployment, laying off of scores of Government employees daily and increase in social dissatisfaction. (UNI) |
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Executed prisoners’ organs sold by China hospital HONG KONG, Jan 9: Organs from executed prisoners are being offered for sale for up to 40,000 US dollars by a hospital in China, a report said today. The South China Sunday Morning Post reports that doctors in the hospital in Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, openly offer livers taken from prisoners who are usually executed by firing squads. A reporter posing as a relative of a patient says she was told January was a good time for organs as many prisoners were executed in the run-up to the Chinese lunar new year in February. Another doctor at the hospital reportedly said: "Most organs are from prisoners. Prisoners are good because they are young. We have a good network. Most of the livers will be sent to US." An official at the Sun Yat Sen University of Medical Sciences affiliated first hospital later dismissed the claims as "nonsense". Beijing officials in 1998 dismissed reports of executed prisoners’ organs being used for transplants, saying all organ donations were voluntary and strictly supervised. The Guangzhou Hospital is regarded as a pioneering teaching hospital and more than 40 patients from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand have undergone transplants there. One of them, Leung Wing-Kan, 47, from Hong Kong, told the post how he paid 32,500 US dollars to have a transplant at the hospital to cure him of liver cancer. "I never asked them where the organ came from," he was quoted as saying. Hong Kong doctors have declined invitations to join surgeons at the hospital in joint operations because they say they are not convinced organs are voluntarily donated. Dr Lo Chung-Mau of the University of Hong Kong’s liver transplant team told the post: "It is against medical ethics if we aid a transplant without knowing where the organs come from." (DPA) |
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Down in high-tech Silicon Valley is a huge hotel for ghosts SNA JOSE, Jan 9: Silicon Valley is renowned far beyond the United States as a high-tech crucible. But what few people know is that in its midst stands one of the country’s oldest haunted mansions. The rambling "Winchester mystery house" was built by Sarah Winchester (1839-1922), an eccentric lady who, as heir to the weapons empire of the same name, could afford to indulge her whims. Over a period of 38 years construction workers toiled around the clock, seven days a week, to build the largest victorian villa in the world on the outskirts of the Californian City of San Jose. It cost 5.5 million dollars to build the 160 rooms, with 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors and 47 open hearths. Six kitchens and two ballrooms were included, with the whole complex accessible via three elevators and 47 staircases with a total of 376 steps. The facilities were for the pleasure not of Mrs Winchester but of ghouls and ghosts - from the benign to the wicked. Student Alesha Floris, who takes visitors around the house which was converted into a museum in 1924, believes in ghosts. "I can feel the supernatural powers," she whispers to visitors. Colleagues have reported strange flickering lights and the eerie sound of footsteps at night. Light bulbs have been known to explode for no reason. In the soup kitchen, which has not been used for decades, there was once a sudden overpowering smell of a chicken brew - Sarah Winchester’s favourite meal. The former owner has allegedly been seen flitting through the corridors long after her death. After she lost daughter Annie in 1866 and husband William in 1881, Sarah Winchester feared for her own life, her biographer Cynthia Anderson writes. A dire warning fuelled the fears after a soothsayer told her that family members had been slain to avenge those killed by Winchester firearms. These lost souls with a grudge were on the lookout for the young widow who was told that the only way she could ward off the curse was buying a house on the west coast. She would need continually to expand the property so there was room for all the winchester victims of the future. As long as building work was in progress Sarah Winchester would not die, said the fortune teller. The anxious widow of 45 took the unsettling advice seriously, moved from connecticut to California, bought an unfinished mansion and set about finding the right craftsmen for the job. She hired 22 carpenters, two parquet floorlayers, 18 servants and as many gardeners - and the bizarre project began to take shape. The house soon towered seven storeys above the ground - although the top three floors came crashing to the ground in a 1906 earthquake. The house grew in a haphazard fashion with rooms being added on here and there just as Sarah Winchester saw fit. There was no overall plan, and Sarah Winchester asked the ghosts for inspiration during regular nightly seances. For the more unpleasant among them she had a range of tricks up her sleeve - such as doors on the first floor which opened into nowhere, fake cupboards, staircases that ended at the ceiling, and windows in the floors. She also seemed to be obsessed with the occult number 13. There are 13 bathrooms, 13 cupolas on the conservatory, 13 palm trees line the drive, the sewing room has 13 windows and there are 13 candles in the chandeliers. The ceilings just had to have 13 panels, while in the seance saloon there are 13 hooks for the garments of visiting spirits. Sarah Winchester seldom slept in more than one of her 40 chambers for more than a night at a time, in a bid to expel negative energy. She finally passed away aged 82 in her favourite bedroom, the one with hand-painted tiffany lamps, elegant oak parquet floor and French wall hangings. The old lady bequeathed her entire worldly goods to a niece, Marian Merriman...In a will and testament signed 13 times. (DPA) |
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Swiss currency tycoon impressed
by Indian NEW DELHI, Jan 9: The experience on the Indian Airlines plane hijacked to the Southern Afghan city of Kandahar has changed him forever as he witnessed the courage of the mighty Indians. Currency-tycoon Roberto Giori, who controls 90 per cent of the world’s currency printing business, told ‘Time’ magazine What I experienced on the plane has changed me forever. I do not know what is Hinduism ... But the way passengers stayed so calm throughout, even the children were exemplary. I told myself, if the plane had been full of Italians or French, it could have been very different, says 50-year-old Giori, owner of Lausanne-based company De La Rue Giori. Giori was among the passengers taken hostage by the hijackers from December 24 to December 31 and was travelling in the business-class before being herded to economy class by the hijackers. Switzerland sent a special envoy to the Kandahar Airport to deal with the abduction of its currency king, his companion and two other Swiss nationals on board the plane. Giori, who holds dual Swiss and Italian nationality, remembers the close shave the plane had while landing at the Lahore airport with negligible fuel. I thought it was the end as the runway was not visible because the lights were off. The plane had no fuel and the pilot even tried to land on the brightly lit road next to the airport, he said. (PTI) |
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Jaswant’s visit to Israel may strengthen bilateral ties TEL AVIV, Jan 9: External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh’s upcoming four-day visit to Israel is expected to give a fillip to Indo-Israel ties even as the bilateral trade in the first three quarters of 1999 registered an all time high at over 700 million US dollars. While the full year’s trade between the two country is expected to go further higher, Indian exports to the Jewish state increased by 28 per cent over last year’s exports and diversified into new areas, according to figures made available by Indian Embassy here. The increase in Indian exports reflected mainly in the export of chemicals ("68 per cent) polished diamonds ("38 per cent) and textiles ("10 per cent). Israel, the ninth largest foreign investor country in India in terms of approved investments, registered an increase of 40 per cent in exports over its last year’s exports, primarily due to increase in the export of raw diamonds ("100 per cent). There are over 170 collaborations and joint ventures between the companies of two countries, mostly in agriculture and high-technology areas. Israel’s famous drip irrigation systems are jointly manufactured in three different locations in India. In 1998 total trade between India and Israel stood at 670 million US dollars, more than three times over the trade in 1992 when the full fledged diplomatic ties were established between the two countries. Bilateral trade between the two countries has steadily shot up since 1992 with constant improvement in the diplomatic ties and analysts say the ties would boost further in the wake of upcoming visit of Jaswant Singh in the third week of this month. While the total trade between the two nations stood at 202 million US dollars in 1992, it went up to 357 in 1993, 514 in 94 and 670 million US dollars in 1998. Last year Indian exports to Israel reached a level of 343 million dollars, registering a growth of 17 per cent from 1997, thus recording a trade surplus with Israel for the first time. Indian exports to Israel have diversified in recent years. While traditionally diamonds constituted the bulk of Indian exports to Israel, the trade has now expanded to chemicals (mainly organic), cotton yarn, textiles and garments, food and agro-products, marble, granite electronic components and other commodities. (PTI) |
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IRA disarmament to begin within weeks: UK paper LONDON, Jan 9: The Irish Republican Army has invited Northern Ireland’s disarmament monitors to witness the destruction of some of the guerrilla group’s weapons later this month, Britain’s Sunday Telegraph Newspaper reported. Although it falls short of the complete weapons handover set out in the landmark good Friday peace pact of April 1998, the move by the guerrillas would be the first time even one of their guns was removed from the British province’s politics. Without identifying its sources, the paper said senior IRA guerrillas will allow the head of the Disarmament Commission, retired Canadian Army General John De Chastelain, to observe the "symbolic gesture" at a yet to be disclosed time and place. Only a small number of firearms were to be destroyed in the controlled explosion, with IRA commanders suggesting that the rest of their arsenal be sealed in commission-monitored bunkers in the Irish Republic to the South, it added. Guerrilla disarmament is one of the thorniest and most critical steps in ending three decades of political and sectarian conflict between Northern Ireland’s protestant majority and Roman Catholic minority. Protestant unionists, who support strong ties with Britain, insist the IRA must speed efforts to hand in its guns and bombs before the April deadline laid out in the good Friday accord. The Republican guerrillas, who have been holding to a ceasefire in their war against rule from London, traditionally have viewed disarmament as tantamount to surrender. But they are under pressure to join all sides in making a leap of faith for peace. Martin McGuinness, a senior member of the IRA’s political ally Sinn Fein, said on Saturday there was no way Northern Ireland’s new home-rule Government would let a blossoming peace die over the vexing question of guerrilla arms. "It is now inconceivable that the political process that we are embarked on could be brought down over this issue," mcguinness, who became Education Minister in the power-sharing administration, told BBC radio. Old tensions flare over murdered lawyer But past tensions are rarely far from the surface. Irish nationalists reacted angrily yesterday to news that officers from the largely protestant Royal Ulster constabulary will not be prosecuted over allegations they threatened to kill a Roman Catholic lawyer later murdered by protestant guerrillas. Rosemary Nelson was killed last march by a car bomb planted by a pro-British "loyalist" group outside her home. Well-known for defending Irish Republicans, Nelson said before she died that she had received death threats through her clients while they were being interrogated by police. Her supporters, who allege that security forces colluded in her killing, described the announcement by the Northern Ireland director of public prosecutions as a "body blow". Mcguinness was "very disappointed but not surprised". "I think there will be tremendous anger within the community about this," McGuinness said. The new Government is the linchpin in the revival of a peace process that was deadlocked over unionist demands for early ira disarmament. The IRA and other guerrilla groups have now opened talks with disarmament monitors. New Government and community bodies have been launched to promote cooperation between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. "We all have to be very sensible about all of this," said McGuinness. Long-sought progress was being made, he said, urging unionists to leave resolution of the arms question to the guerrilla groups and the Disarmament Commission. (REUTERS) |
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Begum Zia ignores my phone calls, says Hasina DHAKA, Jan 9: Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina has alleged that opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia was not reciprocating her repeated offers for talks to resolve political differences, threatening the country’s growth, amicably. I personally telephoned her (Zia) thrice as part of initiative to solve the problems through discussions but she did not pick up the phone, nor she made a return call as a courtesy, Hasina said on a nationwide address over state-run radio and TV on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr yesterday. Hasina blasted the opposition for calling frequent general strikes which had punched a savage blow to business transactions of the traders and caused untold sufferings to the common people. The Premier’s fresh call to the opposition for a dialogue came following a prolonged opposition boycott of Parliament and its threat to intensify its oust Hasina campaign immediately after the festival and force elections. Appealing to shun the path of strikes, terrorism, bloodshed and poll-boycotts and resolve all issues amicably through discussions, Hasina said I firmly believe that it is possible to resolve any issue through discussions. But how the problem could be solved unless I get any scope for discussions. However, former Premier Khaleda Zia, in a published statement, said: Happiness of eid is marred by corruption, misrule of the present Government which has created a suffocating situation throughout the country. (PTI) |
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US may deploy a limited national
missile WASHINGTON, Jan 9: United States may deploy a limited national missile defence against ballistic missile threats from rogue states, President Bill Clinton has said. The threat posed by a rogue state developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) capable of striking the United States is growing, Clinton said in a report to the Congress. And the US, said Clinton, is committed to meeting the growing danger posed by nations developing and deploying long-range missiles that could deliver weapons of mass destruction against the country by determining this year whether to deploy a limited national missile defence against such threats. The intelligence community estimates that during the next 15 years, the United States will most likely face an ICBM threat from North Korea, probably from Iran, and possibly from Iraq, he warned. Informed by the intelligence community analysis of the August 1998 North Korean flight test of its Taepo Dong I missile, as well as the report of the Rumsfeld Commission and other information, the administration has concluded that the threat posed by a rogue state developing ICBM capable of striking us is growing, he noted. Since US is a primary target of foreign intelligence services due to its military, scientific and technological pre-eminence, he said to protect sensitive national security information, we must be able to effectively counter the collection efforts of foreign intelligence services through vigorous counterintelligence efforts and security programmes. In his report to the Congress, Clinton said many of the challenges that law enforcement face in cybercrime area are extremely difficult to address without international consensus and cooperation. Because of the global nature of information networks, no area of criminal activity has greater international implications than high technology crime. Computer hackers and other cyber-criminals are not hampered by international boundaries, since information and transactions involving funds or property can be transmitted quickly and covertly via telephone and information systems, Clinton said. Our potential enemies, whether nations or terrorists, he said, may be more likely in the future to resort to attacks against vulnerable civilian targets in the US. At the same time, easier access to sophisticated technology means destructive power available to rogue nations and terrorists is greater than ever. The US will act to deter or prevent such attacks and, if attacks occur despite those efforts, will be prepared to defend against them, limit the damage they cause and respond effectively against the perpetrators, Clinton said. Clinton pointed out that over the last five years, we have created new counter-intelligence mechanisms to address economic and industrial espionage and implemented procedures to improve coordination among intelligence, counter-intelligence and law enforcement agencies. These measures have considerably strengthened our ability to counter the foreign intelligence collection threat. We will continue to refine and enhance our counterintelligence capabilities as we enter the twentyfirst century, he added. The Federal Government, working with state and local Governments, said Clinton, will respond rapidly and effectively to any terrorist incident in the United States. A plan for defending critical infrastructures of the US will be in effect in May 2001, and fully operational by December 2003. The private sector, as much as the federal Government is a target for infrastructure attacks, whether by cyber or other means. A new partnership is required and is being put into effect, Clinton said. (PTI) |
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