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Princess Diana’s
mother LONDON, Sept 2: The late Princess Diana’s mother today described for the first time....more Hindu delegates reject NEW YORK, Sept 2: Angry Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh delegates of the World Peace......more KAMPALA, UGANDA, Sept 2: Contrary to researchers’ claim, a renowned.....more
Aung San Suu Kyi YANGON, Sept 2: Myanmar’s military authorities today raided headquarters....more |
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Clinton leaves decision WASHINGTON, Sept 2: In a surprise move, US President Bill Clinton announced putting off his controversial plan for deployment of National Missile Defence (NMD) system, a decision welcomed by Russia, China and other nations strongly opposed to the defence shield.....more Myanmar junta forces YANGON, Sept 2: Nearly 200 riot police raided a roadside convoy and forced Aung San Suu Kyi to return to the capital, ending a nine-day standoff between the opposition leader and Myanmar’ military regime, a top official in Suu Kyi’s party said today.....more US feared NMD WASHINGTON, Sept 2: The US has said fears of China accelerating its Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) programme "that could have an effect on India" and others in Asia was one of the concerns which influenced the putting off of the National Missile Defence (NMD) system deployment by President Bill Clinton......more |
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Princess Diana’s mother had to keep silent on death LONDON, Sept 2: The late Princess Diana’s mother today described for the first time how she was forced to keep silent about her daughter’s death until heads of state had been informed. In her first public comments about the night Diana died three years ago in a paris car crash, Frances Shand Kydd told Britain’s Daily Express newspaper in an interview she knew of Diana’s death an hour before the news was broadcast. "Protocol required that heads of state had to be informed before it was made public," she said. "So I was left in an amazing, stunning situation of having an hour to wait knowing she was dead and being unable to ask a friend for help." "I was literally in front of my television saying come on, come on. Tell the world." Shand Kydd, 64, also described how she was besieged by the media — who collectively put in more than 1,000 interview requests within three months of Diana’s death. The media have been accused of hounding Diana — the world’s most photographed woman — to her death on August 31, 1997 after the car she was travelling in crashed in a Paris underpass while being pursued by press photographers. Diana’s lover Dodi Fayed, son of Harrods Luxury Department store owner Mohamed Al Fayed, was also killed in the crash. Shand Kydd said she did not go to Paris to bring her daughter’s body home because she was not asked to. She said in the weeks after Diana’s death she spent a lot of time alone at her home on a remote Scottish island, despite her children’s concern that she needed company. "I needed the space," she said. Since Diana’s death she said she has dedicated her time to preserving her daughter’s memory. "My children and myself are all totally united in preserving her memory and caring for William and Harry," she said, referring to Diana’s sons Prince William and Prince Harry, through her failed marriage to heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles. "I’ve only cried in public once since Diana died. I know it doesn’t matter but I always felt if I started I might never stop," she added. (REUTERS) |
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Hindu delegates reject Christian interpretation on conversions NEW YORK, Sept 2: Angry Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh delegates of the World Peace Summit have rejected the interpretation of some Christian organizations that United Nations’ Universal Declaration of human rights gave them the right to unhindered conversions. At a hurriedly convened meeting here yesterday, they adopted a resolution that the declaration’s provisions did not grant any such right and resolved to present it to the United nations and seek clarifications from it. The resolution was read out at the closing session of the summit in the evening but did not form part of the declaration issued by it. Hindu leaders, including VHP leader Ashok Singhal, said they fully agreed with the Summit’s declaration but had objections to "misinterpretation" of the provision by some Christian organization. The article of the declaration in question says, "everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." The declaration was adopted by the general assembly way back on December 10, 1948. The resolution adopted by the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh delegations says any such provisions either in the declaration or any other human rights instruments "do not mean and cannot be construed to authorizing any establishment or individual to resort to organizing proselytisation which has a long history of creating tension, conflicts, between religious communities and which continue to impair inter-faith goodwill, tolerance and harmony." Legal experts from India and Japan, including noted lawyer L. M. Singhvi, drafted the resolution which was adopted at a hurriedly convened meetings of the religious leaders of these faiths. Delegates attending the meeting said Buddhists were particularly agitated over the interpretation being given by some Christians, pointing out that several Muslim bodies also opposed it. Hindu leaders said that everyone had the right to follow any path or religion and even to change it. But to lure others to change their religions en masse by giving incentives was wrong and that is what was being objected to. Making conversion to a religion a condition for giving aid to the needy cannot be tolerated, they said. Singhal also denied that VHP or any Hindu organization was involved in attacks on Churches or Christians, saying these criminal acts were committed by criminals and such incidents needed to be treated as law and order problem rather than politicized. Of the 108 delegates to the summit from India, twelve were non- Hindus including four Muslim and two Christians. (PTI) |
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KAMPALA, UGANDA, Sept 2: Contrary to researchers’ claim, a renowned French scientist has discovered that HIV can be transmitted through kissing. Prof Luc Montaigner, who discovered the AIDS causing virus HIV, said in an AIDS workshop here yesterday that "while many scholars ignore the risk involved in kissing, research has proved that "deep kissing" leads to contamination". "Deep kissing where there is exchange of Saliva leads to AIDS", montaigner told the gathering. Salivary glands contain viral components and can transmit these components to a partner during the kissing, he said adding, "it is worse if one partner has mouth ulcer or wounds". Montaigner, who is also the president of the world foundation for aids research and prevention, has expressed concern over the increasing cases of heterosexual transmission in tropical areas. He said some of the problems researchers were facing in developing the AIDS vaccine in tropical countries include inadequate animal models and virus variability. He said he is working on a new drug which, if successfully developed, will work as both therapy and vaccine for AIDS. (MAP) |
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Aung San Suu Kyi "escorted" home as party hq raided YANGON, Sept 2: Myanmar’s military authorities today raided headquarters of Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party while simultaneously announcing the opposition leader had been "escorted" home following a lengthy roadside stand-off with the junta. In an apparent crackdown on opposition forces, a large number of riot police and military intelligence officers occupied the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), an official source said. "A huge amount of incriminatory materials and documents have been seized during the raid," a security official told AFP. An unknown number of NLD members who had been in the building overnight were still inside, another source said, although it was not clear if they were being detained. The early morning raid came just before an announcement that the showdown between the nobel laureate and the junta, which began on August 24, was over. A Government statement said she and her supporters had "arrived home safe and sound this morning after their stay in Dallah town." It said the group was "escorted" to the Myanmar capital at 1:30 a.M. (0100 Ist). The Government statement said that given "adverse weather" and complaints by the nld about conditions in Dallah, a motorcade had been "facilitated by the Government for their safe and covenient return." (AFP) |
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Clinton leaves decision on NMD to his successor WASHINGTON, Sept 2: In a surprise move, US President Bill Clinton announced putting off his controversial plan for deployment of National Missile Defence (NMD) system, a decision welcomed by Russia, China and other nations strongly opposed to the defence shield. "I have decided not to authorise deployment of nmd at this time" as the technology for the project to shield us against ballistic missiles, he said yesterday in a speech at Georgetown University here. "We should not move forward until we have absolute confidence that the system will work," he said leaving a final decision on the issue to his successor after the November Presidential elections. Republican Presidential candidate George W Bush responded to Clinton’s decision by saying he would go ahead with the nmd deployment at the "earliest possible date" if he comes to power while his democratic rival and Vice President Al Gore said it provided needed time to more thoroughly test the technologies. "I welcome the opportunity to be more certain that these technologies actually work together properly," Al Gore said. The Clinton administration had planned to deploy the NMD by 2005 to protect the country from ballistic missile attacks. Russia and China, which had been strongest opponents of the plan warning that it could spark a nuclear arms race, termed Clinton’s decision as well thought-out. Welcoming the announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said "the given step ....Will lead to strengthening strategic stability and security in the whole world." In Moscow, Putin was today preparing for a week of intense diplomacy that could seal the new optimism in us-russia relations created by Clinton’s decision on NMD. China also hailed Clinton’s decision on NMD. "We hope that the US Government will have more contacts and discussions with other countries on the matter, so as to make a decision which could serve the interests of countries and people all over the world," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said in Beijing. Zhu, quoted by the official Xinhua news agency, reiterated China’s position that maintaining global strategic stability and security was in the interests of all countries. In London, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said his country welcomed Clinton’s approach saying the US President had taken careful account of the views of US allies and other international partners who cautioned him against making a rushed decision. French President Jacques Chirac said in Paris that the NMD project "risks jeopardising the strategic balance and restarting the arms race." In Berlin, a German government spokesman praised Clinton’s move as a "wise decision." (PTI) |
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Myanmar junta forces Suu Kyi to end standoff YANGON, Sept 2: Nearly 200 riot police raided a roadside convoy and forced Aung San Suu Kyi to return to the capital, ending a nine-day standoff between the opposition leader and Myanmar’ military regime, a top official in Suu Kyi’s party said today. The Government confirmed the move, saying Suu Kyi and her party "arrived home safe and sound this morning." The 55-year-old Nobel Peace laureate was stopped by police on August 24 in the Yangon suburb of Dala as she and party colleagues attempted to travel to the countryside for political organization work. The group camped out in two vehicles, refusing to return to the capital. The standoff drew international condemnation of the country’s iron-fisted military rule. "Around midnight, nearly 200 riot police raided the place where we were staying and forcibly took Aung San Suu Kyi and all of us," said Tin Oo, Suu Kyi’s deputy in the national league for democracy. A visibly angry Tin Oo told reporters the group was brought back to Yangon in separate police cars and said he thought that Suu Kyi was taken back to her house. He could provide few details as security personnel ordere reporters away from his house in Yangon where he was speaking. A Government press release, titled "Dala incident ends happily," said Suu Kyi and her party were "escorted back to their residences in Yangon in a motorcade facilitated by the Government for their safe and convenient return." The action, the release said, was taken because of monsoon season rains, Suu Kyi’s personal safety and complaints by her party about living conditions at her stalled convoy. (AP) |
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US feared NMD deployment having impact on Asia WASHINGTON, Sept 2: The US has said fears of China accelerating its Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) programme "that could have an effect on India" and others in Asia was one of the concerns which influenced the putting off of the National Missile Defence (NMD) system deployment by President Bill Clinton. "One of the concerns about an NMD system is the impact it will have particularly in Asia where the Chinese have plans to increase their ICBM programme," US National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said after Clinton announced to leave the decision about the NMD deployment to his successor. "It is not inconceivable that NMD would accelerate these plans (of China to accelerate ICBM programme) and that could have an effect on India, that could have an effect on Pakistan, Japan, etc," Berger added. Referring to the NMD system, he said at this stage though NMD is "promising", it is "unproven" and "there are critical elements of the programme that have yet to be tested like the intercept booster." He said the Clinton administration "simply has not obtained the information that would allow us to conclude that the system is technologically feasible, operationally effective and can work reliably under realistic conditions." He said the Pentagon will continue the development and testing of the system, including flight tests, ground tests and simulations. (PTI) |
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