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Pak says DGMOs ISLAMABAD, July 10: Pakistan has dismissed media reports of any proposal for a meeting between its Director General of Military Operations .....more Pet
dog walks 16 miles LISBON, July 10: Unlike many humans, preta the dog goes to church every Sunday — and even walks 26 km to get there. ....more Pakistani
singer sparks ISLAMABAD, July 10: Famous Pakistani singer Noor Jehan’s daughter Zille Huma has sparked protests from her audience for daring to sing an Indian .....more |
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LONDON, July 10: Fresh racial violence broke out today for the third successive day in Bradford in England when hundreds of youths threw .......more Contributions
of LONDON, July 9: The contributions of Lord Swraj Paul, NRI industrialist and Chairman of the 500 million pound......more Pak army neither ISLAMABAD, July 9: President Pervez Musharraf, who is embarking on a three-day visit to India........more |
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Pak says DGMOs could meet after summit ISLAMABAD, July 10: Pakistan has dismissed media reports of any proposal for a meeting between its Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and his Indian counterpart here for talks on promoting peace between the two countries. "The reports are incorrect and speculative," Major Gen Rashid Qureshi, Director General of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Public Relations and Press Secretary to President Pervez Musharraf told newspersons yesterday. "If there is any such proposal, it will be processed by the Government and an appropriate decision will be taken. It is premature to say more on the issue at the moment." He said Islamabad had not received any communication on the reported proposal till 1600 hrs yesterday and the meeting would not be held on Tuesday. Gen Rashid said there were reports that Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had instructed the Indian DGMO to contact his Pakistani counterpart. Reuters adds: Pakistan yesterday said the dgmos of the two countries could meet only after the July 14-16 summit. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, quoted by state-run radio said, Pakistan’s position on the matter had been conveyed to India by Islamabad’s High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi in New Delhi. But Radio Pakistan reported at night the proposal was conveyed when the Mr Qazi was called to the Indian Foreign Ministry last evening. "The Pakistani viewpoint on this subject was duly conveyed by the Pakistani High Commissioner," it said. It said the Indian DGMO had also contacted his Pakistani counterpart on a telephone hot line at 1700 hrs yesterday. "The Pakistan viewpoint on the process was also conveyed to the Indian DGMO who was assured that such a meeting will be considered at an appropriate level after the summit," the radio said. Meanwhile, a small delegation would accompany Gen Musharraf during his visit to India. "It will be a small delegation comprising Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq, senior officials and the President’s personal staff," Information Secretary Anwar Mehmood told reporters here. Mr Mehmood said there would not be any minister travelling with Gen Musharraf to India. (UNI) |
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Pet dog walks 16 miles to church every Sunday LISBON, July 10: Unlike many humans, preta the dog goes to church every Sunday — and even walks 26 km to get there. Every Sunday for the last three years, the pooch has headed out of her owner’s home in the northern Portuguese town of Sobrado at 5 a.m. (local time), Correio Da Manha newspaper reported yesterday. A former stray, Preta — Purtuguese for "black" — walks alone to a church in neighbouring Ermesinde to take her usual place next to the altar in time for 7.30 a.m. mass. whenever worshippers stand up or sit down, preta does the same. Once mass is over, she usually walks back home. Sometimes preta will return in a car — but only with a human she knows, the newspaper said. Congregations have grown at the church as many people come just to see Preta, Correio Da Manha said. (REUTERS) |
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Pakistani singer sparks protests with Indian song ISLAMABAD, July 10: Famous Pakistani singer Noor Jehan’s daughter Zille Huma has sparked protests from her audience for daring to sing an Indian pop song, a report said today even as the leaders of the two countries prepared for a landmark summit. With just days to go before Sunday’s crucial summit meeting, singer Zille Huma found the limits of the bilateral detente during her performance at a major hotel here last night, The News daily reported. Halfway through the Hindi tune, Huma was passed a note from the audience protesting against her choice of music. "Zille Huma said that there was no harm in singing Indian songs. This remark immediately prompted a well-known columnist (in the audience) to be on her feet and to start an argument," the report said. "The situation was brought under control by the majority of the crowd which supported Zille Huma on the issue." Huma had already antagonised her audience by making them wait for almost two hours. (AFP) |
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LONDON, July 10: Fresh racial violence broke out today for the third successive day in Bradford in England when hundreds of youths threw bricks and bottles at police, mostly in white areas of the city. At least 15 people were arrested in the country’s worst street riots for years, a police spokesman said. An Asian-owned restaurant was attacked and a car set afire during the disturbances, he said. All those detained were white local males and most were held on the suspicion of violent disorder and possession of offensive weapons, the spokesman said. The arrests followed fresh troubles in the predominantly white ravenscliffe and holme wood areas of the city. Bradford has a sizeable population of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. Hundreds of police were patrolling the streets, but there were no reports of injuries and the disturbances were low compared to the previous two nights when businesses and cars were torched and 164 police officers injured in clashes involving up to 1,000 Asians and whites. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office described the Bradford disturbances as simply "thuggery". There was a tense stand-off between riot police and an estimated 60 white youths in the ravenscliffe area during today’s disturbances. However, the largely Asian area of Manningham remained quiet. According to a BBC report, the violence was not the outcome of "classic" race riots such as those in Oldham and Burnley, it was the result of socially deprived youths wanting a "bit of fun". Meanwhile, it emerged that an official report due this week would attack racial "polarisation" in the city, saying schools and neighbourhoods are virtually segregated. The report, written several weeks ago by Lord Herman Ouseley, a former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, criticised racial intolerance, an inability to address problems and a lack of racial integration. (PTI) |
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Contributions of Lord Paul lauded by Chancellor Brown LONDON, July 9: The contributions of Lord Swraj Paul, NRI industrialist and Chairman of the 500 million pound Caparo Group, came in for high praise at a function held here in the memory of his four-year old daughter Ambika Paul who died 33 years ago due to leukaemia. "We are proud of the contributions made by Lord Paul and we are proud of his contribution to the industry, to the House of Lords, the Indo-British relations and the London zoo," British Chancellor of Exchequer, Gordon Brown said last evening at Ambika’s children’s zoo and memorial gardens —remembering her. Lord Paul had donated one million pound to the London zoo to prevent it from closure and the zoo is since named after her. Besides Brown, over half a dozen ministers in the Tony Blair Ministry, veteran labour leader Michael Foot, Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, Indian High Commissioner Nareshwar Dayal and Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Kader Jaffer, attended the function. Prominent among them were Robin Cook, leader of the House of Commons and Nick Brown Minister, Department of Works and Pensions. (PTI) |
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Pak army neither hawkish nor dovish: Musharraf ISLAMABAD, July 9: President Pervez Musharraf, who is embarking on a three-day visit to India on July 14, has said the Pakistan army was neither "hawkish nor dovish" but only believed in adopting a realistic and balanced approach in evaluating issues. "I think I wouldn’t like to call Pakistan army as hawkish or dovish. I think we are very realistic, we understand the realities. We are very balanced in our approach," Musharraf said while interacting with local media. NNI newsagency quoted him yesterday as saying that "there are two kinds of opinion here in Pakistan. One opinion is of the hawks - obviously total confrontation and no giving in and keep fighting to eternity. The other is the people who say that you compromise and live in peace. Even may I say compromise on key issues and live in peace. "What the army generally says is yes! peace but with honour and dignity. Now that is the key point. No peace without honour and dignity. You cannot compromise on honour and dignity, you cannot compromise on your principles," he said. Asked whether he thought the decision to retreat from Kargil a setback to that dignity, Musharraf said: "well that was the Government’s decision. And, first of all there was no withdrawal as such as you are saying because what was happening there was (done) by the Mujahideen themselves". He said "Pakistan only facilitated the ceasefire that took place by dispersing the Mujahideen who were across the Line of Control". Musharraf refused to answer as to what is more difficult - fighting war or making peace. "I can’t answer that question. I think both are difficult. Making war is very difficult and making peace may be also very difficult when hostilities and tensions are so high," he said. He said "fighting a war is not a simple matter. It causes a lot of human suffering and economic suffering also. "So, of course, in the overall context, one would certainly like to go for peace even though I may have fought a war and I may be a man in uniform. I would like to say that I understand sufferings much more than a civilian," he said. (PTI) |
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2 stabbed, 120 police officers injured in anti-racist riot LONDON, July 8: Two persons were stabbed and 120 police officers injured last night when an anti-racist rally in Bradford predominantly inhabited by people of Pakistan-origin exploded into "the worst violence the city has seen". Cars were overturned and set ablaze and petrol bombs hurled at police as more than 500 Asians youths, mostly of Pakistan origin, ran riot, police said today. The clashes began after a group of white youths coming out of a pub shouted racial insults at a crowd of Asian men, who were protesting against the right extreme national front. As the violence escalated and spread from the city centre, two men were stabbed, pub windows shattered, cars set alight and petrol bombs hurled at police. In one of the two reported stabbing incidents, about a dozen Asian youths surrounded a white man, according to a witness. A police spokesperson told PTI that the situation has been brought under control "after hours of senseless criminality." At least 28 people have been arrested. The rioting marked a serious escalation of tension that has been growing in towns including Bradford, Oldham, Burnley and Accrington over the past three months. Many have blamed the trouble on the national front and the British National Party for fomenting racial divisions among deprived communities. Tension was building up in the worst-hit Manningham district area right from yesterday morning. For several hours during the afternoon 200 police had faced peaceful protesters as a planned visit by far-right national front sympathisers failed to materialise - the few supporters who arrived to face the anti-Nazi League were turned back at the railway station. But violence erupted when some national front supporters, wearing their trademark bomber jackets and sunglasses, began shouting racial abuse. A group of mainly asians youths charged up one of the main city centre roads and a fight broke out which spilled into neighbouring streets. As the night wore on the violence got worse - "Wanton and pointless violence, the worst bradford has seen," said Chief Superintendent Stuart Hyde. The Asians, one carrying a Pakistani flag and some chanting ‘Allah Akbar (god is great) went on the rampage. Shoppers, buses, cars and taxis were caught in the crossfire and a pregnant woman had to be led to safety by riot police. Shoppers dashed for cover as bricks and rocks rained down on police lines. Much of the centre of the city was sealed off as Asian youths ran from street to street attacking police, shops and pubs. Mounted police were used against the mobs and two horses were hurt, one of them stabbed. Community leader Mohammed Riaz appealed for calm. "There’s no logic to this," he said. "I cannot believe these scenes." Tahir Hussein, 28, of Bradford, which has an asian population of 10,000, said "some white lads were calling us Pakis and it all went off from there. The police seem "to have lost control." (PTI) |
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