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Other groups, with Al WASHINGTON, May 21: Militant Islamic groups like Hizbollah and Egypt’s Islamic Jihad could be planning to ....more Lankan
President PATNA, May 21: As the dispute over the alleged forgery case in Mahabodhi Society of India (MSI) persists, the issue ....more Armitage
to visit WASHINGTON, May 21: Expressing concerns over the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the Bush...more Translations
push NEW YORK, May 21: "Harry Potter Und Die Kammer Des Schreckens" by J K Rowling ......more |
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Sharon fires key ministers, Government in crisis JERUSALEM, May 21: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Government was plunged into crisis after he kicked ministers of the Linchpin Shas Party .. .....more Court permits Sikh student to wear Kirpan at school VANCOUVER, May 21: A Sikh student in Montreal has just won his right to wear ‘Kirpan’ or ceremonial dagger at school after five months of legal battle. ....more Bush vows to Veto Cuba liberalization measures MIAMI, May 21: US President George W Bush sought to thwart efforts by big business and free-trade Republicans to ease US sanctions on Cuba, vowing to veto any such moves in Congress until Cuba adopts free markets and democracy. "I want you to know what trade means with a tyrant. It means we will underwrite tyranny, and we cannot let that happen," Bush said yesterday in a speech commemorating Cuban Independence Day. . ..more |
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Other groups, with Al Qaeda, said to threaten US WASHINGTON, May 21: Militant Islamic groups like Hizbollah and Egypt’s Islamic Jihad could be planning to attack the United States and may be more able to do so than the Al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman said. Sen. Bob Graham, speaking amid new warnings of attacks on the United States, confirmed reports that about two dozen "extremists" had recently entered America hidden in container ships and were now on the loose. "Our enemy is not Al Qaeda alone," Graham yesterday said on NBC’s "Today" show, referring to the movement blamed by Washington for the September 11 attacks on the United States that killed more than 3,000 people. "There are several international terrorist groups which have abilities, in some cases greater abilities than Al Qaeda and a similar desire to attack the United States," he said. "Groups like Hizbollah, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad" were two organizations with the capability and desire to attack the United States, said the Florida democrat. Neither Lebanon’s Hizbollah, largely seen as a resistance group against Israeli occupation, nor the Egyptian group has been linked directly to action on US soil. A Hizbollah spokesperson in Beirut declined comment on Graham’s remarks. Offering an example of the vulnerability of US ports, Graham said in a separate interview with CNN that 25 people he described as "extremists" had entered the United States. "(They) jumped on ships outside the United States, hid in the container cargoes until they got to the United States and then disembarked and they’ve been lost in the American population," he said. Graham’s spokesman told newsmen later that the senator had learned from a Coast Guard report, backed up by other intelligence briefings, that the 25 people were believed to have slipped into the states between late April and May 15. According to spokesman Paul Anderson, the report said the stowaways apparently hid inside cargo containers on commercial ships overseas and jumped ship in Miami and Port Everglades, Florida, Long Beach, California and Savannah, Georgia. US Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sunday a new attack on the United States was "almost certain" as US intelligence officials picked up signals a fresh Al Qaeda strike could be in the works. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge reiterated that the United States remained at risk, especially for those who live in apartment buildings. "We’re telling those who live in apartment buildings and who own apartment buildings, be mindful of the fact that terrorists have struck these places in other parts of the world," Ridge told reporters after speaking at the National District Attorneys Association Conference. Other US officials said they would not rule "in or out" the possibility of suicide bombings as another potential form of attack but they stressed that information about possible new attacks was nonspecific. Defence Department Spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said that despite major successes against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where a US-led military campaign destroyed the group’s main camps, it and other groups remained a threat. "We have always said this is about more than one person, one network and certainly is about more than Afghanistan," Clarke told a news briefing. Hizbollah has traditionally carried out suicide and other attacks against targets in Israel and Lebanon. The Shiite Muslim group is backed by Iran. Egypt’s Islamic Jihad, which has links with Al Qaeda, is the country’s second-largest Islamic militant group. The United States has blamed the group for bombing the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, in 1995 and planning to attack the US Embassy in Albania in 1998. (AGENCIES) |
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Lankan President intervenes in Mahabodhi affairs PATNA, May 21: As the dispute over the alleged forgery case in Mahabodhi Society of India (MSI) persists, the issue took an international turn with Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga urging Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to intervene for the release of a monk. Sri Lankan Buddhist Monk Dham Dutta Bhante Wimalsara Thero is currently lodged in jail following a complaint filed against him by a colleague in MSI accusing him of squandering the Society’s funds. Ms Kumaratunga wrote to Mr Vajpayee that Wimalsara thero "was a holy man who had carried the saplings of centuries-old Mahabodhi tree Sri Lanka to bodh Gaya for planting it in the sacred place to commemorate the relationship between the two countries which continue to be cordial over the passage of time". In her May 4 letter, whose copies were made available here, the Sri Lankan President appreciated the monk’s role in promoting goodwill between the peoples of India and Sri Lanka and said he was deputed to Bodh Gaya to propagate the message of Lord Buddha. Ms Kumaratunga expressed concern over the ongoing dispute in the Mahabodhi Society of India and sought Mr Vajpayee’s personal intervention "to bring out the truth in the entire episode after necessary enquiry". "The monk, now languishing in judicial custody on charges of forgery, has been dragged into litigation under a well-planned conspiracy," she observed. However, followers of Bhante Wimalsara insist that the complainant and present ‘self-styled’ functionary of MSI D Revath is himself an accused in CBI cases of misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs 1.30 crore and violating provisions in Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Bhante Wimalsara attributed the conspiracy hatched against him by D Revath, allegedly in league with local police, to his move to unearth irregularities committed in the MSI headquarters in Kolkata. (UNI) |
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Armitage to visit subcontinent to ease tensions WASHINGTON, May 21: Expressing concerns over the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the Bush administration today announced plans to send Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to the region to ease tensions. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said Armitage, who had talks with Indian Defence Secretary Yogendra Narain at the State Department yesterday, would visit India and Pakistan in the coming days. However he did not specify a timeframe. While calling for a dialouge between India and Pakistan to reduce tensions, Mr Boucher implicitly came down on India for asking Pakistan to recall its Ambassador and thus closing channels for talks. "We, in fact, encourage them to continue a dialogue, not to cut off channels." Mr Boucher said Secretary of State Colin Powell had telephoned Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday following telephonic talks with Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh last week. The frantic efforts came after India and Pakistan exchanged fire following the latest terrorist attack in Kashmir. "These attacks have been awful," the State Department spokesman said. "They cause terror, loss of life and damage, as well as make it more difficult for two neighbours to live peacefully together." Top Pentagon and Indian defence officials are scheduled to meet today to discuss broadening Indo-US strategic relationship. Reflecting the US concern over the worsening situation in the region, Mr Boucher said, "the United States is involved, has been involved, will remain involved in doing whatever we can to help these two Governments lessen the tensions." Officials said US efforts were aimed at ending the terrorist attacks in Kashmir and then persuading the two countries to pull back the troops they have amassed on the borders. (AGENCIES) |
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Translations push sales of popular literature NEW YORK, May 21: "Harry Potter Und Die Kammer Des Schreckens" by J K Rowling is flying off the bookstore shelves in Berlin, while Clive Cussler’s "Il Serpente Dei Maya" has taken Rome by storm and Stephen Hawking’s "O Universo Numa Casca De Noz" has captured imaginations from Lisbon To Rio. A quick glance of best-seller lists in major cities around the world reveals that many of the most popular titles are translations from foreign languages. Parisians are reading "La Quatrieme Main" by John Irving, while Swedes are engrossed in "Trilogin Om Harskarringen, Sagan Om Ringen" by J R R Tolkien. American fans of umberto eco are eagerly awaiting the Italian’s latest romance novel "Baudolino," which just hit European stores, but won’t be out in English for another year. While it’s not possible to know how many books are translated in any given year, publishing executives say the globalization of popular literature is well under way. Hundreds of popular titles are now available in dozens of languages, producing an increasingly important revenue stream for book publishers. "Readers are much wider in their horizons than they used to be and there is an eclectic, wide-ranging interest as to what’s going on in the world," said Carol Janeway, a senior editor at Knopf, a leading publisher of international literature in America. "Publishing is a every international community." It is a widely held misconception that television, the internet and other forms of popular entertainment have pushed reading books into a downward spiral, at least in the United States. The numbers suggest otherwise. Led by a surge in adult fiction titles, total US book production is likely to surpass an all-time high of 135,000 in 2001, up more than 10 percent from 2000 in a continuation of a phenomenal 20-year run for publishers, according to figures released recently by R R Bowker’s books in print database. While overall US book sales only edged higher from 2000 to more than 25 billion in 2001, February sales saw dramatic jumps in some categories, Association of American Publishers figures showed. To be sure, translations are only a drop in the bucket within those figures. But even that may be starting to change. "There’s a traditional belief that translation simply cannot be as lucrative, but I think that’s beginning to be - if not disproved -then certainly called into question. Translated fiction can pull in very striking sales," said Janeway, who is also a Senior Vice President and International Rights Director at Knopf, a division of Random House, which is owned by Germany’s media powerhouse Bertelsmann AG. (AGENCIES) |
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Sharon fires key ministers, Government in crisis JERUSALEM, May 21: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Government was plunged into crisis after he kicked ministers of the Linchpin Shas Party out of his Government for voting against an emergency economic package. He faced the challenge of governing with a narrowed parliamentary majority and the possible threat of having to face new elections. A fight by Sharon for political survival could push to the sidelines international moves to press for reforms in the Palestinian authority and restart peacemaking after more than 19 months of violence. Under Israeli law, the letters of dismissal go into effect tomorrow, 48 hours after they were issued — giving Sharon some breathing space to try to resolve the crisis. The loss of the ultra-orthodox Shas Party’s 17 votes in the 120-member Parliament would reduce the Prime Minister’s support from 82 to 65 members. In a stinging defeat for Sharon, Parliament voted 47-44 yesterday against a 13 billion Shekel (2.7 billion dollars) package aimed at reining in a budget deficit swollen by lower tax revenues and higher defence spending due to the Palestinian uprising. Shas, a self-declared champion of Israel’s poor and a maker and breaker of past Governments, led a vocal campaign against the edicts. Its leaders left no doubt the party no longer considered itself part of Sharon’s administration. "We welcome his decision," one of the fired Shas Ministers, Shlomo Binizri, told Army radio. "We wish him all the luck if he thinks he can go to elections without Shas or other ultra-orthodox parties." Sharon also fired Deputy Ministers of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party who also broke ranks on the vote, a move that could cut the number of Government knesset seats to 60, still a majority under Israeli law, if the UTJ bolts the coalition. "It’s a snowball that could gather speed and lead us to elections," said Yaron Dekel, Israel radio’s chief political commentator. Sharon challenged shas at a time when his popularity is high among Israelis buoyed by the crushing military offensive he launched in the West Bank on March 29 after Palestinian suicide attacks killed dozens of Israelis. Israeli media reports said Sharon planned to resubmit the economic passage for parliamentary approval on Wednesday. The measures also called for widening the budget deficit to 3.9 percent of gross domestic product from 3.0 percent, amid Government warnings the figure could reach six percent and israel’s credit rating could be hit if the plan was not adopted. In Beirut yesterday, a car bomb killed the son of Palestinian guerrilla leader Ahmed Jibril in an attack which their organisation blamed on Israel. Israel, rocked by two suicide bombings in less than 24 hours, denied it was behind the killing of Mohammad Jihad Ahmed Jibril, a member of the military leadership of the popular front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Israeli media reports said Jihad Jibril was involved in the smuggling of arms and explosives from Lebanon to Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The explosion in the Lebanese capital’s Mar Elias district scattered body parts around the car and left it twisted and drenched with blood, witnesses said. Speaking to reporters, Ahmed Jibril blamed Israel’s Mossad Intelligence Agency for the death of his son. "The Israeli enemy knows he was a serious field commander," he told reporters. An aide to Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer denied his country was involved. "Israel had no connection to it," Yarden Vatikay said. "As usual, they blame Israel." In Northern Israel, police said a tall man in jeans and sports shoes who tried to board a factory bus detonated explosives he was carrying when two patrolmen demanded his identity papers. One policeman was hurt in the blast. On another diplomatic front, Spain said on Monday a deal had been reached on the fate of 13 Palestinian militants taken temporarily to cyprus to end the siege of the church of nativity in Bethlehem. Speaking at the sidelines of a mediterranean conference on the island of Mykonos, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique said 12 of the 13 would be taken by Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Ireland and Portugal and one would stay on in cyprus for the moment. (AGENCIES) |
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Court permits Sikh student to wear Kirpan at school VANCOUVER, May 21: A Sikh student in Montreal has just won his right to wear ‘Kirpan’ or ceremonial dagger at school after five months of legal battle. The only departure from tradition for Gurbaj Singh Multani will be that his ‘Kirpan’ will be encased in a blunt wooden scabbard sewn into a fabric pouch. "I feel very good that I won my right. I got my right back," qualified Gurbaj Singh in an interview with the globe and mail newspaper, after winning the court case. Last November this young boy was at the centre of attention when his ‘Kirpan’ fell on the ground while playing. Suddenly it seemed, the school board and parents of school children in Quebec became aware of the fact that Sikh males are required to wear ‘Kirpans’. The wearing of his ‘Kirpan’ became controversial and the young Sikh was told he could not return to class unless he left his Kirpan at home. After remaining absent for several months, Gurbaj Singh returned to his classroom in April. It was the parents and the school authorities who fought Gurbaj in court, hoping that the judge would consider the wearing of a dagger a serious danger at school. The case in montreal upset many Sikhs who, in Ontario and British Columbia, never had a problem wearing the ‘Kirpan’ to school. But 12-year-old Gurbaj Singh faced the trauma of being jeered at by other parents and facing a school board, which questioned his following one of the basic injunctions for Sikh males. Wearing a ‘Kirpan’ has always been an issue in Canada but other provinces have come to terms with it before Quebec. Calgary accepted the tradition in 1990 while it was accepted in Ontario in 1991. But in Quebec, which is home to a small number of Sikhs, hardly anyone seemed to know that this community wears daggers customarily. Since September 11, minorities have been scrutinised more intensely than ever and many have complained that all dark-skinned people are being viewed with suspicion. Even after Gurbaj Singh has won his case albeit transforming the way he wears a ‘Kirpan’, some parents are not willing to give up the fight. "Would you accept somebody with a gun, even if its sealed," asked real Nadeau, one of the parents who was quoted in the globe and mail. His two children study in the school of 450, which has 40 Sikhs. According to him it was not an issue of racism but a real danger. Other parents called for greater integration by immigrants and criticised the Sikh community for being caught in legal battles so frequently. But for now, Gurbaj Singh and his family are happy that he is back in school. (UNI) |
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Bush vows to Veto Cuba liberalization measures MIAMI, May 21: US President George W Bush sought to thwart efforts by big business and free-trade Republicans to ease US sanctions on Cuba, vowing to veto any such moves in Congress until Cuba adopts free markets and democracy. "I want you to know what trade means with a tyrant. It means we will underwrite tyranny, and we cannot let that happen," Bush said yesterday in a speech commemorating Cuban Independence Day. "And I also want you to know I will not allow our taxpayers’ money to go to enrich the castro regime," Bush said in reference to Cuban President Fidel Castro. "And I’m willing to use my veto." Bush was referring specifically to legislation that would provide US financing for Cuba to buy American farm products, but he intended to send a broader signal. He would block any moves to end a ban on unauthorized travel to Cuba or to lift a four-decade US trade embargo on the Communist-run state, Otto Reich, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told reporters. Bush spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of anti-castro Cuban Americans, who helped hand him a disputed but crucial Florida victory in the 2000 presidential election and who are seen as core supporters for the re-election campaign this year of his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. "Cuba Si, Castro No," the crowd chanted repeatedly as Bush spoke in a Miami Convention Center. Bush has also been pressured by business groups, democratic lawmakers and some free-trade Republicans to lift the embargo on Cuba. Sanctions opponents said the isolation strategy was not working and must be reformed. Former US President Jimmy Carter, during his visit to Havana last week, encouraged Cuba’s one-party state to allow a popular vote on internal reform and urged the US congress to lift the trade embargo. Critics on capitol hill said Bush maintained the status quo, including the trade embargo that had failed to bring democracy to Cuba. Administration officials acknowledged there was no change in Bush’s sanctions policy and said additional measures to toughen the sanctions could come later in the year. "After 40 years of failure, we need to recognize that this approach is clearly not working and try something new," said Arizona Republican Rep. Jeff Flake, who has proposed lifting a US ban on travel to Cuba. "The only people hurt by the embargo are poor and hungry Cubans, and American citizens who are — either in law (or) by practical effect — barred from traveling to, or selling to, cuba," Sen. Byron Dorgan, a north Dakota Democrat, said. (AGENCIES) |
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