|
|
UN denies Kiwis
buried UNITED NATIONS, July 9: The United Nations has disputed Iraqi charges that a UN.....more
Bhutto bought Ghauri WASHINGTON, July 9: Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto bought North Korean...more
Spirit of Dalai Lama still fills the Himalayan region LHASA, CHINA, July 9: He has not set foot in Tibet since fleeing Chinese troops 40 years ago...more |
 |
Sharif accused of scuttling Kashmir struggle ISLAMABAD, July 9: A 15-party umbrella...more China blasts US attempts to mediate in Tibet affairs BEIJING, July 9: China has vehemently....more BBC drops Army Welfare Fund ads after Pak protests LONDON, July 9: BBC world service television...more Musical adaptation of Dickensian works NEW DELHI, July 9: The capital will play host....more Screening effective for high-risk lung cancer LONDON, July 9: Screening patients who have...more |
 |
UN denies Kiwis buried locust eggs in Iraq UNITED NATIONS, July 9: The United Nations has disputed Iraqi charges that a UN mine clearance expert was actually a spy trying to start a locust plague in an effort to sabotage Iraqi agriculture. Iraq has expelled Mr Ian Broughton, a New Zealander employed by a company hired by the UN for mine disposal projects in Northern Iraq. He left the country yesterday after a 72-hour warning. Baghdad says he was a spy who attempted to damage Iraqi crops by planting boxes of locust eggs in April near the town of Khanaqun, about 175 km Northeast of Baghdad. Alleging Iraq had produced no evidence to support its charges, the United Nations said it had investigated the incident when Baghdad first brought it up in April and concluded it "had no basis in fact." "The investigation indicated that on this date neither Ian Broughton nor any other person connected to the United Nations was in the area specified" by the Iraqi Government, UN spokesman Manoel De Almeida E Silva said yesterday.. Mr Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Iraqi humanitarian programme, who just left Iraq on Tuesday after a 20-day mission, had asked Iraqi officials to visit the place where Mr Broughton had allegedly planted the locust eggs. "There was no response to this suggestion," a statement from his office said, adding that the expulsion order was announced hours after Mr Sevan left on Tuesday for Amman en route home. Mr Sevan said Iraq had not raised the issue during his visit but he brought it up with Agriculture Minister Abdulillah Hameed Mahmoud Saleh. Iraq in June had identified Mr Broughton, whose nickname is "red," as "reed" and said he was a British citizen. Yesterday the Iraqi news agency said: "The New Zealander, Ian Broughton, who works with the United Nations in Iraq, left Baghdad for Jordan overland this morning after it was confirmed that he had carried sabotage acts in Iraq." Local newspapers repeated the charges. "Acts of spying and sabotage by some of those who wear the blue (UN) hat have reached a level which cannot be imagined," Babel, a newspaper owned by President Saddam Hussein’s eldest son Uday, said in a front-page editorial. Iraq has previously opposed the use of mine disposal experts, many of whom have a military background. British citizens among them were expelled in January. Their visas were withdrawn and the UN did not attempt to keep them in Iraq, although it runs humanitarian programmes in three northern provinces not under control of the Baghdad Government. Iraq also has long opposed the mine disposal programme in the Kurdish-dominated North aimed at allowing displaced kurds to resettle villages. Western diplomats believe the programme interferes with Government activities to move non-Kurdish Iraqis into the area. Most of the mines were laid during Iraq’s 1980-1988 war with Iran and Baghdad is reported to still have security concerns in the border area. The UN has estimated there were up to 120 million mines and unexploded ordnance in the Iraqi North that have killed 2,400 people between 1991 and 1997 and laid waste large areas of arable lands. (REUTERS) |
|
Bhutto bought Ghauri in secret trip to N Korea: Report WASHINGTON, July 9: Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto bought North Korean technology and machinery to produce the Ghauri missile during a secret trip to Pyongyang months after it successfully tested-fired the No Dong missile, media reports here said today. Benazir, then Pakistan’s premier, secretly visited North Korea to secure No Dong technology. Pakistan’s intentions for the information became clear after the April 6, 1998 launch of the Ghauri, which like the Shahab-3, resembled the No Dong in size, shape and performance, the defense news reported. The paper traced the links between communist North Korea and Pakistan as far back to the late 1980’s when India was making progress with its Prithvi and Agni missiles and Pakistan felt the need to possess missiles to counter those. It quoted the June, 1998 issue of Jane’s intelligence review saying Pakistani officials were present in North Korea for No Dong’s first flight in May, 1993, to butress its claim. The U.S. Defense Department speculated in its 1997 report ‘proliferation, threat and response’ that Pakistan ended its effort to develop a two-stage Hatf-2 missile and began to look internationally for a counter to the looming threat posed by the Indian missile development, it said. Pakistan’s affections first turned to China. In 1991, it received 30 Chinese M-11 missiles. At the same time Pakistan was nurturing ties with North Korea, It said adding that similarities between No Dong, Ghauri and Sahab Point to the emergence of an underground network of missile proliferators. (PTI) |
|
Spirit of Dalai Lama still fills the Himalayan region LHASA, CHINA, July 9: He has not set foot in Tibet since fleeing Chinese troops 40 years ago, yet the spirit of the Dalai Lama still fills this Himalayan region. From the temples and street bazaars of Lhasa where he is venerated, to Communist Party headquarters where he is reviled, the presence of the exiled spiritual leader seems to be everywhere. In some ways, he is the motive force behind the highways, power stations and telephone exchanges that Beijing is throwing up around the region: Beijing is counting on these projects to buy support for Central Government and erode the Dalai Lama’s influence. The challenge he poses is the reason, in part at least, for the Army barracks and military installations that ring Lhasa. Education policy is formulated with a backward glance towards the nobel peace prize laureate, as is the party line on language, immigration and tourism. So the question is: If the Dalai Lama’s influence is so enormous in spirit, will Beijing ever let him back in person? Nothing suggests that Beijing is prepared to contemplate a return. "Basically, they’re waiting for the Dalai Lama to die," said Robbie Barnett, a visiting scholar on Tibet at Columbia University in New York. "In the meantime, they’re buying off the Tibetans." The dalai Lama as pop icon The waiting game also is being played in Dharamshala, the Himalayan City in India where the Tibetan Government-in-exile has been based since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule. There, the Tibetan diaspora has been fervently hoping that China will collapse and break up like the former Soviet Union, allowing the Dalai Lama to return in triumph. Lately, the exiles have put more faith in international pressure forcing China to cut a deal. The Dalai Lama has become adept at playing politics in Washington, where he has chatted at the White House with Vice President Al Gore, and where President Bill Clinton has paid him ‘’drop-by’’ visits. He shuttles between European capitals, befriending ministers and politicians. Hollywood, too, has embraced the spiritual leader. The glitterati of tinseltown — names like Richard Gere and Steven Segal — have turned him almost into a pop-culture icon. Yet the more friends he makes in the west, the more enemies he gathers in China. Beijing resents his efforts to involve outsiders in what it regards as an internal affair. Splittists and serf-owners Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama is no closer to his goal of wresting political autonomy for Tibet. Exactly what form of autonomy he would settle for as a condition for his return is unclear. "What does the Dalai Lama want? we don’t really know," said Barnett. Broadly, he appears to be pressing for an arrangement for tibet along the lines of the "one country, two systems" formula offered to Hong Kong. That would give Tibet its own political and legal system, and free rein to run its own economy, but leave foreign affairs and defence to China. In addition, he has demanded in the past a Tibetan homeland that goes beyond the boundaries of the current tibet autonomous region and that would include chunks of neighbouring Chinese provinces populated by Tibetans. None of this is acceptable in Beijing. Chinese leaders say they will talk with the Dalai Lama if he renounces independence and accepts that Taiwan is part of China. He has publicly conceded both points. But Chinese propaganda still reviles the 65-year-old god-king as a "Splittists" — and the leader of a "feudal serf-owning clique", a reference to the old slave-owning system before China took over. Monks wait expectantly Observers of Tibet say China has given up all expectations of dealing with the Dalai Lama, even though the unresolved political question threatens the economic progress that underpins Beijing’s control in the region. China poured one billion yuan ( 120 million) in direct subsidies into Tibet last year, stoking a mini boom on the "roof of the world", catapulting tibetans into the market economy and raising living standards across the board. In 1998 Tibet’s economy grew by 10 percent, higher than the national average of 7.8 percent. Yet allowing the Dalai Lama home under any circumstances would be a gamble for Beijing. The stakes have lately grown higher. Tibet has been a traditional buffer with India, and the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan has alarmed Beijing and added to the region’s strategic importance. Given the unabated adulation for the exiled leader among Tibet’s devoutly Buddhist population, it would be hard to put limits on his authority if he came back. At the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa, years of "patriotic education" aimed at turning the monks against the Dalai Lama seem only to have increased his popularity. "All of us support the Dalai Lama," whispered one young monk, his eyes nervously searching for eavesdropping spies. "We’re all longing for the day when he comes back." (REUTERS) |
|
Sharif accused of scuttling Kashmir struggle ISLAMABAD, July 9: A 15-party umbrella organisation of opposition parties in Pakistan has accused Premier Sharif of scuttling the Kashmiri freedom struggle by agreeing to withdraw infiltrators from Kargil at a meeting with US President Clinton, and decided to step up its movement to oust the two-and-half-year old Government at the earliest. The Pakistan Awami Ittehad (PAI), including former Premier Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which launched its anti-Governmnt movement from Lahore today, claimed that the Washington agreement was the most serious setback to the country after the fall of Dhaka in 1971. Experience has shown India will never hold a serious dialogue on Kashmir and hence the struggle by the Mujahideen was the best way to bring New Delhi to terms, but, the Prime Minister scuttled their struggle by making an agreement with the US President, Secretary General Hamid Nasir Chattha said here yesterday. He also accused Sharif of entering into some kind of secret understanding with India because of which New Delhi was protecting him and insisting that Sharif was not responsible for the Kargil operation, in an obvious reference to Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes’ comments that Sharif was not aware of the operation. Nasir said all provincial organisations have been asked to start preparations for anti-Government rallies in their areas and even those parties which are not part of alliance but are opposing the Washington statement would be invited to join the movement. (PTI) |
|
China blasts US attempts to mediate in Tibet affairs BEIJING, July 9: China has vehemently opposed a US proposal to mark July 10 as World Tibet Day and described Washington’s stand on Tibet and Taiwan as interefernce in its internal affairs. Tibet is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and Tibetan affairs are the internal affairs of China and no foreign country has the right to interfere in them, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue had said. Urging the United States to accept that Tibet is part of China, Zhang said the Chinese Government rejects the recent proposal in the US house of representatives to designate July 10 as World Tibet Day. She said that a small group of US Congressmen have ignored facts and put forward the proposal to mark World Tibet Day and made irresponsible remarks on the Tibet issue in an attempt to interfere in China’s internal affairs. Meanwhile, China’s Parliament has also condemned moves by US Congressmen to enhance the defence capability of Taiwan, saying it could weaken ties with Washington further. A spokesman for the National People’s Congress (NPC) said a proposed US law advocating increased arms sales to Taiwan would further undermine Sino-US relations. The spokeswoman also urged the US Congressmen to immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop harming Sino-US relations. (PTI) |
|
BBC drops Army Welfare Fund ads after Pak protests LONDON, July 9: BBC world service television has dropped advertisements placed by Non Resident Indian organisations inviting funds for the Indian Army Welfare Fund after an official protest by the Pakistan High Commission here. The advertisements being run for almost two weeks as part of BBC’s telecasts in South Asia and Middle East asked viewers to donate generously to the welfare fund for Indian soldiers currently fighting to evict Pak-backed intruders from Indian territory. The black and white advertisements captioned ‘veer jawans’ feature Indian troops with the voice over saying that these were pictures of soldiers on way to the war front to risk their lives defending the country from foreign transgressions. A spokeswoman for the BBC said the advertisement was dropped after the management’s attention was drawn to objections raised to it by the Pakistan High Commission. She merely said it was felt that the advertisement was inappropriate. (PTI) . |
|
Musical adaptation of Dickensian works NEW DELHI, July 9: The capital will play host to a dual musical performance — "it’s springtime once more" and "oliver" — based on Charles Dickens’ classical works. The entire cast and choir consists of 250 children of st columba’s high school who infuse the oft-told stories with new life. "Oliver", directed by Maestro George Pulinkala, is based on a famous broadway presentation by Lionel Bart and is regarded as one of the finest musicals ever made. "It’s springtime once again" is an adapted version of the novel ‘selfish giant’, who did not allow children to play in his beautiful garden. The children play the role of everything — from the giant to birds, flowers, bees and even the wind and the snow. The choreographer is Kim Jain. It is for the first time that the dual musical is being staged by a school in Delhi. Both the plays are to be held on July 16 at the siri fort auditorium. They will be repeated the next day. According to brother C J Coelho, principal of the school, students from class one to eleven are involved in the musical. Also eight teachers from the school and some of their daughters are taking part. Describing these as the "musical nites of the millennium", brother Coelho said the children have been sweating it out after school hours since December. "The colourful costumes, imaginative sets and the lively, cheerful music combined with children’s hard work and enthusiasm fill the delightful performance with the sheer joy of life and make it really worth seeing," brother Coelho said. "Oliver" is the story of the triumph of a human being over adversity. "It evokes compassion even in the hearts of thieves, pickpockets and murderers." The event was planned for may but was rescheduled for mid-July due to sudden closure of schools in view of heat wave. The principal said the musicals have a message "focus on others" and help bring out the latent talent in the children. "There is more appeal value in music," brother Coelho noted. He said the school always used to have musical hits in the 1970s and ’80s. Some of the best performances included "smike", "the whiz", "ushayan", "a child is born" and "joseph and his techicolour coat". "However, it is almost after a decade that the great tradition is being revived," he pointed out. (UNI) |
|
Screening effective for high-risk lung cancer LONDON, July 9: Screening patients who have a high risk of developing lung cancer could help detect the disease at a more curable stage, scientists said today. Preliminary results from the Early Lung Cancer Action Project (ELCAP) published in the Lancet Medical Journal showed that a technique called low-dose Computed Topography (CT) detected more tumours and early signs of lung cancer than chest X-rays. "Our results confirm the expectation that, compared with chest radiography, low-dose CT greatly increases the likelihood of detection...Of lung cancer at an earlier, curable stage," Professor Claudia Henschke said. Henschke and her colleagues at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center and McGill University in Montreal tested 1,000 high risk people — heavy smokers over the age of 60. CT, which gives more precise images than normal chest X-rays, detected six times as many early stage tumours than X-rays, four times more cancerous nodules (groups of cells) and three times more swellings that raise the suspicion of cancer. "Our findings suggest brighter prospects for cost-effective screening for lung cancer in people at high risk," Henschke added. "We are nowhere near curing advanced lung cancer and the smoking legacy will be with us for a long time, whatever the outcome of prevention programmes," Dr Ian Smith, of the Royal Marsden Hospital in surrey, England, said in a commentary on the research. "Lung-cancer screening with modern technology should again become a top research priority. The ELCAP study is a welcome step in the right direction," he added. (RUTERS) |
|
