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US military upholds TV cover ban on Iraq coffins BERLIN, Nov 4: The US military has said it was sticking to a policy forbidding television camera crews and photographers....more Tears in US town after helicopter loss in Iraq GENOA, Nov 4: Anguish, tears and anger swept this northern Illinois town after one of the deadliest attacks yet on US soldiers in Iraq took the life of a ....more Chandrika sacks three key ministers in show down COLOMBO, Nov 4: Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga today sacked Ministers of Defence, Interior and Information ....more Chandrika’s party blasts LTTE proposals as foundation for Eelam COLOMBO, Nov 4: Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s party today blasted LTTE’s set of counter proposals .......more |
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Bush vows US will WASHINGTON, Nov 4: A day after 16 American soldiers were killed in Iraq, US President George W Bush has declared that the United States will .....more Growing
concern in LONDON, Nov 4: Perturbed over grim projections of job losses touching a staggering two lakh in coming years as a result of ‘outsourcing’ by big ....more India, Myanmar agree that no cause justifies terrorism YANGON, Nov 4: Agreeing that no cause justifies terrorism, India and Myanmar have committed themselves.......more Powell
shakes hands PANAMA CITY, Nov 4: In a gesture that may trouble China, US Secretary of State Colin Powell shook hands with Taiwanese......more |
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US military upholds TV cover ban on Iraq coffins BERLIN, Nov 4: The US military has said it was sticking to a policy forbidding television camera crews and photographers from filming coffins of soldiers killed in Iraq at a US air base in southwestern Germany. Officials at Ramstein, a major US air base which serves as a transfer point, had allowed media access in the past to honor guard ceremonies and transfers of American-flag covered coffins onto US-bound military transport planes, but rules banning coverage were strictly enforced just before the Iraq war began. While US officials say the policy was created out of respect for relatives, others criticise the lack of media access, arguing its aim is to prevent the public from seeing large numbers of coffins that could turn opinion against the war. "You can argue both sides," said one US official who asked not to be identified. "Some say Americans need to see this, this is factual and the public needs to see (the coffins). Yet you also think of the mom of a killed soldier and the trauma of seeing television pictures of her son being repatriated." Journalists seeking access to ramstein to film coffins of 15 Americans killed on Sunday in Iraq when their helicopter was shot down were told that department of defence policy was still "no". Only coverage of arriving injured soldiers was permitted. "The DOD policy is that there is no media coverage of deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein air force base or dover air force base," said Major Bill Bigelow, US European Command spokesman in Stuttgart. A defence department official denied there was any censorship and said the purpose of the policy was to protect the privacy of families "during their times of greatest loss and grief." the rule has been in effect since 1991 and was reaffirmed in March, he said. However in recent years the rule was relaxed and television journalists in Germany were able to cover honor guard ceremonies, including the transfer of coffins of sailors killed in an attack on the US cole and the war in Afghanistan. "During ‘enduring freedom’ the DOD. Did make some exceptions in the policy," said Major Mike Young, Public Affairs Chief for the 86th airlift wing in Ramstein. "Since ‘Iraqi freedom’ started the DOD. Said we are going to enforce the policy. For the past year we haven’t done any (media coverage) on remains." The corpses of most of the 250 American servicemen killed in Iraq have passed through Ramstein since the war began. In some cases after the seven-hour flight from Iraq they are transferred to another plane for an eight-hour flight to Dover, in others they are held at Ramstein and sometimes the planes just stop to refuel before flying on to the United States with new crews. Avoiding casualties has been a US combat priority since the Vietnam war ended three decades ago with 58,000 Americans dead. A bloody tangle in Mogadishu 10 years ago in which 18 Americans died reinforced a concern to minimise risks. Since that time until the war on Iraq, the number of US casualties in foreign conflicts has in fact been relatively low. When the media were allowed access at Ramstein, they typically filmed between two and 10 coffins being loaded onto cargo planes by honor guards. There were no rows of coffins lined up in hangars —the sort of image from the Vietnam era that helped turn many against that war. "We were a bit surprised by the sudden ban (on covering coffins)," said Andy Eckardt, a producer based in Mainz for the US television network NBC who covered about five such transfers there in recent years. "But we follow the regulations. What can I do? it’s the military. They own the base." (AGENCIES) |
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Tears in US town after helicopter loss in Iraq GENOA, Nov 4: Anguish, tears and anger swept this northern Illinois town after one of the deadliest attacks yet on US soldiers in Iraq took the life of a friend and neighbour. First Lt Brian Slavenas, son of a Lithuanian immigrant and youngest of a family in which military service was routine and honored, was piloting the Chinook helicopter in which he and 15 others died when it was shot down by insurgents near the town of Falluja. Twenty-one others on board were injured. The deaths sent military posts across the country into mourning yesterday as the news came to families in towns big and small with a dreaded knock on the door. Among the dead was a 33-year-old sergeant returning home to Pennsylvania to attend his mother’s funeral. In Genoa, about an hour’s drive west of Chicago, Slavenas was remembered as a six-foot five-inch "gentle giant," in the words of his father Ronald. He could have avoided deployment to the war zone when his national guard unit was called up but chose to go, his family said. "He was ... Friendly, modest, decent, honest, reliable, a very ethical person," said his father, tears in his eyes, standing in his stocking feet in the living room of his small brick home. Nearby was a picture of himself in his 82nd airborne uniform and his two other sons, eric and marcus, in their’s. Marcus served in desert storm and eric took part in the landing on Grenada 20 years ago. Eric, 39, said "technically he didn’t have to go. He went for honor. He felt serving his country was his duty," adding that his brother was both a pilot and flight instructor. "As a family we’re very pro-military," Eric said. "We don’t have anything bad to say about US political policy but we need to be a little more careful. The (Chinook) mission wasn’t planned out ... Flying a lumbering aircraft at low altitude over an area known for having insurgents," he said. There were some harsher words at the Genoa cafe on main street, where Pam Citron, 45, was serving up criticism along with sausage, eggs and coffee. "Its not fair that my bother got shot in the butt," she said of her brother, who had been wounded earlier in Iraq. Gene Lyle, 69, a morning customer at the cafe, said he had been a little league baseball coach for a brother of brian slavenas. "I’m against what we’re doing over there and that hasn’t changed ... I get the feeling we’re trying to run the whole world, and it’s not meant to be that way," he said. But Bob Nelson, 70, a retired truck driver and Korean war veteran seated at the cafe, said "should we there? I don’t know. But the United States is a big power. We’re going to be there ... War is costly. Somebody has to pay for it. That means lost lives." (AGENCIES) |
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Chandrika sacks three key ministers in show down COLOMBO, Nov 4: Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga today sacked Ministers of Defence, Interior and Information in the biggest showdown with her cohabitation Government, an official said. Kumaratunga struck against her cohabitation Government while her Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was in Washington for a meeting tomorrow with President George W Bush. Spokesman for the cohabitation Government, Gayrika Perusinghe, said the President removed the three ministers from their top portfolios together with their bureaucrats responsible for the day-to-day running of the ministries. There was no immediate statement from President Kumaratunga or her office on the reasons for the sudden dismissal. However, she had been at loggerheads with the three ministers for some time. She had openly clashed with Defence Minister Tilak Marapana on the handling of the peace process and accused him of making concessions and compromising national security. Kumaratunga has also blamed Interior Minister John Amaratunga, who is also the Christian Affairs Minister, of unleashing police investigations to harass her supporters. Information Minister Imthiaz Bakeer Markar had crossed swords with Kumaratunga over the publication of a gazette when Kumaratunga tried to takeover functions of another minister recently. All three ministers can remain in cabinet on the strength of other portfolios the three men hold in addition to the three key posts — Defence Minister Marapana held highways, Interior Minister held Christian Affairs and Information Minister held posts and telecommunications. Official sources said Kumaratyunga amalgamated the Defence and Interior Ministries and appointed a former police Chief Cyril Herat as its new secretary. President Kumaratunga has been in an uneasy cohabitation with the Government of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who defeated her party at the December 2001 Parliamentary Elections. The latest confrontation between the Government and the President is seen as the worst crisis in the island’s cohabitation politics and has sent shock waves through the business community and Colombo-based diplomats. The unexpected move came just eight days before the Government prepared to unveil its annual budget for 2004. He said relatives have reported 133 people missing but some of these — possibly up to 50 — may have been out of town when a wall of water struck late Sunday. "We will try our hardest to find these people but the chance of them being alive is slim to none," Pasaribu said. Two German women aged 20 and 26, a 63-year-old Singaporean male, a 30-year-old Dutchman and another 30-year-old man from Austria were among those killed when the flash flood hit the town on the banks of the Bahorok river. Along with the surging floodwaters came hundreds of logs, felled on the slopes of nearby Gunung (Mount) Leuser national park and washed down the river. They smashed into scores of homes, many of them tin-roofed bamboo structures, as well as resort cottages on the riverbank. Pasaribu said about 450 homes or other structures were destroyed along with 35 resort cottages, two mosques and eight bridges. (AFP) |
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Chandrika’s party blasts LTTE proposals as foundation for Eelam COLOMBO, Nov 4: Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s party today blasted LTTE’s set of counter proposals for the establishment of an ‘Interim Self Governing Authority’ (ISGA), as one that "lays the legal foundation for a future, separate, sovereign state" while clearly affecting the sovereignty of the island nation and violating its constitution. Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the mother party of the main opposition people’s alliance, said in a 14-page reaction that the LTTE’s 26 paragraph preamble for the rebels’ case for a self-governing authority clearly revealed their mindset and their philosophy that the ISGA "could ultimately become a separate state". "The preamble shows that the LTTE is getting ready for the day when it could argue that if the negotiations are unsuccessful (because they do not yield the results that the LTTE wants) it will have no alternative but to go for a separate state," the SLFP statement said. President Kumaratunga and her party have been very critical with Prime Minister and his United National Front (UNF) Government for the way the peace process is being handled. The SLFP’s reaction came three days after the rebels unveiled their proposals. It has dealt the LTTE proposals clause by clause and rejected them outright. Reacting to the rebels’ call for ‘plenary power’ for the governance of the ISGA such as land, revenue, tax, law and order and land, the SLFP said, "by seeking ‘plenary powers’ the LTTE wants ‘unqualified and absolute powers’ of governance without any ‘organic link’ with the Sri Lankan state," the statement said. The SLFP accused that with the LTTE’s demanding that all ‘occupied land in the north east be immediately vacated’, "the Government’s role in security is considerably eroded." Commenting on LTTE’s suggestion that "the ISGA shall have control over the marine and offshore resources of adjacent seas and power to regulate access thereto", the SLFP statement said that it was a very significant provision highly dangerous to the sovereignty of the state. "If control over the marine and offshore resources of the adjacent seas passes to the ISGA, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Sri Lanka will be considerably compromised. There will be a grave threat to international shipping lanes that pass the east coast of Sri Lanka and needless to say to the security interests of India," the SLFP alleged. It also said that the LTTE seeking powers to ‘regulate access’ to north-east seas would result in that "the Sri Lankan navy will no longer be able to regulate access to the adjacent seas and will, therefore, not be able to perform its duty to protect the territorial integrity of the state". While welcoming the support of the international community for the resolution of the bloody ethnic conflict, the SLFP said that it "will not allow any international consortium or "safety net", in the name of a spurious, unjust peace, to foist on the people of Sri Lanka any extra Constitutional arrangement that is not acceptable to all the people, all the communities that inhabit our land". (UNI) |
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Bush vows US will not run from Iraq WASHINGTON, Nov 4: A day after 16 American soldiers were killed in Iraq, US President George W Bush has declared that the United States will "never run" from the war-hit country and not rest till it wins the war on terror. "The enemy in Iraq believes America will run. That is why they are willing to kill innocent civilians, relief workers, coalition troops. America wil never run," Bush said in a speech in Burmingham (Alabama) yesterday. He said the best way to secure the homeland is to hunt the enemy down one at a time and bring them to justice, which is what America is going to do. Recalling the Sept 11, 2001 terror attack, he said the incident has taught US that "we must be diligent and active. We cannot hope terrorists will change their attitudes." "We will not rest, we will not tire, until the danger to America and civilisation is removed," he said. Indirectly paying tributes to the 16 soldiers, who were killed when their helicopter was shot down on Sunday, he said: "Some of the best have fallen in service to our fellow Americans. We mourn every loss. We honour every name. We grieve with every family. And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave defenders." The terrorists and the killers and those who harbour terrorists, said Bush, cannot stand the thought of a free society in their midst. That is why the mission in Iraq is vital. "A free Iraq wil be a peaceful Iraq. And a free and peaceful Iraq is important for the national security of America," he said. (PTI) |
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Growing concern in UK over outsourcing LONDON, Nov 4: Perturbed over grim projections of job losses touching a staggering two lakh in coming years as a result of ‘outsourcing’ by big companies here, a direct beneficiary being call centres in India, Britain’s trade unions are gearing up for a spate of countrywide protests. Drastic cut in costs in the range of 30 to 70 per cent, a better quality in services and stiff competition are pushing more and more companies to establish their call centres in India. "When people lose jobs, you will find them protesting. This is a normal process inherited from globalisation," says noted industrialist Lord Swraj Paul. Observing that the Government was not directly involved in this, he said in all probability, the situation would work itself out. "It evolves around more and more competition. The sooner this sinks in, the better it will be for the affected companies," he said. But this view is not shared by others. "The unions are loud about the problem of outsourcing. It is becoming one of the biggest issues," Robert Blackhurst, editor-in-chief at the foreign policy centre, told a group of visiting Indian journalists. HSBC has already spoken about plans to employ 8,000 people in India, China and Malaysia in the coming few months. Telecom giant BT is contemplating creating 2,200 new call centre posts in India and insurance company aviva proposes to set up a 1000-strong call centre and claims-processing unit in India. Analyst key note predicted one lakh of the existing six lakh call centre jobs disappearing between now and the end of 2008. Consultants deloitte and touche projected India as the main beneficiary of an expected outsourcing of two million jobs, mainly related to administrative and technology spheres, in the next five years. UK-based it group Logica CMG plans to go in for an expansion programme in outsourcing in India in a big way. It already employs 350 people in Bangalore, developing software and providing customers with telephone and internet support. "The company will employ at least 1,500 in India by 2005," its Managing Director of Global Outsourcing Bob Fawthrop was quoted as saying. "We will use a blend of different people to offer the cheapest cost. There is no risk to the customer. It is our risk," he said. Tesco, the supermarket chain, has joined the likes of British airways, Prudential, HSBC and powergen by announcing its own plans to move jobs to India. India’s potential was first identified by general electric in the mid-1990s when it shifted a large number of back office jobs to the sub-continent. According to consultant firm Mckinsey, over 200 of the fortune list of 1000 companies have now outsourced in India. And what has today become a mushrooming 1.5 billion dollar industry for India, is predicted to grow at a whopping pace to 21 billion dollars by 2008, according to property consultants Cushman and Wakefield. Asking Britain’s trade unions to show a sense of fairness, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott felt it was unfair to blame India for loss of British jobs. "The trade unions here must show a sense of fairness towards India vis-a-vis winning outsourcing deals from some of Britain’s biggest firms. The furore is unfair and India must be given a chance to develop its skills and markets," Prescott said while speaking at a reception hosted by the labour friends of India recently at Bournemouth. (PTI) |
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India, Myanmar agree that no cause justifies terrorism YANGON, Nov 4: Agreeing that no cause justifies terrorism, India and Myanmar have committed themselves to strengthening bilateral mechanisms and to consider additional ways to intensify efforts to prevent, counter and suppress the activities of terrorist groups. A joint statement issued today on the visit of Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to Myanmar said both sides shared the view that terrorism in all its forms and manisfestations was unacceptable and affirmed their commitment to ensure that the common border remained one of peace, stability and tranquility. During the visit, Shekhawat held talks with chairman of the ruling state peace and development council, senior general than shwe and his Deputy Vice Senior General Maung Aye on a wide-range of bilateral, international and regional issues, the statement said. They also reviewed defence cooperation and expressed satisfaction at the regular exchange of visits involving three services. They agreed that such exchanges as well as training programmes of Myanmar personnel in Indian institutions should be stepped up in future. The Myanmarese side informed the Vice President about the seven-step roadmap for transition to democracy and expressed the desire to work with India for closer economic relations and to maintain peace and stability on their common border. Shekhawat expressed India’s support for the national reconciliation process and progress in the transition to democracy in Myanmar. According to the statement, the two sides expressed their support for the non-aligned movement which had a vital role to play for promoting peace, development and a more equitable economic world order. They also agreed to work jointly to strengthen regional cooperation, including in ASEAN, the bimst-EC and the Mekong-Ganga cooperation where both countries are actively involved. The two sides also agreed to ensure timely progress in implementation of the trilateral highway project. Myanmar expressed deep gratitude to the Indian Government for extending of a credit line of 25 million dollars to it. The two sides also shared the view that the United Nations reform process should be expedited. Myanmar informed the Indian side of its willingness to support the aspiration of India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council when the issue comes up. During Shekawat’s five-day official visit to Myanmar, the first by an Indian Vice President in 16 years, the two sides signed the agreement on visa exemption for official and diplomatic passport holders and memorandum of understanding between the ministry of education, Government of the Union of Myanmar and the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The Myanmar side conveyed deep appreciation for the training fellowships provided by India to more than 300 Myanmar nationals. The two sides reviewed progress on several developmental projects considered important for building long-term linkages between the two countries. They reaffirmed the target of US$ 1 billion of bilateral trade by the year 2006. (PTI) |
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Powell shakes hands with Taiwan’s President PANAMA CITY, Nov 4: In a gesture that may trouble China, US Secretary of State Colin Powell shook hands with Taiwanese President Chen Shui-Bian during a visit to Panama to mark the 100th anniversary of its Independence. "They had a chance encounter," said a US official who asked not to be named yesterday. "The Secretary returned a greeting ... They shook hands." A second US official was at pains to make clear that Powell had not been scheduled to meet Chen. "Secretary of State Powell and President Chen both attended events marking the 100th anniversary of Panama’s Independence. They exchanged greetings. There were no official meetings scheduled between the two and none took place," the official said. China is highly sensitive to any sign of US favor toward Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province. Last week a Chinese Government spokesman said Chen’s stops in New York and anchorage, Alaska, on his way to and from Monday’s ceremonies in Panama — one of only 26 countries which recognize Taiwan — could send negative ripples through the US-sino relationship and increase tensions between Beijing and Taipei if he engaged in "inappropriate activities." The United States, which shifted its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing on Jan 1, 1979, says it allows Taiwan’s leaders to enter the United States in transit for their safety, comfort and convenience. It does not, however, let them make official visits for fear of offending China. (AGENCIES) China uighur tycoon goes missing from indebted firm SHANGHAI, Nov 4: One of China’s richest private businessmen and the chairman of a Shanghai-listed company has gone missing, the firm said today, leaving behind liabilities of 987.86 million yuan (119.4 million dollars). Xinjiang Hops Co Ltd 600090.S said it had been unable to contact Aikelamu Aishayoufu, an ethnic Uighur who was named China’s 22nd richest man in last month’s Asiamoney poll, but did not provide further explanation. "The company has not been able to get in touch with Aikelamu Aishayoufu, so he’s unable to carry out his position as Chairman," Xinjiang hops, a brewery with real estate and bioengineering interests, said in a statement in the official Shanghai securities news. The company, whose yuan-denominated a shares fell their 10 percent limit on Monday, said it was facing serious financial problems due to the liabilities. (AGENCIES) US will seek 2.22 bln dollars military aid for Israel WASHINGTON, Nov 4: The United States will ask Congress to give Israel 2.22 billion dollars in military assistance in the fiscal year 2005, 60 million dollars more than in 2004, the US state department said in a statement. The increase is in line with a 1990s agreement which reduces economic assistance to Israel by 120 million dollars a year while adding 60 million dollars a year to the military component of the package, the largest washington gives to any country. The statement, issued after talks in Israel last Wednesday and Thursday between senior US and Israeli officials, said the Bush administration was committed to enhancing Israel’s security and "maintaining Israel’s qualitative edge over any combination of adversaries". It said the United States would continue to seek funding for future US participation in selected joint research and development projects with Israel. US economic support to Israel stood at 600 million dollars in 2002 but under the agreement, which dates back to the Clinton administration, it will disappear by 2008. Apart from the annual military and economic assistance, the United States is also guaranteeing international loans by Israel up to an amount of 9 billion dollars over three years. The 9 billion dollars is liable to deductions equivalent to the Israeli Government’s spending on settlements in the Palestinian territories but the United States has given Israel clearance to start borrowing before deciding how much it will deduct. (AGENCIES) Fuming diplomats challenge ny smoking laws at UN UNITED NATION, Nov 4: Smoking diplomats and a UN lawyer traded jabs on Monday in the latest round of an international boxing match over where you can smoke with impunity in New York city. Recalling legendary battles over where diplomats can park on New York streets, the fight centers on whether envoys have tobacco immunity at UN headquarters or must obey city and state laws banning smoking in public areas and workplaces. Summoned by angry envoys, UN lawyer Bruce Rashkow told the general assembly’s administrative and budget committee yesterday that the UN headquarters compound was bound by a 2002 New York city law and a 2003 New York state law that prohibited smoking in indoor public spaces and areas where people work. However, under the so-called headquarters agreement between the United Nations and the US Government, the general assembly could choose to issue regulations allowing delegates to ignore local law, Rashkow added. In the nearly 60 years since the United Nations came into being, the general assembly had issued just four such regulations, he said. One governed social security benefits for UN staff, another the licensing of professionals working on UN property. A third governed the hours of provision of UN services and the fourth regulated UN Liability. Irritable delegates from Russia, Nigeria, Syria and Mexico, possibly suffering from nicotine withdrawal, insisted it was not a matter of whether people smoked but a question of the assembly’s authority. And Cuba worried how much it cost to remove ashtrays. The diplomats argued a three-year-old general assembly resolution limiting smoking to certain areas was applicable rather than any New York ordinances. But Rashkow said local laws applied unless the assembly issued rules stipulating they did not. In any case, he went on, only the United Nations could enforce the law within the UN compound, so diplomats need not fear imminent arrest by New York’s finest. The envoys, perhaps soothed by that news, immediately changed the subject to another burning problem how to speed access to the UN Parking garage during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, when meeting times were being pushed up, creating congestion during the early morning hours. (AGENCIES) Credit suisse Q3 surges to 2.045 bln SFR ZURICH, Nov 4: Credit Suisse said on Tuesday net profit surged to 2.045 billion Swiss Francs ( 1.53 billion) in the third quarter, helped by one-off gains, cost cuts and improved markets. The figure slightly beat market forecasts of a net profit of 1.999 billion Francs, underlining CS’s dramatic turnaround from a record loss last year caused by a global market rout and problems at its credit Suisse first boston investment bank. Switzerland’s second-largest bank made a third-quarter loss of 2.148 billion Francs in the same period a year ago. CS returned to profits this year and made a net profit of 1.346 billion in the second quarter. In a letter to shareholders, Dual Chief Executives Oswald Gruebel and Jonn Mack offered a modest outlook for earnings in a statement that echoed guidance given in August. "We are concentrating on producing sound profitability and will continue to focus on cost management, efficiency and building up our client franchise," the two CEOs said. Analysts have said CS needs to show continued gains in profitability over coming quarters to show that it has closed the books on the darkest chapter in its history. The results were boosted by 1.6 billion Francs in after-tax income from the sale of insurance units, of which 383 million Francs were retained to boost provisions for winterthur’s international business portfolio, in a move that strengthened net results by about 1.3 billion Francs, the bank said. The sales of the Winterthur units in Italy and Insurer Churchill in the UK were part of a drive to return its insurance business — a source of much of CS’s headaches last year — back to sustained profitability. CS saw net new money inflows of 4.0 billion Francs in the quarter, with 8.4 billion Francs in inflows in its private banking arm alone. CS’s solid earnings are set to increase the pressure on rival ubs to prove that it is still Switzerland’s best performing bank when it reports third-quarter numbers next Tuesday. (AGENCIES) |
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