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Renegade Afghan HERAT, AFGHANISTAN, June 18: A renegade commander has taken control of most of a remote Afghan provincial capital after clashes in which ..........more EU
struggles to BRUSSELS, June 18: European Union leaders resumed talks today aimed at.......more US military hid Iraq prisoner from Red Cross: Pentagon WASHINGTON, June 18: The US military has been improperly holding a suspected ......more US plans lawsuit shield for lockheed, others WASHINGTON, June 18: Lockheed Martin corp. lmt.n . and three other Government contractors will be granted ......more |
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Brazil scientists discover prehistoric ratfish SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, June 18: Brazilian scientists have discovered a species of fish, related to sharks, that has been swimming the seas since .....more Forbes names Mel Gibson most powerful celebrity NEW YORK, June 18: Mel Gibson, whose controversial film "the passion of the Christ" paid off big at the box office, is the year’s most powerful.....more South Korea to name new capital but many asking why SEOUL, June 18: South Koreans will probably know next month where their new administrative capital will be built,. .....more Top Hong Kong democrat more conciliatory to China HONG KONG, June 18: Hong Kong’s biggest democracy party has dismissed Beijing’s......more |
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Renegade Afghan overruns provincial capital HERAT, AFGHANISTAN, June 18: A renegade commander has taken control of most of a remote Afghan provincial capital after clashes in which 18 people were killed or wounded and the Governor was forced to flee, combatants said today. The upheaval in the central province of Ghor presents a fresh crisis for President Hamid Karzai and his efforts to impose his authority in the provinces by disarming regional militias seen as a threat to September elections. It comes just as he was expected back from an overseas trip that included a visit to Washington in which he and President George W Bush gave what many analysts saw a overly rosy assessment of Afghanistan’s progress since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. Ghor Police Chief General Zaman said Commander Abdul Salaam Khan’s forces captured most of the provincial capital of Chaghcharan overnight. "We are in the northern part of the city and plan to retake it," he told from the outskirts of the town, while calling for the Central Government to send reinforcements. Khan, speaking from Chaghcharan, said the city was under his control. "The situation is calm. There is no trouble here," he said, adding that several other commanders opposed to the local administration had joined forces with him. Ghor Governor Ibrahim Malikzada said yesterday he had taken refuge in Herat, the main city to the west of his remote and rugged province. Khan said there had been 18 casualties, but did not say how many of these were dead or wounded. Zaman said some people had been killed but he did not know how many. Zaman told yesterday night that Khan had fired "hundreds" of rockets that landed in civilian areas. Khan accused the Government side of firing rockets into civilian areas. It is the third time in less than three months that a provincial Governor appointed by Karzai has been forced to flee, following similar unrest over his disarmament plans in the northern province of Faryab in April. Only last weekend, stone-throwing supporters of a regional strongman prevented a new Governor appointed by Karzai taking office in the northern province of Sari Pul. A Defence Ministry official said it had no immediate plans to rush troops from the fledgling national army to Ghor as it did in response to the unrest in Faryab and earlier in Herat. US military aircraft flew over Chaghcharan overnight, but did not launch any attacks, the combatants said. Tensions rose in Ghor last month after Khan, who is from Afghanistan’s largest Pashtun Clan, a minority in Ghor, refused to surrender weapons or decommission his fighters unless Karzai gave him a role in the local administration. The Central Government sent a delegation to Ghor last month in an effort to stave off fighting, but it failed to reduce tensions and foreign aid agency workers left the province this week, fearing an outbreak of violence. Karzai has vowed to disarm 40 percent of armed fighters loyal to provincial leaders and commanders by the end of June. The plan is seen as key to stabilising the country as it prepares for landmark elections in September, but has so far moved slowly. An upsurge in violence in recent months around Afghanistan, much of it in the south and east and blamed on militants of the former Taliban regime, has raised doubts about the elections being held on time. This could have implications for Bush, who has been trying to hold up Afghanistan as a success story to counterbalance his problems in Iraq ahead of his bid for re-election in November. (AGENCIES) |
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EU struggles to agree new commission, constitution BRUSSELS, June 18: European Union leaders resumed talks today aimed at finding a new executive president for the bloc after a bitter row pitting Germany and France against Britain and Italy. Leaders of the 25-nation European Union failed to reach a deal in late night talks yesterday. The logjam came despite intense pressure following last weekend’s European Parliament election debacle marked by low voter turnout and victories for anti-EU candidates. "We’re not there yet," admitted Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern as he returned for talks today after a few hours of sleep. Ireland holds the EU’s rotating presidency. Ahern said there were 10 candidates in the running but that nobody commanded sufficient support to be elected. Although the commission president is elected by majority voting, the Irish presidency had said it wanted a consensus candidate to avoid bad blood. But given the continuing differences, Ahern appeared to shift on this, saying: "If somebody has qualified majority support they are elected." The Irish leader predicted talks would go late into the night and possibly into the weekend. The two-day summit is formally scheduled to end today afternoon. Leaders battled over dinner yesterday over who should become the next European Commission president, replacing Romano Prodi, whose term expires October 31. French President Jacques Chirac - backed by Germany - rejected calls by conservative leaders for European Commission External Relations Chief Chris Patten to be given the top EU job. Chirac said the Franco-German favourite, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, remained his choice for the post. But British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with Italian support, made it clear he would not back Verhofstadt. The summit appeared to reopen the EU split from last year’s Iraq war during which France, Germany and Belgium led the EU anti-war camp against Britain and Italy which took part in the conflict. With Verhofstadt and patten possibly out of the race the door seems to have been opened to a compromise candidate. Still in the running - although he insists he does not want the job - is Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. "I belong to the old fashioned school of politicians who do what they said they would do after elections," insisted Juncker, who earlier this month won re-election amid vows not to accept the commission presidency. A further candidate is Ireland’s Ahern, who also claims he does not want the job. Other longshot candidates include Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Portuguese EU Commissioner Antonio Vitorino. In contrast to struggles over the new Commission chief, leaders appear close to clinching a long-sought constitution deal which tops the agenda early today. "I don’t see any problems which cannot be overcome," Chirac said. EU leaders notably failed to hammer out a constitution at a summit last December, which pitted heavyweights Germany and France against Spain and Poland in a battle over powersharing. But the list of unresolved constitutional issues has been reduced to a handful of tough but mainly technical issues. High up are demands by Spain and Poland that a planned "double majority" system for decision-making must not allow the EU’s big three - Germany, France and Britain - to ram through or block decisions at the EU Council of Ministers. Britain is demanding it keep a national Veto over tax, social security, foreign and security policy. Seven nations led by Poland also want a reference to Europe’s Christian heritage and God in the treaty, a move opposed by secular France, among others. Even if EU leaders hammer out a constitution deal at Brussels, the treaty is not a done deal until it is approved by all 25 member states - many of which plan to hold national referendums on the constitution, including euro-sceptical Britain. (DPA) |
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US military hid Iraq prisoner from Red Cross: Pentagon WASHINGTON, June 18: The US military has been improperly holding a suspected Iraqi terrorist in a prison near Baghdad for more than seven months without informing the Red Cross, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Defense officials confirmed that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered military officials to hold the suspected member of the Ansar-al-Islam guerrilla group last November at the request of then-CIA Director George Tenet without telling the international committee of the Red Cross. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told the United States was now moving to end the shadowy status of the man, who was not identified, and allow access to him by the ICRC. Both assigning a prisoner number and notifying the Red Cross are required under the Geneva conventions and other international humanitarian laws. "I will acknowledge that the ICRC should have been notified about this prisoner earlier," Whitman said. "he will be assigned an identification number and, if appropriate, moved into the general prison population." The report came as the United States continued to conduct a major investigation into the abuse, including sexual humiliation, of prisoners by the US military in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Whitman confirmed a report in Thursday’s New York Times that Tenet — who recently resigned as CIA Chief — had asked Rumsfeld to make the move last year after the "high-value" detainee, believed to have been actively involved in planning attacks on US-led forces in Iraq, was captured. "The Director of Central Intelligence (Tenet) wanted him held without notification while the CIA worked to determine his value," Whitman said. The man has been held at camp cropper, a high-security facility near Baghdad airport, and has apparently been lost in the system in recent months, according to other US officials, who asked not to be identified. Whitman said the military’s Central Command had recently sought clarification from the Pentagon on the status of the detainee. Washington has linked Ansar-al-Islam to Al-Qaeda and blames the group for some attacks in Iraq. "He has been treated humanely," Whitman told . Although the United States says that all prisoners in Iraq are treated humanely and strictly under rules of war established by the Red Cross, the Times said the prisoner and other so-called "ghost detainees" were hidden largely to prevent the ICRC from monitoring their treatment and conditions. In March, Maj Gen Antonio Taguba, the US Army officer who investigated abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, criticised the practice of allowing ghost detainees as "deceptive, contrary to army doctrine, and in violation of international law." Whitman said it was appropriate to hold detainees for brief periods without notification if they were viewed as an "active threat" in wartime. But he acknowledged that the man was held too long under those conditions in this case. "Once he was placed in military custody, people lost track of him," a senior intelligence official told the New York Times. (AGENCIES) |
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US plans lawsuit shield for lockheed, others WASHINGTON, June 18: Lockheed Martin corp. lmt.n . and three other Government contractors will be granted limited protection from lawsuits triggered by terrorist acts, the Washington Post reported in its Friday edition. The move by the department of homeland security is designed to encourage technology companies to come up with innovative security products without worrying that they could be sued in the wake of a catastrophic attack, the Post said. The homeland security department plans to announce the limited liability protections on Friday, the Post said. Among the products shielded from lawsuits is the lockheed system used to identify suspicious airline passengers in the Government’s much-delayed capps II screening system. Others include biohazard sensors and devices designed to detect and neutralize explosives. The post did not say which companies make these products. Protections include a prohibition on punitive damages, limits on payments to plaintiffs and limits on liability-insurance premiums. Scores of companies have applied for the liability protections and the department plans to grant another dozen or so sometime soon, the Post said. (AGENCIES) |
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Brazil scientists discover prehistoric ratfish SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, June 18: Brazilian scientists have discovered a species of fish, related to sharks, that has been swimming the seas since dinosaurs walked the earth, a researcher involved in the project said. The fish, which is a kind of chimaera, or ratfish, is about 30 cm to 40 cm long, has large, wing-like fins, a whip-like tail and exposed nerves along its body that help it navigate in the deep, dark waters where it lives. The chimaera was initially found off the southern coast of Brazil in 2001 by commercial fishermen. Realizing it was a new species, Brazilian scientists dredged the ocean floor to find more examples of the fish, said Jules Soto, curator of the oceanographic museum of the university of the Vale Do Itajai. "The species that we found has fossil records that are 150, 180 million years old," Soto said in a telephone interview. "That’s very rare." "It’s like if we had an animal as old as the tyrannosaurus rex still alive," he said. Dubbed hydrolagus matallanasi after Spanish scientist Jesus Matallanas, the chimaera is a fish that has a skeleton largely made of cartilage, like sharks and rays. (AGENCIES) |
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Forbes names Mel Gibson most powerful celebrity NEW YORK, June 18: Mel Gibson, whose controversial film "the passion of the Christ" paid off big at the box office, is the year’s most powerful celebrity, according to forbes magazine’s celebrity 100 power rankings. Gibson, who directed, produced and co-wrote the violent movie about the last hours of Jesus, earned 210 million dollars and tremendous media buzz from the project, according to forbes magazine, which factors in media attention to compare the biggest money-makers from various fields of entertainment. Magazine covers, press clippings, TV and radio coverage and internet hits are all factored into the rankings formula. Money earned in the last 12 months was used to identify the finalists in each category. Golf star Tiger woods, the leading money-maker among athletes with 80 million dollars, was second on the list, followed by talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, who matched Gibson in earnings. Actor Tom Cruise (45 million dollars) was fourth, followed by venerable rock group rolling stones (51 million dollars ). "Harry Potter" author JK rowling was sixth on the list, boosted by her earnings of 147 million dollars. "Very broadly, it’s a combination of money and fame," said Peter Kafka, who wrote the forbes story on the rankings in the issue on newsstands today. "We divide the celebrity world into categories and we find the top earners in each category. The power list compares them." Actress Jennifer Aniston, who topped the rankings last year, slipped to 17th place on the 2004 list. Casualties from the previous list included singer/actress Jennifer Lopez, who ranked fifth last year, and her former fiancee and movie bomb "Gigli" co-star Ben Affleck, rated seventh in 2003. Both failed to make the 2004 list. Other power-list dropouts were Eminem and Dr Dre, the performer and record producer who shared last year’s no. 2 spot, and former reality show darlings the osbournes (12th). Former President Bill Clinton ranked 51st this year with an income of 6.3 million dollars that qualified him in the "speakers" category. Despite his relatively low income, Clinton ranked first of all 100 contenders in TV/radio attention, press clippings and internet hits. "There is intense interest in him still," said Kafka. Clinton will likely climb higher in the power rankings next year when earnings and media attention from his hotly anticipated memoir, to be published next week, is factored in. (AGENCIES) |
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South Korea to name new capital but many asking why SEOUL, June 18: South Koreans will probably know next month where their new administrative capital will be built, officials said although it will take a decade to complete and opponents of the scheme still hope to stop the move. Opinion polls show people are sharply divided on the plan, which President Roh-Moo-Hyun proposed in his 2002 campaign and was subsequently approved by Parliament. Roh wants to dilute the concentration of wealth and power in the capital, Seoul. Critics say it is costly and could be overtaken by events if North and South Korea unite. A Presidential committee on the capital move said yesterday that it would announce the result of a study by an advisory board on four candidate regions south of Seoul on July 1. That finding will probably determine where the President’s office, Parliament and most Government agencies will sit after the move, which is scheduled to begin in 2012. "There is not going to be very much that can change the top choice once that study’s findings are announced," a committee official said by telephone. The committee announced on Tuesday the four locations as candidates for the new administrative capital, all in the north and south Chungchong provinces south of Seoul. Roh said following the announcement the plan is a key objective of his Government and must be completed. Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan region with 12 per cent of the land area has more than 20 million people or close to 50 per cent of the nation’s population. (AGENCIES) |
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Top Hong Kong democrat more conciliatory to China HONG KONG, June 18: Hong Kong’s biggest democracy party has dismissed Beijing’s warning that it will create havoc for the city’s China-backed Government if it wins a majority in an upcoming legislative election. Democratic party chairman Yeung Sum told that the party would not compromise on its principles, but was willing to work with Beijing and its Government in the former British colony. "Our basic principles are not changing. Our stance is not changing. But we can tone down our language," he said in an interview yesterday. Beijing is clearly worried that pro-democracy forces could derail important Government legislation if they win more than half of the 60 seats up for grabs in the September poll, or even use their newfound clout to push for independence. In recent months, Chinese officials and their supporters have launched blistering attacks on leading pro-democracy activists, warning voters that they could paralyse the local Government or turn the freewheeling capitalist city into a welfare state. But in the latest sign that the bitter rivals are trying to bring tensions off the boil, Yeung assured voters that his party would not make trouble. Yeung, who has been banned from entering mainland China, said the democrats were willing to work with the Beijing-backed Government of the territory, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. "I have never said such words," Yeung said, when asked about fears that his camp could hold the Government to ransom. "If we win about half of the seats, the Government will talk with us to try to get our support. People will also have higher expectations of us, they won’t just ask us to present opposing views...We’ll coordinate with the Government’s work," Yeung said. Hong Kong’s democracy camp, long a harsh critic of Beijing, made surprise moves last week to mend fences, a conciliatory strategy which pundits say is aimed at trying to win more support ahead of the polls. Beijing’s hardline stance has alienated many people in Hong Kong but also discouraged more moderate voters, who fear they could lose many of the economic privileges they have come to expect from China if the democrats push too hard. Yeung said his party was now toning down its anti-Beijing rhetoric to ease political tensions in the city of nearly seven million people. (AGENCIES) |
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US to push intellectual property rights with China CHICAGO, June 18: US Commerce Secretary Don Evans said intellectual property rights and China’s desire to be treated as a market economy would be among the key issues on a trade mission to China he leaves for on Friday. "We continue to press China and countries around the world on how important it is to enforce intellectual property rights and to be tough on the kinds of penalties that are assessed on the violators," Evans told reporters at a China-US telecommunications conference yesterday. Evans said he wanted to make sure China was enforcing intellectual property rights laws it agreed to strengthen in April along with tough criminal penalties for violators. As for China attaining "market economy" status under the World Trade Organization, Evans said China must meet certain criteria, including having a convertible currency and allowing free talks between labor and management on setting labor rates. US officials have used China’s status as a "non-market economy" to consider the production costs of other countries, such as India, when evaluating whether Chinese imports are unfairly priced, or "dumped" in the United States. Chinese officials have complained that leads to higher anti-dumping duties than if Chinese costs were used. Evans repeated the Bush administration had no plans to file a WTO complaint regarding the yuan-dollar exchange rate. US officials have pushed China to adopt a more flexible exchange rate, and some members of Congress want to slap steep duties on Chinese goods if it does not respond. Critics complain China’s decade-old practice of pegging its yuan at about 8.28 to the dollar gives Chinese companies an unfair advantage by artificially depressing the price of their goods. The critics link the exchange rate to steep job losses in the US manufacturing sector in recent years. Evans declined to say what decision had been reached on whether to impose potentially massive import duties on wooden bedroom furniture from China. A preliminary decision, which could entail duties of up to 441 percent, is scheduled to be announced on Friday. (AGENCIES) Cuba tighter US embargo inhumane HAVANA, June 18: A senior Cuban official termed cruel and inhumane new US measures to limit the flow of dollars to the communist-run Caribbean island. The tough new rules, published on Wednesday to take effect on June 30, allow Cuban-Americans to visit immediate relatives on the island only once every three years, instead of once per year. Visits can last no longer than 14 days. Opponents of the sanctions in the United States say the Bush administration steps pander to Cuban-American voters in Florida, a key swing state in November’s Presidential election. "These regulations are a harsh blow to the Cuban family,"Rafael Dausa, Director of the Foreign Ministry’s north America department, said on a state-run television talk show. Dausa charged that under the regulations there were no exceptions for humanitarian concerns and the right of Cuban-Americans to visit uncles, aunts and cousins was banned entirely. "This reflects the inhumane and cruel character of these measures," he said. US critics also say the sanctions hurt ordinary Cubans instead of the Cuban Government, a position echoed by various commentators during Thursday’s television show. (AGENCIES) Maoist students union strike called off KATHMANDU, June 18: The All Nepal Independent Students Union Revolutionary which had been blacklisted for its links with the Maoists, today called off its indefinite strike after an assurance from the Government to lift the "terrorist tag". More than 6.5 million students of schools and colleges across Nepal were affected by the two-week old strike. The strike will be called off today and the "terrorist tag" lifted within a few days, the Himalayan Times quoted Minister for Education and Sports Bimalendra Nidhi as saying. The Government had blacklisted the Maoists and its sister organisations after the breakdown of the cease-fire and peace talks last year. "As the students union has promised to open schools and colleges, we express our commitment to provide security to all those in the education sector, assuring that the terrorist tag will be withdrawn soon," a press release issued by the Ministry of Education and Sports stated. The students union had earlier stated that they were ready to call off the strike and resolve the problem through dialogue if the Government agrees to lift the terrorist tag. (UNI) Rocket strikes yard of southern Israeli house-army JERUSALEM, June 18: A Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza strip slammed into the yard of a home in southern Israel today, damaging a retaining wall and a shed, a military source and Israel radio said. One woman was treated for shock and there were no immediate reports of other injuries from the attack on the Israeli town of Sderot, the source said. Palestinian militants periodically fire such rockets at Israeli communities and at Jewish settlements in the Gaza strip. (AGENCIES) |
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