China, US in phone talks on North Korea and Iran

BEIJING, Oct 8: Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing held telephone talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice late today on the North Korean and Iranian nuclear crises, state media said.

The official Xinhua news agency did not reveal details of the conversation which comes amid international condemnation over North Korea's stated plan to test an atom bomb.

China, the Stalinist regime's traditional ally, held landmark talks with Japan today with both countries expressing "deep concern" at North Korea's planned test.

After the summit in Beijing, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also said both nations would "work hard" to push for the resumption of stalled six-nation talks aimed at reining in North Korea's nuclear programme.

The talks also include the United States, the two Koreas and Russia.

The phone call also came as Iran today flatly refused to suspend uranium enrichment despite moves at the UN Security Council to draft a sanctions resolution against it for failing to halt the sensitive nuclear work.

The five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany agreed to discuss sanctions after Tehran failed to suspend enrichment, a process which the West fears could be diverted towards making nuclear weapons.

It is unclear what kind of sanctions will be acceptable to Security Council members Russia and China, who have both always insisted on the importance of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. (AFP)

World condemns N Korea’s nuclear test

BEIJING, Oct 9: China and the United States led condemnation around the world today after North Korea conducted its first nuclear test, slamming the move as provocative and, in some capitals, demanding a tough UN response.

China, Pyongyang’s closest ally in the region, expressed its "resolute opposition" to the "brazen" test, carried out early Monday in defiance of worldwide appeals and threats of sanctions.

A Chinese foreign ministry statement on state television said North Korea, also known as the DPRK, "ignoring the general concern of the international community, brazenly undertook a nuclear test."

"China strongly demands the DPRK side to undertake its commitments to the non-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and stop all actions that can lead to the deterioration of the situation."

China also urged North Korea to return to six-party talks aimed at reining in Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

"The Chinese government calls on all sides to deal with this calmly and seek consultations to peacefully resolve the issue. The Chinese side will continue to make unremitting efforts towards this end," it said.

The White House condemned it as a "provocative act" and called for immediate action by the UN Security Council, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in Seoul when news of the test first broke, called the move unpardonable.

Britain’s Foreign Office likewise condemned it as a "highly provocative" act and vowed the international community would "respond robustly". (AFP)

Nepal asks people for blood samples to test dengue

KATHMANDU, Oct 9: With a spurt in dengue cases in India, an alert has been sounded in the border areas of Nepal to check the spread of the disease and necessary arrangements for its testing have been made.

Dengue can now be diagnosed in Kathmandu and infected people need not go to India or abroad for conducting test, a statement issued by National Reference Laboratory (NRL) said.

We have asked the people for blood samples for diagnosis of dengue, said Managing Director of NRL, Sushil Thapa.

The Ministry of Health and Population and all the health workers working in Nepal-India border have been directed to send the blood samples to NRL for testing, he added.

He said there was a possibility of dengue cases in Nepal going unreported for lack of diagnostic facilities.

Last year two people died of dengue in Nepal but due to lack of facilities in the country, their blood samples were sent to Japan .

It costs Rs. 1,500 to conduct to conduct dengue tests in Nepal.

The communicable disease is spread by bites of the moscuito of the Aedes aegypti species that are found in the Terai region mostly during the rainy season, Chief of NRL, Chintamani Sharma said. (PTI)

Twenty-five Taliban killed in new Afghan clashes: Police

KABUL, Oct 9: Around 25 Taliban fighters were killed in two separate clashes in southern Afghanistan while the rebels abducted two Pakistani labourers, police said today.

At least 20 rebels were killed by foreign and Afghan troops in a clash in the southern province of Uruzgan yesterday, the provincial police chief told AFP.

"They came in contact with the enemy, sparking a clash in which at least 20 Taliban were killed and one policeman was wounded," General Mohammad Qasim said.

The clash was in the province’s volatile Char Chino district which has seen a lot of fighting.

A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, confirmed the fight but said only five of the movement’s fighters were killed and three wounded.

In the adjoining province of Kandahar, meanwhile, a band of rebels attacked a group of men from an Afghan construction company who were doing a site survey for the building of a new road in Dand district, a police officer said.

The security guards accompanying the team fought back.

"In the fighting four police were wounded, five Taliban were killed and four Taliban were wounded. The Taliban also took two Pakistani labourers," the officer said on condition of anonymity.

The NATO force that commands most of the foreign troops in Afghanistan said yesterday that attacks by Taliban had decreased over the past month although the extremist movement was still a significant threat. (AFP)

Vodafone buys Iinet's New Zealand Ihug unit

CANBERRA, Oct 9: Iinet Ltd, an Australian Internet service provider, said it sold its New Zealand unit Ihug to Vodafone Group for 36 million Australian dollar (27 million US dollar).Perth-based Iinet made the announcement in a statement today. (AGENCIES)

Iraqi vice president’s brother killed in Baghdad home

BAGHDAD, Oct 9: The brother of Iraq’s Sunni Arab vice president was killed early today in his Baghdad home, a government spokesman said.

Gen Amir al-Hashimi, brother of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and an adviser in the Defence Ministry, was killed by unidentified gunmen wearing military uniforms in his home in north Baghdad, Brig Qassim al-Moussawi said. Further details were not immediately available. (AP)

New Thai finance minister says
economy likely to grow by 5 pc.

BANGKOK, Oct 9: Buoyed by the political stability combined with private sector investment, the Thai economy is likely to grow by more than five per cent next year, the newly appointed deputy prime miniter and Bank of Thailand governor, Pridiyathorn Devakula, has said.

Pridiyathorn, who also holds the finance minister's post in the new Thai cabinet led by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, said the change of administration and the government's pledge to draft a new constitution to reinstate democracy within one year from now will produce a climate conducive to growth.

The new government has the intention to create a level playing field and to eliminate "double standards" that characterised the way business was done previously, he said.

Against the backdrop of projected growth of the global economy at nearly 5 per cent, the economy should grow by about the same rate next year, now that interest rates are likely to stabilise while private sector investment should expand by eight per cent.

Although Thai export growth may slow somewhat to 10 per cent, this will be offset by private sector investment which is expected to grow on the back of the government's budget disbursement which is likely to be six months ahead of schedule, he said.

Meanwhlie, Stock Exchange of Thailand chairman Vijit Supinit said the stable political situation will bring about greater confidence on the part of both domestic and foreign investors.

Wichai Poonworaluck, Chairman of the Thai Investors Association, said that investors would like to see the Government proceed with the second stage of the Capital Market Development Plan, a blueprint drawn up and supported by the private sector. (AGENCIES)

Asia-Pacific, including India, faces global warming disaster

SYDNEY, Oct 9: Millions of people in Asia-Pacific region, including India, could be forced from their homes and suffer increasing disease, cyclones and floods caused by global warming, scientists warned today.

Climate change will seriously threaten regional human security and national economies this century, according to a report by the Australian government’s Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO).

"Chronic food and water insecurity and epidemic disease may impede economic development in some nations," the report says.

"Degraded landscapes and inundation of populated areas by rising seas may ultimately displace millions of individuals, forcing intra- and inter-state migration."

The report, commissioned by a coalition of environmental, aid, church and development groups, analyses predictions of temperature increases of up to two degrees Celsius by 2030 and up to seven degrees by 2070.

Scientists blame global warming on greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels including coal and oil, for causing rising temperatures worldwide.

"Rapid growth in large regional economies such as China and India has elevated human prosperity," the report says.

"However, unless ultimately decoupled from fossil-fuel use, such growth also threatens to exacerbate the climate challenge."

The CSIRO says that remaining below the generally accepted threshold for "dangerous" climate change of about two degrees Celsius would require global greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by 30-55 percent below 1990 levels.

"If you don’t, if you did nothing, you’re likely to blow right past it," Benjamin Preston, key author of the report, told AFP.

Temperatures are likely to rise more quickly in the arid areas of northern Pakistan and India and western China, the report says.

But the region will also be affected by a rise in the global sea level of up to 16 centimetres (six inches) by 2030 and by up to 50 centimetres in 2070, along with regional variables.

Preston said two studies contained in the report estimate that a sea-level rise of a metre (39 inches) would displace between 75 million and 150 million people in the Asia-Pacific region.

Most at risk are the low-lying river deltas of Bangladesh, India, Vietnam and China, as well as the small Pacific island states.

Changing patterns of temperature and rainfall would also cause a shift in the distribution of dengue and malaria-carrying mosquitoes, likely exposing millions more people to such diseases by the end of the century.

"Higher temperatures may reduce the risk of cold-weather mortality, but increase heat-related mortality, while increased flooding and intensification of tropical cyclones would increase climate-related injuries and deaths," the report says. (AFP)

Govt-NSCN(IM) talks on October 17-19 in Amsterdam.......

NEW DELHI, Oct 9: Aiming to give fresh impetus to the ongoing Naga peace process, the Government will hold talks with top leadership of the NSCN(IM) in Amsterdam for three days begining October 17, amid indication that the rebels may toughten their stand on unification of Naga-inhabited areas.

A Group of Ministers, headed by Union Minister Oscar Fernandes, will hold talks with the NSCN(IM) representatives led by chairman Isaac Chisi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and expected to discuss all "substantive" issues for a lasting solution to the country’s oldest insurgency problem, sources said.

The meeting will review the progress made ever since the rebels submitted a 20-point "Charter of Demands" to the Government.

In its "charter of demands", the NSCN-IM has sought unification of all Naga-inhabited areas of the northeast, separate representation at the UN, and greater rights over natural resources, finance, defence and policing.

The Naga side is expected to insist on commitment from the Centre to its key demand of unification of Naga-inhabited areas to please its constituencies in Nagaland, sources said.

However, the rebel group’s key demand or "Greater Nagalim" has been strongly opposed by Nagaland’s neighbouring states - Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

In the last round of talks held in Bangkok, both sides are understood to have discussed the limits of flexibility within the Constitution and whether a "sub-national constitution" could be accommodated within it.

This has become a thorny issue as the NSCN-IM has proposed negotiating a federal relationship with the country, sources said.

The rebels have suggested that the relationship between India and the Nagas should be defined by a mutually agreed settlement incorporated in the Constitution as well as in what it calls a "Naga constitution".

The Government negotiators have argued that the country’s Constitution is flexible enough to take care of regional aspirations and diversities. It allows for "asymmetrical federalism"-different states and regions can relate to the Centre differently. For example, it recognises the Constitution of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, they said.

The Bangkok meeting, held on July 29-31, also agreed to extend the ongoing ceasefire by one year. The NSCN-IM and security forces in Nagaland have been observing a truce since August 1997. The truce has been extended every 12 months since then except last year when it was renewed for just six months at the rebels’ insistence and extended by another six months in February before further extending for a year in July 31.

In a joint communique issued immediately after three-day parleys, the both sides said "substantive" issues were discussed and the two sides expressed satisfaction over the progress made in the talks. They had also agreed to "move expeditiously with the discussions on substantive issues" to reach an early settlement.

Apart from Fernades, interlocutor for Naga talks K Padmanabhaiah and two other members of the GoM - Union Minister of State for Home S Reghupathy and Minister of State at the PMO Prithviraj Chavan - will take part in the talks. (PTI)

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