40 years after his assassination: What if King had lived?

RALEIGH, US, Apr 4: The preacher in him would have continued speaking out against injustice, war and maybe even pop culture. He would likely not have run for president. He probably would have endured more harassment from J Edgar Hoover.

Four decades after the Rev Martin Luther King Jr Fell to an assassin's bullet, colleagues and biographers offer many answers to the question: What if he had lived?

For his children, however, the speculation is more personal. They know their lives would have turned out differently had they had their beloved father to guide and teach them.

Instead, history moves on, remaking the world in myriad ways. America has grappled with issues of race and inequity without the benefit of King's evolving wisdom. A generation has come of age celebrating him in a national holiday, like other figures of the frozen past.

But given the trajectory of his life - from his appearance on the national scene during the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott of 1955 to his death on a second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968 - some of those closest to him have a good idea what King might be doing now, and where we might be as a country.

In the months before his death, King was speaking out against the growing US involvement in Vietnam and was working with other civil rights leaders on a Poor People's Campaign, with a march on Washington scheduled for that May. He was in Memphis that spring day to support striking sanitation workers.

Were King alive today, the disciple of Mahatma Gandhi would most certainly be speaking out against the Iraq War, says King biographer David J. Garrow. (AGENCIES)

More Americans believe the US is ready for a black Prez

NEW YORK, Apr 4: In more good news for Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, the number of Americans who believe that the country is ready for a black president has risen to 76 per cent, up 14 percentage points since December last year.

However, only 63 per cent believe that the country is ready for a woman president in the poll which comes at a crucial time when Obama and Hillary Clinton are locked in an intense fight for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Obama, who is bidding to be the first African-American to be elected to the Oval Office, is leading against Clinton, who is also attempting to script history by becoming the first woman President of the United States, in the states won, delegates pledged and money raised.

Referring to the CNN/Essence Magazine/Opinion Research Corp survey, CNN polling director Keating Holland said that some rise can be attributed to the success of Obama in Democratic primaries.

"We're not asking this question in a vacuum. In many cases, respondents must have had Obama in mind when giving their answer, even though he is not mentioned anywhere in the questionnaire," Holland said.

The poll is bound to give boost to election campaign of Obama who had raised 40 million dollars twice as much funds as Clinton last month.

In the first three months of this year, Obama has raised around 113 million dollars against Clinton's 70 million dollars.

Obama currently leads in the delegate count 1,634-1,500. Neither Democrat can reach the magical figure of 2,025 needed to win the nomination with the delegates left and the nominee is likely to be chosen by some 800 superdelegates- elected officials and eminent partymen. (PTI)

India to take measures against hoarders to curb prices

SINGAPORE, Apr 4: India today warned that it will not hesitate to take stern measures against hoarders and profiteers in view of the spiraling prices of essential commodities.

"We will not hesitate to take the strictest measures, including using legal provisions against hoarding and profiteering whether in food, cement or steel," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here today.

The Minister, who is here to attend the 'IncredibleIndia@60' event showcasing the growth of a resurgent India, told reporters that though there was the provision of 18G of the Industrial Act, "we don't propose to use it."

Nath said the biggest task was to provide food to the poor. "Our biggest challenge with India is the supply side management especially in the Below Poverty Line." (PTI)

UN to stay in Afghanistan as long as necessary: Ban Ki-moon

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 4: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pledged that the United Nations will stay in Afghanistan to ensure peace, security and development as long as is necessary.

"We shall not leave Afghanistan as long as we are needed by the Afghan people," Ban told a high-level international meeting convened in Bucharest, Romania, as part of the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

His remarks were made available here.

He noted the achievements of recent years such as economic growth, lower infant and maternal mortality rates and an increase in school enrolment. "But these welcome indicators of progress must not obscure the obstacles that we still face," he added, citing the threat posed by the continuing violence and militancy in various parts of the country and the growing drug economy.

Ban acknowledged that the UN has not been as effective as it needs to be in coordinating the international community, adding that the new Security Council mandate will allow the world body to take a more assertive role in coordination.

At a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Ban reiterated the need for the international community to continue its efforts in Afghanistan until the Government can stand on its own, warning that "the cost of disengagement would be far greater than the cost of engagement." (PTI)

NATO leaders look for fresh start with Putin

BUCHAREST, Apr 4: NATO leaders meet Russia's Vladimir Putin today, hoping to begin a thaw in chilly relations with their former Cold War foe and lay the ground for a new start with his successor.

But there was uncertainty about how Putin would respond to NATO's summit decision yesterday to promise former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia a future in the alliance, even though it did not put them on an immediate track to membership.

Initial Kremlin reaction was caustic but not explosive. The Russian Foreign Ministry published a letter in which Putin assured rebels in breakaway Georgian regions he would not abandon them if Tbilisi cuddled up to the West.

US President George W Bush, who like Putin is in the twilight of his presidency, will follow the NATO-Russia summit with a weekend meeting at the Russian leader's holiday home he has called a last chance for a ''heart-to-heart''.

Out to polish a legacy tarnished by the Iraq war, Bush wants to raise ideas for a ''strategic framework'' agreement between the United States and Russia during his stay with Putin a day later at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The Kremlin said Putin had come to the Romanian capital determined to focus on the positive and play down disputes with the West ranging from Kosovo to US missile shield plans.

It will be the first time NATO leaders have hosted a Russian president since 2002 and could help them gauge how much power Putin intends to retain after Dmitry Medvedev, his protege, takes over as president next month.

Few NATO allies dare to predict how Putin, who in the past year has accused the West of wanting to start a new arms race and threatened to target nuclear weapons on NATO aspirant Ukraine, would behave in the two-hour session.

''NOT OUR ENEMY''

Russian NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin told Interfax: ''I strongly doubt that in a year Georgia will solve its problems and Ukraine will increase the number of people favouring NATO.''

Bush appealed to Putin ahead of the meeting to embrace the US plan for a missile defence shield based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Putin has fiercely criticised Washington's plan, seeing it as an encroachment on the former Soviet sphere of influence.

Bush again said in Bucharest the missile shield was not aimed at Moscow but meant to deter missile threats from countries such as Iran that Washington considers dangerous.

''The Cold War is over. Russia is not our enemy,'' he said.

Russian officials said no immediate progress was expected on missile defence or the other contentious issues, but insisted Putin came ready to seek cooperation.

''Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) will indeed use the opportunity to deliver to the NATO leaders our vision of the global situation, our understanding of the need for better relations between NATO and Russia,'' a Kremlin source said.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer hopes to conclude a transit deal with Russia that will allow NATO to use Russian land and airspace to channel troops and equipment to its 47,000-strong Afghanistan peacekeeping operation.

NATO diplomats say the pact is close to being agreed and could also mean NATO and Russia doing more work together to stop the huge Afghan drug trade spilling out into the region.

But many allies have been alienated by Putin's increasingly assertive Russia. Britain is at loggerheads with Moscow over the murder of an exiled Kremlin critic in London and the treatment of the British Council, its cultural arm.

''We want a good relationship with Russia but we are not going to get into a situation where these things happen, and happen with impunity,'' British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters.

(AGENCIES)

Tibet to reopen to foreign tourists from May 1

BEIJING, Apr 4: Riot-torn Tibet will be reopened to foreign tourists next month after a six-week closure, Chinese official media said, a move expected to revive the hard-hit tourism industry in the impoverished but scenic mountain area.

The Tibet Autonomous Region government will resume giving foreigners permits on May 1, for the first time since March 16, which was two days after deadly riots in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, a media reports said.

Foreigners have been barred from Tibet tours for their safety and because of riot damage to tourist spots, Xinhua news agency and the English-language China Daily newspaper reported, quoting Tibetan regional officials.

Foreigners who were in Tibet during the riots also gave eyewitness accounts to the international media, frustrating China's efforts to control information.

''The Lhasa riots might cast a shadow in the minds of tourists, but the spectacular natural scenery and unique cultural attractions of Tibet would lure an ever-increasing number of tourists from home and abroad,'' the China Daily said, citing a Tibet tourism bureau official.

Travellers include Western backpackers seeking alpine scenery and Buddhist landmarks, as well as short-term students from Japan, tour agents say.

Agents, hotels and shops in Tibetan areas of western China have reported seeing hardly any visitors to the heavily militarised area due to the ban on inbound foreigners and fear among Chinese tourists, who are still allowed to go.

Trouble in the remote Himalyan region that China's Communist troops entered in 1950, began with a series of Buddhist monk-led protests that touched off the Lhasa riots. Protests have since hit other Tibetan areas of China.

China says 18 civilians died in the Lhasa violence but exiled representatives of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, say about 140 people died in Tibetan areas.

China blames the Dalai Lama, whom it labels a separatist, and his followers for stirring up the Lhasa violence to try to discredit the Olympics. But the 72-year-old Buddhist leader has repeatedly expressed support for the Beijing Games.

Tourism in Tibet took off in the 1980s, supplementing income staples such as herding and infrastructure projects. Boosted by extra flights and a high-elevation railway that opened in 2006, tourist numbers rose 60 per cent to 4 million people in 2007, state media said.

(AGENCIES)

UN rejects anti-Muslim charge by al-Zawahri

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 4: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has firmly rejected as "totally false" the charge by al Qaeda's deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahri that the United Nations is anti-Muslim, a charge he used to justify attacks on the world body's facilities.

The charge that UN did not help the Muslim world made in a new video released Wednesday is "totally false and unacceptable," Ban said during a visit to the staff in Romania yesterday.

The issue also came up during Ban's meeting with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the sidelines of NATO summit in Bucharest and both leaders agreed that contrary to that message, the UN has made contribution to the Muslim world, world body's spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters.

But she declined to say whether security in and around UN facilities across the world has been beefed up in view of the latest audio message from Zawahri.

The security department at the UN is "constantly reviewing security around the globe 24 hours a day, and we would not get publicly into what those measures are," she said.

In the message, Zawahri also pledged to continue attacks on Jews both within and outside Israel and asserted that Osama bin Laden in alive and well.

Replying to questions, Okabe said both Ban and Karzai noted, contrary to that message, the United Nations has made contribution to the Muslim world.

In the 104-minute audio message, Zawahri described UN as the "enemy of Islam and Muslims" and said it has legalized the creation of the Israel and its seizure of Muslims properties. He also criticized the world body for what he called "legalized crusader presence" in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In December 2007, UN offices were the target of two bomb attacks in Algiers in which 41 people were killed and earlier in 2003, an explosion at its Baghdad office killed 21 people. (PTI)

UK police escort model Naomi Campbell off plane

LONDON, Apr 4: British police escorted supermodel Naomi Campbell off a US-bound flight at London's Heathrow airport yesterday, airport sources said.

''Police were called to remove a passenger from a British Airways flight this afternoon,'' a spokesman for the British airport authority told Reuters.

Police said they had arrested a passenger on suspicion of assaulting an officer but declined to provide further details.

Airport sources identified the passenger as Campbell who was on a BA flight due to depart for Los Angeles.

Campbell spent five days mopping floors as part of a community service sentence in New York last year and was ordered to attend anger management classes after throwing a mobile phone at her housekeeper during a row over a pair of jeans.

The model has blamed her temper on resentment of her father who abandoned her as a child.

(AGENCIES)

UN convention for disabled to take effect May 3

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 4: A UN convention aimed at ensuring equal rights for the world's 650 million disabled people in work, education and social life will go into force on May 3, the United Nations said yesterday.

The pact, the first of its kind, takes effect 30 days after being ratified by 20 countries that have signed it. The world body received ratification documents on Thursday from the 20th country, Ecuador.

A statement issued on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the development -- 18 months after its adoption by the General Assembly, a short time by UN standards -- a ''historic moment.''

Ban said it showed the world was committed to combatting ''the egregious neglect and dehumanizing practices that violate the human rights of persons with disabilities.''

The pact would be ''a powerful tool to eradicate the obstacles faced by persons with disabilities: discrimination, segregation from society, economic marginalization, and lack of opportunities for participation in social, political and economic decision-making processes.''

The 32-page convention outlaws all forms of discrimination at work on the basis of disability, including in hiring, promotion and working conditions. It requires equal pay for work of equal value.

It also calls on signatory states to promote the employment of disabled people, including through ''affirmative action'' programs that favor them.

The pact stipulates that the disabled may not be excluded from mainstream education systems. It demands that states provide them with physical access to buildings, transportation, schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces.

So far, 126 of the 192 UN member states have signed the convention. But only 71 have signed, and 13 have ratified, an annex allowing individuals and groups to complain to the UN that their governments are not implementing the convention.

In such cases, a UN committee would refer the complaint to the government concerned, which must provide a written explanation within six months.

Countries that have not signed the convention include the United States and Russia. US officials said the document was weaker than US domestic legislation.

''We recognize that many other states may consider the convention a useful tool as they develop their own national framework for persons with disabilities,'' said US mission spokesman Richard Grenell.

''But for the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 2001, was the most sweeping legislation to provide access for people with disabilities.''

(AGENCIES)

Men 'more likely to die of broken heart'

LONDON, Apr 4: Doctors have long understood the impact of grief on one's health. Now, a new study has revealed how fragile a broken heart can really be.

Researchers in Britain have found that bereft people face the risk of death in the first year of being widowed. In fact, men are six times more likely to die of a broken heart than women.

According to lead researcher Dr Jaap Spreeuw of the Cass Business School in London, the study has confirmed the existence of "broken heart syndrome".

"We all know that the death of a loved one will have massive impact on the life of the husband or wife left behind, but this shows it will have direct impact on their mortality. It statistically proves that people can die of a broken heart during the earliest stages of bereavement.

"The effect is stronger for older people who have been married longer. The good news is that after the first years of mourning, the chance of dying goes down. Although it remains higher than for couples where neither partner has died, it does lessen over time," Dr Spreeuw said.

The researchers reached the conclusion after analysing 11,454 life annuity policies held by a Canadian insurer. In the study, 195 couples died at the same time. In 1,048 cases, the man died and the wife survived and in 255 couples, the woman died and the husband survived.

The highest death rate was among those who had lost a partner in the preceding 12 months, and the highest risk of dying was for men. "This seems to suggest that the broken heart syndrome has a stronger impact on men than on women," the British media quoted Dr Spreeuw as saying.

The analysis, which was sponsored by the Actuarial Profession, was designed to help insurance companies price life assurance and pension policies.

"Not only does this research confirm the existence of broken heart syndrome, but it gives an idea of how long the effect lasts," the Chairman of the Actuarial Profession's research steering committee, Paul Sweeting, said. (PTI)

Japan e-crypt offers a tomb with a view

KOFU, JAPAN, Apr 4: Call it a tale from the e-crypt or a tomb with a view.

But Teruo and Miyoko Oba say there's nothing eerie about their new family grave site, equipped with a mobile phone bar code to offer connectivity long after their own bells have tolled.

The family plot in this rural city near the Japan Alps boasts a high-tech, ''QR'' black-and-white square, linking the Oba's pictures and history to phone-carrying visitors who can enter virtually to pay their respects.

Tombstone maker Ishinokoe says the QR codes, which users scan to link with everything in Japan from buses to bookings, are a new way to visit its ''memorial service window'' grave sites that contain more than the cremated ashes of the deceased.

''We already have a patent and should get another this month, but we hope this service is not just for our customers, but the entire funeral industry,'' said Yoshitsugu Fukuzawa, head of Ishinokoe, which launched sales this month.

In a rapidly greying nation with no shortage of last rites, the Japan External Trade Organisation calls the 1.6 trillion yen (15.6 billion dollars) funeral business a growth industry, but says consumers here are becoming more demanding.

The Oba family say the new technology offers more options.

''I thought the idea was great as usually the deceased don't have any input to how a grave site is arranged,'' said 73-year-old Teruo.

''Visitors using this service can actually see the departed.''

His wife Miyoko, 70, says kids in particular will be connected.

''It's bit of a new approach. We wanted our grandchildren to be able to use it when they visit the family site.''

But the e-grave site comes with a 21st century price tag of around 1 million yen, above the usual terrestrial rate.

Fukuzawa says he hopes Ishinokoe's ''window'' service spurs on the funeral industry, while bringing families closer together.

''Nowadays most memorial services are simplified to under five minutes of just burning incense and offering flowers,'' he said.

''I hope our grave site changes that and families stay near the tomb and talk about memories of the deceased for a long time.'' (AGENCIES)

Americans most dissatisfied with country’s direction: Poll

NEW YORK, Apr 4: Americans are most dissatisfied with the country’s direction now than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s, according to the latest poll.

In the poll, 81 percent of respondents said they believed "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track," up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002.

Although the public mood has been darkening since the early days of the war in Iraq, the Times says, it has taken a new turn for the worse in the last few months, as the economy has seemed to slip into recession. There is now nearly a national consensus that the country faces significant problems.

A majority of nearly every demographic and political group Democrats and Republicans, men and women, residents of cities and rural areas, college graduates and those who finished only high school say the United States is headed in the wrong direction, the paper reported.

As many as 78 per cent said the country was worse off than five years ago; just 4 percent said it was better off.

Only 21 percent of respondents said the overall economy was in good condition, the lowest such number since late 1992, when the recession that began in the summer of 1990 had already been over for more than a year. In the latest poll, two in three people said they believed the economy was in recession today.

Showing dissatisfaction with President George Bush, only 28 per cent of respondents said they approved of the job he was doing, a number that has barely changed since last summer. But Democrats, who have controlled the House and Senate since last year, also face the risk that unhappy voters will punish Congressional incumbents.

The poll found that Americans blame government officials for the crisis more than banks or home buyers and other borrowers. Forty percent of respondents said regulators were mostly to blame, while 28 percent named lenders and 14 percent named borrowers. (PTI)