Astronomers begin search for 'vanishing' stars

NEW YORK, May 10: Astronomers in the US have started monitoring about a million missive stars to find out if any suddenly winks out, seemingly without a trace.

A team, led by Christopher Kochanek of the Ohio State University in Columbus, is watching for the vanishing stars in 30 nearby galaxies using a 8.4-metre Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona.

According to the astronomers, such a disappearing act would support a theory that some massive stars simply implode when they die, rather than exploding in brilliant supernovae or gamma-ray bursts.

In fact, they plan to take images of the galaxies twice every year, watching for the sudden disappearance of the red supergiants. By watching one million stars, the team hopes to catch about one stellar death per year in their survey, which will last five years.

"There's no guarantee that you'll find these things -- because it could just be that they all do a supernova at some level. But that's no reason not to give it a try.

"If a star seems to disappear, the team will try to confirm the formation of a black hole by looking for X-rays emitted by stray bits of matter falling into the black hole," the 'New Scientist' quoted Kochanek as saying.

Added Stan Woosley of University of California: "It is impossible to make a black hole without some sort of electromagnetic display.

"But perhaps there are cases where the radiation comes out in the form of X-rays or gamma rays rather than visible light astronomers normally look for when searching for supernovae. In any case, it is worth looking."

In addition to clarifying what proportion of black holes are born without fanfare, the survey may also detect rare, giant outbursts from massive stars that are close to going supernova.

Such an outburst in the 1840s temporarily made a star called Eta Carinae the second brightest star in the sky. (PTI)

India to woo UAE tourists in Kashmir valley

DUBAI, May 10: Officials of Kashmir Tourism and some private tour operators are actively participating in the Arabian Travel Mart here to persuade Arab and expatriate tourists to visit the picturesque Kashmir Valley.

According to Kashmir Tourism officials, their stall in the Indian pavilion is getting very good response. A Kashmir Evening was organised in Royal Ascot Hotel in Dubai which was attended by travel agents, airline representatives and media personnel.

For the last few years, Kashmir’s tourism officials and the other players have been making efforts to woo back tourists from the West Asia especially from the Gulf countries.

The important aspect of West Asian visitors has been the return of families after a gap of a couple of decades.

Prior to the outbreak of insurgency in 1990, a large number of Arab families used to visit the Valley and stay in shikaras (house-boats) on the Dal Lake and in chalets in Gulmarg, Pahalgam as well as in posh residential houses in Srinagar during the months of July and August.

However, in the last few years, tourism has been revived in a big way and foreign tourists have started coming back. The revival of Gulf traffic was initiated by the Galadari family from Dubai which visited Kashmir a couple of years back.

To begin with, direct flights from Dubai, Muscat, Jeddah, Bahrain, and Kuwait are proposed to be operated by Air India to Srinagar.

Currently, Air India is operating direct Haj flights from Srinagar to Jeddah with a refuelling stop at Sharjah. (UNI)

US says North Korea documents date back to 1986

WASHINGTON, May 10: The United States said today documents handed over by North Korea detailed its weapons-grade plutonium program as far back as 1986 and were an ''important first step'' in getting a full declaration of the North's nuclear activities.

In a ''fact sheet'' providing limited details of the documents, the State Department said the 18,000 pages covered some three major periods when plutonium was produced by North Korea for nuclear weapons.

''The United States and the other parties continue to press the DPRK to fulfill its declaration commitment,'' said the statement, referring to Pyongyang's failure to produce a full declaration of its nuclear activities by the end of last year.

The documents were given by Pyongyang to the State Department's Korea expert, Sung Kim, on Thursday who then hand-carried them over the heavily fortified demilitarized zone into South Korea today.

Kim spoke briefly and said officials now needed to investigate the contents of the documents. The State Department said seven large boxes were carried across the border.

He will return to Washington on Monday where the State Department said the documents would be ''examined thoroughly'' by a US nuclear verification team and other experts.

Under a six-country deal, North Korea was required to provide a full accounting of its fissile material and nuclear weaponry as well as answer US suspicions that it enriched uranium for weapons and proliferated technology to Syria.

If North Korea makes the declaration, the United States has promised to take it off its terrorism blacklist and remove sanctions that restrict Pyongyang from tapping into international finance.

''These operating records date back to 1986 and are expected to cover reactor operations and all three reprocessing campaigns undertaken by North Korea,'' the State Department said of the plutonium logs.

''Review of the operating records provided on May 8 will be an important first step in the process of verifying that North Korea's declaration is complete and correct,'' it added.

North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in October 2006, is thought by Washington to have produced about 110 lbs (50 kg) of plutonium, which proliferation experts said is enough for about eight nuclear bombs.

The documents consist of the operating records of the Yongbyon nuclear complex where North Korea has produced its stock of weapons-grade plutonium until it was shut down in July last year under a deal with the United States, Japan, the two Koreas, China and Russia

Since November, US experts have been on the ground at Yongbyon overseeing disablement of the reactor and the State Department said eight out of 11 agreed disablement activities at three core facilities on the complex had been completed.

As of mid-May, more than one-third of spent fuel rods had been discharged, the State Department added.

The main sticking point in the declaration has been Pyongyang's reluctance to discuss any transfer of nuclear technology to other countries, notably Syria, as well as its suspected pursuit of uranium enrichment.

US President George W. Bush said in late April he released intelligence about the suspected North Korea-Syria nuclear collusion to put pressure on Pyongyang to come clean on all its nuclear activities.

Pyongyang has yet to respond to White House charges that North Korea was helping Syria build the reactor that could produce arms-grade plutonium.

(AGENCIES)

US: Hezbollah must be 'accountable' for Lebanon unrest

CRAWFORD, US, May 9: The United States blamed Hezbollah as well as its patrons Iran and Syria for deadly unrest that has pushed Lebanon to the edge of civil war, and warned they must be held "accountable."

"The United States is consulting with other governments in the region and with the UN Security Council about measures that must be taken to hold those responsible for the violence in Beirut accountable," the White House said yesterday.

A senior US official declined to list any specific steps, and emphasized that there would not be a "one-size-fits-all" approach to Tehran, Damascus, and the Shiite militant group that Washington brands a terrorist organization.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly reaffirmed US support for pro-Western Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and reached out to key world leaders for ways to buttress his government.

"We will stand by the Lebanese government and peaceful citizens of Lebanon through this crisis and provide the support they need to weather this storm," she said in a statement.

Rice discussed the crisis by telephone with her French and Saudi counterparts, Bernard Kouchner and Prince Saud al-Faisal, as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, according to spokesman Sean McCormack.

She was also expected to reach out to Siniora.

As the White House declared itself "very troubled" by the unrest, Rice denounced the violence and singled out Syria and Iran for backing Hezbollah, which she accused of trying "to protect their state within a state."

"We condemn the use of violence by illegitimate armed groups and call upon all parties to respect the rule of law," she said.

"Backed by Syria and Iran, Hezbollah and its allies are killing and injuring fellow citizens, undermining the legitimate authority of the Lebanese government and the institutions of the Lebanese state," said Rice. (AGENCIES)

Nepali Congress demands action against Maoists

KATHMANDU, May 10: Nepali Congress has demanded strong action against the Maoists who are involved in violent attacks against NC workers even after the constituent assembly polls in the Himalayan Kingdom.

In a press statement here today, party Chief Secretary Shobhakar Parajuli said "Nepali Congress condemns the unpolitical acts like attacking of NC workers and arson at their houses and shops."

He demanded that the government give appropriate compensation to those thrashed by the Maoists.

Mr Parajuli said the Maoists have broken the limbs of Ram Lal Pariyar, an NC worker in Juga village in Rolpa in western Nepal.

They have also set on fire the house of another NC worker, Padam Niraula, in Sapteshwar of Khotang district, he said.

Nepali Congress and UML have accused the Maoists of creating terror in the districts even after the election of the CA last month.

UML has said that it would not join the government to be led by Maoists unless it mends its violent activities. (UNI)

Fatwa made me stronger: Rushdie

LONDON, May 10: Noted writer Salman Rushdie has revealed that he emerged a better person after living in fear under a fatwa for almost a decade.

Rushdie went into hiding in 1989 after the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued him with a death threat following the publication of his book, The Satanic Verses.

He returned to public life only 10 years later when Tehran withdrew its support for the death sentence.

However, in a programme, which will be broadcast on Monday on More4 channel, Rushdie claims that his time in seclusion made him more self-aware.

Speaking to Pamela Connolly, a clinical psychologist, he recalls how he plunged into despair when the fatwa was declared and says that it "erased" his personality.

But he adds "The thing about hitting the bottom is then you know where the bottom is...And after that, it cleared things up in my head... One of the things it cleared up was an urge in my mind, which is that everybody should like me.

"That was the moment at which I stopped being the prisoner of that thing, because I thought, OK, there are people who are not going to like me and do you know what, I don't like them," he said.

The author also recalls his isolation when he was sent from India to attend public school in Britain.

Speaking about his time at Rugby school, he says: "Very quickly I began to understand that I was going to be treated as somebody who was different and some of that was almost comical."

"I was clever, and I was foreign, and I was bad at games, and these are the three mistakes at an English boarding school," he added. (PTI)

Hundreds protest in Malaysia against Myanmar referendum

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10: About 500 Myanmar activists demonstrated today outside their country’s embassy in Malaysia, demanding that Myanmar’s military regime call off its constitutional referendum even as voting began despite a devastating cyclone.

The protesters, who included dozens of women and children, waved placards saying "We want democracy", "No is our vote", "Stop the junta" and "Don’t hold the referendum during mourning days."

Most of them wore red T-shirts bearing the word "No". Several people gave speeches and the crowd kept silent at one point to pray for victims of Cyclone Nargis, which struck the Myanmar coast a week ago and left more than 60,000 people dead or missing.

The one-hour rally was peaceful and the crowd dispersed after handing over a protest note to an embassy staff member. Dozens of riot police stood guard but took no action against the crowd.

"The constitution will neither yield national reconciliation nor democracy, instead it will prolong conflict and enhance problems and turmoil that will lead to the fleeing of citizens to neighbouring countries," the protest note said.

They activists urged Myanmar’s military rulers to launch genuine dialogue with all ethnic groups toward democracy.

Balloting was taking place today across most of Myanmar but was put off for two weeks in cyclone-hit areas including the biggest city, Yangon. The government has called the vote an important step on its "roadmap to democracy," but critics say the constitution is meant to perpetuate military rule. (AGENCIES)

US diplomat leaves N Korea with records on N-reactor activities

PANMUNJOM, KOREA, May 10: A US diplomat left North Korea today with boxes of documents detailing two decades of activities at the nuclear reactor that has been at the heart of the communist country's nuclear weapons programme.

Washington plans to scrutinise the technical logs from the Yongbyon reactor to see if the North is telling the truth about a bomb programme that it has agreed to trade away for economic and political rewards.

Sung Kim, the US State Department's top Korea specialist, returned to South Korea by land across the heavily fortified border after collecting approximately 18,000 secret papers during a three-day visit to Pyongyang.

Kim and four accompanying officials crossed the border at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas. He had seven cardboard boxes.

"We have to take them back and see," Kim told reporters without elaborating, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

US Embassy spokesman Max Kwak said Kim would arrive in Washington on Monday.

The North's handover of the sensitive records came as last year's disarmament-for-aid deal remained stalled due to Pyongyang's failure to fully disclose its nuclear programmes. Washington has accused the North, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, of refusing to address suspicions that it pursued a uranium-based nuclear programme and transferred nuclear technology to Syria.

Washington and Pyongyang agreed last month to break the impasse in a way that requires North Korea to acknowledge those concerns and to set up a system to verify that the country does not conduct such activities in the future. (AGENCIES)

US 2008 growth outlook deteriorated-Blue Chip

WASHINGTON, May 10: Even with some signs of improvement in the US Financial markets and a temporary boost from the economic stimulus package, the growth outlook for the second half of this year has deteriorated, according to a panel of economic forecasters.

The weakest annual consumer spending since 1991 will lead to a darker outlook, the Blue Chip Economic Indicators found.

The consensus of economists polled between May 5 and 6 in the survey said the economy will grow at a 1.7 percent annual rate in the third quarter, down from the 2.0 percent forecast a month ago.

For the fourth quarter, GDP is expected to grow by 1.5 percent, down from 1.9 percent seen earlier.

The outlook for 2009 has also darkened, with economists expecting growth of just 2.0 percent, down from 2.2 percent forecast earlier.

Consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic growth, is expected to grow by a weak 1.5 percent for the year. That would be the smallest rise since 1991 and will, in turn, impact corporate profits.

''Given the erosion in the outlook for consumer spending and business investment, the consensus now predicts pre-tax corporate profits will contract by 2.9 percent this year and register growth of 5.3 percent in 2009,'' the newsletter said.

Business inventories are expected to subtract from GDP growth through the third quarter but then add to growth in the final quarter and into next year.

However, total industrial production will grow only 0.7 percent this year, the worst performance since 2002, according to the consensus.

Even so, the economists do not anticipate further monetary easing from the federal reserve, which since last September has reduced its target interest rate by 3.25 percentage points.

''Indeed, the consensus, seems to think the Federal Open Market Committee will begin to raise interest rates by late next spring,'' the newsletter wrote.

(AGENCIES)

HRW asks ASEAN members to persuade Myanmar to allow aid

NEW YORK, May 10: An international human rights watchdog has urged India, China, Thailand and other ASEAN members to prod Myanmar’s military Government to lift restriction on international assistance so that aid could reach the survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

"By blocking international relief efforts, the Burmese government is showing utter contempt for millions of its own people," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"China and Burma’s other friends should lead international efforts, including at the UN Security Council, to persuade or compel Burma to accept the international aid that cyclone survivors so badly need."

Human Rights Watch has called on the Myanmar Government to open cyclone-hit areas to international relief by immediately granting visas to aid workers; allowing UN and other international humanitarian agencies to distribute aid directly to those in need; and allowing countries with assets nearby to deliver assistance by air and sea to survivors who cannot otherwise be reached quickly.

Many affected communities are only accessible by air and sea, which makes assistance by countries that are equipped to deal with humanitarian disasters essential to prevent further death and suffering, it said.

It also urged all nations with the capacity to provide assistance by air and by sea, including the US, France, the United Kingdom, India, China, and members of ASEAN, to immediately deploy military and civilian response units as close as possible to Myanmar so that they are ready to provide relief as soon as permission is granted.

"The world is watching to see if China does the right thing for Burma’s cyclone victims," said Adams. "China should do everything in its power to get sufficient aid into Burma or it will share responsibility for the deaths of tens of thousands of people."

Human Rights Watch urged the US, the UK, France, and other Governments to urgently press China, India, and ASEAN publicly and privately to use their considerable influence and leverage with the Myanmar government to allow aid and humanitarian workers access.

It also called on ASEAN to demand that Myanmar respond to the cyclone as Indonesia did to the December 2004 tsunami, when after initial hesitation it opened the region to needed international relief and aid workers. (PTI)

Blair advising Brown on winning next poll, says Cherie

LONDON, May 10: Former premier Tony Blair is advising Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his current turmoil and has told him how he can win the next general election, a leading daily reported here today.

Cherie Blair, a reputed solicitor, provides new insights into the troubled relationship between her husband and Brown in a new book, "Speaking for Myself".

Extracts of the book have been published in The Times today and are likely to cause further ennui to Brown and his supporters on the eve of the May 22 by-election to Crewe and Nantwich where Labour is struggling to retain its seat.

Cherie says that Blair would have stood down before the 2005 election if only Brown had been prepared to implement her husband's public service reforms.

Blair, she says, suffered a "crisis of confidence" over Iraq and feared that he had become an electoral liability. But with Brown "rattling the keys above his head" he decided he had to stay and fight for his domestic legacy.

The Times reported that Cherie's book provides the most authoritative account so far of the reasons why Blair decided not to stand down before the 2005 election and lays bare the tensions throughout the Blair years between the Prime Minister's wife and his Chancellor.

Cherie reveals that she told Blair in 1994 that it would be "ridiculous" that he should agree with Brown to have only one term as leader.

She also revealed that Blair used to tell Brown that if he wanted to be leader he needed to get married.

On Brown's opposition to ministers accepting a 26 per cent pay hike at the first cabinet meeting in 1997, Cherie says "How dare Gordon do that? What did he know about financial commitments? He was a bachelor living on his own in a flat with a small mortgage".

She insists that she takes no pleasure from Brown's current political difficulties even though "Gordon's impatience" to take over from Blair was a problem that her husband could have done without. (PTI)

Indo-Saudi defence ties on upswing: Gen Naidu

DUBAI, May 10: Military ties between India and Saudi Arabia are on the upswing, particularly in the area of training, says Lt Gen Milan Naidu, Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.

Lt Gen Naidu who completed two days official visit to Saudi Arabia said in Riyadh that a number of Saudi officers are currently undergoing training in India.

An Indian officer will also be coming to Saudi Arabia next year, Col Yadav said, adding that Saudi officers have also attended military exercises in India as Observers.

"The visit was primarily aimed at fostering deeper understanding, developing mutual confidence and identifying fresh avenues of cooperation in the field of defence relations," Col R S Yadav, defence attache of the Indian Embassy, told Arab News.

Gen Naidu met Prince Khaled ibn Sultan, assistant minister of defence and aviation, Vice Adm. Prince Fahd ibn Abdullah, officiating chief of General Staff, Gen. Qubayel, commander of Land Forces, Prince Khaled ibn Bandar, deputy commander of Land Forces, Gen. Hameed Al-Touri, commander of Air Defence Forces, and Dr Khalil Al-Khalili, chairman of the Committee on Security Affairs in the Majlis Al-Shoura. Gen Naidu also visited the Armed Forces Command and Staff College.

"The visit was well received by both sides and is likely to result in increased interaction and better cooperation in the fields of training, technical assistance and military hardware," Col Yadav said.

Gen Naidu_s visit follows similar visits to the Kingdom by Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister of India, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of Planning Commission. Likewise, Vice Adm. Prince Fahd ibn Abdullah, who is also commander of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal were part of Saudi delegations that visited India in February this year to attend a symposium on the Indian Ocean and a visit to a defence exhibition.

(UNI)