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..::World News::..
Rocca urges Nepal's King to restore democracy
Thursday, May 12, 2005 (Washington):
US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca has urged King Gyanendra of Nepal to fully restore democracy and asked the palace and political parties to confront the Maoist insurgency together.
"The Assistant Secretary urged the King to release all political detainees and to restore civil liberties, including freedom of the press, as part of his commitment to restore democracy," a US State Department spokesman said yesterday about Rocca's visit to the Himalayan Kingdom, which ended yesterday.
"She also called on the King and political party leaders to reconcile and find a way forward to confront the brutal Maoist insurgency," he added.
"Reconciliation between the King and the legitimate political forces of the country is crucial if Nepal is to move toward functional democracy and to face the challenge posed by the brutal Maoist insurgency," Rocca had said after meeting Gyanendra.
"The threat is so large it's time for political parties and the palace to move forward," she said.
Rocca met with the King a day after she warned that failure to probe human rights abuse allegations could "jeopardise our ability to continue assistance."
She also met Nepal Communist Party-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepali Congress (Democratic) acting President Gopal Man Shrestha and discussed the current political situation in the country. (PTI)
Anti-nuclear rally held in New York
Monday, May 2, 2005 (New York):
Thousands of people took part in an anti-nuclear march in New York on Sunday.
They marched past the United Nations, urging diplomats reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to remember the horrors of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki six decades ago and not allow them to be repeated.
Chanting "No War, No Nukes" and carrying signs saying "No More Hiroshima, No more Nagasaki," the marchers then headed to Central Park, where they formed a human peace symbol.
Organisers put the number of protesters at 40,000.
A month-long review of the nonproliferation treaty begins Monday at the UN. It is a process that is done every five years.
The treaty calls for nations without nuclear weapons to pledge not to pursue them, and the five that acknowledge having nuclear weapons - the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China - to pledge to move toward eliminating them.
But there are concerns about the treaty's effectiveness and contentious issues have sprung up even before the review, from North Korea's withdrawal from the treaty to the threat of nuclear terrorism.
Organisers of the rally said their aims were to hasten negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons and to have nations agree to a nuclear "no first use" policy as the weapons are being phased out. (AP)
Assassination attempt on former Iraqi PM
Thursday, April 21, 2005 (Baghdad):
A suicide car bomb exploded near a police checkpoint as interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's convoy drove home on Wednesday night.
Allawi escaped unharmed but one policeman was killed and two were wounded, according to Iraqi police. Bursts of gunfire were heard after the explosion.
Police sources said the suicide bomb exploded in al-Zaitoun Street - a neighbourhood where the Allawi's party office is located in the west of the capital.
The blast was one of a string of attacks on Wednesday that killed at least nine Iraqis and wounded 21.
They included four suicide car bombs - one of which targeted Allawi's convoy. (AP)
Posted on 13 April 2005
India-China ties not a concern to Washington
(IANS News) Washington, : The US will discuss with India the latter's growing ties with China, epitomized by Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to New Delhi, but Washington is not against the coming together of the two Asian giants.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is expected to discuss the developments on the Sino-Indian front with Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh, who is now visiting the US.
India and China, which in 1962 fought a war and still dispute their winding border, Monday signed a strategic relations treaty aimed at dramatically boosting their bilateral relations.
But the State Department denied it was concerned about the closeness of New Delhi and Beijing.
"We've always seen China's relations with others in the world - a growing trade relationship, a more positive relationship than China's had for years in some of these places - as overall a positive thing," said Richard Boucher at the State Department.
"We want China to be able to play a constructive and responsible role in international affairs. We've encouraged people to have good economic relationships, good political relationships, diplomatic relationships with China, and for China to act responsibly in the community of nations," he added.
Asked what Washington thought of the new strategic partnership agreement between New Delhi and Beijing, Boucher said: "I don't think we have any particular reaction to that. We have good relations with China, very good relations with India.
"We've been certainly following events there, but we've always welcomed any progress that those two countries or others can make to reduce tension and to improve their relationship."
The visit of China's leaders to India has just ended, Boucher noted, and Washington had not yet discussed it with New Delhi.
"So I'm sure we'll be talking to both sides about how this relationship is going and what they foresee.
"And ... the Secretary does have an opportunity to talk the Indian foreign minister later this week." (World News)
Diesel dreaming of dead-language film trilogy
Plus: Amanda Bynes blasts reports of eating disorder
Dima Gavrysh / AP Vin Diesel wants to make a trilogy about the life of Hannibal, all in the Punic language.
Look out Mel Gibson. Vin Diesel is following in your footsteps.
Gibson raised eyebrows when his “The Passion of the Christ” was done entirely in the archaic language of Aramaic. Now Diesel has revealed that he wants to make a three-part swords and sandals epic based on the life of Hannibal. And he wants to do the films all in Punic, the language that was spoken by the Alps-crossing conqueror, but not by anyone for 2,000 years.
The star of “The Pacifier” tells the April issue of Details that his production company has set up offices in Spain, where the actor has spent months retracing Hannibal’s steps, hiking into the Alps, and visiting the ruins in Cartagena and Saguntum.
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