Aussies Beat India by 9 wkts

          CENTURION (South Africa): India were humiliated with a nine-wicket defeat by Australians in the World Cup A match on Saturday. The Australians reached the 126-run target in just 22.2 overs. Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee both took three wickets each as India were all out for 125, their lowest score in a World Cup, with more than eight overs to spare. Lee made the opening breakthrough by removing Captain Saurav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag before Gillespie produced one of the great bowling spells in World Cup history, ending with figures of 10-2-13-3. (Details)

Nawaz To Spring a 'Surprise' Soon

          ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said that he will soon give a big surprise by returning to Pakistan, reports Dawn. He said no power could stop him and his family from returning home. He predicted an early fall of the military rulers who were wasting their own and the country's valuable time. He was talking to party chief organiser (overseas) Sheikh Qaiser Mahmood by telephone, a party press release issued here on Friday said.

           He claimed the Kashmir issue would have been resolved by now had his Government not been toppled by army rulers. The PML-N leader said he was able to hold free and frank talks with Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee after inviting him to Lahore and was about to break the good news to the nation on the Kashmir issue when his Government was toppled. He advised army generals to immediately relinquish power and return to their basic duty of defending the country.

US Official Warns of Coup in Pakistan (Go To Top)

          WASHINGTON: Head of the US defence intelligence agency has warned that a coup against President Pervez Musharraf could result in an "extremist Pakistan", reports Dawn. Testifying on global threats before the Senate armed services committee earlier this week, vice-admiral Lowell Jacoby said President Musharraf's Islamist opponents were not happy with his policies and they could try to instigate a political crisis through violent means. "This could result in an extremist Pakistan," he warned. Director Jacoby praised Gen Musharraf's efforts to restore democracy and said that since the October elections, Pakistan had made a steady progress towards establishing a functioning democracy. But the polls, he said, also allowed the Islamists to emerge as a significant political force in the country. Gen Musharraf, he said, continued to face significant political and economic challenges and opposition.

Baghdad Terminates Russian Contract(Go To Top)
-by Ioannis Solomou

          NICOSIA: Despite intense diplomatic pressure from the Russian Government, the Iraqi regime went ahead with its decision to terminate the agreement with Russia's largest oil company Lukoil on the joint exploration of the West Qurna 2 oilfield project. Lukoil stands to lose some 5 billion dollars from the cancellation. Iraqi oil minister Samir Aziz al-Najim said that the agreement was closed and terminated, because Lukoil had not spent "a single dollar" of the 200 million dollars it was supposed to invest over a period of three years for the exploration of the oilfield. Back in 1997 Lukoil and the Iraqi Government had signed an agreement for the joint exploration and exploitation of the West Qurna 2 oilfield that could produce over 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

          Political observers said that the announcement of the termination was a clear sign of Baghdad's strong displeasure with the stand adopted by Russia at the Security Council which did not block, as Iraq expected, the resolution warning Baghdad with serious consequences if it was found to be hiding weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, in view of the expected US and British attack against it, Baghdad cannot afford not to anger the Russian Government and for this reason the Iraqi oil minister has stressed that the oil field remains open for other oil companies, particularly Russian companies.

Anti-war Protests in London, Karachi (Go To Top)

          LONDON: Protesters against a possible war with Iraq have taken to the streets in what is expected to be one of the biggest protests ever seen in Britain. Police estimated that, at 1230 GMT on Saturday, there were around 150,000 marchers in London. The figure was likely to rise significantly with organisers expecting up to 500,000 in the Capital alone. Other protests were being held in Glasgow and Belfast with similar demonstrations being staged around the world. Contingents arrived in the Capital from about 250 cities across the UK.

           In Karachi, people belonging to various schools of thought participated in a peace rally staged before the Karachi Press Club on Saturday against possible American attack on Iraq. Demonstrators were holding placards and banners inscribed with anti-war slogans against US President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. An effigy of Bush was also burnt. Women in the rally sang peace songs. Protesters dispersed peacefully after the demonstration.

NASA Selects Another Woman of Indian Origin for Space Mission (Go To Top)

          AHMEDABAD: Sunita Lyn Williams happens to be the second woman selected by NASA for its space research mission. Sunita , another American astronaut with Indian roots, has been selected for a space mission by NASA after Kalpana Chawla. Her selection comes after the death of Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist of Columbia which crashed just 16 minutes before reaching the earth recently.

           A graduate of the US Naval Academy, 37-year old Williams has been a helicopter pilot, a test pilot and a test pilot instructor. A first-time flier, Lieutenant Commander Williams will train as a space station flight engineer. Her parents Deepak Pandya and Ursaline Pandya live in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and she is married to Michael Williams.

           Williams, with over 2300 hours of flight experience, has been awarded two navy commendation medals, navy and marine corps achievement medal and several other service awards for her accomplishments. The honour to work with NASA got Sunita to Boston, US. Though she has been born and brought up in the US, she originally is an Indian and a native of Jhulasan village in Mehsana district of Gujarat. Her father, Dipakbhai Pandya, left Jhulasan in 1960 for the US and married American Ursaline. Their first child is Sunita herself.

UP Crisis Blows Over (Go To Top)

          NEW DELHI: The political crisis in Uttar Pradesh ended on Saturday after chief minister Mayawati held a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi. Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the junior partner in the coalition led by Mayawati of Bahujan Samaj Party, had earlier expressed its reservations about the functioning of the Government. After a two-hour-long meeting at Vajpayee's residence, BJP president Venkaiah Naidu told reporters that both parties evolved a strategy to sort out the differences. "There is no crisis. We have evolved a method for the smooth functioning of the coalition after a fruitful and meaningful discussion. The so-called threat by the Opposition to move a no-confidence motion will be overcome," Naidu said.

          The patchy coalition, formed after last year's elections in the most politically sensitive State produced a hung legislature, has been on the sea-saw. Earlier, Mayawati and senior BJP leaders from the State met Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani. After the meeting Mayawati told reporters that the misunderstandings among the coalition partners were sorted out amicably.

           "There was no misunderstanding between us and a very smooth Government is functioning in the State. In a coalition there are some differences on some issues like the problem of workers and others but are sorted out once we sit together," Mayawati said. Vinay Katiyar, president of Uttar Pradesh BJP unit, said the crisis was fuelled by the Samajwadi Party, the State's single largest party, for political gains.

VHP Ultimatum to Centre (Go To Top)

          GORAKHPUR: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday threatened to launch an agitation if the Government did not hand over "undisputed land" at the site of a razed 16th century mosque to it before February 23. The VHP had earlier this week laid claim to the land in Ayodhya town, including the disputed land where Babri mosque stood until Hindu zealots demolished it in 1992.

           "If some decision is taken before the beginning of the Dharam Sansad (religious congregation) and the Government decides to give us the land only then will we reconsider our earlier stance, otherwise there will be tough action," VHP leader Giriraj Kishore told reporters in Gorakhpur after a meeting of Hindu holymen. Kishore added that the VHP's course of action would depend on the advice of a religious congregation, convened on February 23. "Ultimately, we will abide by whatever decisions the Dharam Sansad takes," Kishore added.

           Hindus want to build a temple on the disputed site that some believe is the birthplace of Lord Ram. The site was acquired under Supreme Court orders by the Central Government after the mosque demolition triggered nation-wide riots, klling at least 3,000 people. The Government has since then been consistently trying to broker peace with the VHP. Recently it had petitioned the apex court for an early disposal of the case and sought relaxation to allow VHP to start building the temple on the undisputed land. The appeal was rejected and the court made it clear that the case will not be taken up before February 21, the orginial hearing date, which is just two days before the VHP deadline. A similar appeal last year to allow Hindus even symbolic prayers at the undisputed land was rejected by the court.

Stolen Original Beatles Recordings Found After 30 Years (Go To Top)

          SYDNEY: The so-called 'Get Back' reels-original Beatles studio recordings believed to have been stolen nearly 30 years ago from London's Abbey Road studios, were uncovered in a police raid on a house here on Friday. The 'Get Back' reels, recorded in 1969, have been the source of bootleg recordings found as far afield as America and Asia since they were stolen from Abbey Road in the 1970s.

          Two reel-to-reel tapes, identified as studio recordings from the White Album sessions made by the Beatles between July and October of 1968, were found locked in a safe in two-storey yellow brick house in Lidcombe - in an elaborate operation, code-named Acetone by the record industry's global network of piracy investigators and British police, which involved undercover operatives in Europe and Asia posing as music bootleggers and flying in to Sydney to set up meetings, says a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

          They were alerted to the existence of the tapes when an advertisement was brazenly placed in the Trading Post offering 'Beatles most valuable collectors items' for sale for 5 million dollars in January. It is believed the seller was motivated by the seizure of the tapes in Europe. Heather Tropman, a lawyer with Gilbert and Tobin representing ARIA, was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that the European tapes each lasted for 15 to 20 minutes and contain session recordings of the Beatles in the studio - "practising songs, chatting and trying new things".

Jude to Rock on Jagger's Life (Go To Top)

          WASHINGTON: Hollywood heart-throb Jude Law will soon appear in a new film titled 'The Long Play', which is based on Mick Jagger's experiences of life as one of the most famous people in the world in the 1960s. Jude is to play a rock star in the movie, which is written by Jagger and planned to be directed by supremo Martin Scorsese.'The Long Play' is about a few guys who grow up in the music business in the early 1960s and how their lives converge and diverge until the early 1990s,' according to a report in People News. The 59-year-old Jagger came up with the idea for the film over ten years ago, said the report.

 -ANI