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ISLAMABAD: Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan on
Tuesday denied selling blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon to
Iran or North Korea, telling the Agence France-Presse that Western
countries were to blame. Khan’s comments came a day after a former
arm inspector said in a report that the US and the United Nations
atomic watchdog must be allowed to question Khan to learn if he sold
the plans. “This is all a lie, there is no truth in this. It is
total bullshit,” Khan told AFP.
--AFP
TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad on Tuesday urged world oil-exporting countries to find
ways to switch their oil revenues from the US dollar to alternative
currencies, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
“Economy experts and oil market analysts all agree that the US
economic crisis together with the fall in the value of dollar have
especially affected the poor and developing countries,”
Ahmadinejad said. “The lower dollar has given rise to severe
fluctuations in capital markets and fueled an inordinate level of
speculative activity.
--Xinhua
IOWA CITY, Iowa: Officials warily
eyed the mighty Mississippi River Monday swollen by days of flooding
as waterlogged Iowan towns began a massive clean up with damage set
to run into billions of dollars. With some 2,500 national guards
already deployed across the state trying to keep the floodwaters at
bay, experts believe the Mississippi River, the second longest river
in the US, could crest either Tuesday or Wednesday as waters from
already overflowing tributaries poured into it.
--AFP
LONDON: A British employment
tribunal on Monday awarded a Muslim woman 4,000 pounds ($8,900)
after a hair salon owner refused to employ her because she wears a
headscarf. The tribunal dismissed a claim of direct discrimination,
but found that woman, Bushra Noah, had suffered indirect
discrimination and awarded her the settlement for “injury to
feelings.” The tribunal owner said she needed stylists to reflect
the “funky, urban” image of her central London salon.
--AFP
TOKYO: Japan on Tuesday executed
three people including notorious serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki, a
fetishist convicted of murdering four young girls and eating parts
of their bodies, officials said. Miyazaki, 45, was nicknamed the
“killer nerd” for his obsession with sexual cartoons and
pornography. But defense lawyers contended he was mentally ill and
could not be held fully responsible for his actions. Justice
Minister Kunio Hatoyama said he had signed the order to send the
trio to the gallows to “realize justice.”
--AFP
AMMAN, Jordan: A senior official
affirmed Jordan’s keenness on providing a decent life for
Palestinian refugees “definitely does not mean resettlement of
refugees,” the official news agency Petra reported on Tuesday. The
Jordanian government is keen on implementing a package of
infrastructure, service and development projects in the refugee
camps, Director of Palestinian Affairs Department, Wajih Azayzeh,
said in an interview. However, this can never mean giving up the
refugees’ legitimate rights, at the top of which is their right of
return and compensation.
--Xinhua
TOKYO: The Group of Eight rich
nations, torn by disputes on global warming, will not set any
mid-term targets on cutting greenhouse gas emissions at its upcoming
summit, host Japan said Tuesday. The US, butting heads with the
Europeans, has opposed setting any definite commitments at the July
7 to 9 summit for slashing carbon output blamed for causing global
warming. “Agreeing on a medium-term target is the core challenge
for the United Nations negotiations that will take place up to the
end of 2009,” Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said.
--AFP
NANNING, China: Days of heavy
rain have driven up the water level of last week’s major flood,
threatening thousands of people in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region, local officials said on Tuesday. As of Tuesday,
about 7,000 people had been evacuated without casualties in Longtou
Village, Yizhou City, Guangxi, said Lu Zhanhong, deputy director of
public relations of the Yizhou municipal government. The water level
of the flood had risen 1.7 meters as of 8 a.m. on Monday, with the
deepest point reaching 8.7 meters.
--Xinhua
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