tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Tuesday, June 22, 1999
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US jets bomb Iraqi sites
ANKARA, June 21 (AP) — US warplanes today bombed Iraqi air defence sites after being fired upon by Iraqi forces in the northern no-fly zone, US military officials said. US Air Force F-16s and F-15s dropped laser-guided bombs on an Iraqi command and control site, north of the city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, the Germany-based US European Command based said in a statement released on the Internet. An F-16 also attacked a surface-to-air radar site east of Mosul with high-speed anti-radiation missile, the statement said.

Jaya case referred to registry
CHENNAI, June 21 (UNI) — The Madras High Court today referred to the registry for posting before some other Bench, hearing in the criminal revision petition filed by the state crime branch, the CID, against the order of a special judge discharging former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalitha and her erstwhile cabinet colleague V.R.Nedunchezhiyan from the multi-crore coal import deal case. The CB-CID had on June 18 filed a revision petition seeking to set aside the order of Special Judge-2 V.Radhakrishnan discharging the two from the case.

Dhaka bus
BONGAON, June 21 (UNI) — "Souhardya" and its companion, the two West Bengal surface transport corporation buses, returned from Dhaka with 62 passengers and crossed the international check-post at Benapole-Petrapole near here today. The buses returned at about 4.30 p.m. after customs and immigration checks at the border. The buses headed for the Karunamoyee international bus terminus at Salt Lake, Calcutta.

Chechen chief
MOSCOW, June 21 (AP) — Gunmen attacked the security chief of Russia’s breakaway Chechnya province at home today, but he escaped unhurt, a news report said. Mr Ibrahim Khuligov told the Interfax news agency that he hid in his bedroom when the attackers opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons from the street. Guards outside Mr Khuligov’s home returned fire, but the attackers escaped, Interfax said.

Talks with militants
SHILLONG, June 21 (PTI) — The Meghalaya Home Minister, Mr A.H. Scott Lyngdoh, said today that the state government was willing to hold talks with militants of the Nynniewtrep National Liberation Council and the Achik National Volunteer Council of Meghalaya, provided they spell out their objectives first. Mr Scott Lyngdoh told the legislative Assembly that unless the government had prior knowledge of the militant organisations’ aims and aspirations, the government would not be in a position to have a dialogue with them.

Panda cloned
BEIJING, June 21 (AP) — Chinese scientists have cloned an embryo of the giant panda and are hoping it will develop to maturity, in a development hailed today as a possible breakthrough in efforts to save the endangered species. Scientists from the government-funded Chinese Academy of Sciences grew the embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.