Record-breaking duo land in Egypt
CAIRO, March 21 — Balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones made a picture-perfect landing in the desert sands of Egypt today, ending their record-setting 20-day dash around the world.

Einstein, Freud share top ‘Time’ ranking
WASHINGTON, March 21 — What have Sigmund Freud, Alexander Fleming, the Wright brothers and Ludwig Wittgenstein got in common? They all share top ranking on Time magazine’s list of the top 20 inventors, scientists and thinkers of the century.

Nepalis cannot miss Hindi films!
Kathmandu, March 21 — It was meant to be a nationalist movement against Hindi films and Indian “cultural invasion”. Instead it proved beyond doubt that Nepali movie buffs and theatre owners cannot do without Mumbai’s celluloid fare!

Anwar certain of jail term
KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — Mr Anwar Ibrahim, former Malaysian Cabinet Minister turned dissident, who faces the last days of his corruption trial, is all but certain he will be jailed.

Pak to get three French subs soon
DUBAI, March 21 — Pakistan would soon acquire three Agosta submarines from France at a cost of $ 950 million, according to the Pakistan Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar.

Last-ditch bid to convince Serbs

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters): NATO ambassadors met at the alliance headquarters in Brussels today to discuss the Kosovo crisis as the West warned that air strikes against Yugoslav military targets were drawing closer.

NATO sources said the meeting was called to exchange information. A decision to launch air strikes was not expected and there were unconfirmed reports that more time would be allowed for a last-chance diplomatic mission to Belgrade.

US President Bill Clinton has already said that in his view the Yugoslav forces "have already crossed the threshold of action" which NATO would not tolerate, by stepping up attacks on suspected guerrilla strongholds and putting civilians to flight.

Mr Clinton acknowledged that NATO had stayed its hand for the past several weeks in spite of Yugoslav violations of an October pledge to restrain its military in Kosovo, to give more time for diplomacy.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook warned Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that the threat of NATO air strikes against the Serbs in Kosovo was "real". "We have to get across to President Milosevic that we are serious. This is for real," he said in a BBC TV interview.

However, Yugoslav forces have continued operations in Kosovo in apparent defiance of NATO’s threatening gestures, most notably emptying the town of Srbica of civilians before launching a large-scale attack on Kosovo Liberation Army positions in the area.

BEIJING (Reuters): China called for calm over the escalating conflict in Kosovo and warned NATO against taking military action in the strife-ridden region.

"Recent developments in Kosovo have aroused the attention and unease of peace-loving people all over the world," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said in a statement issued by the official Xinhua news agency.

"Resorting to military action against Yugoslavia without authorisation of the UN Security Council seriously violates the UN Charter and the established norms of the international laws and therefore cannot be accepted by the international community," he added.

Mr Sun argued that the world community had no right to interfere in Yugoslavia’s internal affairs.

Record-breaking duo land in Egypt

CAIRO, March 21 (CNN) — Balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones made a picture-perfect landing in the desert sands of Egypt today, ending their record-setting 20-day dash around the world.

The pair touched down near the remote town of Mut, about 400 miles south-west of Cairo, to cries of jubilation and the popping of champagne corks at their Geneva control centre.

Swiss Piccard, (41), and Brian Jones, (51), had hoped to land alongside the Giza pyramids outside Cairo but high altitude jet streams forced them to a more southerly course.

The duo made history yesterday when they crossed a “finish line” in northern Mauritania after a flight that took them more than 44,000 km in their 180-foot-high balloon.

But rather than land in the remote wastelands of Mauritania, the pair opted to head for a more accessible landing zone in Egypt.

The two achieved a feat attempted unsuccessfully in recent years by many others, including British tycoon Richard Branson and American adventurer Steve Fossett.

Mission controller Brian Smith said a message was received at 0600 GMT from the balloon confirming that “the eagle has landed”. The message also reported a safe landing.

He said the landing was an emotional moment for the support crew who planned on drinking for “several days” in celebration.

Smith said Piccard and Jones would go to Cairo where they would “have a wash and brush up” before returning to Geneva.

Meteorologist Pierre Eckert said predicting the weather was crucial to the successful flight. “When it comes to ballooning, it’s very important to have a meteorologist, because the winds are changing very quickly in direction and speed with the altitude,” Eckert said.

The Breitling Orbiter balloon’s crew almost gave up on Wednesday after experiencing frigid temperatures, stalled winds, physical exhaustion and concern over the balloon’s excessive fuel consumption. Piccard said he used self-hypnosis to cope with the tension.

A long haul after weeks of frustrating delays, Piccard, a psychiatrist, and Jones, a balloon instructor, set off from the Swiss Alps on March 1. They drifted down to North Africa and then crossed towards Asia.

At 0954 GMT yesterday the team’s balloon passed over Mauritania in Africa, crossing the round-the-world finish line — the 9-degree west longitude line — after 42,000 km and 19 days aloft.

The Breitling Orbiter crew had an advantage over rival balloonists: They got permission to pass over southern China, a move that saved them vital time.

Then they picked up a fast jet stream over the Pacific before grinding to a near halt over Central America. There the pilots developed breathing problems and got the shivers as their small cabin chilled to 46 degrees.

The balloon finally picked up a jet stream again on Thursday. Early Friday, they beat the endurance record set two weeks ago by the two British balloonists who later ditched in bad weather near Japan.

Since US publisher James Gordon Bennett established a trophy for long-distance ballooning in 1906, sportsmen have tried to fly the farthest, eventually setting their sights on a round-the-world flight. Americans Mazie Anderson and Don Ida made the first attempt in 1981, but flew only 4,306 km from Egypt to India.

This was third attempt sponsored by the Swiss watch and precision-instrument manufacturer, Breitling, and the company had said it would be the last.

Breitling has refused to say how much money it has pumped into the project, but it is certainly many times more than the $ 1 million prize offered by Brewer Anheuser-Busch for completing the global circuit.

On a previous attempt last year, Piccard was forced to ditch in Myanmar, also known as Burma, after his balloon was refused permission to cross China. This year the team delayed their departure until they got Beijing’s approval.

China warns USA of arms race

BEIJING, March 21 (PTI) — China has warned start of a new round of global arms race if the USA went ahead with the development and deployment of a national missile defence (NMD) and theatre missile defence (TMD) programmes.

“This move by the USA is by no means conducive for the global arms control and disarmament endeavour, it might lead to a new round of international arms race that will produce widespread and far-reaching negative impacts on the global and regional strategic balance in the 21st century,” Mr Sha Zukang, China’s top arms control official said.

Mr Sha’s criticism came in the wake of a Bill passed by the US Congress last week committing to building a national defence against limited ballistic missile attack as soon as technologically possible.

In an interview here, Mr Sha, Director-General of Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Arms Control and Disarmament expressed Beijing’s strong opposition to Washington’s plans to develop and deploy the space-based NMD and TMD systems.

The NMD programme would use similar technology to a TMD system that USA and Japan were studying for East Asia, he said.

China feared the system could spark a costly arms race, would strengthen US Military alliances with Japan and South Korea and might be used to protect Taiwan, thereby obstructing reunification, he said.

He accused Washington of even trying to withdraw from the 1972 anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty in order to develop NMD and TMD so as to acquire a unique shield to its already unmatched offensive power.

The USA side was even prepared to withdraw from the ABM treaty, which had served as the cornerstone of the global strategic balance and stability, he said while pointing out that Washington was finding some pretext or the other to amend the ABM treaty.

Einstein, Freud share top ‘Time’ ranking

WASHINGTON, March 21 (AFP) — What have Sigmund Freud, Alexander Fleming, the Wright brothers and Ludwig Wittgenstein got in common?

They all share top ranking on Time magazine’s list of the top 20 inventors, scientists and thinkers of the century.

The list — part of Time’s project to document the top 100 persons of the 20th century — appears in the March 29 edition of the magazine, which hits news-stands tomorrow.

Freud was propelled to 66th place on the list by his theories of the unconscious, the ego, repression and penis envy, the weekly said.

British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, who discovered Penicillin, came in at 117, while Wilbur and Orville Wright, a pair of self-taught engineers who invented the first airplane, shared 71st place.

Wittgenstein, who began by trying to reduce all mathematics to logic and ended by finding most metaphysics to be nonsense, secured 88th place, according to the magazine.

French child psychologist Jean Piaget (104), virologist Jonas Salk (168) inventor of the polio vaccine, chemist Leo Baekelan (80) who invented the first true plastic, and atomic physicist Enrico Fermi (154) who co-invented and designed the first man-made nuclear reactor, also share top honours.

Nepalis cannot miss Hindi films!

Kathmandu, March 21 (IANS) — It was meant to be a nationalist movement against Hindi films and Indian “cultural invasion”. Instead it proved beyond doubt that Nepali movie buffs and theatre owners cannot do without Mumbai’s celluloid fare!

Almost all cinema theatres went empty by the third day of the “ban” on Hindi films in the capital city of this Himalayan kingdom.

After running heavy losses within three days of playing just Nepali films, the Nepal Motion Picture Association decided to resume screening Hindi and English movies.

The National Mass Movement Coordination Committee (NMMCC), a pro-Maoist coalition of tiny communist groups, had early this month sought a total ban on all foreign cinema, especially Hindi films, in Kathmandu theatres.

The “ban” came into effect on March 15 and was to last till July 15. Last Monday the more than 25 movie theatres in the Kathmandu valley pulled down all Hindi films. But on Saturday most went right back to screening Hindi and English movies.

Nepali films, less than a dozen of which are produced annually, are not too popular in the country. “Since most Nepali films seem copies of Mumbai productions, viewers are not attracted,” movie critic Mahesh Sharma explained.

The NMMCC too has been forced to concede defeat, acknowledging that pure economics had won over the battle against the alleged cultural invasion.

Anwar certain of jail term

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Reuters) — Mr Anwar Ibrahim, former Malaysian Cabinet Minister turned dissident, who faces the last days of his corruption trial, is all but certain he will be jailed.

“Two years, four years, it makes no difference,” he said this month when asked how long he expected to spend in prison.

Mr Anwar’s corruption trial was drawing to a close after five months of riveting testimony, and few expect him to go free.

Western capitals were preparing carefully worded statements expressing concern over Mr Anwar’s fate, to be released when the verdict, expected in April, was pronounced, diplomats said.

In an act of desperation after five months of setbacks, the former Prime-Minister-in-Waiting last week asked judge Augustine Paul to disqualify himself on grounds of alleged partiality.

That move, like much surrounding the landmark trial, ensured headlines but was not expected to affect the final outcome. Even his lawyers privately admitted that the motion for disqualification was doomed to die. “I suppose we could appeal,” one lawyer said.

Pak to get three French subs soon

DUBAI, March 21 (PTI) — Pakistan would soon acquire three Agosta submarines from France at a cost of $ 950 million, according to the Pakistan Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar.

Disclosing this at a meeting with the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Fasih Bokhari at the naval headquarters yesterday, the minister said one such submarine was now scheduled to reach Pakistan in June, a month later than originally planned, the Khaleej Times said quoting official sources in Islamabad.

The second Agosta submarine would reach Pakistan in 2001 while the third would be built in Pakistan in 2003, the minister said according to the report.

Suicide bomb attack
LONDON: A suspected Kurdish guerrilla was killed and three persons, including two policemen, were injured in an apparent suicide bomb attack in the eastern Van province of Turkey on Saturday. The attacker set off the bomb when challenged by the police in Baskale. His body had been ripped apart beyond recognition. — ANI

Painter dead
LONDON: Patrick Heron, one of the leading British painters of the 20th century, has died at his home in Cornwall at the age of 79. The police said Heron died on Saturday at his house in Zennor, a small Cornish village, where he spent most of his artistic life. — Reuters

Dogs and pollution
MEXICO CITY: The authorities are blaming dog faeces for contributing to Mexico City’s infamous air pollution and are appealing to dog owners to help deal with the problem. There are 1.2 million dogs in Mexico City’s federal district, which encompasses most of the city, dropping around 120,000 tonnes of faeces a year in streets and parks, according to an official report quoted by Reforma newspaper on Saturday. — Reuters

Poor kids quit schools
WASHINGTON: Despite rapid strides in India and Brazil, nearly 125 million primary school children still do not attend classes and another 150 million leave school without basic literacy skills the world over, an Oxfam report has said. “Without the skills acquired in school many are condemned to a cycle of poverty and illiteracy,” Oxfam, a non-governmental social and relief organisation, said. — PTI

More gold for stupa
YANGON: The Shwedagon Pagoda, heart and soul of Buddhist Myanmar and one of the forgotten wonders of the world, is getting a face-lift that will pile another tonne of gold onto its glittering central stupa. The breathtaking 2,500-year-old pagoda is already decorated with 2.3 tonnes of gold and encrusted with over 5,000 diamonds, 2,000 rubies as well as sapphires and other precious stones. — Reuters

Problem gamblers
WASHINGTON: Over 5 million Americans are pathological gamblers and another 15 million stand the risk of being addicted to it, a study has warned. “Compulsive gambling is increasingly being recognised as a disease that can only be cured by counselling”, a report by the US National Gambling Impact Commission said. — PTI

New Foreign Secy
DHAKA: Bangladeshi High Commissioner to India Shafi Sami has been appointed as the country’s new Foreign Secretary, an official announcement said here on Saturday. The post was lying vacant since the death of Mustafizur Rahman. — PTI

Chinese satellite
MOSCOW: A Russian rocket carrying a Chinese communications satellite “Asiasat 38” blasted into the orbit on Sunday, Russian news agencies said. The Proton-K rocket took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3.09 a.m. Moscow time (0009 GMT), Interfax News agency said. Russia rents the cosmodrome from Kazakhstan officials were not immediately available to confirm the reports. — Reuters