35 nations’ offer on Timor vote
UNITED NATIONS, May 7 — At least 35 nations have offered to support the U.N. supervised ballot in East Timor. But the United Nations and the USA remain deeply concerned that violence could derail the vote.

Ban on Islamic party sought
ANKARA, May 7 — Turkey’s chief prosecutor asked the constitutional court today to ban the Islamic Virtue Party on grounds that it was pursuing anti-secular activities. Virtue is the successor of another Islamic party, Welfare, which was shut down on the same charges last year.

US Secy admits N-plant breaches
WASHINGTON, May 7 — US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson acknowledged massive security breaches at US nuclear weapons laboratories, but said the search for blame was becoming a political game that could hurt these laboratories and the USA.

Labour rules the roost in Scotland

LONDON, May 7 (AP) — Scots choosing their first Parliament in three centuries gave the lion’s share of votes to British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party but not enough for outright control, early returns indicated today.

With 73 places decided, Labour had won 53 seats and 38.8 per cent of the vote, compared to seven seats and 28.8 percent of the vote for the Scottish National Party.

This is our first democratic parliament for Scotland for nearly 300 years. Our people have voted for it, our people deserve it,’’ said Mr Donald Dewar, the Scottish secretary in Mr Blair’s Cabinet and the likely leader of the new Scottish government.

The results affirmed that a large majority of Scots are content, for now, with a degree of self-government within the United Kingdom. And Labour, as the dominant partner in the new government, will have an opportunity to prove that a settlement short of independence can satisfy the aspirations of most Scottish people.

Voters in Wales also elected members of their new assembly, while the Opposition Conservative Party staged a modest recovery from the depths of a national defeat in 1997 by recapturing scores of seats on local governing councils from Labour.

The representatives elected in Scotland and Wales will be pioneers in implementing Mr Blair’s programme to decentralise power within the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland earlier elected members to its new assembly.

A British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) exit poll of 4,000 voters conducted during yesterday’s balloting suggested that Labour won the largest number of seats between 55 and 61 but would fall short of a majority in the 129-member Scottish parliament. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

That result would force Labour to seek a coalition partner, most likely the centrist Liberal Democrats.

The 3 million people of Wales also voted for a separate but less powerful 60-member assembly for their principality, where there is no strong push for independence. An exit poll of 4,000 Welsh voters suggested that labour had a chance of winning a majority.

The local council races, the first widespread test of public sentiment after two years of Mr Blair’s government, produced a swing back toward the conservatives.

With results from 282 councils, Conservatives claimed control of 52, a gain of 39, while Labour lost control of 19 councils to a new total of 107. Conservatives gained 1,122 seats while Labour lost 841.

Conservative gains in local elections may provide some breathing space for Mr William Hague, the hard-pressed party leader who succeeded former Prime Minister John Major after the Tories were humiliated in 1997.

Labour’s most embarrassing result came in Falkirk West, where its candidate was beaten by a lawmaker who has effectively been kicked out of the Labour party.

Dennis Canavan, who had run as an Independent after his party refused to nominate him for the Scottish assembly, rolled up a 3-1 margin over the official Labour nominee.

Milosevic open to ‘peace plan’

BELGRADE, May 7 (AP) — Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is signalling he’s open to a rough Kosovo peace plan agreed to by Russia and western powers “if NATO stops the bombing”.

At least 10 people were killed and 50 injured this morning in a NATO air bombing of a clinical centre and its surrounding area in Nis, the third largest southern city of Serbia, the Serbian state television said. The bombing took place about 11.25 am (local time).

Nato jets struck again last night, destroying a railway bridge on the Yugoslav-Romanian border. Yugoslav media also reported an attack before dawn today near Sremska Mitrovica, 70 km west of Belgrade.

The latest attacks followed a seven-point plan announced yesterday by foreign ministers of Russia and nations with the seven largest economies. They called for deployment of effective international civil and security presences’’ in Kosovo.

But many details still have to be worked out. Belgrade still hasn’t accepted armed forces, while Russia and NATO have different interpretations of “security presence.’’ NATO wants an end to Serb repression Russia wants a halt to bombing. The USA wants a total withdrawal of Serb forces, and Moscow-Belgrade is talking about partial pullout.

The plan also must be endorsed by the UN Security Council.

As the ministers were unveiling their plan in Germany, Mr Milosevic and Serbian President Milan Milutinovic were meeting with Greek envoy Carolos Papaouillas to discuss its outline.

“We believe that a just solution on all open issues can be reached through the political process of direct talks, which is predicated upon an end of the aggression and return of peace and return of Yugoslav citizens to their homes,’’ Mr Milosevic said in a statement distributed by government media.

The report said the peacekeeping mission must be negotiated directly between Yugoslavia and the United Nations. The Yugoslav government agreed unconditionally yesterday to allow a UN humanitarian team to visit the country and make recommendations on what needs to be done to allow an estimated 650,000 ethnic Albanian refugees to return to Kosovo.

However, NATO ministers insisted they had not dropped demands for an international force that is strongly armed, equipped with a mandate to use force and spearheaded by alliance troops.

“This must mean a strong military force with NATO at its core,’’ US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said after the meeting of foreign ministers.

MOSCOW: Russia warned today that the Kosovo crisis was not over despite progress on finding a diplomatic solution and said that it still believes NATO must first end its airstrikes to ensure peace.

A draft peace plan worked out by western powers and Russia “is not a breakthrough, but a step in the right direction. There will be a breakthrough when the war is stopped,’’ said Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

Mr Ivanov, who represented Moscow at talks of the G-8 nations yesterday in Bonn, Germany, expressed disappointment that NATO had not agreed to end its attacks on Yugoslavia.

WASHINGTON: With Republicans saying President Bill Clinton has “gutted the American military,’’ the House yesterday overwhelmingly approved 13.1 billion dollars for the fight with Yugoslavia and to buttress US forces around the globe.

The measure would more than double the $6.05 billion Mr Clinton requested last month to wage the air war through September and care for hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled Kosovo.

The additions include 1.1 billion dollars to buy missiles and bombs, 1.3 billion dollars for spare parts, 1.8 billion dollars to improve troops’ pay and pensions, and 1.1 billion dollars to modernise military bases, mostly in Europe.

Final passage was by 311-105, with sound majorities of both parties supporting the package.

Iran quake kills 26, flattens 20 villages

DUBAI, May 7 (AP, PTI) — A strong earthquake flattened 20 villages in southern Iran early on today, killing at least 26 persons and injuring 80, Teheran radio reported.

The quake struck Shiraz and Kazerun cities in Fars province, said the radio, monitored in Dubai. The radio said the tremor had a magnitude of 6.5, but the US Geological Survey said it measured 6.3.

Most of the dead were children who had been killed by the collapse of their homes, the head of the Natural Disasters Headquarters, Hasan Momtahen, told the official Islamic republic news agency.

Some 20 villages around Shiraz were completely flattened by the quake, the radio said. Homes, clinics and public buildings in other villages sustained considerable damage.

The radio said aid organisations and soldiers were providing assistance in rescue operations and that all injured were evacuated by midmorning.

The earthquake struck at 3:30 a.m. local time (11 p.m. GMT) and was followed by 40 aftershocks, the agency said.

Mr Momtahen said eight of the aftershocks had a magnitude of 4.0 to 4.5, the agency reported.

"The earthquake made the windows rattle and the ground shake,’’ said an operator at the Homa Hotel in downtown Shiraz.

"The city itself seems normal and I haven’t seen much damage. Most of the damage appears to have been caused outside Shiraz itself,’’ said the operator, who would not give his name.

Some of Iran’s most impressive antiquities lie near Shiraz. It was not immediately known whether they were damaged.

The ruins of Persepolis, one of the capitals of the Persian empire, are about 56 km northwest of Shiraz.

Alexander The Great, plundered Persepolis in 330 B.C.

Shiraz, is about 640 km south of the Iranian capital, Teheran.

Sherpa’s 21-hr stay on Everest

KATHMANDU, May 7 (AP) — An experienced Nepalese Sherpa guide today completed 21 hours on the 8,848 metre summit of Mount Everest, setting what is probably a record for the longest stay atop the world’s tallest mountain, government officials said.

Babu Chhiri Sherpa, (33) making his eighth successful ascent, did not use bottled oxygen during his overnight stay, said Mr Shailendra Sharma, Chief of the Mountaineering Department at the Tourism Ministry.

No official records have been kept for the longest time spent at the summit. High winds and rapid changes in extreme weather-conditions usually force climbers to retreat after just a few minutes at the top of the world.

Chhiri reached the summit yesterday at 10.30 a.m. (9.45 a.m. IST) with two colleagues. They pitched a specially designed tent and the two companions left for lower heights while Chhiri remained.

At 7.55 a.m. (7.10 a.m. IST) today Chhiri left the summit for the South Col at 8,000 metre where his friends were waiting.

On Wednesday, eight western climbers and 10 of their Sherpa guides had scaled Everest, taking advantage of the first break in weather.

The Tourism Ministry said Arvin Timilsina, (15), a Nepalese, abandoned his bid on Wednesday to become the youngest ever to scale Everest because of pain in his eyes.

He had reached the south summit at 8,700 meters, but quit a few meters from the top. The ministry said he is in better health and was heading to lower camps, on the way home.

35 nations’ offer on Timor vote

UNITED NATIONS, May 7 (AP) — At least 35 nations have offered to support the U.N. supervised ballot in East Timor. But the United Nations and the USA remain deeply concerned that violence could derail the vote.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanded that militia groups stop fighting and lay down their arms well before the August 8 ballot, saying the action was one of the key security conditions for voting to go ahead.

In a report to the U.N. Security Council, he also called for the redepolyment of Indonesian military forces and immediate prosecution of all those inciting or threatening to use violence.

Australia made the first contribution of $7 million. Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama handed a $10-million cheque to Mr Annan on Wednesday from the Portuguese Government to help finance the U.N. mission.

All 36 including the major industrialised nations. European Union members and many Asian countries said they were interested in contributing cash or kind or both and all were very supportive, the UN envoy for the territory, Mr Marker said.

Ban on Islamic party sought

ANKARA, May 7 (AP) — Turkey’s chief prosecutor asked the constitutional court today to ban the Islamic Virtue Party on grounds that it was pursuing anti-secular activities. Virtue is the successor of another Islamic party, Welfare, which was shut down on the same charges last year.

The move followed a public uproar over a Virtue lawmaker’s, Merve Kavakci arrival in Parliament at swearing-in-ceremony wearing an Islamic headscarf, which is banned in public offices and schools.

Chief Prosecutor Vural Savas, who successfully argued the closure of Welfare, was asked to open a case against Virtue on the grounds that it was a continuation of that party. It is illegal in Turkey to open a party based on the same principles as a banned one. Most of Welfare’s deputies regrouped in Virtue, but the new party tried to distance itself from the more radical Islamic precepts of the banned one.

Her move was seen as an attack on Turkey’s secular principles. Lawmakers began pounding on their desks and screaming, “out” forcing Kavakci to leave the legislature without taking her oath.

Artiste of the decade award for Brooks

UNIVERSAL CITY (California), May 7 (AP) — Garth Brooks was named Artist of the Decade at the Academy of Country Music Awards yesterday and the Texas trio, Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill, each won three trophies.

Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn and Alabama won the award in previous decades.

Jay Leno presented the trophy, given for the star who best represented the image of country music through appearances and recordings.

Brooks, who has sold more than 95 million albums, said he was not deserving of the recognition.

“For me there are two artists in our industry that I think we have taken for granted. I don’t mean to offend anybody. I’m just telling you like it is,” Brooks told the audience, saying that he wanted to cut the plaque in half.

The Dallas-based Dixie Chicks, sisters Martie Siedel and Emily Erwin and friend Natalie Maines, won album of the year for “Wide Open Spaces”, as well as top group and best new group.

Steve Wariner’s “Oh-so-sad, Holes in the Floor of Heaven” was named top song and Miss Hill’s upbeat “This Kiss” was named best single.

Newcomer Jo Dee Messina, produced by McGraw, won the new female vocalist award.

Atlanta’s Mark Wills, known for his ballad “Wish You Were Here,” was the new male vocalist award winner.

“Is it ok to cry now?” Wills asked.

Shania Twain was presented the Recording Industry Association of America’s first diamond award for recognition of 10 million in album sales. It was a double-diamond for the Canadian sensation, who sold more than 10 million copies each of “The Woman in Me” and “Come on Over.”

A special Pioneer award was presented to Glen Campbell, who could not believe it was already time in his career for such an honour.

“I can’t tell you how short a period it seems like, 32 years to 1967. And now I’m up here getting the Pioneer award. Then I was getting the Go Get ‘em award, you know. Time flies when you’re having a big time,” Campbell said.

Winners were selected by the 3,000 members of the Academy of Country Music.

US Secy admits N-plant breaches

WASHINGTON, May 7 (AP) — US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson acknowledged massive security breaches at US nuclear weapons laboratories, but said the search for blame was becoming a political game that could hurt these laboratories and the USA.

In an interview with the Associated Press yesterday, Mr Richardson said the security breaches at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, including the transfer of massive amounts of weapons’ computer codes to an unsecure desktop computer was an unacceptable, intolerable security breach.”

While he could not guarantee that there would be no future security lapses at the government research laboratories, Mr Richardson said “he was convinced the kind of failure, now under investigation at the Los Alamos laboratory, could not occur with the measures we have taken”.

Uday’s daily closed
BAGHDAD: The Iraqi Cabinet, chaired by President Saddam Hussein, has decided to shut down a weekly paper run by Saddam’s eldest son Uday for “publishing an incorrect and baseless report about alleged plans to issue a large denomination bank note,” the official news agency INA said. The Iraq Central Bank was forced to issued strenuous public denials of any plans for a new bank note after last month’s Al-Musawar report led to a sharp fall in the value of the national currency, the dinar, against the dollar. — AFP

Court strikes ban
SAN FRANCISCO: The government’s ban on the export or Internet posting of computer encryption codes unconstitutionally violates free expression, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday. Upholding a lower-court ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said encryption codes, which make computer messages unreadable without a key, contain expressions of ideas and therefore cannot be suppressed indefinitely by government officials. The case has been followed closely by the software industry which wants to use encryption to protect e-mail and other messages but says it is frustrated by restrictions that do not apply to foreign companies. — AP

Gay marriages
HAMBURG: Seven lesbian and gay couples on Thursday registered as long-term partners with the city of Hamburg, the first to take advantage of an unprecedented law in Germany offering official recognition for homosexual couples. The Social Democratic-led government in the city-state of Hamburg approved the law last month, which allows lesbians and gays to officially register their partnerships, but carries no legal rights or duties. Germany’s new centre-left government in Bonn has said it intends to grant some legal status to same-sex couples, but not the right to adopt children. — AP

Tribal conflict
JOHANNESBURG: At least six people, including an elderly blind man, have been shot dead in Tugela Ferry in South Africa’s volatile Kwazulu-Natal province, police said. The murders seemed to be the work of gunmen going from hut to hut in the village, firing into the victims’ homes early on Thursday, police spokesman Capt Vishnu Naidoo told AFP. Police believe the killings were part of a long-running feud between two rural tribes, the Othame and the Mgubevo. — AFP

Fayed’s passport
LONDON: British Home Secretary Jack Straw has rejected an application for a passport by Egyptian-born millionaire Mohamed al Fayed, the owner of the London flagship department store Harrods, the home office has announced. Al Fayed, 66, immediately branded the decision “perverse” and said he would mount a legal challenge. Thursday’s decision followed a six-year battle for citizenship by the businessman, whose hopes were boosted in March when the home office finally gave the go-ahead to his brother, Ali’s application. — DPA

22 drowned
BEIJING: A school bus veered off a road and into a reservoir in China’s eastern Zhejiang province, killing 22 and leaving 10 missing, China’s state press reported today. The bus from Furong township middle school in Changshan county was carrying 49 people including 43 students and two teachers when it plunged into Changting reservoir yesterday, Xinhua news agency reported. — AFP