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March, 31 2005 Thursday 20 Safar 1426 Welcome to DAWN, Pakistan's most widely circulated English language newspaper. Updated round-the-clock, with a major update before 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT).

to return to the regular issue please click here. Chinese minister to hold talks with isolated Nepal: KATHMANDU, March 31 Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing is to hold talks with Nepal's King Gyanendra on Thursday, the first senior foreign leader to visit Kathmandu since the monarch seized power last month and drew global flak. Li's visit is seen as a signal Beijing will maintain friendly relations with its Himalayan neighbour and views the king's move as an "internal affair".(Reuters) (Posted @ 11:15 PST) Pakistan cricketer Malik reunites with wife in India: HYDERABAD, India, March 31 Pakistan's historic cricket tour of India, a sign of growing warmth between the rivals, has helped reunite cricketer Shoaib Malik with the Indian wife he married over the telephone. Malik fell in love with Ayesha Siddiqui, from Hyderabad in south India, five years ago. The two secretly married in 2002with doubts whether their marriage would receive parental approval.” We first met at Sharjah. Ayesha's parents hosted a dinner in Hyderabad on Tuesday for the entire Pakistan team to formally receive their son-in-law. Farookh Sultana, Malik's mother accompanying her son on the tour, expressed her delight. (Reuters) (Posted @ 11:00 PST) U.S. Marine killed by mine in western Iraq: BAGHDAD, March 31, A U.S. Marine was killed in Iraq on Wednesday when his vehicle struck a landmine, the U.S.military said in a statement. The Marine, assigned to the 2nd Force Service Support Group, had been on a combat logistics patrol en route to the western town of Qaim, the statement said. It gave no more details. Since the U.S.-led invasion two years ago, more than 1,500 U.S. military personnel have lost their lives in Iraq. (Reuters) (Posted @ 11:00 PST) Zimbabwe holds elections that Mugabe says he will not lose: HARARE, March 31, Zimbabweans go to the polls on Thursday in landmark elections that President Robert Mugabe hopes will tighten his ruling party's 25-year grip on power despite a spirited challenge from the opposition. The elections cap weeks of campaigning that have been surprisingly free ofthe bloodshed that marred previous votes in 2000 and 2002 when scores were killed and beaten in political violence. (AFP) (Posted @ :10:10 PST) UN says more than 620 dead in Indonesian quake: NIAS, Indonesia, March 31, More than 620 people have been confirmed dead after a massive earthquake in northwestern Indonesia this week, UN agencies said ThursdayUN assessment teams had found that 600 people were killed on the island of Nias, 15 people on neighbouring Simeulue and nine in an area that includes part of mainland Sumatra and the smaller Banyak islands, UNDP spokeswoman Imogen Wall told AFP. (AFP) (Posted @ 10:04 PST) Assad orders freedom of Kurds jailed in Syria: Damascus ,March 31, Syrian President Bashar Assad Wednesday an amnesty for all 312 Kurdish prisoners detained for taking part in anti-government riots last year, the official SANA news agency said. (DPA) (Posted @ 9:55 PST) Aftershocks rattle quake-devastated Nias island: Jakarta, March 31, Strong aftershocks rattled Indonesia's earthquake-ravaged island of Nias Thursday as rescue workers continued to pull survivors out of rubble of collapsed buildings despite a severe shortage of heavy equipment. At least three aftershocks have hit Nias and other areas off the west coast of Sumatra starting at just before midnight Wednesday, with the largest measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale and taking place at 1:30 a.m., Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics said. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was due to arrive in Nias later Thursday morning for an overnight stay on the island, government officials said. (DPA) (Posted @ 9:40 PST) 2ND ROUNDUP: U.S. citizen kidnapped along with Romanians in Iraq: Bucharest, March 31, A U.S. citizen was kidnapped along with three Romanian journalists abducted in Iraq, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday. The three Romanian journalists appeared Wednesday on a video aired on the al-Jazeera news network and Romanian television. The journalists and their escort, who were kidnapped Monday, were shown sitting next to two people pointing AK-47s at the hostages and wearing headdresses that hid their faces. It has not been confirmed whether the escort is the American hostage, CNN said. (DPA) (Posted @ 9:30 PST) Researchers identify destructive enzyme linked to arthritis: Sydney, March 31, Australian researchers studying mice have identified the enzyme that eats away at cartilage causing arthritis, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Thursday. A team led by Amanda Fosang of the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, identified the ADAMTS5 enzyme by studying genetically modified mice. Fosang said she was confident the same enzyme would be found to play a big role in the breakdown of cartilage in people. "We think it is a very significant find, because until now we hadn't known what enzyme was doing the damage," she said. The find could lead to the development of new drugs to block the action of the natural substance. (DPA) (Posted @ 9:30 PST) Founder: Quaid-I-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah Editor: Tahir Mirza The DAWN Group of Newspapers Haroon House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan. Phone:+92 (21) 111-444-777   Fax: +92 (21) 568-3188 webmaster@dawn.com Note: Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.

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