December 15, 2005	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 12, 1426

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Pentagon to plant stories in media: $300m operation finalized WASHINGTON, Dec 14: The Pentagon plans to launch a 300-million-dollar operation to place pro-US messages in foreign media and on items such as T-shirts and bumper stickers without disclosing the US government as the source, USA Today reported On Wednesday....		Canadian PM to US: ‘don’t dictate to me’ RICHMOND, Dec 14: Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin escalated a war of words with the United States on Wednesday, telling Washington not to dictate to him what topics he can raise in the run-up to Canada’s Jan....
Legislators ‘on sale for just Rs10,000 NEW DELHI: India’s media lambasted 11 federal lawmakers said by a TV station and a website to have been filmed secretly taking cash in exchange for asking questions in parliament, and one MP was suspended from the upper house....		German ministers face grilling over CIA flights BERLIN, Dec 14: The German parliament was seeking on Wednesday to establish how much the government knew about a suspected CIA policy of abducting and illegally transporting terror suspects across Europe....
Community to be a reality: Badawi: First East Asia summit held KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14: East Asia’s first summit ended on Wednesday with an agreement to hold annual talks on strategic issues such as trade and security — and a rare handshake between the leaders of China and Japan....		Quake-proofing scam outrages Japan TOKYO, Dec 14: A Japanese architect at the heart of a widening scandal admitted on Wednesday he had done wrong by ignoring earthquake-resistance building standards but said others were also responsible for the scam that has shocked the nation....
N. Europe ‘colonized 700,000 years ago’ PARIS, Dec 14: Early Man colonised northern Europe around 700,000 years ago, some 200,000 years sooner than previously thought, British archaeologists believe. The finding will rewrite the odyssey of Homo erectus,...		Many states ‘boycotting’ Saddam trial: Rice WASHINGTON, Dec 14: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday accused the international community of shirking its obligation to help prosecute ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein by effectively boycotting his trial....
NYT deplores US stand on nuclear issue NEW YORK, Dec 14: “By defaulting on its commitment to nuclear arms reduction and winking at nuclear-armed allies like India, Pakistan and Israel that remain outside the non-proliferation treaty, Washington makes...		Australia says it’s no ‘junior partner’ KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14: Australia insisted on Wednesday it was not a junior partner at East Asia’s first summit, after China suggested that it was on a second tier in the grouping which it fought hard to join....
Secret of Mona Lisa’s smile examined PARIS, Dec 14: Now it’s official: Mona Lisa was 83 per cent happy, nine per cent disgusted, six per cent fearful and two percent angry. That’s the conclusion of a University...		Documentary shows tsunami poor duped into vacating land DUBAI: Dhruv Dhawan just wanted to make a film about Sri Lankan survivors of the tsunami, but he stumbled upon a classic tale of how developing countries on the long march to prosperity often ride roughshod over the poor....
Adverse reports about ambassador ignored NEW DELHI: The Manmohan Singh government did not take heed of any of the unsavoury reports coming out from Croatia regarding the extra-curricular activities of India’s ambassador Aniel Matherani, who was...		Only one-fifth of survivors have homes: Almost a year after tsunami JAKARTA: Only one-fifth of the 1.8 million people made homeless by last December’s tsunami will be in permanent homes by the end of this year, British-based aid group Oxfam International said on Wednesday....
Lanka debates India’s role in peace process COLOMBO: With the hardliner Buddhist monks of the National Heritage party (or JHU) calling for India to play a stronger role in Sri Lanka’s deteriorating peace process, opinions vary on the...		Media stole Bachchan’s privacy NEW DELHI: Media intrusion into Amitabh Bachchan’s hospital ward has rekindled the debate about the privacy of celebrities and where to draw a line. Let’s admit the fact that we overdid it....
India’s plea to Gyanendra KATHMANDU: A visiting Indian official called on Tuesday for a reconciliation between Nepal’s King Gyanendra and the country’s warring political parties to restore peace in the Himalayan kingdom....		Second quake in Delhi in two days NEW DELHI: A 5.2 magnitude earthquake shook northern India on Wednesday, a day after residents of New Delhi and other areas in the north were shaken by a 6.7...