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HEAD LINES:

1- chinese president jiang zemin says blame for the present tension in the south asian region firmly lies on india.
2- japanese ambassador calls on prime minister to ascertain pakistan's perception of the regional situation before flying back home.
3- prime minister hashimoto calls for a global meeting of experts on nuclear disarmament.
4- kashmir to be discussed by the foreign ministers of five permanent security council members in geneva tomorrow.
5- economic co-ordination committee of the cabinet reviews prices and availability of essential commodities in the country.

NEWS IN DETAIL:

The chinese president mr. jiang zemin has said the blame for the present tension in south asian region must be firmly placed on india as it reflects india's aspiration to become the main power in the region.
The chinese president was  speaking in beijing after talks with the u.s. security advisor sandy berger. he rejected indian allegations that china helped  pakistan in nuclear technology.
He said pak-china nuclear co-operation is purely for peaceful purposes and in accordance with the international agreements.
referring to the arms race in the region he said it has been triggered by india single handedly because pakistan's nuclear tests were conducted as a response to india's threat.
president jiang zemin after a meeting with the u.s. national security advisor sandy berger said in beijing that his country has no intention to resuming nuclear tests.
The meeting has taken place just few weeks before a summit between president jiang zemin and president clinton.
a delegation of organizationof security and coopertion in europe,osce, has been holding urgent talks in kosovo's capital pristina in a bid to resolve the issue through dialogue.At the talks the osce team is heading by javier perez and serbian are represented at kosovo governor and government spokesman.Meanwhile the latest serbian shelling has reduced the town of decani to rubble recalling some of thw rost devastationof the war in former yugoslavia.
Refugees have been streaming into albania because of the latest outbreak of violence and around two thousand people are reported to have left their homes for safer places.

In germany at least 20 people were killed when a high speed passenger train derailed in the lower saxony town of eschede.
at least 13 cars went off the tracks some of the cars hit the base of a bridge. the train was travelling from munich in hamburg when it derailed.

Japanese prime minister ryutaro hashimoto has called for a global meeting of experts of nuclear disarmament following the recent tests by india and pakistan. He told parliament in tokyo that we want to advocate the establishment of an international forum to bring together knowledgeable people and make promote proposals to the world on nuclear non-proliferation in nuclear arms reduction. He said japanese foreign minister will propose the establishment of the forum and foreign ministers from the group of eight powers meet in london on the 12th of this month.Japanese prime minister ryutaro hashimoto has urged pakistan and india to enter into dialogue after their nuclear tests and called for a global meeting of experts on nuclear disarmament.
 he told parliament in tokyo today that japanese foreign minister would call for talks between indian and pakistan when foreign ministers from the group of eight powers meet in london on june 12.The japanese prime minister said japan would also call global experts forum to tackle the issue.

A delegation of organization of security and co-operation in europe,osce, has been holding urgent talks in kosovo's capital pristina in a bid to resolve the issue through dialogue.At the talks the osce team is heading by javier perez and serbian are represented at kosovo governor and government spokesman.Meanwhile the latest serbian shelling has reduced the town of decani to rubble recalling some of the worst devastation of the war in former yugoslavia.Refugees have been streaming into albania because of the latest outbreak of violence and around two thousand people are reported to have left their homes for safer places after fierce fighting.

A 22 month old australian boy has survived a teary night, stuck in the bathtub after he jammed his fingers in the plughole.
the accident prompted an all night rescue operation by the police and fire brigade.Ben mitchell gots his fingers stuck while taking a bath at his home in southport.When his parents couldn't get ben's fingers out reinforcements were called.First the fire brigade.
then the plumber.The rescuers ripped to pieces and chopped up the bath in order to free ben.Ben's parents hope the experience won't dampen his curiousity and love of jumping in the bath.

Chinese president jiang zemin has said that his country had no intention of resuming nuclear testing.Jiang's comments came after a meeting with the u.s. national security adviser, sandy berger, just weeks before a summit between jiang and president bill clinton.Berger met chinese president jiang zemin in beijing for talks on nuclear issue ahead of a landmark sino-us summit later this month.Berger, who is clinton's top official on non-proliferation issues, is visiting beijing amid rising tensions in south asia after nuclear tests by india and pakistan last month.China also reiterated its commitment not to use its nuclear potential aggresively.
a chinese official called on countries in south asia to exercise utmost restraint and immediately drop plans to develop nuclear weapons, avoid a sorsening of the situation and help peace and stability in south asia.

Foreign ministers of five permanent members of the security council are to discuss the kashmir issue at geneva tomorrow.
this has been stated by  u.s. defence secretary william cohen, during an  american television network cnn programme.He said, the foreign ministers will deliberate as to how the issue of kashmir can be resolved.Meanwhile, more than forty states of the conference on disarmament including the five major nuclear powers have called on india and pakistan to stop nuclear tests and renounce their atomic weapon campaign.At a specially convened session in geneva, 46 countries supported a paper calling on both the countries to sign the nuclear proliferation treaty and the comprehensive test ban treaty.

France's oldest crystal glass manufacturer has fashioned a life-sized football to coincide with the 1998 world cup.
weighing 11 kg and measuring 23 cm, the ball was made of three spheres: an inner one of clear crystal, a middle of dark blue crystal and an outer of white enamel.Fourteen master glass-blowers and sculptors cristalleries de saint louis founded in 1767 in eastern france and designated as the royal crystal manufacturer by louis xv - worked on the ball.The craftsmen spent 20 hours carving the pentagons and hexagons into the enamel to represent the stitching.The base is crafted from bright green crystal to represent the grass of a playing field. it is a replica of the trophy created for the le tournoi de france.

The economic coordination committee of the cabinet which met in islamabad today, with finance minister in the chair, reviewed the prices and availability of essential commodities in the country. The committee directed the ministry of food and agriculture to submit a report within the next week on the recent increase in ghee prices as against a decline in the international prices of palm oil.The committee reviewed the wheat situation and the import requirement for 1998-99.It was informed that revised estimates of wheat production indicate almost more than 19-million tons. It was noted with satisfaction that arrangements for availability of wheat in the country were quiet upto date.

The ecc allowed the ptcl to operate the cellular services alongwith permission to set-up and operate cellular mobile services.
it was decided that tariff for all cellular operators will be uniformed and non-discriminatory. The meeting also approved a package for the development of miano gas field in order to utilise the gas resources more effectively.Maize crop situation was also reviewed by the committee and it wad decided to take adequate steps to provide fair return to the farmers in view of the recent bumper crop. At the conference on disarmament at geneva, pakistan's ambassador munir akram said, india's nuclear tests de-stabilised the security balance in south asia while pakistan's tests have re-stabilised the balance of mutual deterrence.
Mr.munir akram, addressing the plenary session of the conference lastnight said, pakistan has been trying for many years to draw attention of the international community to the dangers of conflict including india's nuclear threats. he said, there is need for resolving the core issue of jammu and kashmir which has been the root of confrontation between india and pakistan.
mr.munir akram said, pakistan is willing to contribute to the international endeavours to achieve stabilisation and a nuclear restraint regime in south asia.Pakistan's nuclear tests, he added, were defence-oriented and meant to restore strategic balance in the region.

Japanese ambassador to pakistan, minoru kubota called on prime minister mohammad nawaz sharif in islamabad today.
He said that he is going home for consultation and before leaving wanted to take this opportunity to ascertain first-hand perceptions of the prime minister mohammad nawaz sharif of regional situation following the nuclear blasts.The prime minister apprised him in detail of the grave situation created by india's nuclear tests and aggressive statements of its leaders.
he said, this has created serious threat to the security of pakistan. He had, therefore, no choice, but to rectify the strategic imbalance, the prime minister remarked.He expressed his dismay that india did not appreciate his peace initiative and instead, responded with nuclear tests.The ambassador appreciated prime minister's perceptions and said that he would convey them to the japanese prime minister, who would surely understand pakistan's positions.

The united states space shuttle discovery has blasted-off successfully for a 9-day rendezvous with russian space station mir.
The shuttle is scheduled to dock with mir two days after lift-off. Discovery's mission marks the last of nine visits by nasa astronauts to the ageing station.The six -member crew, including two women, will spend a total of 9 days docked on mir. discovery is delivering logistics and supplies to mir and will be returning with u.s-owned equipment and long-term experiments.
the shuttle is due to return with andri thomas, the last of seven nasa astronauts to live and work on the aging station.

Huge quantity of furnace oil has spilled out from a sinking oil tanker in pakistan's waters from  60 nautical miles south of ormara.
according to details a belize oil tanker m.v. yashica loaded with 5000 tons of furnace oil started sinking after a breakdown.
the tanker was on way from bahrain to mumbai.Oil spill from the sinking tanker has spread over in an area approximately 20 nautical miles.The naval chief admiral fasih bokhari who is also the chairman of marine pollution control board has directed for measures to control the oil spill. High officials of the maritime security agency had an aerial reconnaissance of the affected area to assess the situation and possible environment protection action.Rough sea conditions and limited resources to meet such disasters will hamper the cleansing operation.

More than 10,000 united states military personnel have taken part in a joint military exercise, called cobra-gold, with their counterparts in thailand.Cobra-gold is one of several training exercises the u.s. and thailand are due to conduct this year.
Approximately 3,000 marines and other special units took part in various amphibious, ground, minesweeping and other types of military activities.

Thailand has paid one-fifth of the exercise's total budget of 2.5 million dollars.Thailand is one of five countries in the pacific region with which the u.s has a functioning security alliance.The other four countries are japan, south korea, australia and the philippines.
 

The united nations has issued an urgent appeal for more helicopters to speed up the rescue work in the   earthquake affected areas in northern afghanistan.Aid workers say last saturday's earthquake damaged a much wider area then previously thought.
shortage of aircraft and fuel have slow down the search and rescue operation.The international committee of red cross says that landslide and rain is hampering the relief operation and many areas remain inaccessible by land routes. the icrs and the united nations are running three continues helicopters flights, picking up survivors and taking up seriously injured to hospital and medical centres.The aid workers said food shortage and long-term health problem were now major concern in the rugged mountainous region where thousands of people were made homeless by the earthquake.

Australian foreign minister says, australia has not imposed economic sanctions against pakistan in response to its nuclear tests.
he said, australia will continue with its small humanitarian assistance programme.The australian foreign minister called on pakistan and india to sign ctbt.

In occupied kashmir all parties hurriyat conference has decided to observe  general strike tomorrow. the meeting of the aphc was held under the chairmanship of syed ali shah gilani. the strike aims to press upon the world community to take effective steps for the solution of kashmir issue.They reiterated that no genuine peace can be expected without addressing basic issue of kashmir. on the occasion of the meeting of five permanent security council members at geneva tomorrow, all parties hurriyat conference has urged the major powers to prevail upon india to immediately address the kashmir issue as per u.n. resolutions.
kashmir bar association has appealed to the heads of state of the five permanent members of security council and the secretary general of the united nations requesting their immediate intervention for finding a solution of the kashmir issue.

Meanwhile a powerful mine explosion on srinagar-jammu road in athwajan area hit a military convoy destroying a number of vehicles, seriously injuring many soldiers aboard. another explosion in naugam by-pass in srinagar injured two soldiers.
the american intelligence agencies have concluded an internal review of what when wrong when they failed to foresee india's intentions to deternate nuclear device.

Speaking to reporters after briefing to the members of congress in washington, the u.s. central intelligence agency director george tenet admitted that his spy agency missed badly in its assessment of india's nuclear ambitions.
he simply stated that it is my responsibility to tell the american people that we did not get it right.
earlier retired admiral david geremiah, interested by u.s. president clinton with an investigating what went wrong, said there need to be a re-alignment of collection of priorities in the cia.
He suggested that leadership should have focused on critical and intelligence requirements and there should have been a deeper inquiry and into the tensions of ruling party, ayub/shafqat 3-jun-98.

Air france pilots' strike has paralysed the french flight carrier for a third consecutive day just one week before the start of the world cup soccer competition. pilots are promising to fight to the bitter end over plans to cut their salaries and say strike will be long, tough and devastating for the company. Pilots and management were due to hold new talks later today after and inconclusive meeting on tuesday but neither side looked in the mood for compromise. hundreds of passengers and soccer fans are stranded because of the strike by pilots.

Air france, which is the official carrier for the month long world cup, said it could guarantee only 17 percent of its long-haul flights and 30 percent of its medium distance flights from paris's main charles-de-gaulle airport on wednesday.

President muhammad rafiq tarar has said that after the nuclear tests by india and its threats aggression, pakistan was compelled to demonstrate its nuclear capability so that balance of power could be maintained in the region.The president was talking to ambassadors of russian federation mr. alexander yu alexeyev and mr. wenceslao j.o. qulrolgico of philippine who separately called on him in islamabad today. President muhammad rafiq tarar said if the world community sincerely believes to maintain durable peace in south asia then it should concentrate on to resolve the core issue of jammu and kashmir.
he said the world community should exact pressure on india to hold plebiscite in jammu and kashmir so that the people of jammu and kashmir could decide their future according to the u.n. resolutions.

WEATHER:
rain with thunderstorm is expected at a few places of upper nwfp and kashmir dry weather elsewhere in the country.

 SPORTS:
martina hingis and felix mantilla have reached the semi-finals of the french open tennis.
in the quarterfinal hingis of switzerland outplayed venus williams of the united state 6-3 and 6-4.
and in the men's event felix mantilla of spain beat 1995 champion thomas muster 6-4, 6-2, 4-6 and 6-3.