Seven arrested Nepali leaders released

     Kathmandu: In one of the first signs of easing tensions in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, King Gyanendra has ordered the release of seven arrested political leaders, including two former Prime Ministers Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Lokendra Bahadur Chand, who were put under house arrest immediately after last Tuesday's royal coup. Leader of CPN-UML Shahana Pradhan, Chairman of Rhastriya Prajatantra Party Pashupati Shamsher Rana, the Chairman of Nepal Labours and Peasants Party Narayanman Bijucksche, Chairman of Nepal Sadhbhawana Party Badri Prasad Mandal and Chairperson of NSP Anandi Devi were freed from house arrest. Meanwhile, 13 human right activists have been detained by the police while staging protests against King Gyanendra's assumption of power and suspension of civil liberties. Nearly half a dozen political leaders, including the President of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala, former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (Democratic) President Sher Bahadur Deuba and General Secretary of CPN (UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal are still under house arrest.

Pope discharged after nine-day hospitalisation (Go To Top)

     Rome: Doctors gave Pope John Paul II the all- clear to leave hospital on Thursday, the Vatican announced, 10 days after he was rushed to a Rome clinic with severe respiratory problems linked to the flu. "The pope's return to the Vatican will occur during the day," the spokesman told journalists at a press conference shortly after midday (1100 GMT). However, it was unclear whether the 84-year- old pontiff would be well enough to preside at the Sunday Angelus at St Peter's Square, his first scheduled public appointment, reports The News. "The pope will look at his diary when he gets home and make the decision himself. He will also listen to the opinion of his personal doctor" Renato Buzzonetti, Navarro-Valls said, answering journalists' questions. Asked how the pope sounded Thursday, he replied that the pontiff's voice was "normal. I could hear him."

North Korea admits it has nuclear weapons (Go To Top)

     Seoul: North Korea admitted on Thursday for the first time that the country possessed nuclear weapons, and said it wouldn't return to six-nation talks aimed at getting it to abandon its nuclear ambitions. " We had already taken the resolute action of pulling out of the (Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty) and have manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's evermore undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK,'' the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the state- run news agency, reports The News.