Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says his country wants negotiations with India but it is fully prepared to fight if India attacks. 

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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says his country wants negotiations with India but it is fully prepared to fight if India attacks. 

He issued a statement after he met his cabinet and security chiefs Wednesday as tensions with India brought the two traditional rivals to the brink of war. 

The statement also addressed India's allegation that Pakistan allows Muslim militants to spread terror in Indian Kashmir. 

General Musharraf said Pakistan would not allow its territory to be used to launch terror attacks any where in the world. But he qualified it by repeating Pakistan's old stance that it would continue to provide what it calls moral and diplomatic support to the cause of Kashmiri self-determination. 

The statement came shortly after Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, during a visit to Kashmir, said that it was time for a "decisive fight". 

Mr. Vajpayee told Indian soldiers at the frontlines that the time has come for a decisive battle against what he called the Pakistan-supported Islamic insurgency in Indian Kashmir. He asked soldiers to be ready for sacrifice, adding that it is time to fight a decisive battle and write a new chapter of victory. 

Referring to 12 years of Muslim separatist rebellion in Kashmir, Mr. Vajpayee said India has been forced to fight what he called a proxy war with Pakistan. 

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training Islamic militants fighting to end New Delhi's rule over the Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim majority state in predominantly Hindu India. Pakistan denies the charge. 

Both countries have massed nearly a million troops along their border since December, after Muslim militants attacked the Indian parliament. Since then, continuing Muslim militant attacks in Indian Kashmir, and cross-border firing between Indian and Pakistani forces have triggered fears of a full-scale war between the nuclear-powered South Asian rivals. Wednesday, the Indian navy said it has moved five warships from the country's eastern seaboard to the Arabian sea, closer to Pakistan. 

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

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Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is calling for an independent commission to investigate what the U.S. government knew and what action it took prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. 

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Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is calling for an independent commission to investigate what the U.S. government knew and what action it took prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. 

Senator Daschle said late Tuesday the Bush Administration is not sharing all the information it had about possible terrorist threats before the attacks. 

Republican congressional leaders immediately said they oppose Mr. Daschle's proposal. They support a lower-level investigation being conducted by the intelligence committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

Mr. Daschle's comments come amid recent revelations that the FBI received a memorandum from a field office last July warning that followers of Osama bin Laden could be training at U.S. flight schools. 

The Washington Post reports that the memo recommended canvassing flight schools for al-Qaeda terrorists. The report, quoting sources familiar with the document, says the recommendation was rejected after mid-level officials decided there was insufficient manpower to carry out the task. 

Meanwhile, authorities in the United States have issued new warnings about terrorist threats. 

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a Congressional committee that terrorists are sure to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and are willing to use them against American targets without hesitation. 

In its annual report on global terrorism, the U.S. State Department also warned that terrorists may increasingly try to use weapons of mass destruction. 

And New York City police said the FBI has warned of a general terrorist threat to the city. 

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U.S. warplanes have bombed suspected al-Qaida and Taleban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. 

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U.S. warplanes have bombed suspected al-Qaida and Taleban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. 

U.S. military spokesman Major Bryan Hilferty told reporters at the Bargram Air Base, north of Kabul, that A-10 attack planes dropped bombs and fired rockets in an area where more than 10 suspected militants were observed late Tuesday. He said the area was "neutralized", but it was not immediately known if any opposition fighters were killed in the attack about two-kilometers from the Pakistani border. 

The spokesman said the militants appeared to be aiming mortars at a temporary operating base set up by coalition forces near the eastern Afghan town of Khost. 

Khost is the base of operations for U.S. special forces and their coalition allies searching for pockets of al-Qaida and Taleban fighters in the rugged mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. 

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

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Israeli lawmakers have approved an emergency economic plan sought by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, despite the continuing refusal of two ultra-Orthodox parties in the ruling coalition to support the measures.

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Ariel Sharon at Washington press conference

 Parliament voted 65-26 for the legislation, which authorizes austerity measures to offset the cost of Israel's recent military offensive in the West Bank.

 Mr. Sharon fired all four Shas party members of his cabinet as well as two deputy ministers from a smaller ultra-orthodox party, after their parties rejected the measures Monday.

 The firings take effect at midnight tonight, unless the sides work out some agreement.

 Mr. Sharon said that unless the two parties supported the bill in today's vote, he would NOT rescind his dismissal order.

 Most of the party members were absent from the vote Wednesday. It is unclear if they will stay in the coalition.

 Their departure would leave Mr. Sharon in control of just 60 of the 120 seats in parliament, just one vote from the risk of losing a no-confidence motion.

 Analysts say coalition leaders have been working to persuade the centrist secular opposition Shinui party and the right-wing National Union to replace the two renegade parties in the ruling coalition.
 
 

Some information for this report provided by Reuters.

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The National Council of Churches wants the U-S embargo lifted

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Reverend Bob Edgar is the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches. He is also a former U-S congressman. The church group wants the U-S embargo lifted. Reverend Edgar tells News Now's Tom Crosby he believes President Bush's speech to Miami's Cuban-American community about maintaining the embargo on Cuba until meaningful elections are held on the island was really intended to help the President's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, win re-election.

There is no transcript for this interview. 

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What is the biggest obstacle to success for today's corporate management?

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What is the biggest obstacle to success for today's corporate management? Ask Dave Marcum, and he will tell you that it is ego. Mr. Marcum is the co-author of the new book, "Business Think," in which he discusses the effect of ego and other human frailties on businesses. As he told me, corporate executives need to stop focussing on singular solutions, be curious about alternatives, and think less about themselves.

There is no transcript for this interview. 

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Tensions remain high in Kashmir, with India reporting new separatist attacks and continuing cross-border shelling involving Indian and Pakistani troops.

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Tensions remain high in Kashmir, with India reporting new separatist attacks and continuing cross-border shelling involving Indian and Pakistani troops. Indian authorities say at least two soldiers were killed in what were described as a series of attacks by suspected separatist militants in the disputed Himalayan region. Meanwhile, Indian and Pakistani forces continue to trade mortar and gunfire for a fourth day across the line of control that divides Kashmir. VOA's Jim Teeple tells us, the tension appears to be escalating. 

There is no transcript for this interview. 

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The President's announced intention to maintain sanctions against Cuba ... a clear message to President Castro

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Frank Calzon heads the Washington-based Center for a Free Cuba. He sees the President's announced intention to maintain sanctions against Cuba as being a clear message to President Castro about the need for change and a clear message to some in Congress who favor easing or ending the U-S embargo.

There is no transcript for this interview. 

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The former Indonesian province and Portuguese colony of East Timor is celebrating its first day as the world's newest independent nation. 

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The former Indonesian province and Portuguese colony of East Timor is celebrating its first day as the world's newest independent nation. 

Former guerrilla leader and poet Xanana Gusmao has been sworn in as the fledgling nation's first president, officially taking power after two-and-a-half years of interim rule by the United Nations. 

Reporter Patricia Nunan is in Dili and she says when the celebrations are over, the economic conditions of the country will not have improved the first reality check for the new nation.

There is no transcript for this interview. 

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On Wednesday, President Bush heads toward Russia and meets with President Putin. The highlight of which will be the signing of an accord.

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On Wednesday, President Bush heads toward Russia and meets with President Putin. The highlight of which will be the signing of an accord to substantially reduce nuclear warheads and move many into storage. But some nuclear weapons analysts are looking at the agreement with a weary eye. We include in this number Jonathan Granoff, the president of the Global Security Institute in Pennsylvania. He tells News Now's Tom Crosby what worries him is what he sees as the lack of verification mechanisms in the accord the two leaders will sign.

There is no transcript for this interview. 

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Researchers say that a natural substance found in some trees can control high cholesterol in laboratory animals. Cholesterol is a fatty substance in the blood. Too much of it can attach to the inside of blood vessels, restrict blood flow, and cause heart disease. 

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Broadcast: May 22, 2002

 This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
 
 

The guggul (GOO-gle) tree grows in dry areas of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A substance found inside the guggul tree has been used in India for two-thousand years to control weight and treat arthritis. 

About forty years ago, an Indian researcher found that the substance was effective against heart disease. Later studies in India showed that it lowered cholesterol. In India, the substance has been an approved treatment for high cholesterol for almost twenty years. 

American researchers at the Baylor School of Medicine in Houston, Texas reported the results of recent work on the substance in the publication Science. They showed that the liquid inside the guggul tree contains a compound called guggulsterone (GOO-gle-STER-own). They discovered how guggulsterone controls cholesterol levels. It blocks the action of a receptor called F-X-R. A receptor is a protein that sends messages to cells. F-X-R helps control the amount of cholesterol in the body. Blocking the action of the F-X-R receptor would mean that more cholesterol is naturally removed from the body. 

Other researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas tested guggulsterone on two groups of mice. One group had normal F-X-R receptors. The other group had no F-X-R receptors. The cholesterol levels dropped in the livers of mice with the F-X-R receptor, but not in the others. The researchers say this proves that guggulsterone works by affecting the F-X-R receptor.

 The researchers do not know how guggulsterone affects the F-X-R receptor. They say more tests must be done. However, they say the substance might be used to control cholesterol in people who cannot take the drugs now used for that purpose. 

The researchers say the discovery supports the idea that some traditional medicines may have important uses in modern medicine. 

Guggulsterone can be bought in stores around the world. However, the researchers say people should not use it without medical advice. They say guggulsterone can affect the action of other drugs.

 This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.

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Scientists have bred a controversial featherless chicken which they say is faster growing - and could be more humane.

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Feather coverage is greatly reduced on the birds

Scientists have bred a controversial featherless chicken which they say is faster growing - and could be more humane.

The birds, created at the Hebrew University in Israel, will not need to be plucked, saving money in processing plants.

While the researcher behind the breed concedes that they would not be suitable for cooler countries, he says that in hot climates, the birds would fare better.

It's a normal chicken except for the fact it has no feathers

Professor Avigdor Cahaner

However, opponents of the move say that the changes do not benefit the hens, and are in fact likely to make their lives worse.

Professor Avigdor Cahaner, who led the project, told the BBC: "This is not a genetically modified chicken - it comes from a natural breed whose characteristics have been known for 50 years.

"I am just transferring that to fast growing broiler chickens. It's a normal chicken except for the fact it has no feathers."

He said that broiler chickens were fed intensively to achieve fast growth, which meant they also tended to produce a lot of body heat; and this meant that particularly in hotter countries, they "suffer tremendously".

The featherless birds would tend to be leaner, and perhaps grow faster, he said, which would improve the quality of the meat and save producers money.

Pollution claim

Removing the plucking process would also reduce pollution, he said, as it produces large quantities of water contaminated with feathers and fat.

However, animal welfare groups warned that feathers were important to help the birds protect themselves from parasites - and that they were likely to suffer sunburn.

In addition, male chickens might be unable to mate, they argued.