Portraits

He said the Indian government plans to construct the statue in the US capital, adjacent to the Indian embassy on 8220;embassy row8221; on Massachusetts Avenue. 8220;Mahatma Gandhi8217;s contribution to the causes of democracy, freedom, non-violent protest and human rights are felt to this day. Passing the legislation to allow this memorial to be constructed would be a fitting way for the United States to offer its best wishes to India for a half-century of independence,8221; Pallone said.

Great expectations

Colombians had high hopes that President Andres Pastrana8217;s inauguration marked the end of four years of political stalemate and four decades of rebelviolence. Pastrana, 44, was sworn in for a four-year term before local and foreign dignitaries in the central Bolivar Square. The lawyer replaced President Ernesto Samper, who was hampered throughout his four-year term by allegations that his 1994 campaign had accepted millions in cocaine cartel money. His political hamstringing plunged the country into an economic crisis even as he was unable to prevent a growth in the country8217;s rebel forces or a countervailing surge in paramilitary rightist forces. Facing these woes, Colombian voters elected Pastrana on June 21 after 12 years of Liberal Party rule. The problem for Pastrana is that Colombians also have high expectations, excessively high according to some analysts.

King is home

The home of rock 8216;n8217; roll8217;s royalty is about to welcome the king. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on Saturday is opening an exhibit dedicated to Elvis Presley, the first time the hall has put up a display honouring a single artist. Elvis was the logical choice.8220;He was the first real rock 8216;n8217; roll star,8221; said Jim Henke, the hall8217;s deputy director and curator. The exhibit is billed as the largest collection of Presley memorabilia ever assembled outside of Graceland, Elvis8217; home in Memphis, Tennessee. It features objects that fans would expect guitars and jumpsuits and some they may not crayons and a TV with a bullet hole. The artifacts, posters and pictures trace Presley8217;s journey from poverty in Tupelo, Mississippi, to the height of stardom, to his decline and death at the age of 42 in 1977.

Nixon untaped

Decades after the fighting over his tapes began, Richard Nixon is finally getting at least part of his wish. The national archives, under a court order it had fought for years, on Monday will begin cutting up the original tapes from the Watergate years and returning portions dealing with private matters to the late President8217;s estate. That8217;s a sizable chunk of the tapes about 820 hours out of 3,700. Nixon went to his grave in 1994 immenselyfrustrated that the Government still had custody of the material even though the Supreme Court in 1977 had ruled that private conversations would have to be returned. The private parts of the tapes were never meant for the public8217;s ears. 8220;He wanted to make absolutely sure that family and personal conversations were never made public,8221; said John Taylor, who is an executor of the Nixon estate and runs the privately financed Nixon Library in Yorbalinda, California. Taylor said the executors probably would destroy the personal outtakes from the original tape. But he said nothing was being lost to history, calling the long dispute 8220;entirely an emotional and symbolic issue.8221; United States National Archivist John Carlin has asked the Nixon estate to accept a full master preservation copy of the tapes so that the full record will be preserved intact. This would allow the political conversations, which are included in those private or personal materials, to be preserved in context with other conversations andpossibly to be made available to the public in the future, the archives said in a statement. Under the order, the archives will physically cut out of the original tapes all segments identified as private or personal, a painstaking process that could take three to six years.

Fossett on air

US balloonist Steve Fossett took to the air in his fourth bid to circle the globe non-stop in a balloon. The Solo Spirit8217; took off from the football stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, and headed in the direction of Paraguay.

Fossett aims to complete his world tour in 20 days. Before departing, Fossett told about 300 people who had come to watch his departure that he was nervous and would remain so until the balloon lands. If favourable weather holds, the 53-year-old multi-millionaire plans to fly the Solo Spirit8217; mostly over water, reducing the possibility of nations denying him rights to use their air space. Fossett had to scrap his previous flight in Russia last winter after a delay in getting permission to flyover Libya.

Lucan8217;s heir

The son and heir of Lord Lucan, the British earl who vanished without a trace in 1974 after the murder of the family nanny, said on Saturday he is sure his father is dead and he plans to take the family title. 8220;My father is dead and I am going to take up the title,8221; George Bingham, 30, said in an interview with The Daily Mail. In April, Lord Lucan8217;s wife, Lady Veronica Lucan, 61, said she was taking formal steps to have her husband declared legally dead. Since Lucan, nicknamed Lucky8217;, fled London, there have been 70 claimed sightings of him every year, and the police file remains open. The police have long been thought to favour the theory that Lord Lucan may have fled to South Africa and remained in hiding since 1974, possibly after undergoing plastic surgery. But Bingham said: 8220;They have to explain why a man who murdered out of obsession for his children has made no contact with them for 24 years.8221; He told the newspaper he wants to assume the title, and take up hisseat in the House of Lords as the 8th Earl of Lucan. This would require him first to have his father formally declared dead.

Axe-handles8217; protest

Myanmar8217;s military government accused the opposition and the Western media today of trying to destabilise the country on the 10th anniversary of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

The powerful secretary of one of the ruling State Peace and Development Councils SPDC, Khin Nyunt, said 8220;axe-handles and destructive elements8221; were trying to undermine the government, reported the state-owned English daily New Light.

The word 8220;axe-handle8221; is often used in the local media for those opposing the government. Today was the 10th anniversary of a massacre of opposition protesters on the steps of Yangon city hall and pro-democracy campaigners had said they would mark the occasion with protests against the military government.

Myanmar opposition leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi used the eve of the anniversary to promiseto keep fighting for democracy in her country.

Suu Kyi, daughter of Myanmar8217;s national hero and founding father Aung San, told Britain8217;s Channel Four News last evening she would not be intimidated by the military.

8220;I don8217;t think there will be anybody in Burma Myanmar who does not remember what happened 10 years ago tomorrow painfully and with deep regret,8221; she said. 8220;We8217;re determined to do everything we can to make good our promise to the people that we are going to bring democracy to Burma.8221;

Biographer8217;s block

French film legend Alain Delon won a court order temporarily halting publication of a biography tracing his life on and off the screen. A French court decided to block the as yet unwritten book by journalist Bernard Violet because of the 8220;seriousness of the attacks on the private life and reputation8221; of the actor. Violet, the author of biographies on underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau and the terrorist Carlos, was planning to dig into Delon8217;s childhood, career and businessactivities. However the 62-year-old star of movies such as Luchino Visconti8217;s Rocco and his brothers and The Leopard discovered that Violet had submitted a 18-page synopsis to French publishers Grasset. Delon dismissed the biography as 8220;a demolition job, and a desire to throw mud at someone8221;, in a interview with the newspaper France-Soir. Violet has announced he intends to take legal action over the insults.