PRESIDENT AGAIN SUMMONS FOUR LEADERS TO SEEK OUTLET Kathmandu 18 Nov.: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has invited Maoist Chairman Prachanda, NC President Sushil Koirala, UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and Chief of Chief of the Five-party Madeshi Morcha in government and Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar for consultations Sunday morning. The president invited the leaders for second round of talks after failure of the main parties to negotiate a solution to a disputed national budget a find an outlet to a political deadlock. Opposition Saturday launched month-long anti-government and anti-Maoist protests to dislodge a reluctant Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai who has been holdingoffice for more than 13 months. Bhattarai is adamant he’ll lead a national government to hold elections for a constituent assembly. Nnnn DEUBA SAYS HE WON’T BE NEXT PM Kathmandu, 18 Nov.:: At the times speculations about the division in Nepali Congress (NC) leadership over the NC's prime ministerial candidate are rife, senior leader of the party Sher Bahadur Deuba has declared that he has no aspirations to become the next premier, The Himalayan Times reports.. "I won't be next prime minister. I won't be obstacle to the consensus,” said the former prime minister in an interview that will be aired by the Himalayan Television at 9:05 pm on Saturday and Nepal Bani Network Sunday morning. Saying he will accept any leader from his party as the prime minister, Deuba, however, showed his readiness to take up the responsibility if need be. According to him, the reinstatement of Constituent Assembly is the easiest way to end the existing deadlock. “Reinstatement of Constituent Assembly is the best option because the elections and whether the new Constituent Assembly would be able to draft a new constitution are uncertain,” said Deuba. He, however, said that he is obliged to the NC decision to opt for the fresh polls. Referrring to the dethronement of King Gyanendra, Deuba warned of removing Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai through an agititation. "We even removed the King through agitation. Who the heck Baburam is?" He further clarified that the NC has never urged President Dr, Ram Baran Yadav to sack the prime minister. . On budget, he stated that budget sans consensus is unacceptable to NC. nnnn NEPAL TO LOBBY AT UN MIGRATION FORUM Kathmandu, 18 Nov.: The government and civil society are all set to raise their voice for skill development and migrants rights at the UN migration forum — Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD). We will highlight our achievements and seek international support for skill trainings and protection of migrants at the forum, said an officer at Ministry of Labour and Employment and team leader of the government delegation Khimnanda Bhusal, The Himalayan Times reports.. The GFMD will be held on 21-22 November in the African nation Mauritius. It has identified three thematic areas — circulating labour for inclusive development, factoring migration into development planning, and managing migration and perceptions of migration for development outcomes. However, the government and civil society have agreed to raise similar voices but their priorities are different. The government is preparing to give first priority to protection of migrant domestic workers while civil society has given priority to skill enhancement of migrant workers. “We are giving importance to protection of migrant women because they are more vulnerable,” said another team member from Ministry of Home Tirth Parajuli. Women are more vulnerable in major destinations because they work in legally unprotected sector and most of them use illegal routes to Gulf based job markets. In Gulf countries, housemaids are not protected from labour rights and are treated as slaves. Similarly, the country has been sending unskilled workers to foreign job markets. According to the Department of Foreign Employment, about 71 per cent Nepali migrant workers are unskilled followed by semiskilled (28 per cent) and one per cent skilled or professional. The civil society will lay emphasis on skill development and building a Nepali diaspora network in receiving countries to provide support to migrant population. “Skill brings bargaining power for migrant workers, so they will earn more and feel secure,” said president of Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee and representative from civil society in the GFMD. Only a few dozen Nepalis are working in Gulf countries as skilled workers and have no history of exploitation, abuse or other forms of discrimination, he added. International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggested the team to focus of global resource and its mobilisation for safe migration. “The team should lobby for international resource mobilisation to least developed countries,” said national programme coordinator of the international agency. “Nepal must raise the issue,” he said, adding without international recourses Nepal cannot develop skills of over 350,000 workers who migrate for jobs every year. Director General of Department of Foreign Employment Purnachandra Bhattarai said that the government and civil society should present best practices in the country and demand more action on it. “It is a great platform we have to publicise our best practices and lobby for more protection of migrant workers,” he said. The government had implemented 30-points reform plan and have achieved success in controlling fraud and undocumented migration through agents in last one year. nnnn ISRAEL POUNDS PM’S OFICE IN GAZA Kathmandu, 18 Nov.: Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza today, including the prime minister’s office, after Israel’s cabinet authorised the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground Invasion, Reuters reports .from Gaza/ Jerusalem. Israeli planes shattered the office building of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh — where he had met yesterday with the Egyptian prime minister — and struck the Interior Ministry. Loud explosions regularly rocked the densely populated Palestinian territory, sending plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. The occasional hiss of outgoing rocket fire showed Islamist militants were pursuing their defiance of the assault. Despite the violence, Tunisia’s foreign minister arrived in the coastal enclave today in a show of solidarity, denouncing the Israeli attacks as illegitimate and unacceptable. Officials in Gaza said 41 Palestinians, among them 20 civilians including eight children and a pregnant woman, had been killed in Gaza since Israel began operations four days ago. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday. Israel’s military said its air force had hit at least 180 targets since midnight, including a police headquarters, government buildings, rocket launching squads and a Hamas training facility in the impoverished territory. A three-storey house belonging to Hamas official Abu Hassan Salah was also hit and completely destroyed early today. Rescuers said at least 30 people were pulled from the rubble. “What Israel is doing is not legitimate and is not acceptable at all,” Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem said as he visited Haniyeh’s wrecked headquarters. “It does not have total immunity and is not above international law.” Israel launched a massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared aim of deterring Hamas from launching cross-border rocket salvoes that have plagued southern Israel for years. The Palestinians have fired hundreds of rockets out of Gaza, including one at Jerusalem and three at Tel Aviv — Israel’s commercial centre. Jerusalem had not been targeted in such a way since 1970, and Tel Aviv since 1991. Although there were no reports of casualties or damage in either city, the long-range attacks came as a shock and advanced the prospect of an Israeli ground invasion into Gaza. “This will last as long as is needed; we have not limited ourselves in means or in time,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel’s Channel One television today. Gaza kids at risk GAZA CITY: The image of a dead preschooler cradled by the prime ministers of Egypt and Gaza in a hospital hallway has drawn attention to the dangers Gaza’s children face in this crowded urban battle zone. Children make up half of Gaza’s population of 1.6 million and seem to be everywhere in the current round of cross-border fighting between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers. Children loitered Friday outside a Gaza City morgue for a glance at the latest ‘martyrs’. Others followed adults to funerals or even rushed to the site where Israeli missiles had just struck a government building and fire was still smoldering. Despite outward bravado, young boys of elementary school age said quietly that fear of airstrikes kept them awake at night. nnnn