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SEOUL: South Korea’s foreign minister said
he expects progress at the next round of six-nation talks on North
Korea’s nuclear program, with both the North and the US showing
new flexibility. Song Min Soon said all nations agreed on the need
to take practical steps to implement a September 2005
denuclearization agreement. But he cautioned that there is a long
road ahead. Song also said that host China is expected to announce
within a few days the date for the next round. --AFP
JAKARTA: Environmental
watchdog Greenpeace protested the Indonesia’s plans to auction
permits to log old forests in Borneo and Papua, home to a rich
variety of plant and animal life. Within two weeks, forestlands in
16 locations, including Papua, Kalimantan, on Borneo island, and on
the islands of Sulawesi, Maluku and Sumatra, will be offered for
bids. More than a million hectares of forestlands is to be
auctioned. Indonesia loses about 2.8 million hectares of forests
each year—among the highest rates in the world.--AFP
SINGAPORE: Singapore, one
of Asia’s safest cities, reported that crime fell by 10 percent in
2006 from 2005. There were 33,393 cases recorded last year, down
from 37,093 in 2005, police said. The total number of persons
arrested fell 12 percent to 19,273 of which 14 percent were
foreigners. Theft and related offences accounted for 61 percent of
the cases. In a nation of four million people, there were 17 murder
cases, down from 21 the previous year. All the cases have been
solved.--AFP
SYDNEY: Australia’s
long-serving Prime Minister John Howard denied that a surprise
ministerial reshuffle just months ahead of key elections signaled
that his ruling party was floundering. But he conceded his coalition
government would have a major battle on its hands to prevent the
newly invigorated opposition from winning power when voters go to
the polls in a keenly awaited general election later this year. A
Newspoll survey for The Australian newspaper showed that in a
straight fight Labor would win 55 percent of the vote to 45 percent
for Howard’s ruling Liberal-National coalition.--AFP
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka:
Veterinary authorities here have ruled out avian flu among migratory
birds that dropped dead by the hundreds. The Veterinary Research
Institute found that the birds died of salmonella poisoning, the
type not easily transmitted to humans, A. Chandrasoma, director at
the Animal Production and Health department, said.--AFP
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: A
leading human-rights group slammed the government here for
conscripting hundreds of child soldiers to fight against Tamil
rebels, saying the police had turned a blind eye to the practice for
years. New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the government of
“hypocrisy,” saying in a 100-page report that Colombo was guilty
of the same practice for which it had denounced the Tamil Tigers.--AFP
JERUSALEM: Israeli
President Moshe Katsav faced widespread calls to resign Wednesday
after the attorney general announced he would indict him for rape
and other charges, the most serious allegations ever leveled against
an Israeli leader. Katsav has denied the charges and vowed to fight
the allegations. He has steadfastly refused to step down during the
months of investigation against him, saying he was the victim of a
“witch-hunt.” But Israeli media, politicians and the public were
nearly unanimous in their opinion that Katsav should go.--AFP
MIAMI: Former Panamanian
dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, imprisoned on international
drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges since 1990, will be
released from prison on September 9, thanks to good behavior and
other credits. Noriega, who was toppled by a massive US invasion in
late 1989, was automatically eligible for parole after serving about
two-thirds of his 30-year sentence. When Noriega, 72, is released
from the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Southwest
Miami-Dade County, he probably won’t end up a free man. Both
Panama and France want him on criminal charges.--MCT
WASHINGTON: A bipartisan
group of senators have introduced legislation aimed at preventing
American firms from profiting from the use of foreign sweatshops and
other unfair labor practices abroad. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South
Carolina Republican, joined four Democrats and independent Sen.
Bernard Sanders of Vermont in sponsoring a bill that would allow US
firms to sue competitors that they believe are selling imported
products made in overseas sweatshops.--MCT
WASHINGTON: A new
antismoking drug improves the odds of success threefold for people
who want to quit, an independent research group reported. The drug,
called Chantix by its maker, Pfizer Inc., outperformed the
antidepressants that helped some quitters in clinical trials that
the British-based Cochrane Collaborative reviewed. Chantix costs
$100 to $140 a month, and insurance generally doesn’t cover it.
The Cochrane report notes that there’s no clinical evidence of how
likely Chantix users are to relapse or how well the drug will work
for those who do. About 45 million Americans smoke. Another 46
million have quit.--MCT
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