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YANGON, Myanmar: Military-ruled Myanmar
confirmed three more outbreaks of bird flu on Saturday in townships
across Yangon, and urged people to report any suspicious deaths of
birds. The secretive nation had already confirmed Friday the
presence of H5N1 in a suburb of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest town.
The outbreak there killed 68 birds, while 1,500 were slaughtered. No
human cases have been announced in the country.--AFP
AMBON, Indonesia: At least
13 people were injured in a bomb blast in Indonesia’s Ambon island
Saturday. No immediate explanation was given for the blast, but
Ambon and nearby islands have a history of Muslim-Christian
violence.--AFP
JAKARTA: At least 12
people were killed and dozens left missing in landslides triggered
by heavy rains on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores. Heavy
rains have been inundating the area for the past five days before
the landslides hit late Friday. Indonesia is currently at the height
of the monsoon season, with heavy rains causing landslides and
flooding in various parts of the archipelago.--AFP
JAKARTA: A moderate
5.3-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Papua island Saturday.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or damage. The quake was
67 kilometers southeast of Manokwari, the provincial capital of West
Irian Jaya, at 1:04 p.m., at a depth of 33 kilometers.--AFP
SINGAPORE: A breed of
“self-radicalized individuals” who absorbed militant ideas
through the Internet has emerged as a new security threat to the
city-state. Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng said the
government has investigated “a few” Singaporeans who have been
influenced by radical Islamic ideas they read from the Internet.
About 6,000 websites in cyberspace promoting militant ideologies
exist.--AFP
SYDNEY: Up to 100 elite
Australian troops have arrived in East Timor amid fears a tense
stand-off between international forces and a wanted rebel leader
could spark fresh violence. The crack troops touched down as
Australia raised its security alert to the highest level for
hundreds of Australians in the country, and as Australian-led forces
surrounded the hideout of rebel leader Maj. Alfredo Reinado.
Australian and United Nations security officials in Dili fear the
breakout of widespread violence, possibly even civil war, if
Australian soldiers kill or injure Reinado.--AFP
BEIJING: US Deputy
Secretary of State John Negroponte arrived in Beijing on Saturday
for talks expected to focus on how to hold North Korea to last
month’s breakthrough nuclear disarmament deal. The three-day visit
is the second leg of a trip that took Negroponte to Japan and will
include a stop in South Korea. All three are America’s partners in
the six-nation effort to get Pyongyang to give up its weapons.--AFP
SEOUL: South Korean
politicians urged Japan’s prime minister to withdraw and apologize
for his “outrageous” remarks questioning the wartime enslavement
of tens of thousands of Asian women. Japan’s Abe disputed
historians’ assertions that Tokyo forced at least 200,000
“comfort women” to serve as sex slaves in Japanese army brothels
in Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines. Abe’s
comments appeared to contradict Japan’s statement of regret in
1993 when a top government spokesman issued a statement voicing
“sincere apologies and remorse” and acknowledging that Japan’s
imperial army was involved “directly or indirectly” in sexual
slavery.--AFP
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The
military here test-fired a short-range nuclear-capable ballistic
missile on Saturday, its second test within eight days. The
surface-to-surface Abdali has a range of 200 kilometers and is one
of the earliest missile systems developed by Pakistan. India and
Pakistan have routinely conducted missile tests since carrying out
tit-for-tat nuclear detonations in May 1998.--AFP
NEW DELHI: A panel
appointed by the UN’s top court has urged India to scrap a
draconian law giving the military sweeping powers to curb
insurgencies. The law allows the military to arrest without warrant
or even shoot to kill in disputed Kashmir and seven insurgency-prone
northeastern states.--AFP
NEW YORK CITY: Ibrahim
Gambari of Nigeria, a former UN undersecretary-general for political
affairs, was named UN Chief Ban Ki Moon’s special advisor on the
International Compact with Iraq and other political Issues. Launched
last July, the Compact aims to help Iraq consolidate peace and
pursue political, economic and social development over the next five
years.--AFP
WASHINGTON: US President
George W. Bush will tour areas devastated by deadly tornadoes in the
southern United States as the country reeled along with Canada from
a storm system that killed at least 22 people. Bush, who was sharply
criticized for his administration’s slow response to the
destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said he would visit
Georgia and Alabama this weekend to offer his support.--AFP
MIAMI: A NASA astronaut
who made headlines for driving hundreds of kilometers in diapers to
confront a love rival has been charged with attempted kidnapping,
but not attempted murder. Lisa Nowak, 43, a mother of three who has
flown aboard Shuttle Discovery, was also charged with attempted
burglary and battery. After she was arrested on February 5, police
said there was “probable cause” to believe Nowak had intended to
murder her alleged romantic rival. But the most serious charge now
filed against her is “attempted kidnapping with intend to commit
bodily harm or terrorize.”--AFP
RABAT, Morocco: Nearly
nine thousand inmates including more than 200 foreigners were being
released from Moroccan prisons starting Friday under a pardon
granted by King Mohammed VI to mark the birth of his daughter this
week. The monarch also reduced the sentences of a further 24,218
prisoners, including 11 men whose death sentences were commuted to
life imprisonment. This is one of the biggest pardons since November
2005, when King Mohammed pardoned 10,000 prison inmates to mark the
50th anniversary of Moroccan independence from France. The newly
born princess, Lalla Khadija, is the sister to the heir to the
throne, Prince Hassan, born in 2003. --AFP
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