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JAKARTA: A 33-year-old male plantation worker
from Sumatra Island died of bird flu on Thursday, bringing the death
toll in the world’s worst-affected nation to 85. The man was
infected with the deadly H5N1 virus.
--AFP
JAKARTA: Indonesia and
Russia inked a billion-dollar arms deal Thursday during a stop by
President Vladimir Putin. Under the agreement, Russia is providing a
billion-dollar line of credit for Jakarta to use to buy its
helicopters, tanks and submarines over the next 15 years.
--AFP
HANOI: British pop singer
Gary Glitter, jailed in Vietnam for child molestation, will ask the
communist government to free him later this month in an amnesty. The
disgraced 1970s pop star has been in jail since late 2005 and was
sentenced to three in 2006 for committing obscene acts with two
girls, then aged 11 and 12.
--AFP
KUALA LUMPUR: Animal
rights groups in Malaysia have condemned a contest that challenges
residents here to nab stray dogs, saying it is cruel and dangerous.
The Selayang Municipal Council in the north of the capital has
offered $11,143 in prize money to residents who catch the most dogs
over the next six months.
--AFP
TOKYO: Japan was on alert
for landslides and flooding Thursday as a strong typhoon headed
toward Tokyo. The storm is forecast to make landfall today.
--AFP
SEOUL: South Korea’s
presidential office said it would file an unprecedented libel
lawsuit against the opposition frontrunner in December’s election,
as the political temperature heated up before the vote. The
conservative opposition Grand National Party (GNP) and even a
progovernment grouping criticized the move. The GNP described it as
“political terror” aimed at swaying the December 19 vote for the
successor to President Roh Moo Hyun. GNP candidate Lee Myung Bak
enjoys around 50 percent support in opinion polls against some 10
percent for the leading candidate of the progovernment United New
Democratic Party.
--AFP
KATHMANDU, Nepal:
Nepal’s crown prince and heir to an embattled throne was admitted
to hospital Thursday after suffering a serious heart attack. Prince
Paras survived a June 2001 massacre at Nepal’s royal palace where
10 members of the family, including the then King Birendra, were
shot dead by crown prince Dipendra, who in turn killed himself.
--AFP
DES MOINES, Iowa: Actor
and Republican ex-senator Fred Thompson launched his run for
president, promising to stop “another Clinton” from seizing the
White House. Thompson, star of movies like Hunt for Red October and
internationally syndicated crime show Law & Order hopes to
follow Republican idol Ronald Reagan from the silver screen to the
Oval Office.
-- AFP
BAGHDAD: US air strikes on
a Baghdad neighborhood before dawn on Thursday killed 14 civilians
while they were sleeping and destroyed several houses, angry
residents and Iraqi officials said. Defense and interior ministry
officials said US helicopters fired on houses in the Al-Washash
neighborhood of Mansour district in west Baghdad while in pursuit of
insurgents.
--AFP
KHARTOUM, Sudan: UN chief
Ban Ki-moon was to hold talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir
on Thursday to win his support for a rapid deployment of a massive
new peacekeeping force in Darfur, a region wracked by four years of
war and human suffering. Ban—who has admitted the international
community has failed to do enough to end the crises in Sudan—said
his visit had “made my resolve stronger firm to work for peace and
security in Darfur and in Sudan.”
--AFP
PARIS: Four alleged
members of Basque separatist group ETA, arrested by French and
Spanish police in southwest France while allegedly preparing an
attack, were indicted in Paris late Wednesday by antiterrorist
judges. ETA is blamed for 819 killings over a four-decade campaign
for the independence of the Basque region of northern Spain and
southwest France.
--AFP
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