WEAK WORDS: China issued a call for Myanmar's military to show restraint in handling the protests, but repeatedly declined to condemn the killings of peaceful protesters
Nine people, including a Japanese man, were killed yesterday in a crackdown on anti-government protests, Myanmar's state media said, accusing the pro-democracy opposition of fomenting the unrest.

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) advised the public yesterday to avoid travel to Myanmar, amid a violent crackdown on protests against military rule in the Southeast Asian nation.

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By Shih Hsiu-chuan
President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nominees for president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan received the endorsement of a majority of lawmakers yesterday, but the four grand justice nominees affiliated with the pan-green camp were voted down.

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By Ko Shu-ling
Despite calls for him to stay, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday resigned over the party's moderate "normal country resolution," which passed the DPP's Central Executive Committee yesterday.

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US retailing giant Target Corp announced a voluntary recall of Chinese-made toy gardening tools and children's lawn furniture containing "excessive levels of lead," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

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`TIPPING POINT': Renowned scientists James Lovelock and Chris Rapley say global warming may already have passed a crucial stage causing a `positive feedback' loop
Two of Britain's best known scientists proposed Wednesday to curb global warming by sowing the world's oceans with thousands, perhaps millions, of giant vertical pipes 100m to 200m deep.

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