■ Pakistan
Libya nuke link denied
Pakistan on Tuesday denied reports that Libya had obtained a design for enriching uranium from Pakistani scientists, The Associated Press reported from Islamabad, the capital. "This is total madness," Information Minister Sheik Rashid Ahmed told the agency. "The report is absolutely false, and there is no truth in it." Asked Tuesday about the report, Secretary of State Colin Powell said: "I don't have enough information at hand to answer a question quite as specific as that. We know that there have been cases where individuals in Pakistan have worked in these areas and we have called it to the attention of the Pakistanis in the past."
■ Afghanistan
At least 17 dead in blasts
At least 17 people were killed and dozens injured, many of them children, in a double bomb blast in the southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, local officials said. The bombing came just one day after the country triumphantly adopted a new constitution. The governor of Kandahar, Yousuf Pashtun, blamed the Taliban movement for the explosions, which took place in the middle of the day within minutes of each other. "They are terrorists, they are coming from Pakistan and they are killing innocent people," he said in comments to Kandahar Television. A statement from Afghan President Hamid Karzai office said that at least eight children were among the dead.
■ Thailand
Insurgents attack police
Suspected Islamic insurgents attacked a police station with grenades and guns yesterday, the latest violence in the spiraling unrest in Muslim-dominated southern Thailand, police said. There were no casualties in the 2:30am attack on the Haiyaveng police station in Yala district, police Major Thani Twibsi said in a telephone interview. Police fired back at the assailants, who fled after a short gunbattle, he said. "On our side there is no casualty, no injury because we were on full alert," Thani said from Yala, about 1,050km south of Bangkok. The gunbattle came on the heels of a string of arson attacks on 21 schools and a raid on a military armory on Sunday in Narathiwat province and two bombings in Pattani province on Monday.
■ Cambodia
Killing fields remembered
Cambodia's ruling party released 25 doves yesterday to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge, and assured the nation that the genocidal regime's victims will finally get justice through a UN-sponsored tribunal this year. "Imminently, we can surely bring a complete closure to this darkest chapter through a successful implementation of ... a tribunal for prosecuting crimes," Cambodian People's Party president Chea Sim told about 10,000 people celebrating the anniversary at the party's headquarters. About 1.7 million Cambodians died under the communist Khmer Rouge, which ruled from 1975 to 1979.
■ Malaysia
Abdullah orders reshuffle
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced a minor cabinet reshuffle yesterday after naming Defense Minister Minister Najib Razak as deputy premier. Najib retains his defense portfolio, and Abdullah retains his posts as finance minister and home (interior) minister. Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin takes over as agriculture minister from Effendi Norwawi, who becomes special functions minister in the prime minister's department.
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