■ North Korea
Officials dismiss terror fears
North Korean officials angrily denied US accusations that they might sell nuclear weapons to terrorists and offered to freeze a plutonium-based nuclear program in exchange for aid, said an American researcher who visited the North. But the officials wouldn't confirm whether Pyongyang has a second, uranium-based weapons program -- a key sticking point in talks with the US and other governments -- said Selig Harrison of the Center for International Policy in Washington.
■ Japan
By-election voting begins
Voting began yesterday in three lower house by-elections in Japan in polls seen as referendums on the government's policy in Iraq and its pension reform plans. Central Saitama, western Hiroshima and southern Kagoshima were voting for seats formerly held by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The results were expected late yesterday. By 11am voter turnout was four to five percentage points lower than last year's November general election vote in each district, public broadcaster NHK said. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's LDP, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan and Japanese Communist Party fielded candidates in all three races.
■ Pakistan
Militants get amnesty
Some 50 men arrested last month in an operation aimed at rounding up pro-al-Qaeda tribesman were expected to be freed by Pakistan's army yesterday, a day after five prominent leaders were also granted amnesty. Offering a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a Koran to an army general as symbolic gifts, the five were allowed to go free on Saturday in return for a promise not to help al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives near the Afghan border. The deal could end months of bloody confrontation between tribesmen and Pakistan's army in the lawless region of South Waziristan, but may unnerve the US, eager for more tough action by Pakistan in the war on terrorism.
■ Indonesia
Religious groups clash
Muslim and Christian gangs hurled rocks at each other, and several buildings were torched in violence yesterday in Indonesia's religiously divided Maluku islands. At least two people were killed, witnesses and officials said. The clashes occurred as the region's small, mostly Christian separatist movement celebrated the anniversary of a failed independence bid 54 years ago. Violence between the two sides has often broken out in previous years on the same day. Yesterday's fighting was triggered when around 12 activists from the separatist Maluku Sovereignty Front marched through the provincial capital, Ambon, witnesses said.
■ Indonesia
Search for landslide victims
Rescue teams yesterday searched for bodies buried under a landslide that enveloped a passenger bus on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least 38 people and leaving five others feared dead, police said. Search efforts were hampered because the landslide had pushed the bus to the edge of a steep ravine, making digging at the site hazardous, said police Lieutenant-Colonel Muhammad Zaini. Heavy rain sent tonnes of mud, rocks and uprooted trees crashing onto the bus late Friday on a hilly and windy road close to the West Sumatran town of Padang, 940km northwest of Jakarta.
■ Israel
Arafat won't be killed ... yet
Israel has no imminent plans to kill Yasser Arafat, Israel's vice premier said yesterday after the US criticized remarks by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he was no longer bound by an earlier promise not to harm the Palestinian leader. Sharon said Friday that he was no longer bound by an obligation he had made to the US not to assassinate Arafat. The US, Russia and Germany criticized the comments. The Palestinians said Washington was at fault for siding with Israel on key issues. Two ministers said yesterday that Sharon did not have imminent plans to expel or assassinate Arafat but spoke only in principle.
■ Turkey
Visitors flock to Gallipoli
As dawn broke across the Aegean Sea Sunday, more than 10,000 Australians, New Zealanders and Turks gathered to sing hymns and pray for those lost in the World War I battle of Gallipoli, making the trip despite security concerns. Every year, thousands of tourists mainly from Australia and New Zealand travel to the battlefields on the Gallipoli Peninsula to mark ANZAC Day -- the anniversary of the start of the battle that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. This year, both governments warned their citizens not to go to Turkey for fear of terrorist attacks following suicide bombings in Istanbul in November, which killed 62 people. ``People came irrespective of the warning. The people wanted to come,'' said Lt. Chantal Llaora, an Australian military spokeswoman. She said between 10,000 and 12,000 people were present. Australian troops were barred from taking leave to attend the ceremonies due to security concerns. ``As dawn breaks, we cannot help but think of how those first Anzacs would have felt. For many this would be a final act of sacrifice and service,'' Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said. Australian and New Zealand volunteers were known as Anzacs, for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.
■ Canada
AIDS program lauded
World Bank officials urged Canada's development minister on Saturday to promote Ottawa's AIDS medicines legislation as a blueprint for other countries, including Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. "They were very encouraging that Canada promote this," International Cooperation Minister Aileen Carroll said after meeting with the World Bank's global HIV/AIDS program chief and Latin America representative. "They asked me to take the lead at tonight's working dinner to explain [the amendments]." Ottawa on Tuesday presented legislative amendments to make it easier for makers of generic drugs to sell low-cost AIDS drugs to poor countries.
■ Nigeria
Oil workers slain
Heavily armed militants killed two US oil workers and at least four Nigerians in a botched robbery attempt on their speedboat in Nigeria's southern delta, authorities said on Saturday. The attack took place on Friday evening when the boat, carrying contractors of US oil giant ChevronTexaco and their military escorts, was returning from work reopening oil wells closed by a bloody ethnic uprising last year. A spokesman for California-based Chevron-Texaco said six corpses had been recovered from the remote area of river channels and mangrove swamps, including two American contractors who worked for Houston-based engineering company International Building Systems Inc.
■ United States
Abortion activists march
Hundreds of thousands of abortion rights activists have converged on the US capital for what they believe will be an unprecedented, star-studded show of force yesterday designed to stave off any election-year assault on women's right to choose. The March for Women's Lives was expected to attract anywhere between 500,000 and 750,000 participants, according to its organizers -- and go down in history as one of the largest and most colorful displays of unity in support for legalized abortion. Hundreds of pro-life activists, who equate abortion with murder, are also in town, readying for a heated face-off.
■ United States
Six share ice-melt jackpot
Mother Nature picked the winning numbers for the 88th Nenana Ice Classic, melting the ice on the Tanana River enough to move it downstream. Organizers of the popular yearly game of chance said there were six correct guesses for the winning time of 2:16pm on Saturday. Each US$2.50 ticket is worth a sixth of the US$301,000 jackpot -- US$50,166.66, or US$36,120 once federal taxes are taken out. A tripod erected on the ice is connected by wire to a clock on shore to detect the ice movement in Nenana, a community of 500 about 88km south of Fairbanks.
■ Canada
Avian flu still spreading
Despite a cull of 19 million birds, and strict quarantine measures, avian flu is still marching across western Canada, and has now infected nearly 50 farms. Scientists said last week they had bird flu, which has sparked a rash of global bans on Canadian poultry exports, under control, but six new flocks have in recent days tested positive for the H7N3 virus. Despite the new cases, Cornelius Kiley, chief veterinarian for British Columbia, said the outbreak is under control. Flocks at 37 commercial chicken producers and at 10 small backyard operations have tested positive since the first case emerged on Feb. 19.
■ Zimbabwe
Finance minister arrested
Zimbabwe's finance minister was arrested on Saturday on charges of dealing in foreign currency, police said, the first senior official in President Robert Mugabe's government to be detained in a corruption crackdown. Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said Chris Kuruneri had been picked up early on Saturday and would be charged with corruption, after accusations that he had illegally dealt in foreign currency worth over 6 billion Zimbabwe dollars (US$1.38 million). Bvudzijena did not say when Kuruneri, a member of the central committee of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party, would appear in court.
■ Austria
Election a close race
Austrians went to the polls yesterday to elect a new president in a close race between the conservative foreign minister, who is backed by far-right firebrand Joerg Haider, and a moderate opposition leftist. Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, 55, whose broad smile personified Austria's charm offensive against brief international diplomatic sanctions in 2000 over Haider's party entering government, would be the first woman to hold the office. Rival Heinz Fischer, 65, is a career Social Democratic parliamentarian dubbed a "grey mouse" by the Austrian press who has kept a narrow lead in most polls by stressing a commitment to the social welfare state and to Austria's cherished neutrality.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was