■ Japan
News fabricator nabbed
Police arrested a former computer programmer yesterday for allegedly publishing a fabricated news article on a fake Yahoo Japan news Web site saying that China had invaded Okinawa. Tokyo Metropolitan Police department arrested Takahiro Yamamoto, 30, on suspicion of violating patent laws, a police spokesman said on condition of anonymity. He said Yamamoto allegedly accredited the fake article to Kyodo News Agency and published it on an Internet site that he had designed to look like Yahoo Japan Corp's news site.
■ Japan
Lawmaker arrested
Police yesterday arrested a high-profile lawmaker, alleging he illegally profited from allowing an employee to use his name as a lawyer. Shingo Nishimura, 57, a member of the lower house of parliament, was arrested for alleged violation of the Attorneys Law, a police spokesman in Osaka said. He is accused of allowing an employee of his law firm to use his name and seal as an attorney to broker settlements in traffic accidents and other cases from May 1998 to Feb. last year, Jiji Press said.
■ Myanmar
Suu Kyi may be freed earlier
The military junta has extended pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by six months, an official said yesterday, raising hopes in her party that the Nobel peace laureate could be freed sooner than expected. A spokesman for her National League for Democracy also said the shorter-than-expected extension appeared to coincide with the military's timetable for completing talks on a new constitution, which are set to resume next week. The official did not explain why the latest extension was for only six months.
■ Spain
EU tries to revive Iran talks
The EU on Sunday wrote to Iran to test the waters for resuming direct talks on the republic's disputed nuclear program, EU foreign policy head Javier Solana said. "We offered the Iranians to have conversations ... to see if we have enough common basis to restart a negotiation," Solana told reporters covering a summit of EU and Mediterranean leaders in Barcelona. The letter was sent on the behalf of Solana as well as foreign ministers Jack Straw of the UK, Philippe Douste-Blazy of France and Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, he said. Solana said the letter set no date for a resumption of the negotiations.
■ Zimbabwe
Mugabe's party wins poll
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling party cemented its grip on power, winning an overwhelming majority in elections for a new Senate amid bitter, potentially irreconcilable, divisions in Zimbabwe's opposition. Partial results on Sunday showed that the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front would control at least 49 out of 66 seats in the Senate. Saturday's election was marked by a record low turnout blamed on voter apathy and the deep divisions in the opposition over boycott calls. Indepen-dent monitors predicted that an overall average turnout for the 31 contested seats across the country was between 15 and 20 percent, the lowest in any national poll since independence in 1980.
■ Germany
Merkel friendly with Turkey
German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on Sunday not to change the focus of negotiations on Turkish membership in the EU, saying that existing agreements with Ankara would be respected. Merkel, who met Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recip Erdogan on the sidelines of a Euro-Mediterranean summit in Barcelona, said that she was convinced relations with Turkey would develop in a "good direction." The new German chancellor said she had accepted an invitation to visit Istanbul, and that her talks with Erdogan had also centered on the integration of Turkish migrants living in Germany.
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