■ China
`Door open' to Dalai Lama
Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) held open the door for dialogue with the Dalai Lama yesterday, but revealed Beijing's deep-seated fears of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader. "Our policy towards the Dalai Lama has been clear and consistent. That is to say as long as the Dalai Lama recognizes that Tibet and Taiwan are parts of inseparable Chinese territory and abandons splittist activities ... then the door is always open," He told a news conference. Wen accused the Dalai Lama of "demanding that all Chinese troops withdraw from Tibet." The winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize is not known to have called for troops to leave.
■ Australia
Imposter fools military
A truck driver who was once jailed for armed robbery posed as an army officer, mixed with top brass and talked his way into high-level security meetings, a court has been told. Peter Bennett, 54, started his 10-month fantasy military career in September 2005 when he wore formal military dress to gain entry to an air force base dinner, where he chatted to the air force chief, Air Vice-Marshal Geoffrey Shepherd. Melbourne's Age newspaper said over the following months, Bennett joined meetings of the defense force's security operation for last year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and received a defense force identity card.
■ Afghanistan
Ultimatum for reporter over
The Taliban movement, which threatened to kill an Italian journalist unless its demands were met, said yesterday the ultimatum was over but could be extended on request. Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues in southern Afghanistan on March 4. A top Taliban commander said last Saturday that the Italian would be killed in seven days unless two captured Taliban spokesmen were released and Italy set a date for the withdrawal of its 2,000 troops. Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said by telephone yesterday the ultimatum could be extended.
■ India
Strike hits West Bengal
The state of West Bengal was paralyzed yesterday by a general strike over the killing by police of 14 villagers protesting over forced land purchases to make way for industrial parks. Schools, shops and offices shut down across the eastern state, leaving the streets nearly empty, West Bengal's inspector general of police Raj Kanojia said. Some cases of arson and clashes between strikers and supporters of the state's ruling communist party were reported early in the day, he said. Soumitra Majumdar, a spokesman for Eastern Railways, said train services had been severely disrupted as protesters squatted on railway tracks.
■ Georgia
President pushes resilience
In his annual address to parliament, President Mikhail Saakashvili said on Thursday that the nation is shrugging off a virtual Russian trade embargo and that overall trade increased sharply last year despite the restrictions. In other remarks reflecting persistent tension in ties with Moscow, he reiterated his criticism of peacekeeping mechanisms that include Russian contingents in two separatist regions he is seeking to bring back to the fold. He said it was perhaps unprecedented that "a young country on the path of development has been subject to such economic pressure and so many blows in one year. But Georgia, and the Georgian people most of all, showed the whole world their strength and their ability to fight." He also stressed Tbilisi's desire to join NATO.
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