■ China
Chlorine leak affects 130
A chlorine leak in northeastern China sent 130 people to the hospital for treatment, the government said yesterday. No deaths or life-threatening injuries were reported. The leak in Qiqihar, in Heilongjiang province, happened at 6pm on Thursday, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said the chlorine leaked from a leftover tank that hadn't been sealed off completely, the agency said. Most of those hospitalized had inhaled fumes. More than 100 of those hospitalized were recovering and expected to be released from the hospital yesterday, Xinhua said.
■ Indonesia
War criminal wants to lead
The former chief of the Indonesian military, who has been charged by the UN with crimes against humanity, presented himself here on Thursday as a candidate for his nation's first direct presidential elections, scheduled for July. General Wiranto, an accomplished crooner with matinee-idol good looks, told a luncheon of foreign correspondents and diplomats that he could provide leadership and security for Indonesia after what he called five years of "turbulence." Many political analysts believe that Wiranto would have the best chance of unseating the incumbent, Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose popularity has plummeted.
■ North Korea
Officials deny uranium bomb
North Korean officials told an American expert on Korea that they see no urgency in ending the impasse over its nuclear weapons programs because delays will give the country more time to expand its nuclear arsenal. Charles Pritchard, a former State Department official, met with the North Koreans last week as part of a private visit. He said North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, during their nine-hour discussion, also denied that North Korea is pursuing a uranium bomb, contradicting US intelligence and Pyongyang's own admissions to US officials -- Pritchard included -- in October, 2002.
■ Japan
Stamps spark outrage
Japanese Cabinet ministers expressed regret yesterday after South Korea issued postage stamps depicting a group of disputed islets, despite calls from Tokyo to scrap them. South Korea's postal authorities are releasing 2.25 million stamps featuring the islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, starting yesterday. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi summoned South Korean ambassador Cho Se-hyung to her ministry to lodge a protest, reiterating the islets are "our country's sovereign territory." Lying in the sea between South Korea and Japan, the islets have been occupied for decades by South Korean coast guards and patrolled by the South Korean navy. But Tokyo has also claimed the islets.
■ China
Official charged with spying
China has detained one of its top officials in Hong Kong for spying for Britain, sources said yesterday, in the biggest espionage scandal between the countries since the 1997 handover. Cai Xiaohong (蔡小洪), secretary general of the Liaison Office of the Central Government in Hong Kong, faces the death penalty if convicted, said two Chinese sources with knowledge of the case. Cai, who held a rank equivalent to an assistant minister, was detained in China last year when he returned home for official business, the sources said. "He sold state secrets to Britain," said a Chinese government source who asked not to be identified.
■ United States
Streakers left stranded
Three young men who went streaking through a restau-rant in Spokane, Washing-ton, were chilled when they spotted a thief drive off in their getaway car, their clothes inside. Naked in the -7?C weather, the trio were behind cars in a parking lot until police arrived. "I don't think they were hiding. I think they were just con-cealing themselves," police spokes-man Dick Cottam said. The three entered the restaurant before daybreak Wednes-day, wearing only shoes and hats. They left their car running so they could make a quick escape. But the streakers watched through the windows as a man who had been eating inside the restaurant drove off in their car.
■ United Kingdom
Killer's wife to get pension
The prison suicide of Bri-tain's worst serial killer means his wife will receive a pension she would not have had if he had lived past 60, the Department of Health said on Thursday. This prompted some speculation that he had killed himself to provide for her. Dr. Harold Shipman, who was found to have killed more than 200 of his patients, was discovered hanged in his cell on Tues-day, the day before his 58th birthday. He was convicted in 2000 of killing 15 of the patients, and a judge later determined that he had killed at least 200 more. The government directed that Shipman forfeit his National Health Service pension, but the officials said that Shipman's wife was eligible for survivor benefits.
■ United Kingdom
Kelly report due Jan. 28
The senior judge looking into accusations that the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair exag-gerated available intelli-gence on Iraq to win public support for war will publish his findings on Jan. 28, his office said on Thursday. The independent inquiry was established after a govern-ment scientist, David Kelly, 59, committed suicide last July 18 after it became known that he was the source for a news story asserting that Blair and his top aides had "sexed up" intelligence findings about Iraq's ability to deploy and launch chemical weapons in 45 minutes. The case has become a referendum on Blair's leadership.
■ Saudi Arabia
Al-Qaeda camps found
Authorities have discovered camps in remote parts of the country used for train-ing Islamist militants to carry out attacks, an interior ministry official said on Thursday. The camps were run by Turki Nasser al-Dandani and Youssef Salih al-Ayeeri, two prominent militants who died last year in battles with Saudi security forces, the official said. This is believed to be the first formal acknowledgement by the Saudi government that training camps linked to al-Qaeda have been estab-lished in the country. Earlier this week Saudi TV showed up to eight militants saying that they had received training at two camps.
■ Argentina
Army probe ordered
President Nestor Kirchner ordered an investigation into charges Argentina's army operated training camps on torture tech-niques during the mid-1980s. The probe was prompted by the discovery of several photos which show soldiers holding rifles in a mock concentration camp. At least one picture showed a soldier holding what appeared to be an electric prod. Government officials would not say how they obtained the pictures.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
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