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Torch relay draws support for China (World, 41 articles)
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Olympic torch bearers dashed past sporadic protests Saturday as heavy security marked the Japanese leg of the world relay - streets lined by thousands of riot police and closely monitored by helicopters overhead. The global torch relay ahead of the Beijing Games in August has provoked protests against China's rights record, especially in Tibet, as well as patriotic rallies by Chinese who say the West has vilified Beijing unfairly. BANGKOK, Thailand Thai authorities beefed up security in Bangkok's historic center, deploying 2,000 police to protect the Olympic flame from protesters ahead of the torch relay Saturday. The Home Office has not revealed who made the complaints, but Ms Smith said the torch guards could only protect the Olympic flame by "placing themselves between the offender and the torch bearer". BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Runners surrounded by rows of security carried the Olympic flame past thousands of jubilant Argentines on Friday in the most trouble-free torch relay in nearly a week. DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania About 1,000 people cheered and marched with a team of 80 athletes and a Cabinet minister participating Sunday in the Tanzania leg of the Olympic torch relay, the flame's only stop in Africa.
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Israeli officials: Hezbollah has dramatically increased rocket range :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: World (World, 28 articles)
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" Today is a day of joy and happiness that our people were deprived of in the past century said Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, adding that the Palestinians still have a long path toward statehood. Just after sunrise, the last column of tanks rumbled out of Gaza, passing through the Kissufim crossing into Israel. Israeli soldiers then raised the flag, removed from Gaza's military headquarters, on the Israeli side of the border.
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Al-Sadr looks like powerful peacemaker :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: World (World, 39 articles)
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The American military said 21 suspected gunmen were killed in Shiite militia strongholds late Tuesday, while Iraqi officials said 15 civilians were among the dead, including two women. In Baghdad, clashes between U.S.-backed Iraqi troops and Shiite militiamen in the Sadr City district killed two men and wounded 18 other people, police said Wednesday. BAGHDAD The Iraqi government has dismissed about 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during last month's offensive against Shiite militias and criminal gangs in Basra, officials said Sunday.
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North Korea helped Syria build nuclear reactor: U.S. (World, 27 articles)
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Syria's ambassador to the United States said Friday that the CIA fabricated pictures allegedly taken inside a secret Syrian nuclear reactor and predicted that in coming weeks the U.S. story about the site would implode from within. Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday they believe it was a secret nuclear reactor meant to produce plutonium, which can be used to make high-yield nuclear weapons. When the Central Intelligence Agency on Thursday rolled out evidence to support allegations that North Korea had helped Syria build a nuclear reactor, officials said they had "low" confidence that Syria was developing the reactor to produce nuclear weapons.
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Zimbabwe police raid opposition, election offices (World, 21 articles)
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HARARE, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's ruling party demanded a vote recount and a further delay in the release of presidential election results, the state Sunday Mail newspaper reported, prompting outrage from the opposition party. HARARE, Zimbabwe War veterans marched Friday in Zimbabwe's capital a muscular show of support for President Robert Mugabe, whose party said he would fight to retain his 28-year grip on power in a runoff election with the opposition leader. P (04-25) 04:00 PDT Pretoria, South Africa The top U.S. envoy to Africa said Thursday that Zimbabwe's opposition leader won the nation's disputed presidential election and that longtime President Robert Mugabe should step down.
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Iraqi oil pipeline blown up again (World, 11 articles)
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The blast, near the town of Iskandiriya, caused a large fire and disrupted the flow of crude oil to refineries in the south of Iraq. LAGOS, Nigeria Royal Dutch Shell will cut oil production by 169,000 barrel per day in Nigeria after militants attacked two pipelines Monday in the restive southern region. The Nigerian attack, and a missile attack Monday on Japanese oil tanker off the east coast of Yemen, sent oil prices spiking to a record 117.40 a barrel.
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Pakistan, Taliban continuing peace talks despite new attack (World, 6 articles)
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P 04-25) 12:58 PDT PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) Pakistan's new government and Taliban militants said Friday that they would press ahead with peace talks despite American skepticism and a militant bombing that killed three people at a police station. A spokesman for an umbrella group of Pakistani militants defended the car bombing by saying the militants maintained their right to carry out revenge killings, a glaring exception to a cease-fire declared by the group in response to the peace talks. A car bomb exploded next to a police station in a northwestern city Friday, killing three people and ending a five-week lull in the deadly explosions that have plagued Pakistan.
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Bush, Putin at odds over NATO expansion :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: World (World, 6 articles)
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BUCHAREST, Romania France and Germany were poised Thursday to thwart a drive by President Bush to place the strategically important Black Sea states of Ukraine and Georgia on track for NATO membership at a tense alliance summit. Greece has a northern province that is also called Macedonia and contends the former Yugoslav republic's insistence on being known as Macedonia implies a territorial claim. Senior U.S. officials said Thursday that NATO leaders agreed to fully endorse United States missile defense plans for Europe and urge Russia to drop its objections to the system.
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Sarkozy admits mistakes, defends record as president (World, 5 articles)
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The interview was meant to turn round his flagging presidency with a strong defence of his reform programme and a less arrogant, more dignified tone. PARIS Pirates have freed 30 hostages held for the past week aboard a French tourist yacht off Somalia's coast, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday. In a statement, Sarkozy thanked the French army and other French agencies "that allowed a quick end" to the hostage-taking.
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'The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur' by Daoud Hari (World, 6 articles)
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P 04-25) 03:08 PDT BEIJING, China (AP) An activist group will organize protests against Beijing Olympics sponsors that it says have failed to press China to help end fighting in Darfur. Dream for Darfur said 16 companies, including General Electric Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Microsoft Corp., have exhibited " moral cowardice. With actress Mia Farrow as its spokeswoman, Dream for Darfur is the most prominent activist group lobbying companies to put pressure on Beijing, a major investor in Sudan.
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Pirates hijack fishing boat off coast of Somalia :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: World (World, 5 articles)
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TOKYO A suspected pirate ship fired on a Japanese oil tanker Monday off the eastern coast of Yemen, leaving a hole from which hundreds of gallons of fuel leaked, officials said. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said the resolution would authorize foreign governments to pursue pirate vessels into territorial waters, make arrests, and prosecute suspects. MADRID, Spain Pirates have hijacked a Spanish fishing boat with a crew of 26 off the coast of Somalia, Spain's Foreign Ministry said Monday.
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A Profile of Cuba's Fidel Castro (World, 5 articles)
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The Bush administration is ruling out any changes in its Cuba policy - including lifting a five-decade trade embargo - deriding Fidel Castro's brother and heir apparent, Raul, as " dictator lite. Led by President Bush, a chorus of officials expressed hope that Castro's departure would spark fundamental changes for the Cuban people. HAVANA Communist Cuba has begun lending unused land to private farmers and cooperatives as part of a sweeping effort to step up agricultural production, a small but potentially landmark step that could change the face of farming on the island.
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Official: Argentine economy minister out (World, 4 articles)
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The departure of an independent-minded economy minister is re-igniting questions about Argentina's ability to tame soaring inflation and resolve a farmbelt tax rebellion. Martin Lousteau left the Cabinet as the government battles inflation with price controls and attempts to redistribute soaring farm profits stoked by global food prices. Lousteau reportedly had feisty run-ins with other officials over the direction of the economy after a 21-day farm strike - a bitter fight with the government over how to divide the windfall proceeds of soaring grain prices.
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Alitalia loan not state aid, says Rome (World, 4 articles)
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An emergency €300m ($470m, $240m) Italian government loan to the loss-making airline Alitalia is to be investigated by the European Commission, which could order it to be repaid. Ryanair, the Irish low-cost carrier, said on Thursday it would file a complaint about the deal, which would trigger a commission probe. Rome maintains the money is being lent at commercial rates and is vital to keep Alitalia from bankruptcy after Air France-KLM pulled out of talks to take it over this week following union opposition.
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Sri Lanka offers suicide bombers money for surrender :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: World (World, 4 articles)
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan government is offering would-be rebel suicide bombers nearly $100,000 and a new life abroad to surrender themselves to authorities, the government said Monday. The offer has been made in red and yellow posters pasted on walls around Colombo, the scene of several recent suicide bombings blamed on the Tamil Tiger rebels. At least 24 people have been killed and about 50 wounded by a bombing on a bus in the outskirts of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, officials have said.
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Germany ratifies EU’s Lisbon treaty (World, 4 articles)
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The prospects of Serbia taking an important first step towards European Union membership later this year have received a significant boost amid signs that two EU member states - Belgium and the Netherlands - are softening their opposition to the move. France and Germany are seeking to heal recent strains between their leaders by strengthening co-operation in four sensitive policy areas as Paris prepares to take over the rotating European Union presidency on July 1. The French and German governments have set up joint expert groups to handle agriculture, the car industry, climate change and security issues during France's six months in the chair.
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blaster@cs.columbia.edu
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