News for Thursday, February 1, 2007

• US Warns Iran Against Helping Insurgents in Iraq A senior U.S. official has warned Iran to stop helping insurgents in Iraq with weapons technology.
• Bus Bombing Kills 6 in Baghdad Iraqi police say at least six people were killed and several others wounded when a bomb exploded in a minibus in Baghdad's Karrada district Thursday.
• Australia Grants Iraqi Refugee Residency Visa After 5 Year Detention Australia's immigration minister has defended the government's treatment of an Iraqi man held in detention on the island of Nauru for nearly five years. Muhammad Faisal has been granted asylum after Australia's main spy agency altered its security assessment of him. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
• Hong Kong to Limit Mainland Mothers Coming to Give Birth The Hong Kong government has imposed new rules to cut the number of mainland Chinese women entering the city to give birth. However, there are doubts that the new measures will keep the flow of pregnant mainlanders from overburdening city hospitals. VOA's Heda Bayron has this report, prepared by Juliet Ye in Hong Kong.
• Civil-Rights Milestone Traces to 'White Bread' City Four schoolhouses in Topeka, Kansas, are in the spotlight as the United States marks African-American History Month. The buildings symbolize a dramatic turn in civil-rights history. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that so-called "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and whites were not equal at all and that segregating students by race is illegal. Today, one of the schools is an unusual memorial.
• The Iraq Challenge President Bush's decision to increase troop strength in Iraq is aimed at helping Iraqi authorities crack down on sectarian violence so that the Shi'ia-led government can move forward with power sharing arrangements with the Sunni minority. The willingness of the Shi'ia majority to make the compromises necessary remains in question. Two Middle East experts offered a pessimistic assessment of the future of Iraq at a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. They presented their views as lawmakers consider whether to support non-binding resolutions expressing opposition to President Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq.Richard Haas, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Dennis Ross, former U.S. Middle East peace envoy under President Clinton, predict years of sectarian violence in Iraq before the majority Shi'ia-led government and minority Sunnis are prepared to make the compromises necessary for a stable, unity government.Despite his pessimism, Haas says there are reasons to argue in favor of President Bush's decision to send another 21,500 troops to Iraq."One is the possibility that it may work, that it may provide the time and space for Iraqi authorities to introduce power and revenue sharing and improve the quality of Iraq's military and police," says Haas. "And the second argument in principle in favor of a surge is that if it fails, if it fails to turn things around, and Iraq descends further into chaos, it will help make clear that the onus for Iraq's failure falls on the Iraqis themselves.  And such a perception would be less costly, all things being equal, for our reputation than a judgment that Iraq was lost because of a lack of American staying power."But Haas says there is a far greater downside to the troop increase plan.  And that, he says, involves the degree to which the Iraqi government is willing to make political compromises."The premise behind it seems to be that all the Iraqi government requires is few months to get its house in order.  But if the Iraqis were prepared to do what was needed, a surge would not be necessary. And if they are not willing to do what is called for, a surge would not be enough.  This to me suggests what may be the fundamental flaw implicit in the new policy.  The U.S. goal is to work with the Iraqis to establish a functioning democracy, in which the interests and rights of minorities are protected.  But the goal of the Iraqi government is different.  It appears to be to establish a country in which the rights and interests of the Shi'ia majority are protected above all else," says Haas.
• Afghan Assembly Approves Amnesty Law for Alleged War Criminals Afghanistan's lower house of parliament has approved a law that would grant amnesty to all Afghans accused of human rights abuses during the past 25 years of conflict in the country.
• Vietnam Businesses Struggle to Find Workers With Vietnam's economy booming, businesses are having a harder time recruiting staff. Some factories are running below capacity for want of workers. The shortage comes to a head during the traditional lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, when urban Vietnamese return to their native villages - and their employers hope they come back. From Hanoi, Matt Steinglass has more.
• Thailand Confirms Third Bird Flu Outbreak Thai livestock officials have confirmed the country's third outbreak of bird flu this year - this time among chickens in the country's central region.
• Rwandan President Willing to Cooperate With Probe into Former Leader's Death Rwandan President Paul Kagame says he is ready to cooperate with an international investigation into the death of former president Juvenal Habyarimana.
• Newspaper Columnist Molly Ivins Dies at 62 Molly Ivins, a popular U.S. newspaper columnist and best-selling author, has died at the age of 62.
• Israeli Troops Kill 3 Palestinians in West Bank Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in two separate incidents in the occupied West Bank Thursday.
• Russian President Says Democratic Process Will Choose His Successor Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country's next president will be democratically elected, and says he will not name his "successor."
• 2 Men Arrested for False Bomb Scare in Boston Authorities in the northeastern U.S. city of Boston have arrested two men in connection with an outdoor marketing campaign that sparked fears of a bomb threat.
• British Police Question Blair for Second Time in Political Financing Scandal British officials say police have questioned Prime Minister Tony Blair for a second time in a growing political financing investigation.
• Sao Tome & Principe Still Waiting for Oil Boom Several years ago, many oil experts and local politicians said the tiny islands of Sao Tome and Principe were on the verge of an oil boom. But islanders and oil companies that paid millions for drilling rights are still waiting for an oil strike. A recent drilling expedition did not find any oil deposits that would be profitable. Government officials, donors and energy analysts are now reassessing their oil expectations for Sao Tome. Phuong Tran reports from VOA's West Africa Bureau in Dakar on the mix of politics, poverty and petroleum in the shores of West Africa.
• US Savings Rate Falls to Lowest Level in 70 Years A new U.S. government report shows that Americans, on average, spent much more than they earned in 2006, pushing the country's personal savings rate to the lowest level in more than 70 years.
• Bush Says Prayer Speaks to True Strength of America President Bush says prayer speaks to the true strength of America.
• Israel's PM Testifies to Commission on War Conduct Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has testified before a government commission probing the country's conduct in the war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon last year.
• Key US Senators Agree on Bipartisan Resolution Against Bush's Iraq Plan Key Democratic and Republican senators who oppose President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq have forged a joint resolution against the increase.
• RSF: 2006 Deadliest Year for Journalists in More Than a Decade An international press freedom group says 2006 was the deadliest year for journalists and media workers in more than a decade, with at least 110 killed while perfoming their duties.
• Chadian Army, Rebels Clash Near Sudan Border Chadian armed forces clashed with rebels Thursday in the eastern border town of Adre.  From VOA's regional bureau in Dakar, Jordan Davis reports both sides say fighting was intense.  
• Zimbabwe Opposition Protests Extending Mugabe Rule Zimbabwe's main opposition group held a protest Thursday against President Robert Mugabe's plan to extend his rule by two years, to 2010.
• Russian President Supports UN Nuclear Agency Plan for Iran Russian President Vladimir Putin says he supports a proposal by the U.N. nuclear agency for the international community to hold off sanctions on Iran if the Tehran government suspends sensitive nuclear activities.
• Nepal Police Fire on Madhesi Protesters; At Least Two Killed At least two people were killed in southern Nepal Thursday when police fired on protesters.
• Venezuelan President Lashes Out Against Bush Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has lashed out against President Bush, calling him a war criminal who should be imprisoned.
• US Backs UN Envoy's Efforts for a Final Solution in Kosovo The United States has reaffirmed its support for the efforts of United Nations Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari for determining the final status of the breakaway Serbian province.
• Kenya's President Denies Ever Making One-Term Pledge Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki has denied ever making a pledge to stay in office for just one term.
• At Least 35 Dead in DRC Unrest No summary available.
• US Military Gives Afghan Army Weapons, Humvees, Britain to Send 800 More Troops The United States has given thousands of weapons and hundreds of armored vehicles to Afghanistan's army as it braces for renewed fighting with Taleban insurgents in the spring.
• Ambassador: Philippine Hostages in Nigeria In 'Good Condition' The Philippines' ambassador to Nigeria said Thursday 24 Philippine sailors abducted by Nigerian militants last month are "in good condition."
• Nominee for Top US Intelligence Job Pledges Not to Misuse Agency's Data President Bush's nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, retired Vice Admiral Mike McConnell, says if confirmed he would focus on preventing another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. McConnell made his comments at a Senate confirmation hearing, as VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.
• US Backs Year's Extension of Haiti UN Force The United States has endorsed a one-year extension of the mandate for the U.N. stabilization force in Haiti, MINUSTAH. At a multi-national meeting on the troubled Caribbean country in Washington Thursday, the Bush administration also committed another $20 million in aid to Haiti, VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.