News for Thursday, March 1, 2007
• Iraqi FM: Iran, Syria to Attend Conference With US Iraq's foreign minister says Iran and Syria have agreed to take part in a regional security conference in Baghdad that will include delegations from the United States and other world powers.
• Inter-Korean Talks Enter Second Day North and South Korea are haggling over food aid, family reunions and other inter-Korean issues during the second day of high-level talks between the two countries.
• Israeli Troops Storm Building in Nablus Israeli troops are continuing raids in the West Bank city of Nablus.
• Major Asian Markets Continue Declines Major Asian stock markets fell for the third straight session Thursday, because of ongoing concern about the global economy.
• Rights Group Calls on China to End Discrimination Against Migrant Workers The human rights organization Amnesty International has called on China to drop its household registration system, saying it discriminates against migrant workers who are becoming China's "urban underclass." Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.
• Prominent US Historian, Former Kennedy Aide Arthur Shclesinger Jr. Dies Award-winning U.S. historian and presidential aide Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., has died at the age of 89.
• Indonesia, WHO to Resume Bird Flu Cooperation Indonesia says it will resume sharing bird flu virus samples with the World Health Organization after receiving guarantees they will not be used for commercial purposes.
• Priest Charged as Vietnam Cracks Down on Dissidents The Vietnamese government says it will prosecute Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly for disseminating anti-Communist propaganda. Ly has already spent several years in prison for political crimes, but was freed in an amnesty in 2005. The charges appear to be part of a recent campaign to rein in dissidents, as Matt Steinglass reports from Hanoi.
• First African Union Peacekeepers Arrive in Somalia Officials in Somalia say the first members of an African Union peacekeeping force have arrived.
• McCain Enters US 2008 Presidential Race Republican Senator John McCain says he will formally declare his candidacy for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination in early April after a trip to Iraq.
• Bush Heads to US Gulf Coast; Report Says Recovery Stagnant President Bush is visiting the U.S. Gulf Coast Thursday to check on recovery efforts 1.5 years after Hurricane Katrina.
• Norway Grants Asylum to Cuban Dissident Expelled From Bolivia A Cuban-born doctor who was expelled from Bolivia after criticizing President Evo Morales has been granted asylum in Norway.
• Uganda Works to Resume Peace Process A top Ugandan official says the government is doing all it can to resume peace talks with northern rebels.
• NBA: Philadelphia 76ers Beat Phoenix Suns No summary available.
• China Compares US Criticism to a Nosy Neighbor China has compared U.S. concerns about its military buildup to the prying of a voyeur wanting to see his neighbor naked. China is expected to announce an increase in defense spending next week during its annual legislative session. As Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing, the comments show just how private an issue China considers its military.
• Car Bomb in Colombian City of Neiva Wounds Eight No summary available.
• Bush Extends Sanctions Against Zimbabwe Officials No summary available.
• Thai Government Blocks Station Linked to Ousted Prime Minister Thailand's military-installed government scuttled the launch of a television station Thursday that is linked to supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
• Wade Declared Winner in Senegal Presidential Election Officials in Senegal have confirmed incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade as the winner of Sunday's presidential election.
• Kurdish Officials Praise Iraqi Oil Draft Law, but Hurdles Remain Iraq's Cabinet approved a draft law this week that is considered a key step toward developing the country's vast oil and natural gas reserves. But VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Irbil that Kurdish officials say the agreement does not resolve how the country will divide up its oil revenue.
• US Again Says N. Korea Admitted to Enriching Uranium The Bush administration reiterated Thursday that North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had a uranium-enrichment program. The North Korean admission led to the breakdown of a 1994 nuclear freeze accord, which has now been superceded by a multi-lateral disarmament deal. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.
• Iraq Deputy PM: Iraq's Stability in Interest of Region, International Community Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih says it is in the interest of Iraq's neighbors and the international community to help in the stabilization of Iraq.
• Belarusian Police Confiscate Opposition Flyers Belarusian police have raided an apartment in Minsk, confiscating as many as 200,000 opposition leaflets calling for a demonstration marking the country's independence day.
• Radioactive Water Leaks From Czech Nuclear Power Plant Officials at the Czech Republic's Temelin nuclear power plant say about 2,000 liters of mildly radioactive water leaked from the facility earlier this week.
• US Files Terror Charges Against Australian Held at Guantanamo Bay The United States has formally charged an Australian national held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with providing material support for terrorism.
• Televised Debate Kicks off Hong Kong's First Leadership Election Hong Kong's first contested election for chief executive has begun with an unprecedented live television debate.
• Head of US Military Hospital Relieved of Duty After Care Scandal The U.S. Army has relieved Major General George Weightman of his command of the scandal-plagued Walter Reed military hospital in Washington.
• Former US Central Bank Chief Sparks Debate on US Economy Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan's statement that the U.S. economy could fall into recession this year helped to trigger not only the huge sell-off on the global stock markets Tuesday, according to financial analysts, but also started a debate on the health of the U.S. economy.
• US Envoy Calls for More Attention to North Korea's Rights Record The White House's special envoy for human rights in North Korea is calling for greater U.S. attention to Pyongyang's human rights record, which is not within the scope of the six party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Washington.
• US Drug Report Stresses Problems in Afghanistan, Venezuela The U.S. State Department's annual report on illicit drug trade worldwide, issued Thursday, said Afghanistan's opium production hit a record high last year while there was backsliding on anti-drug efforts in Venezuela and Bolivia. Iran's counter-narcotics efforts were commended. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.
• Azerbaijan Seeks High Tech Investors is known for its oil riches, but the Caucasus nation is also working to become a regional high tech center. Mike O'Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, an Azerbaijani official tells U.S. businesses the next boom in his country will be in information technology.
• Study: Future Oil Production Dependent on State-owned Oil Companies A study released Thursday by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston shows that most of the needed increase in world oil production in coming years will come from state-owned oil companies in developing countries. The report says international privately owned oil companies, which have been the main producers in the past will play an important role working with the national oil companies to improve their efficiency. VOA's Greg Flakus has more from Houston.
• Arab-Israeli Infant Doing Well After Multiple Transplant U.S. surgeons say they have successfully completed a six-organ transplant on a 15-month-old Arab-Israeli girl. From Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports she is the second child in the same family to undergo the intensive procedure in the United States.
• Tornado Kills 18 in US South Emergency management officials in the southern U.S. state of Alabama say tornados have killed 18 people.
• US: World Powers Make Progress on New Iran Nuclear Sanctions Resolution The United States says six world powers have made progress on a new U.N. sanctions resolution aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program and could begin drafting the text next week.