News for Wednesday, March 28, 2007

• Armed Men Seize Busload of Children in Manila Police in the Philippine capital, Manila, say armed men have hijacked a bus full of pre-school children and are holding them hostage.
• WFP: North Korea Faces New Food Shortages The World Food Program (WFP) says North Korea is facing new food shortages. WFP officials returning from Pyongyang say the North Korean government asked the U.N. agency to seek more food donations to prevent millions of people from going hungry. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from Beijing.
• Manila Police Say Bus Hijacker Agrees to Free Children, Surrender Police in the Philippine capital, Manila, say an armed man who took a bus full of children hostage has agreed to release them and surrender.
• Proposed Changes to Taiwan Constitution Provoke Beijing's Ire A private Taiwan research institute's proposal to rewrite the island's constitution has provoked a heated response from a Chinese official, an indication of how sensitive Beijing is to the slightest hint that Taiwan might be moving toward formal independence. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.
• Britain Presents Evidence Iranians Seized Sailors in Iraqi Waters A senior British military official has presented evidence he says is proof that 15 British naval personnel seized by Iranian forces last Friday were inside Iraqi territorial waters. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London.
• Zimbabwe Police Arrest Opposition Leader Aides to Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai say police have taken him into custody.
• Dozens Killed as Gunmen Storm Tal Afar's Sunni District Iraqi security officials say gunmen have stormed a Sunni district in the northern town of Tal Afar, killing dozens of people in apparent reprisal for Tuesday's deadly truck bombings in a Shi'ite area.
• Britain Freezes Other Ties with Iran to Focus on Captured Crew Britain says it has frozen diplomatic ties with Iran on all other issues - until Tehran frees 15 British naval personnel it captured on Friday.
• Indonesia to Share Bird Flu Samples with WHO The Indonesian government will again share samples of the H5NI bird flu virus with the World Health Organization, after the U.N. agency agreed to help protect Indonesia against overpriced flu drugs. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins reports from Jakarta.
• US Official Says Chinese Counterfeiters Stay Ahead of Law The top U.S. official in charge of protecting intellectual property rights says Chinese counterfeiters are often one step ahead of China's intellectual property rights enforcement agencies. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.
• Pakistani Militants Overwhelm Village Near Volatile Afghan Border A large force of well-armed militants has overwhelmed a Pakistani village near the country's volatile border with Afghanistan. The militants killed at least one security official and kidnapped a local school principal. From Islamabad, VOA Correspondent Benjamin Sand reports officials are concerned that local and foreign militants are gaining control over parts of Pakistan's remote tribal areas.
• Human Rights Watch Report: Bangladesh Mistreats Burmese Refugees An international human rights group has released a new report alleging that Muslim ethnic refugees from Burma are being mistreated in Bangladesh.
• Report: CIA Chief Says North Korea not Nuclear Power Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Michael Hayden is reported to have told South Korean officials that Washington does not recognize North Korea as a nuclear state.
• Kyrgyz President Dismisses Five Cabinet Members Kyrgyzstan's president has dismissed five top cabinet members and invited opposition nominations for replacements, in an apparent bid to stave off planned protests calling for the government's resignation.  VOA's Lisa McAdams in Moscow reports.
• Report: Burmese Army Commits Rape and Violence Against Chin Minority A new report by a women's rights group alleges that the Burmese army has committed large-scale rape and violence against the Chin minority.
• Former Supermodel Paulina Porizkova Eliminated From 'Dancing With The Stars' In a surprise move, Paulina Porizkova was sent packing Wednesday March 28, on ABC television's popular show, Dancing With The Stars.
• Fashion Designer Donatella Versace's Daughter Battling Anorexia Donatella Versace's daughter Allegra is battling anorexia.
• About 100 Haitian Migrants Come Ashore in Florida About 100 Haitian migrants have come ashore near Hallendale Beach north of Miami in the southern U.S. state of Florida.
• Two-Day SADC Summit Opens in Tanzania A two-day summit of the Southern Africa Development Community is opening in Tanzania.  High on the agenda are events unfolding in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.
• Sudan, UN Sign Deal for More Aid Access in Darfur The Sudanese government and the United Nations have signed an agreement Wednesday to boost humanitarian work in the volatile Darfur region.
• Country Music Star Wynonna Judd Files for Divorce Wynonna Judd has filed for divorce from her husband, Dan R. Roach, after his arrest on charges involving sex with a minor.
• Three Italians Held in EU Corruption Probe Belgian prosecutors say three Italian nationals, including two European Union employees, have been charged in a multi-million-dollar real estate corruption probe.
• Russian State-Owned Oil Giant Rosneft Targets Nearly All Yukos Assets Russia's state-owned oil firm Rosneft says it wants to acquire nearly all of the bankrupt Yukos Oil Company's production assets, as the Kremlin pushes to expand its control over the country's oil and natural gas riches.
• Sri Lanka's Military Captures Key Tamil Rebel Stronghold Sri Lanka's military says troops have captured a key Tamil rebel stronghold in the eastern part of the country.
• Historian John Hope Franklin Talks About Racism in America One of America’s preeminent historians, John Hope Franklin is emeritus professor at Duke University and the author and editor of 18 books.  The grandson of a slave, Professor Franklin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995 and the 2006 John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity. 
• Serbian PM: Blocking Ahtisaari's Plan is His Country's Foremost National Goal Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica says that his nation's foremost goal is to block the United Nations-mediated plan on the future status of the country's breakaway Kosovo province.
• Fuel Truck Fire Kills Scores of Nigerians Police say at least 83 were burned alive earlier this week in Northern Nigeria as they were taking gasoline from a crashed fuel-tanker truck.  For VOA Gilbert da Costa in Abuja reports that scavenging for fuel is leading to tragedy in Nigeria. The Nigerian police say victims of Monday's explosion were buried in a mass grave hours after the incident. Crowds of villagers were collecting petrol from a 33,000-litre tanker truck that crashed in northern part of Kaduna state, when the truck caught fire. Kaduna state police spokesman Sa'ad Yahaya told VOA what happened.
• Arab Summit Expected to Re-Launch Peace Offer to Israel Arab leaders are meeting in Saudi Arabia for a summit expected to re-launch a plan calling for normal relations with Israel if it withdraws from land captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
• Bush Says No Compromise on Iraq War Bill President Bush has renewed his threat to veto a bill before Congress that would fund the Iraq war, but would also set a deadline for a U.S. troop withdrawal. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports it is the latest escalation in tensions between the White House and the Democratic Party majority on Capitol Hill.
• Health Experts Recommend Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention For the first time, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS are recommending that male circumcision be used as part of a comprehensive package of prevention of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Both agencies say strong evidence from trials in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa provide compelling evidence that male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually-acquired HIV infection in men by about 60 percent. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.
• Nigerian Analysts Express Concern Over Potential Election Problems The elections in Nigeria, scheduled to begin on April 14, are considered by almost everyone concerned to be the most important event in the country’s history since its independence from Britain in 1960. Analysts say the polls will either strengthen democracy in Africa’s most populous country, or plunge Nigeria into chaos. Nigeria has been ruled by military dictators since the end of colonialism. But these elections are set to result in Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been president since 1999, handing power over to a successor. This’ll be the first time in Nigeria that civilian administrations will have changed through the ballot box. In this first of a five-part series, VOA’S Darren Taylor examines the context in which the Nigerian elections are set to occur.   
• EU Calls for 'Spirit of Reconciliation' in Democratic Republic of Congo European Union envoys say the recent violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that killed as many as 500 people was "irresponsible" and should be replaced with a spirit of reconciliation and inclusiveness.
• US Drops in Information Technology Rankings The World Economic Forum says the United States is no longer the global leader in exploiting technology for economic gain.
• Britain Urges UN Action on Zimbabwe Britain is asking the United Nations and African leaders to reprimand Zimbabwe for its human rights failures. Correspondent Peter Heinlein reports from U.N. headquarters in New York.
• US Targets Colombian Drug Kingpin The U.S. Treasury Department has named a Colombian-based man as a "major" criminal drug trafficker and frozen his assets with the aim of striking at what officials say is his massive financial empire.
• Bird Flu Kills Three More Indonesians; Teenage Boy Dies in China Health officials in Indonesia say three more people have died of bird flu.