News for Thursday, March 29, 2007

• Iran Demands Britain Admit Sailors Strayed into Iranian Waters Iran's foreign minister says Britain must admit that its 15 sailors mistakenly entered Iranian waters in order to resolve the standoff over their capture.
• China, Taiwan Battle For South Pacific Diplomatic Supremacy Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan is on a tour of the South Pacific, which includes visits to Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Beijing is involved in a diplomatic fight with Taiwan, which has close relations with a number of South Pacific Island nations. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
• Amnesty Says South Asia Human Rights Defenders At Risk Amnesty International says the human rights situation in two South Asian countries - Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - has deteriorated in recent years. The human rights watchdog says that in Bangladesh people promoting human rights are under attack, while in Sri Lanka an escalated ethnic conflict has resulted in the killings and disappearances of many civilians. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, where Amnesty has two reports.
• NBA: Mavericks Edge Bucks to Win 60th Game The Dallas Mavericks won their 60th game of the season Wednesday as they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 105-103 in the National Basketball Association.
• Iraq's Traffic Police Chief Escapes Assassination Attempt in Baghdad Iraqi security officials say the head of the country's traffic police escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen attacked his convoy in northern Baghdad Thursday.
• Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Resigns Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Azim Isabekov has resigned, a day after the political opposition rejected the government's invitation to form a coalition.
• Castro Blasts US Food Use Policies in First Article Since Illness Ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro has broken months of silence with an editorial in the state newspaper, Granma, criticizing U.S. food-use policies.
• Indonesia: Initial Tests Show 2 More People Died of Bird Flu Indonesian health officials say initial tests show another two people have died of bird flu in recent days.
• Former Gonzales Aide Says US Prosecutor Firings 'Poorly Explained' The former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year were explained poorly but were properly made.
• Bombings in Baghdad, Nearby Areas kill 11 Iraqi security officials say at least 11 people were killed in a series of bombings and other attacks in and around Baghdad Thursday.
• Britain Presses Iran For Access to Detained British Sailors Britain is maintaining pressure on Iran for access to 15 British sailors captured in the northern Persian Gulf on Friday.
• Madrassa Kidnapping Standoff Continues in Pakistan Students at a pro-Taleban religious school in Pakistan's capital are continuing a tense standoff with police, refusing to release the alleged owner of a brothel, two alleged prostitutes and an infant taken hostage on Wednesday.
• Agreement Allows More Aid Workers Access to Darfur Sudan and the United Nations have signed an agreement to facilitate the travel of humanitarian workers into the war-torn Darfur region. Aid workers had complained they had to undergo lengthy procedures to obtain visas and permits to work in Darfur. Noel King is in Khartoum and has this report for VOA.
• At Least 10 Killed in Renewed Mogadishu Fighting Reports from Somalia's capital say at least 10 people have been killed in renewed fighting between insurgents and allied Ethiopian and Somali government troops.
• US Congress to Honor Pioneering Black Fighter Pilots At least 200 surviving members of the first group of African-American fighter pilots will receive the Congressional Gold Medal Thursday during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
• China Criticizes US Pressure Over Currency Value China's Foreign Ministry says the United States should not pressure Beijing to revalue its currency, or blame China for what it calls U.S. internal economic problems. The rebuke comes after U.S. senators announced plans to introduce legislation to pressure China on its currency, which they blame for American job losses and an increasing U.S. trade deficit. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.
• Arab Leaders Relaunch Peace Plan, Urge Israel to Accept Initiative Arab leaders have re-launched a land-for-peace plan with Israel and are urging the Jewish state to accept the initiative.
• Afghanistan: Taleban Demands Release of Prisoners in Exchange for Hostages A militant in southern Afghanistan has demanded the release of Taleban prisoners in exchange for four Afghan health workers and their driver who were kidnapped Tuesday in Kandahar province.
• Former VP Bemba Expected to Leave DRC Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Jean Pierre Bemba has talked about leaving the country, and recent reports say he could soon be flown to Portugal for health care.  Bemba is in the South African Embassy in the capital Kinshasa, where he sought refuge when fighting broke out between his militia and Congolese army forces last week.  Kari Barber has more from VOA's West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.
• Ivory Coast President, Rebel Leader Discuss Power-Sharing Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro say they will discuss power sharing and the makeup of a new government if Soro becomes prime minister.  Ivorians are still awaiting the presidential decree that would make the announced appointment official.  Naomi Schwarz reports from VOA's regional bureau in Dakar.
• 'American Idol' Field of Hopefuls Narrows to 9, Sligh Eliminated in Wednesday Competition Bye bye, Sligh: Chris Sligh was bounced from the March 28 edition of American Idol, narrowing the field of hopefuls to nine.
• Rocker, Activist Bono Given Honorary British Knighthood Irish rock star and anti-poverty activist Bono has been awarded an honorary British knighthood.
• Griffin Denies Ferrari Crash was Hoax Eddie Griffin says his Ferrari crash was no hoax. The movie comic - who on March 26 crashed a $1.5 million Ferrari Enzo sports car on a California race track - says the crackup was not a stunt to publicize his upcoming movie Redline.
• European Parliament Backs Kosovo Independence The European Parliament has overwhelmingly endorsed a United Nations plan giving Kosovo supervised independence from Serbia.
• South African President Called on to Mediate Zimbabwe Crisis Southern African leaders meeting in Tanzania have appointed South African President Thabo Mbeki to mediate dialogue between opposition political parties and the government of Zimbabwe.
• Scientists: Mammal Evolution Only Began Long After Dinosaur Extinction An international team of scientists has come up with a new timetable for the evolution of mammals, saying they began to emerge millions of years after the extinction of dinosaurs.  VOA's Jessica Berman reports the researchers reached their conclusion by piecing together the ancestral family trees of thousands of animal species.
• Dwindling Honeybee Population in US Puzzles Scientists Scientists looking into the dramatic decline of the honeybee population in the United States say they are baffled by the developments.  But they told the U.S. Congress Thursday the drop is threatening the production of a significant portion of the U.S. food supply that relies on honeybee pollination.   VOA's David McAlary reports.
• US 'Surprised' by Saudi Comments on American Role in Iraq The Bush administration Thursday expressed surprise, and said it was seeking clarification, over remarks by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at the Arab League summit that the United States role in Iraq was an "illegal foreign occupation." U.S. officials meanwhile are welcoming the Arab League's relaunch of its 2002 peace initiative for Israel. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.
• Iranian State Media: Iran to Consider Turkish Request to Free British Sailor Iran says it will consider a Turkish request for Tehran to free the only woman among the 15 British naval personnel captured last week.
• US Defense Expenditures Could Exceed $700 Billion As the U.S. Congress draws up the 2008 federal budget, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense is focusing specifically on financial requests by the military.   At a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday, subcommittee members questioned Defense Secretary Robert Gates about the costs of war above and beyond those reflected in the budget itself.  VOA's Peter Fedynsky reports.
• UN Security Council Voices "Grave Concern" at Iran's Detention of Britons The U.N. Security Council has agreed on a watered-down statement expressing "grave concern" at Iran's continued detention of 15 British naval personnel.
• Arab States Reaffirm Peace Proposal The Arab League has urged Israel to accept a revived Arab peace proposal aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The call came at the end of a two-day Arab summit in Riyadh. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from the Saudi capital.