WORLD IN BRIEF

Thursday, October 25, 2007

kuwait

Panel Pays $469 Million in '91 Gulf War Claims

The U.N. panel overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait said Wednesday it paid a $469.6 million installment from Iraqi oil funds to cover claims for losses and damages.

The latest transfer, consisting of 32 payments ranging from $2 million to $22 million, was made to governments, corporations and international groups in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States. In all, it has paid nearly $23 billion in compensation.

CONGO

Amnesty Calls for Security Services Reform

Congo should reform its security forces and prosecute members accused of raping, murdering and torturing suspected opponents of President Joseph Kabila, Amnesty International said Thursday.

The British-based rights body said government security, intelligence and police services continue to abuse human rights despite last year's landmark elections, designed to end years of war and chaos in the vast, unruly Central African state.

south korea

Ex-President's Role Cited in Kidnap Plot

A former president of South Korea gave a tacit nod to a secret 1973 operation to kidnap Kim Dae-jung, then a dissident leader who later became the first opposition-backed president and a Nobel peace laureate, a government panel said Wednesday.

The fact-finding panel of the National Intelligence Service also said it cannot rule out the possibility that former president Park Chung-hee may have directly ordered the kidnapping of Kim, then his main political rival. "It is judged that there was at least an implicit permission" from Park, the panel said.

Mexico

10 Oil Workers Die in Gulf Storm; Others Missing

At least 10 oil workers were killed when a drilling rig hit an oil platform, spilling gas and oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the state-owned oil company said Wednesday. Other workers were missing.

Rescuers pulled 58 oil workers from storm-tossed waters but had not controlled the oil leak, Mexico's oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said in a news release. At least 18 other employees of the state oil company were floating at sea in life rafts or unaccounted for, it said.

israel

Military Plans Gaza Power Cuts to Curb Attacks

Israeli military experts have formulated a plan to gradually cut off electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip in response to ongoing rocket fire from the Palestinian territory, military officials said on Wednesday.

Israel provides more than half of Gaza's electricity, and any power cutoff is sure to make life more difficult for residents. The move is also certain to draw international condemnation.

saudi arabia

Forbes Banned Over Report on Leaders' Wealth

Saudi Arabia has banned the latest issue of the Arabic-language edition of Forbes magazine for an article about the wealth of the king and other Arab leaders, an editor said Wednesday.

"This sort of ban is counterproductive," said Refaat Jaafar, managing editor of Dubai-based Forbes Arabia.

* * *

Egypt Arrests 13 Students Protesting Campus Vote-Rigging

Egyptian authorities detained 13 students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood after clashes with security men at a university campus, Brotherhood sources said. Those arrested were protesting alleged vote-rigging in student elections at Cairo's Ain Shams University on Monday.

Putin Names Representative to NATO Alliance

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree appointing a nationalist politician, Dmitry Rogozin, as Russia's permanent representative to NATO, a source close to the situation said. Rogozin is the flamboyant former head of Russia's Motherland party.

20 Arrested in Smuggling of Nigerian Girls for Prostitution

Police across Europe and in New York arrested 20 people suspected of smuggling young girls out of Nigeria and forcing them to work as prostitutes after intimidating them in voodoo rituals, according to Dutch prosecutors.

Danish Prime Minister Calls New Elections

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called for early national elections Nov. 13, seeking to profit from a strong showing in opinion polls and a robust economy.

From News Services