| Page 2 of 2 < |
WORLD IN BRIEF
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
More than 4,000 troops have been deployed around the temple and in the immediate vicinity since July 15.
BURMA
No Release for Suu Kyi
Burma's foreign minister has said that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi can be kept in detention legally until late 2009, Singapore officials said Tuesday.
Burma Foreign Minister Nyan Win was misunderstood by his nine counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during a dinner conversation on Sunday, a Foreign Ministry official said.
Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo had quoted Nyan Win as saying that a political detainee can be held for a maximum of six years, and that the limit was approaching in about "half a year's time."
But the Straits Times newspaper on Tuesday quoted Yeo as saying that the six-year period will only be reached in the six months after May 2009, when Suu Kyi's latest one-year detention period expires.
SUDAN
A.U. Requests Deferral
The African Union will ask the U.N. Security Council to suspend action for a year on the indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Darfur genocide charges, Nigeria's foreign affairs minister said. The union will make the request in an effort to allow progress in slow-moving negotiations to end the five-year-old conflict in Darfur, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduekwe said.
* * *
Officials Close McCann Case
Portugal's attorney general ordered police Monday to halt their investigation into the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann because detectives uncovered no evidence of a crime during their 14-month probe.
The case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges, Attorney-General Fernando Pinto Monteiro's office said.
Suicide Bomb Injures 3
A Taliban suicide bomber wounded three civilians when he blew himself up as he was challenged by police in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said. Taliban militants have launched about 100 suicide attacks this year.
Damage in Burma Assessed
Burma will need at least $1 billion over the next three years to put the survivors of Cyclone Nargis back on their feet, a U.N.-led report said Monday in the first comprehensive assessment of damage caused by the storm that killed more than 84,000 people.
The May 3-4 cyclone caused damage estimated at $4 billion, said the report prepared by the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the military junta that governs Burma. Damage to assets was determined to be about $1.7 billion and loss of income was estimated at $2.3 billion.
Cease-Fire Achieved in Mali
The government of Mali and ethnic Tuareg rebels have reached a truce agreement in dangerous northern Mali, Algeria's ambassador to the West African country said Monday. The rebels want more help for the Tuaregs, an ethnic minority and semi-nomadic tribe living in several West African nations as well as in southern Algeria.
From News Services
