Super typhoon "Durian" hits eastern Philippines
By Maria Twink,WNS Philippines Correspondent
MANILA - Super typhoon Durian slammed into the eastern Philippines on Thursday, bringing torrential rains and powerful winds as it headed towards Manila. Packing winds of 190 kilometres (118 miles) an hour, Durian tore through the eastern island of Catanduanes, about 410 kilometres (254 miles) east of Manila, just before dawn destroying property and uprooting trees. Power lines were brought down, causing widespread blackouts throughout the eastern Bicol region including the provincial capital Legaspi City, the civil defence office said. In Manila, which was overcast, all schools were closed and emergency services put on alert. Durian is expected to hit Manila on Friday before moving into the South China Sea later in the day. So far there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.
The local government in Catanduanes and nearby provinces evacuated hundreds of residents from low-lying coastal areas, the civil defence office said. The typhoon is moving west at 17 kilometres (10.5 miles) per hour, packing gusts of 225 kilometres (140 miles) per hour, the government weather station said. The highest level of a four-step alert was raised over Catanduanes and other provinces in the eastern Bicol region while the third-level alert was raised in the nearby provinces of Sorsogon, Quezon and surrounding islands. The second level storm alert is in force over the capital of Metropolitan Manila and surrounding provinces. Electrical services were cut in the eastern province of Camarines Sur as a precautionary measure in the event power lines are knocked down, the local power distributor said. Ferry services have been cancelled in Catanduanes and nearby provinces and small vessels have been barred from sailing in areas where lower storm alerts are in force, the coast guard warned. Some local airline flights to the affected region were also cancelled, local media reports said. Over a thousand people have been left stranded due to cancellation of several ferry trips, the coast guard said. In the Bicol region, where strong rains and winds were causing minor floods, schools have been readied to serve as evacuation centres while heavy equipment is in place to clear up roads in the event of landslides, officials said. Residents of low-lying areas were warned to be on alert for flash floods while those living on mountainsides were told to be on the lookout for landslides, the weather station said.
The Philippines is still recovering from typhoon Cimaron, the strongest cyclone to hit the country in more than 10 years, which left 38 people dead or missing late last month. Manila received a direct hit, the first in more than a decade, from typhoon Xangsane in September causing caused widespread damage and leaving wide parts of the city without electricity for days. By the time Xangsane left the Philippines, it left more than 200 people dead and a damages bill running into the millions of dollars.
US and NKorean envoys dig in for second day of nuclear talks
By Tony White,WNS Asia Bureau Chief
BEIJING - US and North Korean envoys dug in Wednesday for a second day of tough negotiations laying the groundwork for a resumption of six-nation talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear arms program. US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was scheduled to meet again with North Korean envoy Kim Kye-Gwan and Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei, US government officials in Washington and Beijing said. The envoys met on Tuesday amid an invigorated push to resume the six-party negotiation process that began in 2003 but have been stalled for the past year over North Korean objections to US financial sanctions against it.
Asked on Wednesday if he was optimistic progress would be made, Hill told Japanese television: "Oh, I don't know. I have no idea". "But what I do know is the first round of talks will need to make progress and that's what I'm working on," he said before going into a meeting. The new focus on restarting the process also has drawn Japanese and South Korean envoys to a flurry of diplomatic meetings this week in China, which has played host to the six-party forum. Hill has said he hopes this week's discussions can lead to a resumption of full-fledged nuclear negotiations in mid-December.
Tuesday's meeting between Hill and Kim was their first since secret meetings in Beijing on October 31 that also included China's Wu. Following those meetings, North Korea agreed to rejoin the negotiations in principle, but no date was set. The resumption of full talks took on a new urgency following Pyongyang's nuclear test blast on October 9, which triggered United Nations sanctions. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said late on Tuesday that the US, North Korean and Chinese envoys were to meet together and then bilaterally on Wednesday as they did the previous day. The six-party talks have involved China -- Pyongyang's closest ally -- along with North Korea, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States.
Militant leader killed in Kashmir
By Charmaine Lopez,WNS South Asia Bureau Chief
SRINAGAR - Thousands of Kashmiris thronged to the funeral Tuesday of a top Islamic militant leader killed in a fierce pre-dawn gunbattle in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. Suhail Fazal was a divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and topped the list of Kashmir's most-wanted militants. His death was seen by Indian security forces as a major success in their anti-militant campaign in Kashmir. Fazal was gunned down early Tuesday in the Baba Mohalla area of Bejibehara, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Srinagar, according to Col. A.K. Mathur, a spokesman for the Indian army. Troops cordoned off the area after receiving a tip that Fazal might be there, Mathur said. Fazal fired numerous shots at the troops and kept changing location, he said, but was located and killed. Fazal's death, he said, is "a major breakthrough, as the militant commander had been responsible for scores of killings and attacks on security forces in south Kashmir Anantnag district."
According to the Associated Press, police said nine people were wounded, two seriously, when suspected militants threw a hand grenade at a bus carrying Indian tourists in the village of Tangmarg, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Some 3,000 people converged on Fazal's home village of Jablipora for his funeral. Jablipora is some 45 kilometers (27 miles) south of Srinagar. Anti-India sentiment runs high in Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state. Separatists have accused India and its military of repressive practices and discrimination. Police launched an operation in Bejibehara after a tip that Fazal was there, according to reports from the AP. An intense gunfight broke out after he was challenged, Lohia said.
Later Tuesday, Brig. S.K. Singh, commander of the Indian army's counterinsurgency wing, told reporters that Fazal's killing was a "severe blow" to the Hizbul Mujahideen. Also, late Tuesday the wife of a former Hizbul Mujahideen leader was shot and critically wounded by unknown gunmen in her Srinagar home, said Farook Ahmed, a senior police officer. Dr. Shamima Badroo is the widow of Abdul Majid Dar, the militant leader who was mysteriously killed after declaring a short-lived cease-fire with India in 2000. India accuses Pakistan of funding and training the militants in the Pakistani-controlled portion of Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries but claimed in entirety by both. Islamabad denies the charge, saying it only gives moral and diplomatic support to the rebels.
Rebel chief vows Sri Lankan Tamils will have own state
By Gandi Douglas,WNS Sri Lanka Correspondent
COLOMBO - The Tamil people of Sri Lanka have no choice but to have their own independent state, rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran declared, effectively ending the island's peace process. In his annual policy speech from a secret hideout, the Tamil Tiger leader accused the Colombo government of waging military and economic war against 2.5 million Tamils and that they were left "with no other option but an independent state." The declaration went back on a 2002 pledge to accept a federal solution under which the Tamils would enjoy broad autonomy. That commitment had opened the way for a ceasefire and Norwegian-brokered peace talks which collapsed in Geneva last month. However, President Mahinda Rajapakse, "by openly advocating attacks on our positions, has effectively buried the CFA (Ceasefire Agreement)," the head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) charged. "Our people are subjected to unprecedented assaults.
Arrests, imprisonment, and torture, rape and sexual harassment, murders, disappearance, shelling, aerial bombing, and military offensives are continuing unchecked," he said. Prabhakaran stopped short of declaring independence, but made it clear the peace process with the Sinhalese nationalist-led government was over. "It is now crystal clear that the Sinhala leaders will never put forward a just resolution to the Tamil national question," he said. "Therefore, we are not prepared to place our trust in the impossible and walk along the same old futile path."
In his November 2005 speech, Prabhakaran gave the government one year to come up with a political solution to Asia's longest-running ethnic conflict or face an escalation in the fighting. "He rejected our final call ... Instead, he (Rajapakse) intensified the war," while talking about peace, the LTTE chief said on Monday in a speech broadcast by Voice of Tamil radio from rebel-held territory in the north. "This dual war and peace approach is fundamentally flawed. It is not possible to find a resolution by marginalising and destroying the freedom movement." The policy speech was keenly-awaited by Sri Lankan leaders as well as foreign capitals after last year's deadline and an upsurge in violence that has killed more than 3,400 people in 2006.
Chinese president visits Lahore
By Andrew Fernandez,WNS Pakistan Correspondent
ISLAMABAD - Chinese President Hu Jintao is in the city of Lahore, known as Pakistan's cultural capital, on the last leg of a visit to the country. He has been holding talks with business leaders and visiting cultural sites. On Friday Mr Hu and the Pakistani President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, signed a number of defence and trade deals. On Saturday, the two countries issued a statement stating their determination to increase military, economic, trade and anti-terrorism co-operation.
"China will continue to view its relations with Pakistan from a strategic and long-term perspective and work together with Pakistan to elevate the China-Pakistan strategic partnership to a new high," the statement said. It added that China thanked Pakistan for its "valuable support on such issues as Taiwan, Tibet and human rights". On Sunday, Mr Hu is due to open a new industrial plant which will be managed chiefly by Chinese companies. Elaborate security arrangements are in force for Mr Hu's trip to Lahore, including the deployment of nearly 8,000 police to line the city's main routes.
Diplomats say the agreements signed on Friday could triple the value of bilateral trade within five years, to $15bn (£7.7bn). The two countries have also agreed new defence and energy deals and pledged to continue nuclear co-operation. Mr Hu arrived in Pakistan on Thursday after three days of political and trade talks with neighbouring India. His visit to Pakistan is the first by a Chinese leader in a decade.
S Korea in mass poultry slaughter
By Morris Jill,WNS Seoul Correspondent
SEOUL - South Korean quarantine officials are to slaughter 236,000 poultry after an outbreak of the H5N1 form of bird flu at a chicken farm. The outbreak occurred at a farm in Iksan, about 250km (155 miles) south of Seoul, earlier this week. Test results confirmed the outbreak was caused by a type of H5N1 virus, the country's agriculture ministry said. It said all birds within a 500-metre (1,650-foot) radius would be culled to prevent the virus from spreading. The ministry also said it would limit the movement of about five million chickens and ducks from 221 farms within a 10-kilometre (six-mile) radius of the outbreak.
Park Yong-jong, a city official in Iksan, said the cull would begin on Sunday morning. Lee Sang-gil, head of the agriculture ministry's livestock bureau, said no people had been infected. South Korea killed 5.3 million birds during the last known outbreak of bird flu in 2003. The H5N1 virus began hitting Asian poultry stocks in 2003, and has killed at least 153 people worldwide. Most human cases have resulted from contact with infected birds. Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that is more easily transmitted between people, possibly creating a pandemic.
China, Pakistan expand economic, defence ties
By Andrew Fernandez,WNS Pakistan Correspondent
ISLAMABAD - Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his Pakistani counterpart Friday to discuss expanding ties in defense, nuclear, economic and trade sectors, officials said.The one-on-one meeting between Hu and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf continued for about one hour, said a government official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. No details about the closed-door meeting were immediately available.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Air Force and Chinese Aviation Industries Friday agreed "for long term collaboration and co-development in the fields of aircraft manufacturing and other related fields including AWACS," a PAF statement said. It said a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Islamabad between Pakistan Air Force and a Chinese aviation company, CETC, for the improvement and further development of Chinese Airborne Early Warning System."The same may be delivered to Pakistan in coming years," it said. Pakistan Air Force is already collaborating with another Chinese aviation company, CATIC, for the co-development and co-production of JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft. Fight JF-17s are expected to be delivered to Pakistan during 2007.
On Friday, Hu was also expected to witness the signing of a free trade deal with Pakistan that will more than triple bilateral trade to US$15 billion (euro11.5 billion) in five years."China will help us build more nuclear power plants to enable us to meet our growing energy demands," said the official. Pakistan and China have long been close allies, and Beijing has helped Islamabad develop its infrastructure, including building a nuclear power plant and a deep-sea port. Hu, who arrived Thursday in Islamabad on the first visit to Pakistan by a Chinese leader in 10 years, will sign a raft of economic deals aimed at expanding a burgeoning bilateral trade that grew 39 percent last year to US$4.26 billion (euro3.3 billion). Salman Bashir, Pakistan's envoy to China, said a free trade agreement will be the most important document signed during Hu's four-day visit."We are expecting to take volume of bilateral trade to US$15 billion (euro11.5 billion) within the next five years with the implementation of the FTA (free trade agreement)," Bashir told the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.
The Chinese leader was given a rare red carpet reception at Islamabad's international airport by Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the entire Cabinet as well as the heads of each of the defense services. Hu was later driven in a heavily guarded convoy for a banquet at Pakistan's presidency building. "We feel proud to be friends of Pakistan and will further enhance our strategic relationship," Hu said during an address to the banquet, according to private-run Geo TV. Musharraf vowed to resolve his country's differences with India, particularly over Kashmir, and called for stability in war-wracked Afghanistan."Success in this endeavor would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity in South Asia," he said. On Friday, Hu would also meet with Aziz before delivering a live televised address to the nation. On Saturday, he travels to the eastern city of Lahore for further talks with political and business leaders.
China's president to woo investors as India visit wraps up
By Kamalesh Rattansi,WNS India Correspondent
MUMBAI - China's President Hu Jintao was due to wrap up a visit to India on Thursday, the first by a Chinese head of state in a decade, after the two Asian giants agreed to double trade and work to settle a long-festering border row. Hu, accompanied by a nearly 120-member business delegation, was slated to push closer commercial ties at an India-China investment and trade summit in the financial hub Mumbai before flying to Pakistan later in the day. But before he attended the summit, Hu was due to meet the family of an Indian doctor who died while treating Chinese troops during the Sino-Japanese war more than six decades ago and who has become a symbol of warming ties between Beijing and New Delhi.
The story of Dwarkanath Kotnis, a doctor who served Chinese soldiers during the 1937-1945 war and died at the front in 1942, lives on in Chinese textbooks, on postage stamps and at a hospital named after him. "We have a gift for Hu. It's a secret, but something which suits the Chinese heritage," said sister Vatsala Kotnis, also a doctor. Hu declared in New Delhi on Wednesday that China was ready to play a "constructive role" for peace in South Asia and he had made his trip to India to enhance "mutual trust". "China does not seek any selfish gains in South Asia and is ready to play a constructive role in promoting peace and development in the subcontinent," Hu told government officials, business leaders and diplomats in a keynote speech. Hu added he wanted to "chart a new course" for future strategic relations between the world's two most populous nations which have the world's fastest growing economies. "China is ready to work with India," Hu said, calling his talks on Tuesday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Indian capital "fruitful". Hu made a side-trip on Wednesday to see the Taj Mahal, India's famed monument to Love before heading to Mumbai.
Ties between India and China have long been clouded by the legacy of a 1962 border war and Beijing's economic and military support for Pakistan, India's long-time rival and neighbour. On Tuesday the Chinese leader and Singh pledged to accelerate attempts to settle the frontier dispute which triggered the border war. New Delhi claims a large chunk of Chinese-administered territory in disputed Kashmir while Beijing lays stake to Indian-administered Arunachal Pradesh. The leaders also announced on Tuesday plans to double trade to 40 billion dollars by 2010. India and China have been increasingly in competition in recent years, as they expand their global influence and scramble for energy and mineral resources globally to feed their booming economies. Some Indian papers seized on the protocol of Hu's arrival in India as showing the relationship between the Asian giants remained "business-like" rather than warm.
Pollution turns Yellow River red
By Su Wang, WNS China Correspondent
LANZHOU - A stretch of China's Yellow River turned red for the second time in a month because of pollution, media says. Waste water from a heating station near the city of Lanzhou contaminated 1km of the river, the country's second longest, according to Xinhua. A similar spill occurred in the same area at the end of October. China has some of the world's most polluted rivers, and is accused of overlooking the protection of the environment to develop its economy.
Local environmental officials said the red plume of water "very possibly" came from a station that provides heating for Lanzhou residents. The plant had added a red dye to its water to prevent people from siphoning off the hot water from the pipes it used, officials were quoted by Chinese media as saying. Tests found the dye was not toxic, and the spill lasted for around an hour, Xinhua news agency reports.
The spill came almost exactly a month after the same section of the river turned red. Officials are still said to be determining the cause of that event. The latest spill occurred on the same day China's environmental watchdog, the State Environmental Protection Agency, said tributaries feeding the Yellow River are seriously polluted. Some 21,000 chemical factories are believed to be located along China's rivers and coastline - more than half on the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, which are relied upon by millions of people.
At the beginning of the year, the country's environment chief warned that more than 100 of those chemical plants posed safety threats. A year ago, an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China caused a major toxic spill in the Songhua river. Water supplies to Harbin city were cut off for four days, and rivers in Russia's Far East were affected.
India and China 'to double trade'
By Dorai Krishnan,WNS India Bureau Chief
NEW DELHI - India and China have pledged to double trade to $40bn (£21bn) a year by 2010 during talks between Indian PM Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Mr Hu also said the two sides would continue efforts to solve their long-running border disputes. He was speaking in the capital Delhi during the first visit to India by a Chinese head of state for 10 years. China and India have overcome many hurdles in recent years but differences remain, correspondents say.China wants to boost its exports of manufactured goods to developing countries, while Indian firms, which have a comparative advantage in outsourcing of business and IT services, want more investment in China.
Mr Singh said there was enough space for the two countries to develop together in a "mutually supportive manner" after talks with President Hu. "We will endeavour to raise the volume of bilateral trade to $40bn by 2010 and encourage two-way investment flows," the Indian prime minister told a joint news conference in Delhi. That objective was reinforced by Mr Hu, who said the two sides would "sign an agreement on investment, promotion and protection between the two countries". During their talks, the two leaders had decided "to speed up the joint feasibility study on a regional trade arrangement", Mr Hu said.
Last year, China formally recognised the border state of Sikkim as part of India. The two sides also agreed to continue to work together to resolve other border issues. Mr Hu said that that work would continue. "Pending an eventual solution to the boundary question, the two sides need to continue their efforts to work together to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas," he said. Meanwhile, a number of Tibetan activists have been detained in Delhi for protesting at Mr Hu's visit and alleged Chinese atrocities in Tibet. India now recognises Tibet as part of China, but still hosts more than 100,000 Tibetans, including the Tibetan government-in-exile led by the Dalai Lama.
India-China ties at a crossroads
By Ali Muthu,WNS New Delhi Correspondent
NEW DELHI - When Hu Jintao arrives in India on Monday it will mark the start of the first visit here by a Chinese president in a decade. It's a measure of how relations between the two Asian giants have been captive to years of mistrust, mutual suspicion and rivalry. But a growing trade relationship between two of the world's fastest growing economies is challenging traditional mindsets and is encouraging vastly improved ties. Trade between the two countries is expected to touch $20bn by next year - in the 1990s it hovered around the $250m mark. Many view the economic relationship between the two as complementary rather than competitive.
While India has the resources to satisfy China's growing appetite for raw materials such as iron ore, steel and plastics fuelling its massive manufacturing industry, China can provide manufacturing expertise and investment in infrastructure. Many Indian IT firms, the country's growth industry over the past decade, have already established offices in China. But for two countries which have ambitions of being the unrivalled regional superpower, it is only natural that economics is often undermined by politics. Indian industry complains that China needs to be far more transparent in its dealings - for instance, they argue that there are hidden subsidies in China allowing its products to be priced far lower than the competition. There are also fears that China is flooding India with low-quality consumer goods - a fact that is illustrated vividly by a trip to any Indian market where Chinese-made clothes, furniture, electronic goods and even firecrackers are widely available. "But many of these goods are far lower in quality than what the Chinese sell to the West, including the United States," a top industry official says, refusing to be named.
But China has its own concerns. It says Delhi is blocking investment in areas such as ports and telecommunication, citing security concerns. While India denies it discriminates against Chinese investment, a recent internal report prepared by the country's national security council argued for new legislation to monitor investment from countries which could pose a risk to national security, including China.
Blair in Pakistan: counter-terrorism, Afghanistan on agenda
By Andrew Fernandez,WNS Pakistan CorrespondentISLAMABAD - British Prime Minister Tony Blair holds talks with President Pervez Musharraf, with the focus on bolstering counter-terrorism amid concerns about Pakistan's role in fuelling extremism. Blair's third trip to the West's key ally in the "war on terror" since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States will see him announce more funding for the fight against radicalism in Pakistan. His office said the 480 million pounds (447 million dollars) being made available over the next three years would take co-operation on security and counter-terrorism to a "new level." The bulk of the cash will go towards supporting Musharraf's efforts to push "enlightened moderation," particularly in education, where some madrassas or Islamic schools have been targeted for allegedly radicalizing Muslim youth.Britain has been on a drive to curb an apparent rise in Islamic radicalism among young men in its 1.6-million-strong Muslim population, particularly after last year's attacks on London's public transport system that killed 56. Three of the four suicide bombers were Britons of Pakistani origin while two of those three visited Pakistan in the year before the atrocities, allegedly for training and instruction from Al-Qaeda at extremist madrassas and camps. But the British intelligence service and police have in recent months expressed concerns about Pakistan's role in radicalising Muslim Britons travelling to the land of their fathers and grandfathers. A number of people, were detained in the south Asian Islamic republic in August this year as part of an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic passenger jets from Britain with liquid explosives. Blair will also meet Islamic scholars and visit a mosque Sunday as well as hold talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shaukat Aziz. The talks with Musharraf will also touch on the situation in Afghanistan, where about 4,500 British soldiers are currently engaged in fighting Taliban militants in the volatile south as part of a UN-sanctioned, NATO-led mission.
China, Japan seek 'concrete results' at NKorea's nuclear talks
By Huang Zhi Xuan,
WNS Northeast Asia Bureau ChiefHANOI - Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Saturday to strengthen ties in a joint effort to produce "concrete results" at planned six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear drive. The one-to-one was on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi, where the Japanese leader is making his international debut after succeeding his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi in September. "The two sides agreed on the need to produce concrete results at six-party talks and strengthen cooperation between Japan and China for the purpose," a Japanese government official said. "We need both dialogue and pressure," Abe told Hu, according to the official. Japan has pressed for tough action against North Korea and slapped a new trade ban on Pyongyang in response to its nuclear test on October 9. It is one of the six nations - the others are the two Koreas, China, Russia and the United States - involved in trying to dismantle its atomic weapons programme. During his second talks with Hu following their first summit in Beijing last month, Abe downplayed a brewing debate in his party on Japan's nuclear option in the wake of North Korea's atom bomb test. "We will stick to the three-point non-nuclear principles," Abe told Hu, referring to 1967 policy under which Japan, the only nation to be attacked by atomic weapons, has refused the possession, production and presence of nuclear weapons on its soil. Foreign Minister Taro Abe and top aides to Abe have called for Japan to hold a frank debate on whether to develop nuclear weapons after communist neighbour North Korea's atom bomb test. Abe and Hu meanwhile confirmed that the two countries were on right track to improve ties strained by their wartime history. The first Japanese leader to be born after World War II travelled to Beijing and Seoul in early October, shortly after taking office, in a bid to repair soured ties between Tokyo and its neighbours. The Chinese and South Korean leaders had refused to meet Koizumi because of his repeated visits to a war shrine linked to Japan's imperialist past.
Vietnam gets ready for big day
By Judy Harry,WNS Indo-China CorrespondentHANOI - Hanoi's street cleaners are working overtime. Elaborate floral displays have been erected along pavements and traffic islands, and huge banners are everywhere - vastly outnumbering the city's communist slogans. The Vietnamese capital is playing host to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) annual meeting, where many of the world's leaders - including US President George Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao - are to meet.
Vietnam's government sees it as a chance to showcase the country's fast-growing economy, and recent acceptance as a member of the World Trade Organization. "Apec is the most important political and diplomatic event in Vietnam this year," said government spokesman Le Dung, standing in the city's newly-built $270m convention centre. "This is our chance to show other countries what we can do," Mr Le added. It is not just the government that is excited by the thought of a huge international meeting in Hanoi. Many locals have been looking forward to the conference too. "I'm really happy that lots of important leaders are coming to Hanoi - especially George Bush," said waitress Nguyen Linh Chi, showing off her Apec T-shirt with pride. Even some Vietnam War veterans are excited about the US president's visit. "I don't earn much money and my life is quite miserable now. Maybe Mr Bush can help," said motorcycle taxi driver Do Kieu Tuan, who 30 years ago was one of the soldiers who helped drive the Americans out of Saigon.
Malaysia analyst on murder charge
By Taufik Ishak,WNS Malaysia CorrespondentKUALA LUMPUR - A well-connected Malaysian political analyst has been charged in connection with the murder of a Mongolian model. Abdul Razak Baginda, 46, appeared before a magistrate charged with abetting murder. His wife protested her husband's innocence in court. Model Altantuya Shaariibuu, 28, is reported to have been shot before her body was blown up with explosives. Two police officers, a chief inspector and a constable, were charged over the murder on Wednesday. A third police officer and two private investigators have been released on bail. The sensational case has gripped the country.
Abdul Razak Baginda, the head of a local think tank who has advised government ministers, has been in custody since he was detained more than a week ago. He is accused of conspiring with the two policemen, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, to murder Ms Shaariibuu. Mr Abdul Razak - like the other two defendants - did not enter a plea when the charges were read out in the packed court in Kuala Lumpur. The crime is punishable by death. But his wife, Mazlinda Makhzan, protested his innocence. "He is a good man. I don't know why you are doing this to him," she told the court. Mr Abdul Razak's lawyer earlier confirmed that his client knew the dead woman but denied the two had a romantic relationship. However, local newspapers have reported that she came to Malaysia seeking help with her young son's medical bills. She was allegedly last seen outside the analyst's house last month being bundled into a vehicle by policemen. Further reports say she was shot twice in the head and her remains blown up using C4 plastic explosives, which are normally only available to the security forces.
Small tsunamis hit northern Japan
By Takeshi Hiroto,WNS Japan CorrespondentTOKYO - Small tsunami waves have hit northern Japan, according to the country's meteorological agency (JMA). It said a 40cm (16 inches) wave hit Nemuro port in Hokkaido island. Another one of 20cm (8 inches) was recorded. The JMA initially expected a tsunami of at least two metres (6.5 feet) high after an 8.1 magnitude earthquake shook the Kuril Islands, north of Japan. Tsunami warnings for the area and for Russia's Pacific coast were later called off. The earthquake struck about 390km (240 miles) east of Iturup, known as Etorofu in Japan, at 2015 (1115 GMT), the JMA said. There have been no reports of injuries or damage following the earthquake. The past tsunamis have caused extensive damage in Japan but they were of a far greater magnitude than is being predicted. Japan's precarious geological position makes it one of the world's most earthquake-prone nations. As such, it has developed a sophisticated tsunami warning service, run by the JMA. If an earthquake looks as if it has the potential to trigger a tsunami, the JMA issues an alert within three minutes of it being identified.
Myanmar opposition urges Aung San Suu Kyi's release
By Tay Jia Hao,WNS Southeast Asia Bureau ChiefBANGKOK - Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy has urged the military government to free its leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a ceremony held two days after a visit by a top UN envoy. Some 250 people came to the party's headquarters for low-key services to mark Myanmar's National Day, buoyed by the sight of the first pictures of the Nobel peace laureate seen in at least three years. The party displayed the photos of Aung San Suu Kyi and UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, taken when the Nigerian diplomat met her Saturday in a rare visit allowed by the ruling military. In the pictures, which were released by the United Nations, Aung San Suu Kyi, 61, wore a traditional purple silk "longyi" dress with flower prints. She appeared to be healthy and gave a modest smile as she met with Gambari. Some 20 plainclothes police monitored the party's gathering from outside the building, but did nothing to stop the event. In a statement, the NLD called for dialogue and national reconciliation with the ruling military, and again urged the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the 1,100 other political prisoners believed to be held in Myanmar. "We urge the government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners immediately and unconditionally," the party said in a statement. Gambari told reporters Monday in Bangkok that he had urged the ruling military leader, Senior General Than Shwe, to release her. His meeting with her last weekend was his second this year. He was the only outsider allowed to see her in more than two years. After his four-day visit to Myanmar, he said the ruling military should take "concrete steps" on human rights, democratic reform and national reconciliation. The NLD won 1990 elections in a landslide victory, but the military refused to recognize the result.
Japan tries to preempt school suicide wave
By Yuko Ishida,WNS Japan Bureau ChiefTOKYO - Japan's education minister appealed Monday to prevent a wave of student suicides after at least two students killed themselves in response to bullying and more threatened to do likewise. Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki also reprimanded a school principal who hanged himself on Sunday for failing to stop bullying, saying he had not set the right example to students. Ibuki since last week has received nine anonymous letters from children threatening to commit suicide, sending authorities scrambling to identify the students who wrote them. Two students killed themselves over the weekend but it was unclear if they were among the letter-writers, according to police. Ibuki said that students should feel guilty about suicide. "Your lives are not just your own," the minister told a news conference. "You are not alone. Suicide doesn't solve anything." "We are setting up committees at each school to catch the students and help them, but it's really hard to find the signs," said Ibuki, who has urged suicidal children to stop writing to him. On Sunday, a 12-year-old girl was found dead in western Osaka prefecture after jumping to her death from the eighth floor of her family's condominium building, police said. The girl left a farewell note on her desk in her room, saying: "I will kill myself. Goodbye," police said. The girl's mother told school board members that her daughter had been bullied by schoolmates who called her "shortie" due to her height, news reports said. Separately, a 14-year-old boy was found dead after hanging himself in Saitama prefecture in Tokyo's suburbs, police said. His classmates had bullied him demanding money, Shuichi Nakano, the principal of the Saitama school, told a news conference Monday. Nakano quoted the boy as telling a counselor, "He demanded that I give them money and told me, 'Give me 500 yen or I'll add interest. Now give me 20,000 yen.'" Five-hundred yen is worth 4.25 dollars; 20,000 yen is about 170 dollars. Japan's schools have long been notorious for bullying, leading in worst-case scenarios to students killing themselves or others simply dropping out of school. Experts attribute the suicide phenomenon to the relative lack of cultural taboos about suicide and the intense pressure to blend in to society.
South Korea will not join US-led cargo inspections
By Raymond Lim,WNS South Korea Bureau ChiefSEOUL - South Korea has decided to shy away from a US-led international initiative to stop and inspect suspicious cargo, to avoid possible clashes with North Korea, a top politician said. The decision was reached Saturday at a joint meeting of top officials of the government and the ruling Uri Party, said Kim Won-Wung, a Uri Party lawmaker who chairs parliament's unification, foreign affairs and trade committee. South Korea, a close US ally, was under growing pressure to expand its roles in Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) drills, following the communist country's October 9 nuclear test. North Korea on November 1 confirmed it would return to six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programmes, on condition the issue of lifting US financial sanctions imposed against it was settled during the negotiations. "We have reached a conclusion that we support the spirit of PSI, but we should confine ourselves to our current roles in the drills," Kim Won-Wung told AFP. "Now that Pyongyang has decided to return to six-party talks, we don't have to take a step that wouldn't be helpful for creating an atmosphere for dialogue," he said. The North denounced South Korea for sending a government delegation of three observers to PSI drills off Bahrain late last month, arguing the drills "constitute part of the sanctions, blockade and military pressure". The South has sent observers to the sea drills instead of sending ships or troops to join the maneuvers. Officials in Seoul said South Korea's active participation in the PSI exercises could lead to armed clashes with North Korea, with which the South has been technically at war since a bloody 1950-1953 conflict. The two Koreas had several sailors killed and ships sunk in clashes in disputed waters in 1999 and 2002. The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution to broaden sanctions, including cargo inspections, against North Korea for its nuclear test. North Korea has since told South Korea not to enforce the sanctions, which Pyongyang said were tantamount to a declaration of war. Previous drills involved high-speed maritime chases and commandos rappelling onto vessels from helicopters or clambering aboard from fast boats, with inspectors in chemical suits searching suspect cargo.
Slain Sri Lankan MP honoured by Tamil Tigers
By Gandi Douglas,WNS Sri Lanka CorrespondentCOLOMBO - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have conferred their highest civilian honour on a moderate Tamil legislator killed in Colombo. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said their chief Velupillai Prabhakaran bestowed the title of "Mamanithar," or great man, on Nadarajah Raviraj, 44, who was gunned down on Friday by unknown assailants. "As a parliamentarian he worked tirelessly for the Tamil nation," Prabhakaran said. "He spoke loudly to the world about the Sinhala Buddhist chauvinistic state terror." Raviraj was a member of parliament from the northern district of Jaffna, the cultural capital of Sri Lanka's minority Tamils. His Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party was regarded a proxy of the Tigers. However, Raviraj, who spoke Sinhalese, was a personal friend of President Mahinda Rajapakse who has asked the foreign ministry to invite British police to help probe the killing. He was the second TNA legislator to be killed in a year. Legislator Joseph Pararajasingham was shot dead while he attended Christmas mass at a Roman Catholic church in the eastern town of Batticaloa. Tiger rebels have for three decades been fighting for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the Sinhalese-majority island. Raviraj had gone to the UN offices Thursday to seek protection for Tamils and other civilians caught up in the fighting. He was also a regular participant in television talk shows and had been severely critical of security forces as well as the government's handling of the Norwegian-backed peace process. The killing was a serious breach of security in Colombo where police and the armed forces have been maintaining a high state of alert for several weeks. Raviraj was gunned down in front of a military barracks during the morning rush-hour when large numbers of police and troops are deployed at virtually every key street junction. The killing comes during an upsurge in fighting on the island where the bloodshed has claimed nearly 3,300 lives in the past year, despite a 2002 truce in the separatist conflict.
Japan prepares to greet the PS3
By Aishi Kozumi,WNS Japan Business Correspondent
TOKYO - Yodobashi Camera in the Akihabara district of Tokyo is the kind of store the tourists flock to in Tokyo. This part of the city is known as "electric town"'. It's where you find the gadgets for which Japan is famous. The store is huge with almost every kind of consumer electronic brand you could think of on display. The products are stacked all the way along the long aisles spread over several floors. But for a couple of weeAhead of the official launch of the PlayStation 3, Sony's new games console is encased in a clear plastic box. A large high definition flat screen TV above it is showing a selection of the games you can play on it. I'm no expert but the graphics are remarkable. In one scene wild animals race across the Serengeti. A hippo yawns and then wiggles its ear in a way that looks truly lifelike. The problem for Sony though is pretty obvious here. It's playing catch up.
Customers can only look at the Sony machine but a few feet away they can grab Microsoft's Xbox 360 for themselves and try it out. The Xbox 360's been on sale for a year already. It's cheaper than the PS3 and some of those having a go in the store think it has better games. ks now a certain sleek black box has been attracting much of the attention. "You can have a really good console," said Dan who was visiting from Australia, "but if the games don't look any good no-one's going to be that interested." "That's the big thing about Xbox 360. My friends really like the games on it. Especially like Halo and stuff like that - they're really into it so I think that's probably the most important thing when you're deciding which one to buy." His friend Andrew was taking a close interest in the Nintendo display on the other side of the store.
Again the console was sitting inside a plastic box. The new Wii console doesn't go on sale here until the end of the year. The promotional video makes clear what the company regards as their device's unique selling point though. You can swing it through the air to mimic the movement of a swordsman for instance, or a batsman, or even throwing a frisbee. "I think Nintendo is behind its competitors at the moment," Andrew told me, "but Wii is going to put them back in front I think. It's just so different to everything else." Sony spokesmen tell me that it and its competitors are trying to turn their focus from games to "entertainment".
Singapore may alter sex laws
By Gabriel Tan,WNS Singapore Correspondent
SINGAPORE - Singapore plans to decriminalize oral and anal sex for adult heterosexuals under legislation unveiled Thursday, but the government said sex between homosexuals will remain banned.The government posted proposed amendments to the city-state's Penal Code -- the result of a three-year review -- on a Web site, and Singaporeans have a month to offer feedback. The Ministry of Home Affairs will consider the input before presenting the proposals to Parliament early next year.The amendments that have generated the most water-cooler buzz in strait-laced Singapore are those that would legalize oral and anal sex between consenting heterosexuals over age 16 -- and the retention of the law against acts between homosexuals.
That drew immediate criticism from People Like Us, a gay rights group."If the government aims for an open, inclusive society, it should be doing all it can to overturn prejudice and discrimination, rather than give people reason to remain close-minded through retaining (the ban) for symbolic purposes," the group said in a statement. The Home Affairs Ministry said it wants to modernize the laws "to be in line with social mores and emerging societal trends" -- but that doesn't include homosexuality. "Singapore remains, by and large, a conservative society. Many do not tolerate homosexuality," said a note published with the amendments. However, it said it would continue its policy of not proactively prosecuting private homosexual acts."Gross indecency" between two men can lead to two years in jail, but it's rarely punished. Singapore has a thriving gay community. Other proposed amendments would ban necrophilia, toughen penalties for sex with minors under 14, and introduce penalties for men who rape their wives.
The amendments would also expand the Sedition Act to cover "the wounding of racial feelings," and would toughen credit card fraud laws. A change in the "unlawful assembly" law would broaden its focus to groups "whose common object is to commit any offense, and not just those relating to public tranquility."Outdoor gatherings of more than four people now require a police permit -- a law seen by critics as an attempt to curb political dialogue. Such laws were highlighted in September, when protesters were confined to an indoor lobby during annual International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings held in Singapore.
Nepal peace breakthrough welcomed
By Kamesh Thaman,WNS Nepal Correspondent
KATHMANDU - Nepalese politicians and regional giant India have hailed a landmark peace deal with Maoist rebels after 10 years of insurgency in the troubled kingdom. The accord reached at midnight on Tuesday will see the rebels join a transitional government within a month. Nepalese politicians said the deal was historic. India described it as a victory for the people of Nepal.
Under the accord, the rebels' weapons will be put under UN supervision. Another major issue which has caused disagreement - the future of the monarchy - is to be resolved by a constituent assembly to be elected next year. Government negotiator Ram Chandra Poudel said the deal had "opened the doors to build a new Nepal". For the rebels, deputy commander Ananta said it was "a historic agreement". "With this agreement Nepal has entered into a new era," AFP news agency quoted him as saying. People in Kathmandu hoped the accord would bring peace, but some expressed scepticism about the rebels' intentions.
In one suburb, hundreds of people stopped traffic and burned tyres shouting slogans against the rebels.They condemned the rebels for visiting homes demanding that Maoists coming to the city for a rally on Friday be given food and shelter. The rebels deny exerting such pressures. India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said the deal was a "significant step in Nepal's democratic progress". "We expect these decisions to place Nepal on the path of reconciliation, peace, stability and economic recovery," a statement said.
By Maria Twink,
