KARADZIC: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has arrived at the U.N. War Crimes
Tribunal in The Hague, where he will be tried for genocide.Karadzic was
flown to the Netherlands in the pre-dawn hours today from
Serbia's capital, Belgrade, where he had been held since he was arrested last
week after 12 years on the run.Karadzic was one of the world's most
wanted fugitives. The war crimes tribunal has charged him with genocide for his
alleged part in the 1995 slaughter of eight-thousand Muslim men and boys in the
Bosnian city of Srebrenica.On Tuesday, Serb ultranationalists clashed
with police during a rally in Belgrade to protest Karadzic's arrest and upcoming
war crimes trial.
UN - NOKOR FOOD CRISIS: The United Nations says North Korea is facing it worst food crisis since the 1990s, when millions died as the result of famine.The World Food Program's country director for North Korea, Jean-Pierre de Margerie, said in Beijing today that the crisis is due to rising grain prices, flooding in 2007 and a poor harvest.De Margerie says the agency made the determination after a food security survey across the isolated country last month. He says the food shortage is forcing many families to reduce the number of meals. More malnourished children are being admitted to hospitals, and De Margerie says one of the main reasons for the jump is diarrhea due to the increased consumption of wild foods.
THAILAND - THAKSIN: Thailand's Supreme Court has agreed to hear new corruption charges against
ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.A government investigative
committee has accused Mr. Thaksin of conflict of interest in approving a
low-interest loan to Burma by the Import-Export Bank of Thailand. The
120-million dollar loan was intended to allow Burma to purchase equipment from
the Shin Satellite company, which was then owned by Mr. Thaksin's
family.The first hearing in the case is set for
mid-September.Mr. Thaksin is facing several corruption cases stemming
from his tenure as prime minister.
CHINA - OLYMPIC - MEDIA: Foreign media in China have confirmed that Chinese authorities are censoring journalists' Internet access at the main press center for the Beijing Olympics.Foreign journalists at the press center in Beijing are complaining that they have been unable to access web sites like that of the human rights group Amnesty International. The Associated Press says any Internet search with the word Tibet is blocked.The French news agency says a Beijing Olympics spokesman confirmed today that China will censor foreign journalists' access to the Internet.
US - CHINA - OLYMPICS: U.S. President George Bush has met with five Chinese freedom activists at the White House, ahead of next week's trip to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.Mr. Bush Tuesday assured the activists that he will carry the message to Beijing that human rights and religious freedom should not be denied to anyone.Mr. Bush also dropped in on a meeting Tuesday between his national security adviser and visiting Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi. The White House says he told Yang the Olympics are an opportunity for China to demonstrate compassion.
CAMBODIA ELECTION: The European Union says Cambodia's general election on Sunday failed to
meet international standards because a number of people were omitted
from voter lists.
The head of the EU international monitoring mission in Cambodia, Martin
Callanan, announced Tuesday that there were a number of
irregularities in the election, which the ruling Cambodian People's
Party, or CPP, says it won. Callanan said the ruling party dominated
state media coverage and used
state resources for its own purposes during the election campaign. The
CPP says it won Sunday's election with at least 90 seats in the
123-seat National Assembly, giving another term to Prime Minister Hun
Sen, who has held the job for the past 23 years.
WTO- TALKS: Japan and China are expressing bitter disappointment over the collapse of Word
Trade Organization talks in Geneva.Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
called the breakdown in negotiations "extremely regrettable" in a statement
released today from Tokyo. Chinese Commerce Minister
Chen Deming described the collapse as a tragic failure. He blamed the impasse on
the inability of two countries to compromise over a mechanism he says would have
protected poor farmers. He did not specify the two countries.The talks
broke down Tuesday when negotiators were unable to reach a compromise on
agricultural import rules.
PAKISTAN - VIOLENCE: Pakistan's military has declared a curfew in the country's northwestern
Swat Valley, as new battles raged between government troops and Taliban
militants.
Pakistani military officials said the latest clash came today,when security forces killed more than 20 militants in Swat.
Officials say the forces were searching for 30 security personnel
captured Tuesday during an ambush on a checkpoint in Swat. Also today,
Pakistani officials say Taliban militants shot and killed a
woman accused of spying for the U.S. Officials say militants dumped the
body near a village west of Miranshah in North
Waziristan.
TONGA - KING: Tonga's king has been anointed in a traditional ceremony complete with gifts of dozens of pigs and hundreds of baskets of food. King George Tupou the Fifth was saluted by scores of tribal chiefs during today's ceremony in the capital of Nuku'alofa. He is now the 23rd monarch of the South Pacific island.During today's ceremony, the king took the first sip of a mildly narcotic drink called kava, which is made from the roots of a local plant. A Western-style coronation will be held Friday. King George has been monarch since his father died in 2006. But his coronation has been delayed since riots later that year that left eight people dead and downtown Nuku'alofa in ruins.
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