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Pregnant British Woman Faces Trial in Laos


GEORGIA UPRISING: Georgia's Defense Minister says a "rebellion" is under way at a Georgian military base outside Tbilisi. Officials said a coup was uncovered Tuesday at the Mukhrovani military base. They said the main aim of the uprising was to disrupt NATO military exercises in the country. Officials say the uprising is backed by Russia. Last month Moscow urged NATO to postpone military exercises in Georgia, but NATO refused to delay the military drills set to begin May 6. NATO said the exercises were planned last year.

PAKISTAN VIOLENCE: Pakistani police say a suicide bomber rammed his car into a military vehicle in the northwestern part of the country, killing four civilians and one soldier. Officials said the attack happened Tuesday at a checkpoint near the city of Peshawar in the volatile semi-autonomous tribal area of Khyber. At least 21 people were wounded in the attack, including several children. A officer in the local bomb disposal unit said the bomber's vehicle was carrying an estimated 85 kilograms of explosives.

LAOS - BRITAIN: Laos says a pregnant British woman who was arrested last August for alleged drug smuggling will go on trial sometime next week. Lao government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing told VOA (Lao Service) today initially Lao authorities planned to put Samantha Orobator on trial this week, but have to postponed to next week because Lao government to find her a defense lawyer. Mr. Nuanthasing would not confirm the charges against her. But he said Monday that the trial will be "carried out fairly" and that no one has been executed in Laos in about 20 years.

BURMA - POLITICS: Burma's military government has rejected an appeal to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer, Kyi Win, says authorities say the appeal was not strong enough. Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years - including the past six - under house arrest. Last October, Kyi Win submitted an appeal to the government arguing that Aung San Suu Kyi was not a threat to state security. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate's most recent period of detention ends later this month on May 27.

CHINA - QUAKE RIGHTS: Rights group Amnesty International has released a new report that says Chinese authorities have intimidated and unlawfully detained parents and relatives of children who died in last year's devastating Sichuan earthquake. The report says authorities have also harassed activists and lawyers who tried to assist them. In the report called Justice Denied, Amnesty International documents instances where parents and relatives were detained for up to 21 days for trying to seek answers from officials about why their children died.

SWINE FLU: A chartered Mexican plane arrived Tuesday in China, where it will make stops in several cities to pick up about 70 Mexicans quarantined there over fears they have contracted H1N1 influenza. Their retrieval comes hours after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the world body's top health agency has no plans at this time to raise the global pandemic alert level for the virus commonly known as swine flu. The U.N.'s World Health Organization says more than 1,000 cases of the illness have been confirmed in 21 countries.

US LOTTERY WINNER: The winner of a $144 million lottery jackpot has come forward, nearly three weeks after the drawing. The 82-year-old man sent his lawyer to claim the prize Monday on behalf of a corporation set up to keep his identity secret. The man is a widower with 10 children and 47 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The man's lawyer, David Wilmott, said the man chose to receive a lump sum payment of $79.6 million. Wilmott said the money is being put into three trusts. One trust will provide education for his family, one will pay for family healthcare and another will give money to charitable causes.

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