U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged leaders in the Arab world to embrace democratic reforms to improve their nations' economies and fight terrorism. Mr. Powell made his remarks at the opening today (Saturday) of a conference on the subject in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.
Early results from Taiwan's parliamentary election show pro-independence parties in the lead. President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, are about three seats ahead of the opposition Nationalist alliance, with about a third of the votes counted. President Chen is hoping his pro-independence coalition will win a majority in Taiwan's 225-seat legislature.
The United Nations and Cambodia have agreed to spend 56 million dollars to put the former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime on trial for genocide. UN and Cambodian officials announced the deal Friday in Phnom Penh. The two sides reached a deal in 2003 to set up the tribunals, which Cambodia's parliament ratified in October of this year.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said earlier this month the trials could only begin when there was enough money to fund the proceedings. Under Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979, an estimated two million Cambodians were killed or died of starvation, disease or overwork.
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