Japan's handling of leadership crisis highlights flaws in democracy

April 10, 2000

TOKYO, APR 9 (AP) - No campaign. No public debate. No raucous party meeting.

With the prime minister in a coma, the five leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party gathered - in secret - and whittled down their choices for a successor.

more....

Greece elections: dead heat race moves to ballot box

April 10, 2000

ATHENS, APR 9 (AP) - Both parties claim victory is certain. The only certainty, however, is that one will be right.

Greece's cliffhanger election race reaches the ballot box Sunday. The outcome will either extend the dynasty of the Socialists or give their conservative opponents only their second taste of power in the past 19 years.

more....

Key facts about Peru elections

April 10, 2000

UNDATED, (AP) - Key facts about Peru, which holds elections to choose the president and Congress on Sunday:

ELECTION : More than 14 million voters are registered to take part in the presidential election. President Alberto Fujimori, seeking an unprecedented third five-year term, faces eight opponents. Only one candidate, Alejandro Toledo, is considered a serious threat. A runoff would be scheduled in late May or early June if no candidate achieves a majority.

On Sunday, voters also will choose a new 120-member unicameral Congress.

more....

Blair says he will reduce public duties to help wife with the new baby

April 10, 2000

LONDON, APR 9 (AP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair will not take full paternity leave when his fourth child is born next month, but will cut back on engagements for a while to help his wife, Cherie, a Sunday newspaper said.

"I don't ever stop being prime minister," Blair was quoted as telling the weekly Observer newspaper. "Even when I am on holiday I do several hours of work a day."

more....

Bolivia declares state of siege, mobilizes soldiers and police

April 10, 2000

LA PAZ, Bolivia, APR 9 (AP) - Bolivia's president declared a state of emergency, sending police with tear gas and rubber bullets into the streets of Cochabamba, the country's third-largest city, to try to quell demonstrators who hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at them.

Three protesters were reported killed Saturday in separate clashes with police, and Government Minister Walter Guiteras said scores of protest leaders were detained and confined to San Joaquin, a remote town on the border with Brazil, 460 miles (740 kilometers) from La Paz.

more....

Georgian election : Shevardnadze favorite

April 10, 2000

TBILISI, Georgia, APR 8 (AP) - President Eduard Shevardnadze was the clear favorite as he sought a second term in elections Sunday, but still faced the prospect of being forced into a runoff against a former Communist leader.

Voting began around dawn in the nation of 5 million people without any immediate reports of problems.

more....

Regionalism likely to prevail in South Korean parliamentary elections

April 10, 2000

SEOUL, APR 9 (AP) - One candidate with a sword beheaded a crude effigy symbolizing corrupt politics. One has held mock funerals, with a coffin as a prop, for government sleaze. Another collects garbage in Seoul to show his record is clean.

Ahead of parliamentary elections on April 13, candidates from rival parties snipe at each other and trumpet reformist credentials, false or not. The cacophony obscures a fundamental question: what do the parties stand for and what are their differences?

more....

Vietnam: An American remembers the war at home

April 10, 2000

UNDATED, (AP) - Our high school graduation ceremony began in the best American tradition.

Wearing gowns and mortarboards, we gathered in the gymnasium, our parents watching proudly from the bleachers.

But things didn't go according to plan. The corrosive effect of a war being fought nearly 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) away was being keenly felt at Metuchen High School in New Jersey.

more....

Group of 77 to hold first summit of state heads

April 9, 2000

HAVANA, APR 8 (AP) - Moammar Gadhafi of Libya and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are among at least 65 heads of state who will attend the first presidential summit held here next week by the Group of 77 developing nations, organizers announced Friday.

The presidents of Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia have confirmed their attendance. Kim Yong Nam, president North Korea's parliament and the country's ceremonial head of state, will come to Cuba for the summit and an official visit, the North's media reported.

more....

Israel formally asks to be included in European regional group

April 9, 2000

UNITED NATIONS, APR 8 (AP) - After years of behind-the-scenes negotiations, Israel has formally asked to join the U.N. regional group of European, North American and other countries in a bid to have more representation at the United Nations, diplomats said Friday.

 Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Lancry wrote to the chairman of the so-called Western European and Others Group asking it consider Israel to be a full member on a temporary basis. The letter was received Friday by the New Zealand mission, which currently heads the group, diplomats said.

more....

Bosnian voters choose local officials in ballot

April 9, 2000

SARAJEVO, APR 8 (AP) - Bosnian voters are choosing about 3,300 local officials in an election whose outcome may

determine whether the United States and the Europeans continue efforts to rebuild the nation, still led by the same ethnic groups that dragged the country into war.

International officials who administer the country under the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords have indicated that support for Bosnia may evaporate if ethnic parties opposed to a multiethnic society retain their hold on power.

more....

Bush reaches out to Hispanics, gay Republicans

April 9, 2000

LOS ANGELES, APR 8 (AP) - George W. Bush repudiated the immigration policies of former Gov. Pete Wilson Friday, telling Spanish-speaking women he understood why poor Mexicans want to move here. He also reached out to gay Californians, saying he would meet with members of a gay Republican group.

Courting the Hispanic vote in California, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee spoke in Spanish occasionally as he addressed a crowd of hundreds of women. When he spoke at a news conference later, a Mexican flag was directly behind him, flanked by the U.S. and California flags.

more....

U.N. threatens further sanctions against Taliban

April 9, 2000

UNITED NATIONS, APR 8 (AP) - The Security Council threatened further sanctions Friday against Afghanistan's Taliban militia to compel it to agree to U.N. demands to end fighting and handover Osama bin Laden for trial in the bombing of two U.S. embassies.

In a statement adopted after an open debate on Afghanistan, council members blasted the Taliban for the unabated violence and worsening humanitarian conditions in the country.

more....

Arafat says peace talks with Israel are a waste of time

April 9, 2000

RAMALLAH, APR 8 (AP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Friday that peace negotiations with Israel are a waste of time and called for deeper U.S. intervention to pressure Israel to make concessions.

But a state department spokesman said no American proposals were expected at this point.

more....

Bureaucrats’ brace for possible disaster on Mount Usu

April 9, 2000

DATE, Japan, APR 8 (AP) - Dozens of bureaucrats sit crammed in a stuffy room, answering phones, typing on computers and smoking cigarettes. Aides rush about with stacks of papers as a voice drones over a loudspeaker with the schedule for an upcoming meeting.

It's crisis management in Japan - a country governed by consensus, where every agency expects to have its say.

more....

INS doled out far too many high-tech visas last year

April 8, 2000

WASHINGTON, APR 7 (AP) - Auditors have concluded federal officials mistakenly doled out more visas for skilled foreign workers last year than the government previously estimated.

An analysis by KPMG Consulting determined the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service exceeded the congressionally mandated limit by 21,888 to 23,385 visas for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

more....

Former Pakistani premier Sharif sentenced to life in prison

April 8, 2000

KARACHI, APR 7 (AP) - Pakistan's former prime minister was sentenced to life in prison but escaped the death penalty, almost six months after he unsuccessfully tried to fight off a coup by blocking the army chief's plane from landing in Pakistan.

An anti-terrorist court on Thursday convicted Nawaz Sharif of hijacking and terrorism for the events of Oct. 12, when he refused to let a commercial airliner carrying Gen. Pervez Musharraf land in the southern city of Karachi. The army deposed Sharif that day, and Pakistan's new army rulers brought charges against the ousted leader.

more....

Ford to sell hybrid electric SUV in 2003

April 8, 2000

DEARBORN, Michigan, APR 7 (AP) - Ford Motor Co. will sell a version of its Escape small sport utility vehicle powered by gas and electricity in 2003, with fuel economy close to 40 miles (64 kilometers) per gallon in city driving.

The Escape hybrid electric is the first such vehicle for which an American automaker has announced production plans, and the largest hybrid vehicle so far.

more....

President preaches corporate diversity

April 8, 2000

WASHINGTON, APR 7 (AP) - As he has with preachers and lawyers, U.S. President Bill Clinton urged corporate executives Thursday to diversify their ranks - and predicted he will live to see a woman and a non-white American occupy the White House.

Clinton gathered dozens of executives at the White House as part of his One America initiative to seek greater opportunity for minorities. In response, 25 companies are each pledging at least dlrs 1 million annually over the next 10 years to encourage women and minorities to pursue high-tech careers.

more....

Japan's new premier sets economy as top goal

April 8, 2000

TOKYO, APR 7 (AP) - Japan's new prime minister set reviving the country's sagging economy as his top priority in his first address to Parliament on Friday and pledged not to backslide on market reforms.

Prime Minister Toshiro Mori, elected by Parliament on Wednesday to succeed the ailing Keizo Obuchi, also vowed to attend to the country's high unemployment rate and bolster Japan's global

standing.

more....

European Union leaders to meet with Russian President Putin

April 8, 2000

MOSCOW, APR 7 (AP) - Chechnya was expected to be a major issue at talks Friday between two top European Union officials and President Vladimir Putin on laying the groundwork for a EU-Russia summit in May.

Jaime Gama, the foreign minister of Portugal, and Javier Solana, the union's foreign policy chief, were to meet with Putin and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to formulate plans for the summit to be held in Moscow.

more....

Singapore tells its citizens to be kind

April 7, 2000

SINGAPORE, APR 6 (AP) - The Singapore government is launching yet another campaign to instill certain moral values in its citizens, and this time it's urging them to be kinder to plants, animals and each other.

Kindness Week is meant to create a "more gracious society, a more gentle society," Noel Hon, chairman of the Singapore Kindness Movement, said on Wednesday.

more....

Nawaz Sharif sentenced to life in prison

April 7, 2000

KARACHI, APR 6 (AP) - Ousted Premier Nawaz Sharif escaped the death penalty Thursday but was sentenced to life in prison for refusing to allow a passenger plane carrying the army chief to land in Pakistan, a confrontation that occurred as the army toppled Sharif's government.

Sharif was charged with hijacking and terrorism after refusing to allow the passenger aircraft returning Gen. Pervez Musharraf to Pakistan to land in the southern city of Karachi. The standoff in the air over Karachi occurred in the midst of the Oct. 12 coup. The army seized power after Sharif dismissed Musharraf and replaced him with a junior general.

more....

Japan's new prime minister pressed for elections

April 7, 2000

TOKYO, APR 6 (AP) - In selecting Yoshiro Mori as the country's new prime minister, Japan's ruling party had hoped to end a succession crisis created by the sudden collapse of Keizo Obuchi.

But on Mori's first day in office, it appeared the crisis was anything but over.

more....

Greenland glaciers could be particularly hard-hit by global warming

April 7, 2000

UNDATED, APR 5 (AP) -Worried about the effects of global warming, scientists who have been watching the West Antarctic ice sheet for years for signs of melting now say the bigger threat comes from glaciers in Greenland.

Scientists fear that a rise in the Earth's average temperature could make the oceans rise and swamp low-lying coastal cities in the coming century.

more....

Ruling party chief named prime minister, replacing comatose Obuchi

April 6, 2000

TOKYO, APR 5 (AP) - Ruling party chief Yoshiro Mori was elected Japan's prime minister Wednesday, ending a political crisis that began when Keizo Obuchi collapsed with a stroke that has left him in a coma. 

Mori, a former trade minister, won solid majorities in both houses of Parliament following his installment earlier in the day as president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

more....

Bill Gates, Alan Greenspan attending White House conference

April 6, 2000

WASHINGTON, APR 5 (AP) - With advice from billionaire Bill Gates and Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan, President Bill Clinton is exploring the idea that computers and the Internet are the best tools ever available to combat world poverty.

"Technology can be the greatest equalizing force our society or any other has ever known," Clinton said.

more....

Sharif supporters say no protests regardless of hijacking verdict

April 6, 2000

ISLAMABAD, APR 5 (AP) - Despite calls by the wife of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif to hold demonstrations if her husband is found guilty in a hijacking trial, his supporters said Wednesday they won't take to the streets.

Antiterrorist court Judge Rehmetullah Hussein Jaffri will hand down the verdict Thursday. If Sharif is found guilty he could be sentenced to death.

more....

Europeans carry their economic, political message to Africa

April 6, 2000

CAIRO, APR 5 (AP) - Europe came to Africa calling for democracy, human rights and good governance and promising to help overcome the continent's economic crisis - and found itself accused of paternalism.

While many African leaders cringed at the fiery rhetoric of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during this week's Africa-Europe summit in Cairo, he said out loud what more than a few had in their hearts: "Africa needs food and medicine, it does not need lessons in democracy."

more....

Anwar unleashes verbal assault against Malaysia's PM

April 6, 2000 

KUALA LUMPUR, APR 5 (AP) - Jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday unleashed a verbal assault against Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in a last-bid effort to force the country's leader to testify in his sensational sex trial.

"Dr. Mahathir must appear in this honorable court," the ousted deputy prime minister wrote in an 18-page sworn document filed in court Wednesday. "He is truly the mastermind behind the evil conspiracy to ruin me."

more....

Singapore to open broadband network to greater competition

April 6, 2000

SINGAPORE, APR 5 (AP) - Singapore will open its broadband network to greater competition in an effort to turn the city-state into a regional multimedia center, a Cabinet minister announced Wednesday.

Currently, only government-linked Singapore Telecommunications and Singapore Cable Vision offer broadband services, a high-speed method of delivering cable television, Internet access and interactive television.

more....

IMF adapts tougher auditing standards for loans

April 6, 2000

WASHINGTON, APR 5 (AP) - The International Monetary Fund, seeking to respond to growing calls for reform, adopted tougher auditing standards for countries seeking to borrow money.

The agency's 24-member executive board approved a requirement Tuesday that countries seeking loans will have to agree to publish annual financial statements of their central banks that have been reviewed by outside auditors using internationally accepted auditing standards.

more....

Japanese cabinet resigns, ruling party chief expected to replace comatose Obuchi

April 5, 2000

TOKYO, APR 4 (AP) - Japan's Cabinet rushed to resolve the country's leadership crisis Tuesday, resigning en masse and setting in motion the selection of a ruling party stalwart to replace ailing Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

Yoshiro Mori, secretary-general of the Liberal Democrats, was expected to be named premier Wednesday, and a new Cabinet - with Obuchi as the only change - could be installed by the end of the day.

more....

European-African summit to focus on rights, governance

April 5, 2000

CAIRO, APR 4 (AP) - Eager to capitalize on the suspension of sanctions against his country, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder Tuesday morning on the fringes of a summit of African and European nations.

Afterward, Schroeder said the meeting was "cordial and productive." Details on the content of their discussions were not immediately available.

more....

Mahathir files affidavit in effort to avoid testifying in Anwar trial

April 5, 2000

KUALA LUMPUR, APR 4 (AP) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday filed a combative, 14-page affidavit that outlined why he should not be forced to testify in the sodomy trial of his ousted deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.

Mahathir said he should not have to take the witness stand in the highly sensational sex trial because he had never conspired to fabricate evidence against his one-time protege.

more....

Robert Frost's `The Road Not Taken' seen as America's most popular

April 5, 2000

WASHINGTON, APR 4 (AP) - Americans favor "The Road Not Taken."

Two years ago, poet laureate Robert Pinsky launched a campaign to discover America's favorite poem. He received nearly 18,000 written, videotaped and recorded suggestions, and has found the most popular one - Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."  

more....

Judge approves sex discrimination lawsuit against five CBS stations

April 5, 2000

MINNEAPOLIS, APR 4 (AP) - A U.S. federal judge approved class-action status for a sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of female technicians at five CBS television stations.

The 1996 lawsuit accuses CBS of discriminating against its female technical employees at stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

more....

Obuchi hospitalized, Cabinet minister named acting premier

April 4, 2000

TOKYO, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - After keeping the crisis from the public for nearly a full day, a senior Cabinet minister announced Monday he had taken over as Japan's acting premier as Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi was in a coma following a stroke.

Obuchi, 62, was in a coma and required an artificial respirator Monday after being admitted at Tokyo's Juntendo University Hospital early Sunday. He was under intensive care, Chief Cabinet secretary Mikio Aoki said.

more....

Britain introduces new measures to deter asylum-seekers  

April 4, 2000

LONDON, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - Britain on Monday introduced tough new measures aimed at deterring asylum-seekers, including giving them food vouchers instead of money, and imposing fines of 2,000 pounds (dlrs 3,180) on truckers who smuggle illegal immigrants.

Asylum-seekers - now concentrated in London and nearby south England ports - will also be compulsorily moved to centers around the country while their applications are considered.

more....

Senior aide to Radovan Karadzic arrested by NATO troops

April 4, 2000

PALE, Bosnia-Herzegovina, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - NATO peacekeepers on Monday detained a senior aide to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, the highest-ranking suspect yet to be arrested for alleged war crimes.

Witnesses to the arrest of Momcilo Krajisnik (MAWM-chill-aw KRAH-yee-shnik) said NATO troops with the Bosnian peacekeeping force detained him after blowing open a door to his home in Pale, southeast of Sarajevo, with explosives. The French defense ministry in Paris said French troops made the arrest.

more....

Malaysia creates first human rights commission

April 4, 2000

KUALA LUMPUR, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - Malaysia announced on Monday the members of its first national Human Rights Commission, saying the panel headed by a ruling party politician reflected the nation's commitment to human rights.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the 13-member panel of judges, politicians, academics and representatives from non-governmental groups was set up "so the human rights of each

citizen will be protected."

more....

World's urban people to outnumber rural population by 2007

April 1, 2000

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 311(BSS): The world's urban population is growing so fast that by the year 2007 city dwellers will outnumber rural residents for the first time in history, the UN Population Division says.

And in 40 years - at current growth rates - the world urban population will double, to about 5.8 billion. There are now six billion people on the globe.

more....

Singapore tells its citizens to be kind

April 7, 2000

SINGAPORE, APR 6 (AP) - The Singapore government is launching yet another campaign to instill certain moral values in its citizens, and this time it's urging them to be kinder to plants, animals and each other.

Kindness Week is meant to create a "more gracious society, a more gentle society," Noel Hon, chairman of the Singapore Kindness Movement, said on Wednesday.

more....

Nawaz Sharif sentenced to life in prison

April 7, 2000

KARACHI, APR 6 (AP) - Ousted Premier Nawaz Sharif escaped the death penalty Thursday but was sentenced to life in prison for refusing to allow a passenger plane carrying the army chief to land in Pakistan, a confrontation that occurred as the army toppled Sharif's government.

Sharif was charged with hijacking and terrorism after refusing to allow the passenger aircraft returning Gen. Pervez Musharraf to Pakistan to land in the southern city of Karachi. The standoff in the air over Karachi occurred in the midst of the Oct. 12 coup. The army seized power after Sharif dismissed Musharraf and replaced him with a junior general.

more....

Japan's new prime minister pressed for elections

April 7, 2000

TOKYO, APR 6 (AP) - In selecting Yoshiro Mori as the country's new prime minister, Japan's ruling party had hoped to end a succession crisis created by the sudden collapse of Keizo Obuchi.

But on Mori's first day in office, it appeared the crisis was anything but over.

more....

Greenland glaciers could be particularly hard-hit by global warming

April 7, 2000

UNDATED, APR 5 (AP) -Worried about the effects of global warming, scientists who have been watching the West Antarctic ice sheet for years for signs of melting now say the bigger threat comes from glaciers in Greenland.

Scientists fear that a rise in the Earth's average temperature could make the oceans rise and swamp low-lying coastal cities in the coming century.

more....

Ruling party chief named prime minister, replacing comatose Obuchi

April 6, 2000

TOKYO, APR 5 (AP) - Ruling party chief Yoshiro Mori was elected Japan's prime minister Wednesday, ending a political crisis that began when Keizo Obuchi collapsed with a stroke that has left him in a coma. 

Mori, a former trade minister, won solid majorities in both houses of Parliament following his installment earlier in the day as president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

more....

Bill Gates, Alan Greenspan attending White House conference

April 6, 2000

WASHINGTON, APR 5 (AP) - With advice from billionaire Bill Gates and Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan, President Bill Clinton is exploring the idea that computers and the Internet are the best tools ever available to combat world poverty.

"Technology can be the greatest equalizing force our society or any other has ever known," Clinton said.

more....

Sharif supporters say no protests regardless of hijacking verdict

April 6, 2000

ISLAMABAD, APR 5 (AP) - Despite calls by the wife of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif to hold demonstrations if her husband is found guilty in a hijacking trial, his supporters said Wednesday they won't take to the streets.

Antiterrorist court Judge Rehmetullah Hussein Jaffri will hand down the verdict Thursday. If Sharif is found guilty he could be sentenced to death.

more....

Europeans carry their economic, political message to Africa

April 6, 2000

CAIRO, APR 5 (AP) - Europe came to Africa calling for democracy, human rights and good governance and promising to help overcome the continent's economic crisis - and found itself accused of paternalism.

While many African leaders cringed at the fiery rhetoric of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during this week's Africa-Europe summit in Cairo, he said out loud what more than a few had in their hearts: "Africa needs food and medicine, it does not need lessons in democracy."

more....

Anwar unleashes verbal assault against Malaysia's PM

April 6, 2000 

KUALA LUMPUR, APR 5 (AP) - Jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday unleashed a verbal assault against Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in a last-bid effort to force the country's leader to testify in his sensational sex trial.

"Dr. Mahathir must appear in this honorable court," the ousted deputy prime minister wrote in an 18-page sworn document filed in court Wednesday. "He is truly the mastermind behind the evil conspiracy to ruin me."

more....

Singapore to open broadband network to greater competition

April 6, 2000

SINGAPORE, APR 5 (AP) - Singapore will open its broadband network to greater competition in an effort to turn the city-state into a regional multimedia center, a Cabinet minister announced Wednesday.

Currently, only government-linked Singapore Telecommunications and Singapore Cable Vision offer broadband services, a high-speed method of delivering cable television, Internet access and interactive television.

more....

IMF adapts tougher auditing standards for loans

April 6, 2000

WASHINGTON, APR 5 (AP) - The International Monetary Fund, seeking to respond to growing calls for reform, adopted tougher auditing standards for countries seeking to borrow money.

The agency's 24-member executive board approved a requirement Tuesday that countries seeking loans will have to agree to publish annual financial statements of their central banks that have been reviewed by outside auditors using internationally accepted auditing standards.

more....

Japanese cabinet resigns, ruling party chief expected to replace comatose Obuchi

April 5, 2000

TOKYO, APR 4 (AP) - Japan's Cabinet rushed to resolve the country's leadership crisis Tuesday, resigning en masse and setting in motion the selection of a ruling party stalwart to replace ailing Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

Yoshiro Mori, secretary-general of the Liberal Democrats, was expected to be named premier Wednesday, and a new Cabinet - with Obuchi as the only change - could be installed by the end of the day.

more....

European-African summit to focus on rights, governance

April 5, 2000

CAIRO, APR 4 (AP) - Eager to capitalize on the suspension of sanctions against his country, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder Tuesday morning on the fringes of a summit of African and European nations.

Afterward, Schroeder said the meeting was "cordial and productive." Details on the content of their discussions were not immediately available.

more....

Mahathir files affidavit in effort to avoid testifying in Anwar trial

April 5, 2000

KUALA LUMPUR, APR 4 (AP) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday filed a combative, 14-page affidavit that outlined why he should not be forced to testify in the sodomy trial of his ousted deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.

Mahathir said he should not have to take the witness stand in the highly sensational sex trial because he had never conspired to fabricate evidence against his one-time protege.

more....

Robert Frost's `The Road Not Taken' seen as America's most popular

April 5, 2000

WASHINGTON, APR 4 (AP) - Americans favor "The Road Not Taken."

Two years ago, poet laureate Robert Pinsky launched a campaign to discover America's favorite poem. He received nearly 18,000 written, videotaped and recorded suggestions, and has found the most popular one - Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."  

more....

Judge approves sex discrimination lawsuit against five CBS stations

April 5, 2000

MINNEAPOLIS, APR 4 (AP) - A U.S. federal judge approved class-action status for a sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of female technicians at five CBS television stations.

The 1996 lawsuit accuses CBS of discriminating against its female technical employees at stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

more....

Obuchi hospitalized, Cabinet minister named acting premier

April 4, 2000

TOKYO, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - After keeping the crisis from the public for nearly a full day, a senior Cabinet minister announced Monday he had taken over as Japan's acting premier as Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi was in a coma following a stroke.

Obuchi, 62, was in a coma and required an artificial respirator Monday after being admitted at Tokyo's Juntendo University Hospital early Sunday. He was under intensive care, Chief Cabinet secretary Mikio Aoki said.

more....

Britain introduces new measures to deter asylum-seekers  

April 4, 2000

LONDON, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - Britain on Monday introduced tough new measures aimed at deterring asylum-seekers, including giving them food vouchers instead of money, and imposing fines of 2,000 pounds (dlrs 3,180) on truckers who smuggle illegal immigrants.

Asylum-seekers - now concentrated in London and nearby south England ports - will also be compulsorily moved to centers around the country while their applications are considered.

more....

Senior aide to Radovan Karadzic arrested by NATO troops

April 4, 2000

PALE, Bosnia-Herzegovina, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - NATO peacekeepers on Monday detained a senior aide to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, the highest-ranking suspect yet to be arrested for alleged war crimes.

Witnesses to the arrest of Momcilo Krajisnik (MAWM-chill-aw KRAH-yee-shnik) said NATO troops with the Bosnian peacekeeping force detained him after blowing open a door to his home in Pale, southeast of Sarajevo, with explosives. The French defense ministry in Paris said French troops made the arrest.

more....

Malaysia creates first human rights commission

April 4, 2000

KUALA LUMPUR, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - Malaysia announced on Monday the members of its first national Human Rights Commission, saying the panel headed by a ruling party politician reflected the nation's commitment to human rights.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the 13-member panel of judges, politicians, academics and representatives from non-governmental groups was set up "so the human rights of each

citizen will be protected."

more....

World's urban people to outnumber rural population by 2007

April 1, 2000

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 311(BSS): The world's urban population is growing so fast that by the year 2007 city dwellers will outnumber rural residents for the first time in history, the UN Population Division says.

And in 40 years - at current growth rates - the world urban population will double, to about 5.8 billion. There are now six billion people on the globe.

more....