North Sudan Proposes Solution to Abyei Crisis

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 8:30 am (UTC-5)
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North Sudan's government has laid out proposals for resolving its dispute with the south over the oil-rich Abyei region.

North Sudanese forces occupied Abyei on May 21, prompting tens of thousands of residents to flee the area, and raising fears the north and south could return to civil war.

The government now says northern and southern troops should be separated by the Bahar al-Arab river. It calls for replacement of international peacekeepers in Abyei with an African force.

It also suggests the appointment of a new north-south administration for Abyei to be led by a rotating chairman.

South Sudan is set to declare independence July 9, after voting to split from the north in a January referendum. Abyei was scheduled to vote the same day in January on whether to join the north or south, but the sides could not agree on who was eligible to vote.

The north has rejected calls from the United States, United Nations, and south Sudan to remove its troops from Abyei.

An international monitoring group has accused north Sudan of committing war crimes in the region, saying northern troops are looting and destroying buildings in Abyei's main town.

The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that more than a third of the huts in Abyei have been burned down. It said most of the area's population has fled southward, and warned that insecurity is affecting the delivery of aid to the displaced.

On Tuesday, the African Union said north and south Sudan had agreed to create a demilitarized border zone, with joint patrols stretching the length of their 2200-kilometer-long boundary. Ethiopia has said it would consider sending peacekeepers to help monitor the border if both sides request it.

North and South Sudan fought a 21-year civil war that ended with a 2005 peace agreement.

Report: Possible ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ in Syria

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 8:20 am (UTC-5)
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Human Rights Watch says it has reports of recent killings and torture by Syrian troops that may qualify as crimes against humanity.

The New York-based group released a report Wednesday based on more than 50 interviews with victims and witnesses of the violence.

The report centers on the southern city of Daraa, where Syrian forces allegedly carried out some of the worst violence against civilians since anti-government protests began in March.

The rights group says witnesses told of beatings, torture using electroshock devices, and detention of people seeking medical care. It called on the Syrian government to take steps immediately to halt the use of excessive force.

In Turkey, more than 300 Syrian dissidents are meeting Wednesday in the town of Antalya to discuss ways to bring about regime change in their homeland.

On Tuesday, Syrian state television announced that President Bashar al-Assad is offering a general amnesty to opponents of the government including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. But critics in Syria and abroad have said the amnesty is too little, too late.

Also Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the reported torture and killing of a 13-year-old Syrian boy demonstrated the “total collapse” of any effort by Mr. Assad's government to “work with and listen to” its people.

Witness reports in Syria, as well as official accounts, are difficult to verify independently because the government barred most international journalists from the country soon after the unrest began.

Syrian opposition activists have been protesting almost daily since March for democratic reforms and an end to President Assad's 11-year autocratic rule. Rights groups say Mr. Assad's security forces have killed more than 1,000 people and arrested 10,000 in a campaign to crush the uprising.

Germany Reports More Bacteria Victims, But Cause Still a Mystery

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 8:05 am (UTC-5)
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Germany says the number of its people sickened by a mysterious killer bacteria is growing rapidly.

The country's national disease control center Wednesday said the number of confirmed cases of people sickened by the food-borne bacterial outbreak jumped from 373 on Tuesday to 470 a day later. Fifteen people have died in Germany from the E. coli infections and another one in Sweden.

German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said scientists have been working non-stop to pinpoint the source of the outbreak, but they have yet to find the cause. Several days into the outbreak, authorities say they are not sure what produce — and what country — is responsible, although those sickened most likely were infected by eating raw cucumbers, tomatoes or lettuce. She advised consumers to continue to avoid those vegetables. The E. coli infection attacks the victims' kidneys, sometimes causing seizures, strokes and comas.

Germany initially pointed to a few cucumbers from Spain as a possible source of the contamination, but further tests showed that those vegetables were not the cause of the outbreak. Germany, Belgium and Russia have banned Spanish vegetable imports, pending an investigation, but Spanish officials say those countries wrongly jumped to conclusions.

Spain said it is not ruling out taking legal actions against German officials who questioned the quality of the Spanish imports. The allegations have sharply curtailed Spanish fruit and vegetable exports.

The World Health Organization says that besides Germany and Sweden, cases of the infections have been reported in seven other European countries — Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Britain.

North Korea Claims South Secretly Offered Series of Summits

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 7:55 am (UTC-5)
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North Korea says it has turned down a secret proposal from its southern neighbor for a series of three summit meetings to be held over the next 10 months.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported the offer Wednesday, saying it was made on May 9 at a previously undisclosed meeting in Beijing. It named three senior South Korean officials who, it said, took part in the meeting.

South Korea's Unification Ministry dismissed the report as a unilateral assertion that did not require a response. It said the North Korean attitude will not help the relationship between the two countries.

KCNA said the meeting was confirmed by the North's powerful National Defense Commission. It quoted a spokesman as saying its delegates told the Seoul officials there could be no meetings as long as the South maintains a hostile attitude toward the North and insists on an apology for two military attacks last year.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has previously proposed a summit with his counterpart, Kim Jong Il, but only on the condition that North Korea agree to give up its nuclear weapons and apologize for the two attacks.

The South lost 46 sailors in the sinking of the warship Cheonan in March 2010, and suffered four people killed when the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island in November. The North denies any involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan and insists the shelling of Yeonpyeong was provoked by the South.

In Wednesday's report, KCNA claimed the South Korean delegates proposed that the sides draft a compromise statement that could be seen as an apology by the South but not by the North. The agency also said the Seoul officials appealed to the North to keep the meeting secret because it could prove embarrassing for the Lee administration.

It said the group proposed an initial summit in the border village of Panmunjom in June to be followed by a second meeting in August in Pyongyang. It said the third meeting would take place in March 2012 on the sidelines of an international nuclear summit in Seoul.

European Stocks Lower in Midday Trading

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 7:40 am (UTC-5)
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European stock prices are lower in midday trading Wednesday.

London's Financial Times index is down more than one-quarter of one percent. The CAC-40 in Paris is down nearly one-quarter of one percent, and trading on the DAX index in Frankfurt is down more than one-quarter of one percent.

In New York, the S&P futures contract is down one point, indicating a lower opening.

Tokyo's Nikkei index gained more than one-quarter of one percent to finish at 9,720.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost nearly one-quarter of one percent to finish the day's trading at 23,626.

Gold is trading at $1,532.95 an ounce.

The dollar is trading lower against other major currencies.

Report: Possible “Crimes Against Humanity” in Syria

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 7:35 am (UTC-5)
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Rights group Human Rights Watch says it has reports of recent killings and torture by Syrian troops that may qualify as crimes against humanity.

The New York-based group released a report Wednesday based on interviews with more than 50 interviews with victims and witnesses of the violence. The report centers on the southern city of Daraa, where Syrian forces are reported to have carried out some of the worst violence against civilians since anti-government protests began in March.

The report says witnesses have reported systematic beatings, torture using electroshock devices, and detention of people seeking medical care. It called on the Syrian government to take steps immediately to halt the use of excessive force.

In Turkey, more than 300 Syrian dissidents are meeting Wednesday in the Turkish town of Antalya to discuss ways to bring about regime change in their homeland.

On Tuesday, Syrian state television announced that President Bashar al-Assad is offering a general amnesty to opponents of the government including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. But critics in Syria and abroad have said the amnesty is too little, too late.

Also Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the reported torture and killing of a 13-year-old Syrian boy demonstrates the “total collapse” of any effort by Assad's government to “work with and listen to” its people.

Witness reports in Syria, as well as official accounts, are difficult to verify independently because the government barred most international journalists from the country soon after the unrest began in March.

Syrian opposition activists have been protesting almost daily since March for democratic reforms and an end to President Assad's 11-year autocratic rule. Rights groups say Mr. Assad's security forces have killed more than 1,000 people and arrested 10,000 more in a campaign to crush the uprising.

Cyclones, Floods Take a Toll on Australian Economy

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 7:20 am (UTC-5)
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Australia’s economy shrank in the first quarter of 2011 due to a number of natural disasters that struck the country’s key mining and agricultural sectors in the country’s northeast.

The 1.2 percent drop in gross domestic product announced Wednesday by the government’s Bureau of Statistics is the biggest contraction since 1991, when Australia experienced its last recession. It is also the first since the last quarter of 2008, at the height of the global recession.

Australia’s northeastern Queensland state was plagued by deadly cyclones and floods beginning in December 2010 that shut down the region’s vital coal mining industry and affected its agricultural sector.

Treasurer Wayne Swan says the natural disasters reduced real production by $13 billion, of which $6.7 billion occurred during the first quarter. Exports slumped by 8.7 percent, which Swan says was the largest quarterly fall in 37 years.

Swan says the results were unsurprising given the extent of the disaster, but says the economy will rebound as the coal mining sector returns to full speed to meet demand from across Asia. The cost of the recovery is expected to reach more than $5 billion.

Asia Markets Close Mixed

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 7:20 am (UTC-5)
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Major Asian stock markets closed mostly higher Wednesday.

Tokyo's Nikkei index gained more than one-quarter of one percent to finish at 9,720.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost nearly one-quarter of one percent to finish the day's trading at 23,626.

Share prices were higher in Manila, Mumbai, Singapore, Taipei and Wellington, but lower in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. Trading was either flat or unchanged in Jakarta, Shanghai and Sydney.

In currency trading, the dollar was selling at 81.38, a loss of nearly one-fourth of a yen from Tuesday.

Gold is trading at $1,532.15 an ounce.

Gates Says Afghan Warnings Reflect “Pain” of War

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 6:50 am (UTC-5)
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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says warnings about civilian casualties from Afghan President Hamid Karzai reflect the “pain and suffering” the Afghan people have endured after 30 years of war.

Gates said Tuesday it is important for both sides to jointly investigate civilian casualties and that Mr. Karzai and the Afghan people recognize the U.S.-led NATO coalition is an ally trying to help Afghanistan see an end to the conflict.

Earlier Tuesday, Mr. Karzai warned NATO-led forces not to become an “occupying force” in Afghanistan after a spate of civilian casualties resulting from coalition airstrikes.

Mr. Karzai told reporters in Kabul he would take unspecified action if the killing of innocent civilians continues. He also stressed that the Afghan people can no longer tolerate airstrikes which target civilian houses, and said it was his last warning.

Gates said the Taliban causes about 80 percent of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, and that militants are targeting civilians with IEDs and other attacks.

NATO said Wednesday an Afghan-led security force captured a man it says participated in an attack last week that killed a police commander and five others in northern Takhar province. A NATO statement Wednesday said the man is part of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and was captured Monday during an operation in Balkh province.

The suicide attack May 28 in Taloqan city killed General Dawood Dawood, two German soldiers and other police officials.

NATO also said Wednesday that one of its service members died Tuesday in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan.

U.S. and NATO troops are in Afghanistan under a U.N. mandate that is due to expire in October. Negotiations on what the status of foreign troops will be after that date continue. President Karzai has said that he will put strict controls on the conduct of international forces in any agreement.

FIFA Chief Vows Broader Vote for World Cup Sites

Posted June 1st, 2011 at 6:25 am (UTC-5)
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The president of football's world governing body is vowing to reform the way future World Cup host cities are selected.

FIFA chief Sepp Blatter pledged Wednesday that all 208 of the group's members would be allowed to pick the sites for the quadrennial matches. Currently, FIFA's 24-member executive committee selects the winning World Cup host cities, but it has been widely criticized for awarding the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 matches to Qatar.

Blatter announced the policy change just hours before he was poised to win unopposed re-election to his fourth four-year term. England had called for a postponement of FIFA's presidential election for several months to allow for investigation of bribery allegations surrounding the selection of the World Cup sites.

But a big majority of the delegations to the FIFA meeting in Zurich, Switzerland rejected England's call for delaying the vote.

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