BANGKOK THE aborted Asean 6 Summit is likely to be held at the end of May or third week of June in Phuket, as host Thailand and the Asean Secretariat try to fix a date that could accommodate the busy schedule of Leaders of the 16 participating countries. It is learnt that early June, including .
KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIA’S ruling coalition, humiliated in a string of by-election losses over the past year, faces a further bruising contest as authorities yesterday announced another vote in May. The Election Commission said a by-election would be held in northern Penang state on May 31, for a seat in the state legislature after the resignation .
ISLAMABAD BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan yesterday offering increased support for the West’s allies as international alarm spreads over Taliban advances. “This area and the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is the crucible for global terrorism,” Brown told British and allied troops at a base in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, .
TOKYO JAPAN, the only country ever hit by atomic bombs, yesterday threw its weight behind US President Barack Obama’s call for a nuclear-free world and pledged to host a global disarmament meeting next year. Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said the main nuclear powers, the United States and Russia, should lead the disarmament drive and “China .
TAIWAN’S pro-independence opposition yesterday denounced its government’s weekend agreement with mainland China on closer economic cooperation, accusing it of failing the island’s best interests. “This is a failed negotiation,” said Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), when asked to comment on the talks held in the eastern mainland city of Nanjing Sunday. .
COLOMBO SRI LANKA’S government is refusing humanitarian access to its war zone, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes told reporters here yesterday after talks with the island’s president. Holmes said he failed to secure agreement from President Mahinda Rajapakse to send a humanitarian mission to the shrinking conflict area where the UN estimates some 50,000 civilians .
By SARA KUGLER and CRISTIAN SALAZAR, Associated Press Writers NEW YORK – The global swine flu outbreak worsened Tuesday as authorities said hundreds of students at a New York school have fallen ill and federal officials said they expected to see U.S. deaths from the virus. Cuba suspended flights to and from Mexico, becoming the .
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD – The Iraqi government presented the first image of the alleged leader of an al-Qaida front group Tuesday in a bid to prove the right suspect was in custody despite skepticism that he even exists. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called Abu Omar al-Baghdadi “the head of evil” and .
By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer MEXICO CITY – The cloth patches in green, blue and white are everywhere, clamped tight over the mouth and nose of teachers, toddlers, policemen and drunks. Even the statue at the church of St. Jude, patron of lost causes, has been fitted with a light-blue surgical mask to ward .
By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer ISLAMABAD – Pakistani jets and attack helicopters struck Taliban positions in mountains close to the capital Tuesday as part of a widening offensive against militants spreading out from the lawless region along the border with Afghanistan, the military said. With residents reporting ground troops also moving into the Buner .
