Bush forced to talk with North Korea
Retreating under intense pressure from South Korea, China and Japan, the Bush administration announced Jan. 7 that they are willing to hold face-to-face talks with government leaders of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
International notes
Brazil: Lula puts butter before guns / Lebanon: Unions will protest gov’t tax hikes / Britain: Protests good for health / China: CP head stresses re-employing laid-off workers / Germany: Public worker strike likely
Afghan civilians harmed by U.S. bombs, aid
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released three reports detailing the harm of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. “Fatally Flawed: Cluster Bombs and Their Use by the United States in Afghanistan,” exposes civilian casualties caused by cluster bombs.
Tel Aviv attack is a gift for Sharon
TEL AVIV – The double suicide attack that killed at least 23 people, mostly guest workers, and wounded about 100, at a crowded downtown street corner here, has in one stroke diverted public focus from the deepening election scandal involving Prime Minister Sharon’s Likud Party in ballot-rigging, bribery and corruption.
Indian secularism suffers blow in Gujarat elections
AHMDABAD, Gujarat – “The BJP’s victory is a setback for the cause of secular democracy,” said D. Raja, leader of the Communist Party of India. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 127 seats, gaining control of two-thirds of the 182-seat assembly in Gujarat, where thousands of people died in 2002 in the worst Hindu-Muslim violence in a decade.
