World Scene
October 11, 2008
NORTH KOREA
U.S. to take N. Korea off terror list
The Associated Press has learned the Bush administration plans to remove North Korea from a terrorism blacklist on Saturday after getting assurances that the Stalinist nation has agreed to a plan to inspect its nuclear facilities.
Diplomats briefed on the matter say President Bush signed off on the move Friday in a bid to salvage a faltering disarmament accord aimed at getting North Korea to abandon atomic weapons. But they say North Korea will be put back on the list if it doesn't comply with the inspections.
The diplomats spoke on the condition of anonymity because the State Department had not yet announced the step. It comes as North Korea [Note] moves [/NOTE] moved to restart a disabled nuclear reactor and take [Note] s [/NOTE] other actions that threaten the agreement.
Earlier, U.S. officials said the Bush administration was trying to build consensus among its negotiating partners before removing North Korea from the blacklist. The administration consulted with China, South Korea, Russia and particularly Japan on the move.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the matter with the foreign ministers of China, South Korea and Japan on Friday.
Japan had balked at removing North Korea from the terror list until it resolves the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang in the 1970s and '80s.#
YEMEN
150 migrants thrown off ship
SAN'A | Dozens of bodies washed ashore Friday in Yemen after smugglers threw nearly 150 Somali migrants overboard in shark-infested waters, the latest such tragedy in one of the most lawless stretches of ocean in the world.
Smugglers are known to cram dozens of men, women and children onto small boats and often beat and abuse the migrants during the journey through the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, which can take up to three days. To avoid Yemeni patrols, the smugglers often dump their passengers far from shore and force them to swim the rest of the way.
In the latest instance, about 150 migrants departed Somalia on Monday, and when their vessel reached about three miles off Yemen's southern Shabwa coast, the smugglers ordered everyone off, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said. Twelve of the passengers were put on a smaller boat to take them ashore, while the rest were forced to swim. He said 47 people were thought to have survived, but about 100 were missing and feared drowned.
SOMALIA
Pirates threaten to blow up ship
NAIROBI, Kenya | The pirates who hijacked an arms-laden Ukrainian tanker off Somalia issued an ultimatum Friday and threatened to destroy the ship if no ransom is paid, a spokesman for the bandits said.
The MV Faina is surrounded by U.S. warships, and a Russian frigate is heading toward the scene, raising the stakes for a possible commando-style raid on the ship. Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships this year off the Horn of Africa, but the hijacking of the Faina has drawn the most international concern because of its dangerous cargo. The vessel is carrying 33 tanks and other heavy weapons.
The pirates' spokesman, Sugule Ali, gave the ship owners until Monday night to pay. He had said Thursday that he was willing to negotiate the ransom demand of $20 million, after nearly two weeks of insisting that they would never lower the price.
UKRAINE
Prime minister defies decree on vote
KIEV | Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Friday that there will be no early parliamentary elections, defying a presidential decree and raising the stakes in her fierce political battle with the president.
President Viktor Yushchenko set the early vote for Dec. 7 earlier this week, burying attempts to revive his shattered pro-Western coalition with Mrs. Tymoshenko.
But Mrs. Tymoshenko called his decision unconstitutional and said the election will not happen. She said Ukraine has no money for an early election and predicted that parliament will not pass the necessary legislation.
Members of Mrs. Tymoshenko's party have said they would challenge Mr. Yushchenko's order in the courts.
VENEZUELA
Tax agency closes McDonald's for 2 days
CARACAS | The Venezuelan government has ordered all McDonald's restaurants in the country closed for 48 hours for what it calls irregularities in the financial books of the fast-food chain.
The order stands for Thursday through Saturday, affecting all 115 McDonald's restaurants nationwide, the state-run Bolivarian News Agency reported.
The left-leaning government of President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington, has regularly cracked down on U.S. companies that have purportedly fallen behind on tax payments. Last year, it shut down the Venezuelan subsidiary of Coca-Cola Co. for 48 hours.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...cene-55936390/