World Scene
July 2, 2008
EUROPEAN UNION
Poland puts hold on signing treaty
PARIS | Polish President Lech Kaczynski compounded the problems facing the European Union on the first day of France's presidency of the bloc on Tuesday, saying he will not sign the union's reform treaty for now.
Mr. Kaczynski said it would be "pointless" to sign the treaty after Irish voters rejected it in a referendum on June 12. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said ratification of the Lisbon Treaty was in the country's interest.
The treaty, intended to overhaul the bloc's institutions, needs the backing of all 27 member states to come into force.
Mr. Kaczynski's comments highlighted the problems facing President Nicolas Sarkozy at the start of France's six-month tenure of the European Union's rotating presidency. Mr. Sarkozy said he still thought Mr. Kaczynski ultimately would honor a pledge that Poland would ratify the treaty.
MONGOLIA
Emergency imposed after vote protests
ULAN BATOR | The president declared a four-day state of emergency in Mongolia's capital early Wednesday after protesters stormed the headquarters of the ruling party, claiming fraud in weekend parliamentary elections.
President Nambaryn Enkhbayar's decree allowed police to use force in dealing with the thousands of rock-throwing protesters who thronged the headquarters of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and set it on fire.
The two main political parties focused their campaigns on how to tap recently discovered mineral deposits - including copper, gold and coal - but disagreed over whether the government or private sector should hold a majority stake.
GERMANY
Bank-note paper to Zimbabwe halted
FRANKFURT | A German company that has been supplying paper used by Zimbabwe's central bank to print bank notes said Tuesday that it is stopping shipments immediately at the request of Germany's government.
The move could create a problem for President Robert Mugabe's regime, which has been churning out currency amid skyrocketing inflation that forces Zimbabweans to shop with bundles of cash. A pint of milk can cost 3 billion Zimbabwe dollars, or about 30 U.S. cents.
Giesecke & Devrient GmbH of Munich said it would stop delivering bank note paper to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe "with immediate effect."
CHINA
Girl's death probe to be reopened
WENG'AN | An investigation into the death of a teenage girl will be reopened, state media reported Tuesday, as officials bowed to public anger over a reported police cover-up in this southwestern China town.
Police initially determined that the high school student drowned, angering locals who suspect she was raped and killed, perhaps by children of local officials. In response, about 30,000 people rampaged through Weng'an on Saturday, torching cars and police headquarters in the town in hilly Guizhou province.
INDIA
Kashmir revokes land transfer
SRINAGAR | Authorities reversed a plan to transfer land to a Hindu shrine in Muslim-majority Indian-held Kashmir on Tuesday as Muslim and Hindu protesters held massive rallies across the region assailing the state government for its handling of the politically sensitive issue.
The state government's decision to revoke the order was an apparent attempt to defuse the tension that fueled nine days of protests and left five people dead and hundreds more wounded.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...cene-36426151/