Syria troop withdrawal is complete, UN says
NEW YORK -- A UN verification team has concluded that Syria has fully withdrawn its military forces from Lebanon, in line with a Security Council demand, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said yesterday. But the team, in its report, said it was not able to determine whether all Syrian intelligence agents had been pulled out. In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Syria is still obligated to withdraw the intelligence agents from its neighboring country. (Reuters)
UN agrees to new rules on disease prevention
GENEVA -- Travel and trade restrictions to help prevent the spread of epidemic diseases were among new rules approved by member states of the World Health Organization yesterday. The regulations, adopted by the UN agency after two years of talks, also tighten disease detection and response procedures. They require nations to quickly inform the WHO of any outbreak of four diseases: severe acute respiratory syndrome, bird flu, smallpox, and polio. (Reuters)
IRELAND
Five schoolgirls killed in school bus crash
DUBLIN -- A bus full of high school students collided with two cars northwest of Dublin yesterday and tipped over into a ditch, killing five teenage girls and injuring about 50 people, police said. Other children were trapped inside the wreckage for about two hours before being freed. The crash happened near Navan at about 4 p.m. The cause of the accident was not yet known.(AP)
BRITAIN
Strike over job cuts hits BBC on-air lineup
LONDON -- Britain's revered public broadcaster, the BBC, suffered its most serious strike in more than a decade yesterday as staff walked out to protest plans to cut 20 percent of its workforce. The 24-hour strike forced the BBC to cancel or curtail most of its live radio and TV news programming, including the BBC World Service. Unions are demanding a 90-day moratorium on job cuts and a guarantee that all attrition will be voluntary. (Reuters)
SOUTH KOREA
North's response called key in nuclear dispute
SEOUL -- The South Korean Foreign Ministry yesterday urged North Korea to respond quickly to Washington's recent recognition of the country's sovereignty, saying it could lead to a turning point in the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear programs. Kim Sook, director general of North American affairs bureau, said it was time for the North to give a ''serious response" to the sovereignty issue and others discussed at the first meeting with US officials in almost a year. (AP)
ZIMBABWE
9,600 street vendors arrested in crackdown
HARARE -- Paramilitary units armed with batons and tear gas patrolled Harare's main roads yesterday as police continued their crackdown on street trading, the only livelihood for thousands in Zimbabwe's shattered economy. Police said 9,653 people have been arrested in a five-day blitz on street vendors, flea markets, and other informal businesses. (AP)
PANAMA
Students battle police in state pension protest
PANAMA CITY -- Hundreds of students fought with police and hurled rocks at Panama's National Assembly yesterday as protests against new social security restrictions escalated. Police clashed with 2,000 students in the capital as youths smashed windows and closed roads. Witnesses said at least one student was wounded by a shotgun blast. The National Assembly is debating a plan that would make it harder for workers to collect a state pension. (Reuters)
