P’pine peace talks in Feb

MANILA: Formal peace talks between the Philippine government and communist guerrillas will resume in Norway in February, President Gloria Arroyo said on Tuesday. Details of the talks were being thrashed out by negotiators from the National Democractic Front, the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the Philippine and Norwegian governments, she said.

Vietnam seeks UN help

HANOI: Vietnam on Tuesday appealed for help from UN health and food agencies to contain a bird flu epidemic that has killed at least three people and one million chickens, amid fears it could spiral out of control. An infection control expert from the WHO and a veterinary expert in communicable livestock diseases from the Food and Agriculture Organisation were due to arrive by Wednesday.

Serial killer found dead

LONDON: A British doctor convicted of killing 15 patients, and suspected of killing 200 or more, was found dead in his prison cell on Tuesday. Dr Harold Shipman was found hanging at Wakefield prison in England. Shipman killed elderly women with lethal injections. He was convicted in 2000 of murdering 15 elderly patients and sentenced to life.

Milosevic trial resumes

THE HAGUE: The war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic resumed on Tuesday with the testimony of a Serbian journalist who covered the wars in Bosnia and Croatia in the 1990s. The former Yugoslav president has been on trial before the UN war crimes court in The Hague since February 2002.

Comic book ruled obscene

TOKYO: A comic book which depicts genitalia and sexual acts in two thirds of its content, was ruled obscene on Tuesday in a landmark court case which has sparked a debate on freedom of expression in Japan. It was the first Japanese court trial in which a comic book stood accused of being obscene and the first in 20 years dealing with printed pornography.

19 killed in mishaps

BANGKOK: Nineteen people were killed and 27 injured in two overnight highway accidents in northeastern Thailand, police said. Twelve died when a bus overturned on Monday on Highway 2, known as the Friendship Highway. A second accident claimed the lives of seven villagers when a pickup truck collided with a larger truck in Nam Kiu district.

Bali bombers for clemency

JAKARTA: Eight men jailed for their roles in the Bali nightclub bombings are seeking presidential clemency, a lawyer said on Tuesday. The eight, who include key Bali bomb suspect Mubarok, received prison terms for their part in the October 2002 attacks. Mubarok filed a demand for a presidential pardon on January 7, lawyer Suyanto said.

India tests missile

NEW DELHI: India tested a medium-range surface-to-air missile on Tuesday at a seaside test range, news reports said. "Akash" was tested at the Chandipur-on-Sea test site in Orissa, Press Trust of India reported. The locally built multi-target missile weighs 650 kg and can carry a 50-kg payload, PTI said.

Ultras get death

KARACHI: A court on Tuesday sentenced to death two leaders of an outlawed Islamic militant group for killing a minority Shiite Muslim. Atta Ullah and Mohammed Azam, who belonged to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group were captured last year in Karachi in connection with the July 2001 murder of Hamid Rizvi, a local Shiite businessman.