Foreign Desk

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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WESTERN EUROPE


SWISS TO EXTRADITE FORMER RUSSIAN NUCLEAR MINISTER TO U.S.
GENEVA – Switzerland decided yesterday to extradite the Kremlin’s former nuclear minister to America to face charges of stealing up to $9 million intended to improve nuclear security in Russia. Moscow had hoped to try Yevgeny Adamov itself rather than risk his revealing nuclear secrets to America, and the Swiss decision set off high-level protests in Russia.


Switzerland’s Justice Ministry ruled that Mr. Adamov must first face charges in American courts, where he has been indicted on charges of conspiracy to transfer stolen money and securities, conspiracy to defraud America, money laundering, and tax evasion. Mr. Adamov, who has accepted extradition to his native land, has 30 days to file an appeal with the Swiss supreme court.


– Associated Press


HUNDREDS OF IMMIGRANTS STORM SPANISH BORDER FENCE
MELILLA, Spain – More than 300 Africans tore through a razor-wire fence separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Melilla yesterday, clashing with police. Officials said an estimated 650 people tried to cross, and about 350 succeeded. Police on both sides were overwhelmed. About 135 immigrants were injured, as were seven police officers. The surge surprised a Spanish security contingent boosted by army troops after similar rushes last week, and embarrassed a government that had been relying on new, higher barriers. – Associated Press


500 ITALIAN POLICEMEN TAKE TO STREETS IN TERROR DRILL
ROME – With simulated blasts outside the Colosseum, in a bus near Piazza Navona, and in a downtown subway station, Italians yesterday prepared for the possibility the Eternal City may be the target of a terrorist attack. More than 500 police took to Rome’s streets in the second in a series of anti-terrorism drills as helicopters whirred overheard and ambulances snaked through morning rush hour traffic. Another is still to come in Turin – the site of the 2006 Winter Olympics in February.


Italy raised its security alert after the July 7 suicide bombings on London’s transit system, stepping up measures at airports, government buildings, foreign embassies, and monuments. – Associated Press


MILLIONS WITNESS ANNULAR ECLIPSE
LONDON – Millions of people in Europe and Africa watched an annular eclipse yesterday as the moon passed across the face of the sun. An annular eclipse differs from a total eclipse in that the Moon appears too small to cover the sun, leaving a brilliant ring or annulus. Depending on the weather, the ring of fire was visible from within a narrow corridor, which traversed the Iberian Peninsula and stretched across Africa.


– The Daily Telegraph


EAST ASIA


STAMPEDE AT S. KOREA CONCERT KILLS 11
SANGJU, South Korea – Concertgoers trying to enter a packed stadium yesterday evening sparked a stampede, killing 11 and injuring 72 others, officials said. The stampede occurred in this city about 165 miles southeast of Seoul as about 20,000 were entering an outdoor sports stadium for a concert organized by a local TV network, an official with the city government’s disaster management division, Kim Sung-in, said.


The dead were eight women aged from 54 to 76, along with three boys aged 7, 12, and 14, another city official said.


– Associated Press


SOUTHEAST ASIA


INDONESIA STEPS UP HUNT FOR BALI BOMBING MASTERMINDS
BALI, Indonesia – Investigators yesterday hunted for the two suspected masterminds of suicide bombings on this resort island as Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and other countries went on high alert to protect their beaches from a repeat of the weekend attacks.


Newspapers published photographs of the alleged bombers’ severed heads, evidence that investigators hope will lead them to the two Malaysians believed to have plotted Saturday’s attacks. The men suspected of masterminding the attacks – Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top – allegedly are key figures in Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional Islamic terrorist group with links to Al Qaeda that is blamed for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. Police also sought three accomplices believed to be still on the island. – Associated Press


SOUTH ASIA


INDIA, PAKISTAN SIGN AGREEMENT ON MISSILE TESTING
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – India and Pakistan yesterday signed a deal requiring them to notify each other of plans for ballistic missile tests. India’s external affairs minister, Natwar Singh, and his Pakistani counterpart, Khursheed Kasuri, announced the agreement after talks that they described as cordial and constructive. Groundwork for the deal was laid in talks in the Indian capital of New Delhi last month.


India did not elaborate on the draft document, but officials have said they plan to set up a hotline to reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding that could lead to nuclear conflict. – Associated Press


SUSPECTED ISLAMIC TERRORISTS ATTACK PAKISTAN SECURITY POST
MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan – Suspected Islamic terrorists attacked a roadside security post in a northwestern tribal region of Pakistan with rockets and firearms, but soldiers repelled the assault, killing six militants, officials said yesterday.


The militants launched their assault late Sunday on a post east of Miran Shah, a security official in the town said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. Soldiers returned fire, forcing the attackers to flee, the official said. – Associated Press


TWO KILLED IN BANGLADESH BOMBINGS
DHAKA, Bangladesh – Bombs exploded almost simultaneously yesterday at three court buildings in Bangladeshi towns, killing two people, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion quickly fell on communist radicals and Islamic terrorists, each fighting separately to overthrow the government. The two groups are thought to be behind a series of bombings in recent months, including two separate blasts on Sunday. – Associated Press


CENTRAL ASIA


GOVERNMENT FORCES KILL 31 SUSPECTED TALIBAN REBELS
KABUL, Afghanistan – Government forces battled suspected Taliban rebels in heavy fighting near the Pakistan border, leaving 31 militants dead, the Defense Ministry said yesterday.


In two cities, Afghans demonstrated over the killing of a candidate in last month’s parliamentary elections. In all, eight candidates have been killed during the campaign and its aftermath – the latest being minority Hazara candidate Ashraf Ramazan, slain on September 27.Thousands of Hazaras protested in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, demanding Ramazan’s brother take the Parliament seat if the dead candidate gets the most votes. – Associated Press


MIDDLE EAST


PALESTINIAN POLICE STORM PARLIAMENT
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Dozens of disgruntled Palestinian police officers stormed the parliament building yesterday, complaining they do not have enough firepower to confront Hamas, and legislators upset over the growing chaos demanded that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reshuffle the Cabinet and fire his security chief.


The protest and parliament’s rebuke of Mr. Abbas came a day after the worst fighting between Hamas and police in nearly a decade. The violence underscored the difficulties Mr.Abbas and his ill-equipped security forces face in trying to control unruly Gaza.


– Associated Press


EAST AFRICA


U.N. INSPECTS MASS GRAVES FOUND AT CONGO-RWANDA BORDER
NAIROBI, Kenya – Soldiers digging latrines have stumbled across three suspected mass graves in the volatile eastern hills of the Democratic Republic of Congo near its border with Rwanda. Human remains including bones, tissue, and dozens of skulls were exhumed from the sites near the town of Rutshuru. A U.N. team began an investigation into the find yesterday. A local military commander said he expected they would find “thousands” of bodies, believed to be Congolese and Rwandan ethnic Hutus linked to Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.


– The Daily Telegraph


RATS TRAINED TO SNIFF OUT TUBERCULOSIS
NAIROBI, Kenya – Scientists at a Tanzanian university pioneered the use of giant pouched rats to spot plastic landmines missed by metal detectors far faster than human mine spotters. Now the same training methods will be used to teach the rats to detect TB in samples sent from hospitals, or smuggled guns or drugs from border posts.


Early tests at a Belgian research program at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, the Apopo Center, suggest that the rats are more accurate and much faster than humans. The rats, which grow as large as a domestic cat, have a sense of smell is as powerful as that of a dog but they are happier performing repetitive tasks without becoming bored.


– The Daily Telegraph

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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