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.

The New York Sun
NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

WESTERN EUROPE


I BROKE CHASTITY VOW, FRANCE’S FAVORITE PRIEST SAYS


PARIS – France’s most revered public figure, Abbe Pierre, admitted in a book out yesterday, “My God … Why?” that he had more than once broken his vow of chastity as a Roman Catholic priest. The 93-year-old creator of the Abbe Pierre Foundation, which aids the poor in 50 countries, says he has had “passing relations” with women, but never felt able to commit himself to anything more lasting. Abbe Pierre, who has often topped French popularity polls, is a former Resistance member and a member of parliament who has devoted most of his life to defending human rights and the poor.


– The Daily Telegraph


BLAIR URGED TO GET GRIP ON CABINET


LONDON – Prime Minister Blair is being urged to “get a grip” on his Cabinet and halt the feuding that is threatening to paralyze Britain’s government. The deputy prime minister, John Prescott, and the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, joined forces yesterday to deliver a blunt warning to the Cabinet to stop leaking sensitive discussions.


Disputes over education, the national health service, and laws on terrorism have all been made public.


– The Daily Telegraph


CHIRAC WRECKS BLAIR’S HOPES FOR REFORMS


HAMPTON COURT, Britain – Prime Minister Blair’s hopes of putting the European Union back on course with a modern economic vision ended in failure yesterday as President Chirac vowed to block any E.U. budget deal – or world trade agreement – that threatens the Common Agricultural Policy.


What was supposed to be a peacemaking summit ended with Mr. Blair, the union’s current president, being upstaged by the French president and outgoing German chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder. Both leaders brushed aside Mr. Blair’s plans to agree on a series of worthy, modest measures to equip the European Union for global competition, and instead made clear that their countries would veto any reforms that menaced their national economic interests.


– The Daily Telegraph


BIRD FLU VACCINE TO START TRIALS IN WEEKS


LONDON – Britain’s largest drug company said yesterday that a new bird flu vaccine would begin clinical trials within weeks, as peers were told that the effect of a flu pandemic would be “somewhere between major and catastrophic.” The chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, Jean-Pierre Garnier, said that the vaccine would combat the H5N1 strain of flu that has already killed 60 people in Asia.


It could be ready by the middle of next year.


If a flu pandemic emerges before then, Mr. Garnier added, the company would try to produce a vaccine from the mutated strain as quickly as possible.


Also yesterday, the Chinese government insisted it had bird flu under control, amid fears that it could prove to be the source of a global epidemic.


The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization also gave a warning of the potential scale of the problem in China, which has reported three outbreaks in different parts of the country in the past week.


China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, was yesterday quoted by the state press as saying that there had been huge culling in affected areas, quarantines, and vaccinations of residents.


– The Daily Telegraph


EAST ASIA


JAPAN REOPENS WARTIME TRIAL OF ‘COMMUNIST CELL’


TOKYO – Japan is being forced to confront its wartime record anew as a court posthumously retries the case of five journalists tortured by police and convicted in 1945. The five were sentenced only weeks after Japan’s defeat ended a campaign to stamp out antiwar sentiment – and a month before the law under which they were charged was repealed.


A total of 60 journalists were arrested for allegedly being part of a communist conspiracy in the “Yokohama Incident,” part of an operation run by police in the city near Tokyo. The case highlights Japan’s reluctance to acknowledge the wrongs it committed during World War II, not just against its neighbors and prisoners of war but its own citizens too.


– The Daily Telegraph


CENTRAL ASIA


14 TALIBAN MEMBERS EXTRADITED FROM PAKISTAN


KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan officials yesterday welcomed the extradition of 14 suspected Taliban members from neighboring Pakistan, saying they hoped the move would mark a new era of cooperation.


Kabul has repeatedly accused Islamabad of being soft on Taliban militants who base themselves on the Pakistani side of the frontier and sneak into Afghanistan to carry out attacks. Pakistani officials have denied the charge.


Among those extradited to Kabul on Wednesday was Latif Hakimi, a purported Taliban spokesman who was arrested in the Pakistani city of Quetta last month. He would often telephone news agencies to claim responsibility for insurgent attacks, though his exact ties to the Taliban leadership are not clear.


American military and Afghan officials knew of his whereabouts for months but took no action as they gained valuable information on the insurgents by monitoring his phone calls. But they pushed Pakistan to arrest him after he allegedly urged a group of militants last month to kill a kidnapped British engineer, according Afghan officials close to President Karzai.


– Associated Press

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.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use