EASTERN EUROPE

RUSSIA RESTRICTS CIVIL SOCIETY

MOSCOW – Hundreds of Russian pro-democracy and human rights groups face closure after the country’s parliament pushed through a Kremlin-backed bill yesterday imposing draconian restrictions on the country’s civil society. The State Duma, almost entirely stocked with allies of President Putin, ignored international protest to pass the bill at its second reading by 376 votes to 10. In a half-hearted concession to vigorous pressure from America, members of parliament dropped an earlier proposal effectively to expel international rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

– The Daily Telegraph

FAR EASTERN CITY CUTS WATER SUPPLIES TO 10,000

KHABAROVSK, Russia – Authorities in this city in Russia’s Far East cut off water to its 10,000 people yesterday as a toxic slick from a chemical plant explosion in China floated downriver. By evening, pipes began to pump water once again to the homes of people in three districts of the city, with full supplies expected to resume by this morning. But the regional chief of Russia’s Federal Natural Resources Service, Vladimir Ott, warned the 580,000 residents not to drink tap water because of the contamination from the Chinese accident last month.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

700 GAY WEDDINGS ON FIRST DAY

LONDON – Nearly 700 couples, including Elton John and David Furnish, celebrated the Britain’s first gay weddings. Prime Minister Blair welcomed the civil partnerships as “a modern, progressive step.” The reform is seen as the most significant advance for homosexual rights since 1967, when the Sexual Offenses Act, which partially decriminalized sex between men over 21, received royal assent.

– The Daily Telegraph

MERKEL BACKS BLAIR’S VISION FOR EUROPE

BERLIN – Chancellor Merkel said yesterday that the reason for British euro-skepticism lies in the ailing economics of continental Europe. She told a German newspaper that Britain’s enthusiasm toward the European Union cannot be expected to grow if European countries with low growth rates and high unemployment do nothing to resolve their situations. Mrs. Merkel gave her backing to Mr. Blair’s position that the Continent’s social model is effectively failing.

– The Daily Telegraph

POPE DELIGHTS CROWDS WITH SANTA LOOK

LONDON – When Pope Benedict XVI toured St. Peter’s Square yesterday, pilgrims could have been forgiven for thinking that Father Christmas had dropped in. The German-born pope delighted the crowds at his weekly audience by wearing a red velvet cap trimmed with white fur along with his scarlet cape as he drove around the square. The traditional hat, known as a camauro, used to be worn by popes in the Middle Ages to keep their heads warm. In modern times, only John XXIII, who was pope from 1958 to 1963, was regularly seen in one.

– The Daily Telegraph

MIDDLE EAST

PALESTINIANS THREATEN TO CANCEL ELECTIONS

JERUSALEM – The Palestinian Authority will cancel January 25 parliamentary elections if Israel goes ahead with its plan to bar Palestinian Arabs from voting in disputed Jerusalem, a senior Palestinian Arab official said yesterday. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been under pressure from his Fatah Party to postpone the vote, amid concerns about the growing political clout of the Islamic group Hamas. But Palestinian Arab officials denied Mr.Abbas was using Israel’s threat as a pretext to call off the vote. Mr. Abbas said he hasn’t decided yet whether to delay the vote.

– Associated Press

EAST AFRICA

BRITAIN JOINS EUROPEAN AID VETO ON ‘AUTOCRATIC’ UGANDA

KAMPALA, Uganda – Britain has slashed $35 million of aid to Uganda’s government because of growing worries about President Museveni’s increasingly autocratic rule. A quarter of the money has been frozen, pending improved behavior by the government. The remaining $26 million, intended to go directly to the government, will instead be channeled to aid agencies working in Uganda’s north, the site of a brutal guerrilla war for 19 years. Sweden froze $8 million of aid on Sunday, and Norway, Ireland, and the Netherlands have all cut funding. Almost half of Uganda’s $1.7 billion-a-year budget is funded by donors.

– The Daily Telegraph

SOUTH AMERICA

NEARLY COMPLETE RETURNS SHOW MORALES WINNING PRESIDENCY

LA PAZ, Bolivia – Nearly complete vote tabulations yesterday pointed to an easy victory by leftist leader Evo Morales, showing the coca grower with more popular support than any Bolivian president since democracy was restored two decades ago.

Mr. Morales had 54.3% of the votes cast in Sunday’s election, according to official returns based on tallies from 93% of polling places. Turnout was near 85%.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

RUMSFELD: U.S. WILL PURSUE TERRORISTS DESPITE TROOP WITHDRAWALS

KABUL, Afghanistan – Reducing the number of American troops in Afghanistan will not weaken the campaign against Taliban fighters and Al Qaeda terrorists who still threaten this war-torn country, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said yesterday. “Our level of activity is substantial and continuous,” Mr. Rumsfeld told a news conference outside the heavily guarded Presidential Palace after meeting with President Karzai.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

HONG KONG VETO OF POLITICAL REFORMS COULD CAUSE BACKLASH

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers sent a blunt message to Beijing yesterday with the veto of a government reform plan that lacked a timetable for the Chinese territory to become fully democratic. Despite the lawmakers’ calls for Hong Kong to directly elect its leader and legislature, some analysts and lawmakers said they doubted China’s Communist leaders would rethink the rejected reforms, or speed up democratization.

– Associated Press