PERSIAN GULF

U.S. RELEASES 500 IRAQI PRISONERS

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The American military yesterday released about 500 prisoners cleared of ties to Iraq’s insurgency, including a pair of journalists who had been held for months. An Iraqi reporter for the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya network and the Reuters news agency, Majed Hameed, was released yesterday, U.S. Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said. A photographer and cameraman for Reuters, Ali al-Mashhadani, was also freed in the mass release of 500 prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison, Reuters reported.

– Associated Press

ELECTORAL COMMISSION TO RELEASE FINDINGS ON VOTE COMPLAINTS

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s election commission will announce results of its investigation into allegations of vote fraud today, officials said. The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq has worked through the 50 or so serious complaints of voter fraud lodged after the December 15 election, an official with the panel, Safwat Rashid, said yesterday.

Separately, the tribunal overseeing Saddam Hussein’s trial said Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin submitted his resignation for “personal reasons” and not because of government pressure.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK KILLS THREE CIVILIANS

KABUL, Afghanistan – A suicide car bomb hit a Canadian military convoy yesterday in southern Afghanistan, killing two civilians and Glyn Berry, 59, who was Canada’s senior diplomat in southern Afghanistan and the political director of a 250-member provincial reconstruction team. A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammed Yousaf, claimed responsibility for the attack.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

RIOT SQUADS CURB LATEST CHINESE UNREST

BEIJING – Police used electric batons to disperse thousands of Chinese villagers, the latest confrontation provoked by the ferocious pace of the country’s development. Residents of Sanjiao, in the province of Guangdong, blocked a road in protest at the level of compensation being paid for land requisition. Riot squads were called in and several villagers taken to the hospital. Some said that a 13-year-old girl had been killed, although there was no witness or police confirmation.

– The Daily Telegraph

CARIBBEAN

CASTRO THANKS CHINA FOR NEW VEHICLES, EMPHASIZING FRIENDSHIP

HAVANA – Fidel Castro thanked China for new locomotives and buses that will help improve transportation on the island in an event emphasizing the increasingly close ties between the two countries. Mr. Castro said the locomotives are a symbol of friendship between Cuba and China, calling China the “principal locomotive” of economic development in the world, according to yesterday’s edition of Cuba’s Communist Party daily Granma.

– Associated Press

SOUTH AMERICA

SOCIALIST BACHELET WINS CHILEAN PRESIDENCY AS OPPONENT CONCEDES

SANTIAGO, Chile – A socialist doctor was elected yesterday as Chile’s first female president, with her conservative multimillionaire opponent, Sebastian Pinera, conceding defeat. The victory of Michelle Bachelet – a political prisoner during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet – extends the rule of a market-friendly center left coalition.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

FINLAND’S PRESIDENT FAILS TO WIN MAJORITY IN RE-ELECTION BID

HELSINKI, Finland – Finland’s left-leaning president, Tarja Halonen, failed to win enough votes to secure re-election yesterday, forcing a runoff against a conservative challenger, Sauli Niinisto.

– Associated Press

BLAIR WANTS SUMMARY JUSTICE FOR PETTY CRIMINALS

LONDON – Prime Minister Blair is planning a revolution in the legal system that would mean up to a million petty criminals a year being sentenced by prosecutors and the police, without ever going to court. Defendants who plead guilty to offenses such as shoplifting, theft, and criminal damage would have their punishment decided by the prosecutor, in consultation with the police.

– The Daily Telegraph