NORTH AMERICA

HARPER: U.S. SHOULD MIND ITS OWN BUSINESS ON ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY

TORONTO — Canada’s next prime minister used his first news conference yesterday to tell America to mind its own business when it comes to territorial rights in the Arctic North. Testing the notion that he would kowtow to the Bush administration, Stephen Harper, whose Conservative Party won general elections on Monday, said he would stand by a campaign pledge to increase Canada’s military presence in the Arctic and put three military icebreakers in the frigid waters of the Northwest Passage.

— Associated Press

PARK PLEADS NOT GUILTY

UNITED NATIONS — A Korean businessman, Tongsun Park, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of conspiracy to help Saddam Hussein’s Iraq as an unregistered agent during the oil-for-food program. Mr. Park’s request to be freed on bail was denied by Federal Judge Denny Chin.

New York Sheriff’s Department officers were present in the Lower Manhattan courtroom to arrest Mr. Park on unrelated civil charges in case bail was granted. Mr. Park’s attorney, Jamie Gardner, argued that her client, “a man in his 70s,” was in frail health and that although not a citizen he has “substantial ties” in America and therefore presents no flight risk. The judge was unconvinced and said Mr. Park had the means and ability to travel around the world, with large amounts of cash, and therefore could leave, as according to U.S. Attorney Stephen Miller, he had done in the past.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

PERSIAN GULF

SAUDI WITHDRAWS DENMARK AMBASSADOR

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Denmark yesterday to protest a published series of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, which provoked a wave of anger in Islamic countries when they were published last year in a leading Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten. Ambassador Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Hejailan has been posted in Denmark since March 2003.

— Associated Press

CARIBBEAN

U.N.: HAITI READY FOR ELECTIONS

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — U.N. officials yesterday declared Haiti ready for February 7 elections, saying thousands of election workers and peacekeepers were in place to hold the repeatedly postponed polls.About 36,000 election workers will help ensure voting goes smoothly, while 9,000 U.N. police and soldiers will guard polling stations and other areas throughout the country, a U.N. spokesman, David Wimhurst, said.

— Associated Press

EAST ASIA

S. KOREAN COURT ORDERS U.S. COMPANIES TO PAY DAMAGES

SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court yesterday ordered two American manufacturers of the defoliant Agent Orange to pay $62 million in medical compensation to local veterans of the Vietnam War and their families. The Seoul High Court ordered Dow Chemical in Midland, Mich., and Monsanto in St. Louis to compensate about 6,800 people. The companies said in a joint statement that they will appeal the decision.

— Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

INTERPOL SEEKS ARREST OF BHUTTO

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Interpol has issued international notices at Pakistan’s request seeking the arrest of a former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and her husband on corruption charges, officials said yesterday.

— Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

BRITAIN TO BOOST TROOP LEVELS IN AFGHANISTAN

LONDON — Britain will send at least another 4,000 troops to Afghanistan in coming months as a NATO mission expands into a dangerous region rife with Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents, the government said yesterday. Britain now has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan.

— Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

HAZING OF SOLDIER LEADS TO INQUIRY

MOSCOW — Military prosecutors and officers yesterday pledged a thorough inquiry into one of the most brutal hazing incidents in the Russian military in years. Doctors said 18-year-old Private Andrei Sychev’s legs and genitals were amputated after the New Year’s Eve incident at the Chelyabinsk Tank Academy, in which older soldiers forced him to spend hours in an unnatural position and beat him.

— Associated Press