Annan to send team to Iraq
UNITED NATIONS, June 9 — The Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, told the Security Council yesterday that he would send an independent team to Iraq to destroy samples of chemical and biological agents left behind when UN weapons inspectors left in December, diplomats said.

Vessels’ collision heightens tension
SEOUL, June 9 — South and North Korean military vessels jostled each other today in an armed stand-off in the Yellow Sea, amidst bitter accusations against each other.

Fang trial to resume
BEIJING, June 9 — The recent easing of international pressure on China over its human rights record has resulted in mass detentions of mainland dissidents who are facing trials and jail terms, human rights groups said today.

‘Mass graves’ to be exhumed
COLOMBO, June 9 — Sri Lanka will begin the exhumations of alleged mass graves in the country’s north next week, the government said yesterday.

Concern over vote counting
JAKARTA, June 9 — European observers of Indonesia’s historic election voiced extreme concern today about the slow pace of vote counting from this week’s poll, as impatient opposition parties voiced fears of foul play.

Progress in talks on Kosovo

KUMANOVO, (Macedonia), June 9 (DPA) — Talks between NATO military officials and Yugoslav officers on modalities for the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo are making good progress, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said in Brussels today.

But the two sides still disagreed on the exact timetable for the Serbian withdrawal, the order of the troops and the number of Serbian forces who would later be allowed to return to the province, Mr Shea said.

The talks adjourned for several hours during the morning were set to resume at the Kumanovo military base in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia.

The delegations, which had talked all night, took a breakfast break and then met for internal discussions among themselves.

The U.S. cable news network said talks would resume when the Yugoslav delegation returned to the venue. The Yugoslavs had driven back across the border to consult with officials in Belgrade.

Earlier, a NATO spokesman said there had been “intense and constructive discussions on both sides’’ during the marathon session on implementing the military-technical aspects of the Kosovo peace plan.

A NATO military spokesman said he was cautiously optimistic that an agreement on the withdrawal from Kosovo of the Yugoslav army and of Serb special police would be signed.

The technical talks on NATO’s entry into Kosovo were also interrupted for a few hours overnight to give the Yugoslav delegation an opportunity to check back with Belgrade.

The talks were led by NATO’s force commander British Lieutenant-General Michael Jackson, while the Yugoslav team was represented by Army Deputy Chief of Staff, General Svetozar Marjanovic.

The military representatives are working out the timing and technical details for the withdrawal of about 40,000 Yugoslav troops from Kosovo, and the entry of a 50,000-member NATO protection force.

The two sides reportedly also still disagree on when the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation should stop its bombing of Yugoslavia. Nato wants to stop bombing only when it has verifiable evidence of a Serb withdrawal from Kosovo.

The Yugoslavs reportedly want a bombing pause before they will pull out.

Meanwhile, NATO warplanes maintained their attacks on Serb industrial and military targets overnight and early today.

A NATO spokesman in Brussels said alliance warplanes again attacked Serbian troops in Kosovo, destroying eight tanks and eight artillery guns. Nato planes also attacked two munitions depots in Cuprija and Svetozarevo and an anti-aircraft battery in Kapaonik.

Mr Shea said NATO flew 523 sorties, of which 186 were attacks on strategic targets in Kosovo and a few also in other parts of Serbia.

Observers in Yugoslavia said the bombardment overnight was lighter than bombing has been in recent days.

According to Yugoslav media reports, Serbia was largely quiet overnight despite air raid warnings across the country. Nato bombers did hit targets in Kosovo, the disputed southern Serbian province.

Heavy bombing was reported from Dragas in southern Kosovo, and from the area bordering Albania, this morning, the Belgrade-based Beta news agency reported.

Annan to send team to Iraq

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (AP) — The Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, told the Security Council yesterday that he would send an independent team to Iraq to destroy samples of chemical and biological agents left behind when UN weapons inspectors left in December, diplomats said.

Mr Annan didn’t elaborate on when the team would leave or who its members would be, but said he had been in contact with Mr Richard Butler, the Executive Chairman of the UN Special Commission, diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

Mr Butler recommended last week that a team of experts be dispatched to Iraq to destroy the samples, used to calibrate testing equipment, and remove the less than 1 kg of Iraqi mustard gas stored at the UN laboratory in Baghdad.

The tiny samples were safely stored and posed no threat. But, Mr Butler recommended, that they be destroyed and the lab closed because inspectors have been gone for longer than expected and summer weather could lead to fluctuations in the electricity supply to the facilities.

The Russian Ambassador, Mr Sergey Lavrov, asked Mr Annan about the status of the mission during a council meeting yesterday, diplomats said. Mr Lavrov added that he had learned that Iraqis were now saying explosives were also in the laboratory, which is located at the UNSCOM headquarters in the Canal Hotel, Baghdad.

Troops consolidate grip on oil town

WARRI (Nigeria), June 9 (Reuters) — Nigerian troops consolidated their hold on the southern oil town of Warri to end six-day of ethnic clashes in which dozens of persons have been killed and scores of homes destroyed.

Military commanders said they expected little trouble during overnight curfew hours after a relatively quiet day stirred only by the occasional burst of automatic gunfire.

“You can see that everything is quiet now. What we are looking for is those weapons,” said Brigadier Ibrahim Karmashe, Commander of the task force charged with maintaining order in the volatile region around Warri.

The clashes between the Itsekiri tribe and ethnic Ijaws and Urhobos have sent a stark message of the dangers facing Africa’s most populous nation, despite a surge of optimism after 15-year of crippling military rule ended on May 29.

New President Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military ruler who won elections in February, has promised to visit the region, where unrest threatens the oil exports on which Nigeria relies for 90 per cent of its foreign income.

Vessels’ collision heightens tension

SEOUL, June 9 (AFP) — South and North Korean military vessels jostled each other today in an armed stand-off in the Yellow Sea, amidst bitter accusations against each other.

No shots were fired in the showdown in a crab-rich buffer zone on the world’s last Cold War conflict, which began late on Monday.

But the South Korean military termed the intrusion “a grave violation of the armistice” which ended the 1950-53 Korean War and called for a meeting of the United Nations command to convene a meeting of generals from both sides.

“We are seriously concerned about these North Korean activities because they could enhance tension and might trigger armed clashes,” the South’s Ministry of Defence warned in a statement.

“Therefore, we urge the North Korean navy to stop transgressing the northern limit line (NLL) and hereby make it clear that the responsibility for the consequences should lie with North Korea.”

Around six North Korean vessels and 15 crab-fishing boats crossed the NLL between the two Korea’s early today just hours after ending an earlier “occupation” in the area.

Eight South Korean patrol boats, backed by four warships on standby further South, blockaded the line to stop the North Korean vessels which were sailing South in single file.

The navy also barred South Korean fishing boats from the area.

Fang trial to resume

BEIJING, June 9 (DPA) — The recent easing of international pressure on China over its human rights record has resulted in mass detentions of mainland dissidents who are facing trials and jail terms, human rights groups said today.

Tomorrow, a Beijing court is slated to resume the trial of former official-turned-dissident Fang Jue for fraud and illegal business activities after proceedings were delayed twice over lack of evidence and pressure from the USA, the New York-based human rights in China said.

Mr Fang, (44), was detained on July 23 in Beijing after the foreign press release of his lengthy essay calling on China’s Communist leadership to initiate democratic reforms, allow free elections, a free press and the formation of opposition political parties.

Beijing prosecutors have charged Mr Fang with abusing his power as Deputy Director of Planning in south eastern Fujian province to amass some 1.45 lakh yuan in illegal business deals in 1995.

‘Mass graves’ to be exhumed

COLOMBO, June 9 (Reuters) — Sri Lanka will begin the exhumations of alleged mass graves in the country’s north next week, the government said yesterday.

The Information Department said the exhumations on June 16 would be observed by the international human rights groups.

Former Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse, who has been sentenced to death for the murder and rape of a teenage Tamil schoolgirl and three others, told a Colombo court last year that the bodies of about 300 “missing” Tamils were buried at Chemmani village in the northern Jaffna Peninsula.

Amnesty International earlier said some 600 persons had disappeared in Jaffna in 1996, when government troops captured the Peninsula after driving out the LTTE rebels from their long-time stronghold.

US women going in for bald look

WASHINGTON, June 9 (PTI) — Reminiscent of the late Indian actress Persis Khambata’s bald look in sci-fi blockbuster “Star Trek”, more and more of America’s young women have begun to have shaven heads as a matter of choice — to show their independence, a media report has said.

“As her hair was falling to the floor, she was liberated. She no longer cares whether you like it or not. Cutting off her hair is like pulling back a curtain. Now you can see her. But you don’t,” the Washington Post said yesterday of the attitude of one girl who asked her barber to “take it all off”.

“Women with shiny heads — some bald, some nearly bald, and some with an after-five shadow — are revelling in their own bareness without those so-called crowns,” the newspaper said in its “style” section.

Concern over vote counting

JAKARTA, June 9 (Reuters) — European observers of Indonesia’s historic election voiced extreme concern today about the slow pace of vote counting from this week’s poll, as impatient opposition parties voiced fears of foul play.

European Union chief observer John Morgan expressed his team’s doubts as counting from Monday’s election, the nation’s first free vote in 44 years, continued at a snail’s pace.

“This will cast gravest doubts that the whole operation will in the end be conducted as it should be,” he told at a press conference.

Barely three per cent of ballots have been officially declared a full two days after the vote. Initial expectations were for a likely outcome as early as yesterday night.

Anwar trial
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian judge on Wednesday adjourned the sex trail of jailed former Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim for two days to allow lawyers time to battle over a defence motion asking that the trial be halted. High Court Judge Ariffin Jaka adjourned the case, which entered its third day on Wednesday, until Friday. — Reuters

4 judges killed
SIDON (Lebanon): Four judges, including the Chief Prosecutor for Sidon, were killed and five other persons wounded on Tuesday when gunmen sprayed a court room in this port city with machine gun fire, the police said. A judicial source told AFP that eight Lebanese and Palestinian suspects were in the court room at the time of the attack. — AFP

Obese man
NEW YORK: Emergency personnel tore down a wall in a New York house and used a forklift to load one of the world’s most obese man onto an ambulance for medical treatment at a hospital. Mr Michael Hebranko (46) whose weight ballooned to 495 kg from 270 kg in the past six months due to over-eating was too large to be removed through a door. — Reuters

Search for fossils
WASHINGTON: A satellite specially focused to “see” invisible light will set off later this month to try to find fossil remnants of the big bang that created the universe. The far ultraviolet spectroscopic explorer (FUSE) will whip around the earth every 100 minutes and will search light waves normally blocked out by the planet’s atmosphere for signs of the very simplest element that settled out of the primordial explosion — hydrogen. — Reuters