Australia boosts aid budget to combat terrorism: Australia lifted
Australia boosts aid budget to combat terrorism: Australia lifted its overseas aid budget by A$79 million (US$51.4 million) on Tuesday, saying it wanted to help combat terrorism in the Asia- Pacific region. Total aid to Indonesia will increase by A$30 million to A$152 million, including funds to increase the archipelago's counter-terrorism capability. An A$10.5 million grant was allocated towards an intensive care ward and eye center in Bali as a memorial to the 202 people, including 88 Australians, who died in a terrorism bombing on the island last year. --AFP
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan dies: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, uncle of the spiritual leader of the Shi'ite Ismaili community of Islam, the Aga Khan, has died at the age of 70 after a long illness, one of his foundations said on Tuesday. "The prince died on Monday at Massachusetts Boston Hospital," an official at the Bellerive Foundation told in Geneva said. The prince had a long career with the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations, serving as UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 1965 to 1977. --AFP
Japan political deal paves way for defense bills: Japan's ruling bloc and its largest opposition group agreed on three controversial defense bills on Tuesday, paving the way for passage of legislation strengthening Japan's ability to defend itself. Such legislation, opposed by peace activists, has been a long-held dream of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), with moves to enact it gaining a boost from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States as well as the nuclear crisis involving North Korea. --Reuters
New U.S. boss starts work in Baghdad: The new U.S. boss in Iraq started work in Baghdad on Tuesday as U.S. hopes of reshaping the region were overshadowed by anti-Western bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia and a harsh rebuke from neighboring Iran. Paul Bremer, the new chief U.S. administrator, is expected to toughen U.S. efforts to provide security to the anarchic capital and rebuild the shattered country. Bremer is faced with the huge task of realizing Washington's plan to building a model pro-western democracy in Iraq and winning back Iraqis' trust after a month of chaos following Saddam Hussein's fall. --AFP