KL turns to other disputed island: Heartened by a recent World

KL turns to other disputed island: Heartened by a recent World
Court decision awarding Malaysia two tiny islands also claimed by
Indonesia, the government will now try to win a territorial
tussle with neighboring Singapore, Malaysia's deputy leader said
on Wednesday. Malaysia and Singapore decided in 1998 to submit
their competing claims to the islet of Pulau Batu Puteh to the
court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, in
the Hague. They have contested ownership over the islet, also
called Pedra Branca, since 1979. --AP

Russia regrets U.S. missile defense: Russia expressed regret on
Wednesday at the U.S. decision to start deploying a missile
defense shield, and urged Washington to abide by its pledge to
give it a role in developing such a scheme. The Foreign Ministry
said Moscow, which long opposed the scheme before reluctantly
accepting it would be implemented, had noted "with regret" U.S.
President George W. Bush's order to make some interceptor rockets
operational from 2004. --Reuters

Ariane rocket launches satellite for New Skies: A European
Ariane-4 rocket placed into orbit a communications satellite for
global satellite operator New Skies Satellite after a textbook
launch from French Guiana late on Tuesday.
The launch from the European Space Agency launch center on South
America's northeast coast came less than a week after a new
generation Ariane-5 rocket exploded minutes after take-off.
--Reuters

Bosnian Serb "Iron Lady" hears sentence call: War crimes
prosecutors at The Hague said on Wednesday Bosnian Serb "Iron
Lady" Biljana Plavsic should face a 15-25 year jail term after
she pleaded guilty to a count of crimes against humanity in the
Bosnian war. The former Bosnian Serb president, The Hague court's
only female confessed war criminal, delivered an unprecedented
"mea culpa" on Tuesday by admitting some responsibility for
atrocities against non-Serbs in the 1992-5 conflict though she
stopped short of an explicit apology to the victims. --Reuters

Popular ally renounces Roh on eve of vote: South Korea's popular
soccer chief dealt a last-minute shock to ruling party
presidential candidate Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday, breaking their
electoral alliance after condemning Roh's views on North Korea
and the United States. Three hours after Chung Mong-joon had
stumped for Roh in central Seoul, Chung issued a statement saying
he was withdrawing support for the liberal candidate after
"inappropriate remarks" about a possible U.S.-North Korea armed
conflict. --Reuters