RP and Muslim rebels to issue statement on peace talks:
RP and Muslim rebels to issue statement on peace talks:
Philippine negotiators and Muslim rebels are expected to issue a
joint statement on Saturday underlining their commitment to
reviving formal peace talks on ending decades of fighting in the
south of the country, an official said. Presidential peace
adviser Jesus Dureza said informal talks between the government
and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which began in Kuala
Lumpur on Thursday were "moving smoothly" late Friday. He did not
give more details. -- AP
Drunken prank closes New York bridge: Three men climbed on a New
York bridge in a drunken prank on Friday, shutting the bridge,
sparking an anti-terrorism response and sending the dollar down
in morning trading, officials said. Police said they arrested
three men in their 30s, who were caught by a police officer in
the morning rush-hour after they were spotted climbing the cables
of the Williamsburg Bridge that links Manhattan and Brooklyn
across the East River. Anti-terrorism teams, including
helicopters, radiation detection units and bomb squads -- on high
alert since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and stepped up since the
U.S.-led war on Iraq started last Thursday -- converged on the
area. -- Reuters
Syria toughens stance after war on Iraq begins: Syria has
hardened its attitude to the United States following the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq, with President Bashar al-Assad expressing the
hope that Washington will fail in its objectives. In an interview
published on Thursday in the Lebanese daily As-Safir, Assad
predicted that if they take over Syria's neighbor, the United
States and Britain would be confronted by a "popular resistance"
which would prevent them from controlling it. -- AFP
Half a million Iraqi kids may suffer trauma: Half a million or
more Iraqi children caught in fighting may be left so traumatized
they will need psychological help, the United Nations Children's
agency said on Friday. "I suspect that some half a million
children in Basra, Najaf, Kerbala and Baghdad would possibly be
in need of psycho-social rehabilitation once we go back in,"
Carel de Rooy, Unicef's Iraq representative told a news briefing.
-- Reuters