Howard tells UN not to abandon E. Timor

Howard tells UN not to abandon E. Timor

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations should ensure East Timor is
prepared for independence once a UN-mandated interim
administration finishes its work, Australian Prime Minister John
Howard said on Wednesday.

"We cannot rest on the successes of the past two years, for
without continued support, that success cannot be sustained,"
Howard said in printed remarks prepared for delivery to the
General Assembly.

After 24 years of guerrilla warfare following Indonesia's 1975
invasion, East Timor's economy was devastated by pro-Indonesian
militia violence in the wake of the 1999 independence referendum.

The country's economy has been largely propped up by aid
donors, notably Australia, former colonial power Portugal and the
United Nations. --AFP

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Japanese PM's popularity takes a dive after axing of minister
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Koizumi's popularity takes a dive

JAPAN: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi suffered a staggering
drop in his record popularity in snap polls on Thursday with more
than three quarters of people saying he was wrong to sack his
foreign minister.

A Nippon Television Network poll of 3,500 respondents
conducted on Wednesday and Thursday showed that 87 percent
opposed Koizumi's move, while only 13 percent supported it.

Meanwhile, support for Koizumi's government dropped to 42
percent, with 52 percent opposing it, a dramatic reversal from
support rates that had hovered in the 70s and 80s since he took
office last April.

Koizumi sacked Tanaka and her ministry's top bureaucrat,
administrative vice foreign minister Yoshiji Nogami, late
Tuesday. --AFP

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Ex-U.S. Attorney General Reno faints during speech
JP/ATW

Janet Reno faints during speech

UNITED SATES: Former attorney general Janet Reno, who is running
for governor of Florida, suffered a fainting spell and collapsed
on stage in Rochester, New York, late on Wednesday during a
speech at a university in upstate New York and was rushed to a
local hospital.

The 63-year-old Reno, who suffers from Parkinson's disease,
was being kept overnight at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester
for observation but doctors expected her to be released on
Thursday morning, hospital spokeswoman Karin Gaffney said.

Just seconds before collapsing, Reno told the audience at the
University of Rochester, "If you will excuse me, I'm going to
have to sit down." She then fell hard to the floor behind the
podium, appearing to hit her head on the way down.

Several people from the audience quickly came to her
assistance and she was taken to the hospital. --Reuters

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Colombians protest FARC rebels with pots and pans
JP/9/ATW

Colombians protest FARC with pots, pans

COLOMBIA: Beating pots and pans, thousands of Colombians took to
the streets in Villavicencio on Wednesday to protest attacks by
leftist rebels that have destroyed bridges, cut off electricity
and killed 29 troops in the last days.

Chanting "Freedom, Freedom," honking horns and holding lit
candles and white flags, the protesters streamed through
Villavicencio, capital of central Meta province, one of the
hardest-hit regions by an offensive launched by the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia -- known by its Spanish initials as
FARC.

"We are tired of what the rebels are doing to us. We want to
live in peace and in freedom," said Ayde Ramos, a 33-year-old
woman carrying her small daughter on her shoulders.

It was a rare protest in a country of 40 million people who
have grown largely indifferent to violence. --Reuters