Italian minister to visit Aceh
Italian minister to visit Aceh
JAKARTA: With the first anniversary of the Indian Ocean
earthquake and tsunami approaching, senior officials from donor
countries are beginning to visit Aceh to witness the progress
that has been made in reconstruction.
Italian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Margherita
Boniver will visit Aceh this week.
"Minister Margherita Boniver will arrive in Banda Aceh on
Thursday to evaluate the ongoing Italian projects in the
framework of the development cooperation for the rehabilitation
and reconstruction of the zones struck by the disaster," the
Italian Embassy in Jakarta said in a press release sent to The
Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
During her one-day tour of Aceh, Boniver will visit Italian
projects in the Bireun area and meet with local people, including
authorities, who have benefited from Italian aid.
"Minister Boniver will also meet with the head of the Aceh
Monitoring Mission, Pieter Feith, to discuss the latest situation
in Aceh," the statement said.
In response to the devastating tsunami that killed over
120,000 people in Aceh, Italy has provided 10 million euros
(US$11.5 million) to Indonesia under its Italian Emergency
Program for Aceh. Italy also signed a $31 million debt swap
agreement with Indonesia -- JP
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ASEAN-Singapore-health
Doctors remove 2-kg tumor from RI boy
JP/SINGAPORE
Doctors remove 2-kg tumor from RI boy
SINGAPORE: Singapore doctors have successfully removed a two-
kilogram tumor from an Indonesian boy's neck and chest, a member
of the surgical team said on Wednesday.
Lukas Wahangara, who turned 13 on Wednesday, is recuperating
after the rare operation to remove the thyroid tumor measuring 20
centimeters in diameter, almost as big as an adult human's head.
"He is doing very well and started speaking yesterday," said
Goh Yau Hong, one of six surgeons who carried out the 10-hour
operation on Nov. 28 at the private Mount Elizabeth Hospital in
downtown Singapore.
Details of the operation were made public on Wednesday in the
Singapore media.
The operation cost more than S$20,000 (US$11,900) and was
fully paid for by donations raised by a church here, the surgeon
told AFP.
Goh chanced upon Wahangara in the island of Sumba in May
during one of his charity trips to Indonesia. The grossly
undersized boy was standing outside an ill-equipped hospital
hoping for some help. --AFP
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ASEAN-RP-Arroyo
RP army cracks down on suspected plotters
JP/11/ASEAN
RP army cracks down on suspected plotters
PHILIPPINES: The Philippine military removed two colonels from
duty as political foes of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said
on Wednesday they had formed a "revolutionary government" headed
by a retired general.
Arroyo's government and security chiefs have played down
reports of a plot to unseat her, despite an intelligence report
naming a dozen retired and active-duty officers as leaders of a
coup allegedly planned for last weekend.
Adding to the security concerns, a renegade marine captain,
facing mutiny charges over a failed coup attempt in July 2003,
escaped from his guards after a court hearing on Wednesday.
Financial markets have paid little heed to the political
noise. The stock market closed flat on Wednesday and the peso,
Asia's best-performing currency this year, ended at 53.45 to the
dollar, stronger than Tuesday's close at 53.695.
Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, the army commander, told Reuters
he was "repositioning" a deputy brigade commander based near
Manila after the colonel admitted to sending mobile phone text
messages to troops encouraging them to support a coup.
The colonel is a son of Fortunato Abat, an 80-year-old retired
general and former defense secretary named as "transition
president" by groups opposed to Arroyo. --Reuters