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
;AFP;APS;CD; ANPAu..r.. 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
;REUTERS;APS; ANPAu..r.. 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