RI hands over people-smuggler
RI hands over people-smuggler
EGYPT: Indonesia has extradited an Egyptian who organized a doomed voyage to Australia for hundreds of asylum-seekers in October 2001, according to judicial sources in Cairo on Wednesday.
Mutaz Attia Mohammad Hasan, also known as Abu Quassey, was handed over to the Egyptian authorities, who have been seeking his extradition for the past year, on Saturday.
Australia had also been seeking the extradition of Abu Quassey, who was held at an immigration detention center in Indonesia after serving a six-month prison sentence for visa violations.
He has admitted he organized the October 2001 voyage that led to the death of some 350 mostly Iraqi asylum-seekers as they headed for Australia in a dilapidated and overcrowded boat that sank. --AFP
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. ATW-China-24 Hour News China's state television begins a 'milestone' - country's first JP/11/ATW
24-hour Chinese news channel launched
CHINA: A 24-hour news channel run by China's state television went on the air on Thursday in a step that some say could revolutionize the communist government's bland, tightly controlled media.
The CCTV News Channel promises faster, more comprehensive coverage, though it waited until four hours into its debut broadcast to mention the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, which has killed at least 170 people in China and infected thousands.
The new channel follows the Western model of live reports with stylishly groomed anchors seated in front of a bustling newsroom and jazzy synthesized theme music. The program includes current affairs, business, arts and sports.
At the top of the 7 a.m. news, one hour after the channel went on air, a reporter called in from Peking University's flag- raising ceremony. The program also reported on developments in Iraq and Middle East peace efforts with a report by telephone from a correspondent in the region. --AP
;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAi..r.. ATW-SARS-GERMANY-ASIA Schroeder to go ahead with Asia trip despite SARS JP/11/ATW
Schroeder to go ahead with Asia trip
GERMANY: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will travel to Asia in May despite the outbreak of SARS but will take a much smaller delegation than planned, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.
Scientists had told the government a large delegation could lead to problems, so Schroeder will only be traveling with economics minister Wolfgang Clement, Siemens AG chief Heinrich von Pierer and a small group of civil servants.
He had planned to take 120 people with him, including journalists and business executives from other firms.
Schroeder plans to visit Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam from May 10 to May 17. --Reuters
;AFP;KOD; ANPAi..r.. ATW-SAfrica-accident-bus Eighty people feared dead in South Africa bus crash: police JP/11/ATW
80 feared dead in S. African bus crash
SOUTH AFRICA: Up to 80 people are feared dead after a bus plunged into a reservoir in South Africa's central Free State province on Thursday morning, police said.
"At the moment the official count is five dead, but I do not think there will be any more survivors than the 10 people we have pulled from the wreckage," police spokesman Sam Sesing said shortly after arriving at the scene of the accident scene outside the town of Bethlehem, about 400 kilometers south of Johannesburg.
The bus was transporting about 90 members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions from Northern Province to a May Day rally when it drove into the reservoir.
"The driver lost his direction while he was in Bethlehem and followed a gravel road that lead to the dam," Sr. Supt. Sesing said. --AFP