 Kuwaitis are voting in parliamentary elections which, for the first time, allow women to cast ballots and stand as candidates. The vote is being held early and comes at a politically turbulent period in the conservative Gulf state's history. A bitter dispute has broken out between the government and opposition MPs over increasing the size of constituencies as a way of preventing corruption. Women make up 28 of the 252 candidates, as well as 57% of the electorate. The BBC's Julia Wheeler in Kuwait says it is a big day for women there - even if they do not get elected this time round - and one they have long campaigned for. However, female candidates hope to secure some seats in parliament, despite standing for the most part against seasoned incumbents....
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 10:56:00 06-29-06
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 G-8 Diplomats Meeting in Moscow Discuss Iranian Nuclear Issue, As Well As Israeli Crisis |
The United States, Russia and other industrial democracies said Thursday they expect Iran to reply next week to an international offer to bargain over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. "We are disappointed in the absence of an official Iranian response to this positive proposal," said a statement from foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrial nations. "We expect to hear a clear and substantive Iranian response to these proposals" at a meeting scheduled July 5 between the European Union's foreign minister and Iran's nuclear negotiator. Iran has told the EU it will reply at that session, a U.S. official said, but it is not clear whether Iran will give a definitive "yes" or "no." Tehran could ask for changes, or for preliminary talks before any negotiations over the proposal could begin. At the United Nations, Iran's foreign minister said his country would not respond to the offer by next week and still had questions about the proposal...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2134272
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Editor - 10:36:00 06-29-06
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| Israel justifies Hamas detentions |
Israel has denied Palestinian cabinet ministers detained in the West Bank are to be used as bargaining chips to release a captured Israeli soldier. The detainees include eight members of the Hamas-led government and 20 MPs. Palestinians called it an act of war. The Israelis say they suspect them of involvement in terrorism, and are holding them for questioning. Foreign ministers of the G8 countries meeting in Moscow called on Israel to exercise utmost restraint. Israeli military units advanced into southern Gaza on Tuesday night as part of efforts to get the soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, released. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5129836.stm
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Editor - 09:59:00 06-29-06
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| Mugabe: Zimbabwe doesn't 'need rescuing' |
President Robert Mugabe on Thursday rejected international mediation in Zimbabwe's political crisis, saying the southern African state was not on the verge of collapse although its economy was in trouble.Critics accuse Mugabe of running down one of Africa's most promising countries, abusing human rights and hanging onto power by rigging votes in the face of a deepening economic crisis.Speaking at the funeral of one of his ministers, Mugabe -- under pressure from domestic and Western critics to accept U.N. mediation in a crisis largely blamed on his government -- said Zimbabweans were ready to die fighting for their political rights and would never accept subjugation....
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/06/29/zimbabwe.reut/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 09:57:00 06-29-06
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| First Railway to Tibet Ready to Operate |
The first railway to Tibet is ready to start operation this weekend, using sealed, oxygenated cars to cope with the thin air and high-tech cooling to keep the frozen track bed stable, China's Railway Ministry said Thursday. The $4.2 billion rail line, which took four years to build, links Tibet's capital of Lhasa to Golmud, a small city in Qinghai province already connected to China's vast rail network.China says the prestige project, which leaders have dreamed of realizing since the 1950s, will help economically develop the poor, restive western region and establish better trade and information links with the prosperous east.Critics say it is part of a larger campaign by Beijing to crush Tibetan culture by allowing a huge influx of Han Chinese migrants....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201538,00.html
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Editor - 09:50:00 06-29-06
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| China navy chief sacked for graft |
A top-level Chinese military official has been sacked for corruption after his mistress turned him in, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Wang Shouye, 62, was sacked as deputy commander of the navy and expelled from the national legislature. According to official documents, an unmarried young woman reported Wang's activities and admitted an "improper relationship" with him. Wang is one of the most senior victims of an ongoing anti-corruption drive. China's ruling Communist Party is worried that widespread official corruption is undermining its legitimacy, and has taken care to highlight a number of high-profile falls from grace. Earlier this month, in an unrelated case, a former deputy Beijing mayor, Liu Zhihua, was sacked over unspecified corruption charges. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5128240.stm
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Editor - 09:46:00 06-29-06
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