World briefs 02/25/03

North Korea launches anti-ship missile

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea test-fired an anti-ship missile that landed in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said today.

U.S. and Korean officials said the missile was likely a small, conventional one, not the ballistic rocket that U.S. officials fear can possibly hit parts of the western United States.

But the testing -- which coincided with the arrival in Seoul of Secretary of State Colin Powell -- was virtually certain to raise tensions in a region already reeling from a standoff over North Korea's nuclear program, which U.S. officials say could lead to nuclear weapons production.

"We believe that this is part of North Korea's usual tests of its weapons during the military exercise," said Col. Kim Sung-ok, an officer at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

A senior State Department official accompanying Powell said, "We understand the missile test was short range." The official said it was fired from Hamkyong Province in northeastern North Korea.

Chinese rescuers struggle to save quake victims

BEIJING -- With bloodied hands, survivors dug through rubble and called out for their missing loved ones after a powerful earthquake knocked down homes and schools on Monday in western China, officials said. At least 259 people were killed and more than 2,050 injured.

The quake toppled farmhouses on families and collapsed schools on students in Bachu county, near China's mountainous border with Kyrgyzstan, officials said.

Thousands were left homeless and without shelter overnight in 14-degree temperatures. The official Xinha News Agency said 8,861 houses were destroyed.

The government put the 10:03 a.m. quake's magnitude at 6.8, while the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., said it was magnitude 6.3.

No jury for trial of two bombing suspects

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Two Sikh men charged in the 1985 bombing of an Air India jet that killed all 329 people aboard will be tried by a judge with no jury, the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed to the no-jury trial to speed up the proceedings in a criminal inquiry that has cost more than $20 million.

Air India Flight 182 from Montreal to New Delhi exploded over the Atlantic near Britain on June 23, 1985. Most of the victims were Canadian.

Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri are facing first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the bombing. A third suspect, 51-year-old Inderjit Singh Reyat, this month pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years.

Saudi Arabia approves press association

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- In a bid to improve conditions for its journalists, Saudi Arabia on Monday approved the establishment of a press association, the state-run press agency reported.

Journalists welcomed the creation of the union representing their interests, but said much more had to be done in the secretive kingdom where the state dominates even private newspapers.

The union will "boost the role of the media" and "grant journalists a great deal of security, confidence and a greater sense of responsibility," Information Minister Fouad al-Farsi said.

Although the kingdom has more than a dozen newspapers, many Saudis rely primarily on satellite television stations to receive important local and international news. Saudi papers are privately owned but heavily state-influenced.

Recently, Saudi Arabia has taken unprecedented steps to encourage debate and explore reform, including receiving a U.N. human rights team and a New York-based Human Rights Watch delegation.

Earlier this month, the kingdom agreed to partially open internationally classified photography, television and radio studios, advertising and public relations agencies and foreign media offices.

-- From wire reports