World briefs 11/18/03

Haiti stores, schools close to protest government

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Most stores closed and many teachers skipped class in Haiti's capital Monday in a strike called three days after rock-throwing supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide broke up a rally by government opponents.

A coalition of 184 civil groups called the one-day general strike, saying it wanted to send a message that government opponents should be able to assemble freely.

Snail, rabbit racing toward extinctionGENEVA -- Which is faster, the riverine rabbit or the Galapagos snail? Conservationists say both are racing toward extinction at the same breakneck speed.

The two are among 12,259 plants and animals on this year's Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the World Conservation Union.

Schroeder: Germany must put its house in order

BOCHUM, Germany -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Monday that Germany must put its house in order to maintain its strong international stature, urging his center-left party to support him in reforming the country's generous welfare state.

Schroeder, a Social Democrat, has argued that benefits and workers' rights must be trimmed to keep the welfare state alive and create badly needed jobs. Germany, Europe's largest economy, is in its third straight year of economic stagnation.

On Monday, Schroeder mounted a passionate defense of the welfare state during an 80-minute keynote speech to his party's conference, saying he wants to make it "slim but strong."

Demonstrator scales gate to protest Bush visit

LONDON -- A woman scaled a gate at Buckingham Palace Monday, unfurling an upside-down American flag in protest, while Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic delivered an 85,000-signature petition asking Prime Minister Tony Blair to call off President Bush's visit to Britain this week.

Meanwhile, organizers of a demonstration Thursday against the war in Iraq scored an important victory when police said protesters could pass by the Houses of Parliament and Blair's office. Earlier police had refused to allow the march to go through London's main government district, prompting accusations of pressure from the U.S. and British governments.

U.S. troops committed to defense of South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- Nervous about its chief ally, South Korea won assurances from the United States on Monday that a planned shift of U.S. troops away from the border area with North Korea will not lessen America's commitment to help repel any invasion by the North.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told top South Korean government officials in a series of meetings that he believes a pullback from the Demilitarized Zone will strengthen the U.S. defense.

-- From wire reports