World briefs 12/12/03

Summit begins with Japan seeking freer trade

TOKYO -- Japan joined 10 Southeast Asian nations in a pledge to expand trade and join forces on regional security as they opened a two-day summit on Thursday. The summit in Tokyo marks the first time leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have met outside of their region. Japan, which is not an ASEAN member, is ASEAN's second-largest trading partner and investor, after the United States.

Antidepressants bad for children, agency warns

LONDON -- British drug regulators warned Wednesday that common antidepressants other than Prozac should not be prescribed to children because of a risk that the drugs could make young patients suicidal. A study concluded that the risks from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, to those under 18 outweighed the benefits, according to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Prozac was not included in the warning, the agency said.

McCain criticizes delays at Guantanamo camp

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Sen. John McCain said Thursday he is concerned about the failure to move ahead with prisoners' trials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where after nearly two years the military has allowed just one detainee to meet with attorneys. Speaking by phone from Washington after touring Guantanamo, McCain said "bureaucratic inertia and fear of making a wrong decision" led to delays in the cases of some 660 people held on suspicion of links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban government or the al-Qaida terror network.

-- From wire reports