World briefs 2/23/04

Nigeria Muslims claim polio program is U.S. plot

KADUNA, Nigeria -- An Islamic state in Nigeria that is at the heart of a spreading Africa polio outbreak declared Sunday it would not relent on its boycott of a mass vaccination program. On the eve of a 10-nation emergency immunization campaign, Islamic leaders have called the immunization drive against the crippling disease a U.S. plot to spread AIDS and infertility among Muslims. U.N. aid agencies insist the door-to-door drive to inoculate 63 million children in 10 west and central African countries, including Nigeria, is critical to stemming a growing polio outbreak spreading out from Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. Globally, the World Health Organization says the standoff endangers a massive effort that had worked toward stamping out polio entirely.

Judge in Milosevic war crimes trial resigns

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The presiding judge in Slobodan Milosevic's war crimes trial will resign for health reasons, the U.N. tribunal said Sunday. Judge Richard May of Britain will step down from the high-profile judgeship in three months, coinciding with the start of the former Yugoslav president's defense at the U.N. war crimes tribunal. Prosecutors are to conclude their case this week after two years. The trial has been repeatedly delayed by Milosevic's own illnesses. Milosevic, who faces 66 counts of war crimes including genocide, is to start his defense case after a three-month break for preparations. He is representing himself. Under the court's statute, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will appoint a successor.

Pakistan tightens security in terror clampdown

WANA, Pakistan -- Pakistan boosted operations in a lawless border region where Osama bin Laden may be hiding, preparing for a military campaign to capture Taliban and al-Qaida suspects who have taken shelter among local tribes, military officials said Sunday. Paramilitary forces stepped up patrols in the rugged and historically autonomous regions, guarding key roads and taking positions in sandbagged bunkers in this important town in tribal South Waziristan, near the border with Afghanistan. While bin Laden was not the immediate target, authorities hope the sweep through the vast territory in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province will turn up clues that would ultimately lead to his capture, military and intelligence officials said.

U.S. helicopter attacked by gunner in Afghanistan

THALOQAN, Afghanistan -- A lone attacker sprayed a U.S. company's helicopter with gunfire as it prepared to take off from a southern Afghan village Sunday, killing the Australian pilot and seriously wounding at least one American passenger. Four foreigners and an Afghan interpreter had come in the helicopter to inspect the construction of a health clinic in the village of Thaloqan, about 40 miles southwest of the provincial capital, Kandahar. The group was about to leave when a man armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle attacked the helicopter and then fled, said Khalid Pashtoon, spokesman for governor of Kandahar province.

Brazil gets ready for Rio's famed samba parade

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Hundreds of shirtless men wheeled massive floats Sunday in the direction of the Sambadrome, the site of this year's Carnival showdown between Brazil's top samba groups. For the next two nights, the massive concrete stadium will be the site of a showdown between Rio's 14 top-tier samba groups, each battling for the right to be declared this year's champion. The distinction brings little more than bragging rights, but one could easily miss that, given the intensity carnival groups devote to their parades. "Samba is what I eat, what I drink, it's what I live," said Fabia Borges, a featured dancer with the Unidos de Tijuca group. The Sambadrome performances, which will be televised live across this nation of 175 million people, will feature some 4,000 lavishly costumed dancers and drummers.-- From wire reports

Momentum building on N. Korea nuke crisis

SEOUL, South Korea -- Efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis intensified Sunday as the United States and Asian allies met in Seoul to forge a common stance ahead of crucial six-nation talks. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Japanese Foreign Ministry Director General Mitoji Yabunaka arrived in Seoul on Sunday to hammer out details with their South Korean counterpart Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck. The United States, Japan and South Korea agree that North Korea's alleged uranium-based atomic weapons program must be addressed in the upcoming negotiations.

Britain: Schools can carry out random drug tests

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday that British schools will be given the power to carry out random drug testing on students. In an interview with the News of the World newspaper, Blair said school principals will have the right to either offer treatment to children caught by the tests, expel them or report them to police. The government had disclosed earlier this year it was looking at new guidelines on drugs in schools but Blair's comments were the first sign they would extend to random testing. The controversial plans were welcomed by the National Association of Head Teachers but were condemned by opposition lawmakers and the civil liberty campaigners.

China lifts quarantine on first bird flu village

BEIJING -- China said Sunday its bird flu epidemic was coming under control, after five straight days of no new reports of the virus that has killed 22 people in Thailand and Vietnam and prompted the destruction of millions of chickens throughout Asia. The announcement came as the government lifted its quarantine of a village where the nation's first confirmed case of the disease was reported, allowing the 24 residents to step out for the first time in 20 days, state media reported. The eight households on the outskirts of Dingdang, a town in south China's Guangxi region, were quarantined after ducks there died of bird flu, state television said.

Japan confirms 10th case of suspected mad cow

TOKYO -- Japanese authorities on Sunday confirmed the nation's 10th case of mad cow disease since the first sick animal was discovered in September 2001. The Heath Ministry made the announcement a day after saying it suspected the nearly 8-year-old Holstein had the brain-wasting illness. The dairy cow tested positive for the disease known formally as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, at a slaughterhouse outside Tokyo on Friday and again in a follow-up screening at a national laboratory on Saturday. Experts were scheduled to review the findings on Sunday but the ministry said in a statement it had bypassed that procedure because the test results were typical for an infected cow.

-- From wire reports