OSAKA - Seven prefectural governments in western Japan on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding with Kansai Electric Power Co. on keeping close communication in case of a trouble at a nuclear power plant, Kyodo News reported. Hyogo Prefecture Governor Toshizo Ido, who heads the Union of Kansai Governments, and Kansai Electric President Makoto Yagi signed the memorandum in Osaka. The Union of Kansai Governments consists of Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Tottori, Wakayama and Tokushima prefectures. According to the memorandum, in the event of an emergency triggered by a natural disaster or a leak of radioactive material, Kansai Electric would report the incident to the regional union immediately. The memorandum also stipulates the utility will work on the further development and use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. Regular informational meetings would also be held by the two sides in normal times under the memorandum. The union requested an agreement with the utility on sharing nuclear accident information in the wake of the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant triggered by the great earthquake and tsunami last March.
BANGKOK - A group of protesters gathered Friday night to voice their discontent over the ongoing charter rewrite, worrying it would pave the way for the return of fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra with a clean slate. Around 1,000 supporters of an anti-Thaksin group, wearing multi- colored shirts and holding pamphlets criticizing charter amendments, packed the Lumpini Hall in downtown Bangkok and shouted slogans aloud. Somjet Boonthanom, senator and protest leader, announced at the rally that his group would form a committee to closely monitor the progress and direction of charter changes, cautioning of the government's desire for Thaksin's return. The move to amend the charter was a "coup under camouflage of democracy and parliamentary majority," said Somjet, also one of the leaders of the 2006 military coup overthrowing the Thaksin government. The Pheu Thai-led government has planned to revise the current constitution which was promulgated in 2007 during the post-coup military regime. Joint sitting of the House of Representatives and Senate voted last Saturday in the first reading to support the charter change bills sponsored by the government. A 45-member parliamentary committee was later appointed to prepare for the next readings.
KOLKATA, India - Several incriminating documents and cash amounting to over 5.5 million rupees (11,000 U. S. dollars) were recovered from the house of one of five left-wing Naxal rebels arrested earlier in a joint operation by city police and forces from Andhra Pradesh, central India, an official said Saturday. The Special Task Force (STF) seized several incriminating Maoist documents, 5.5 million rupees in cash, a computer pen drive and a German-make gun from a house in Howrah's Bally municipality area, belonging to Sukumar Mandal, who was arrested along with four others Feb. 29, said a STF source. The search and seizure operation continued till late Friday night. Mandal, along with Rama Krishna alias RK, a mechanical engineer and chief of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)'s central technical committee, (also said to be the successor to slain rebel leader Kishenji) and three others, was remanded to Kolkata police custody till March 13. The Kolkata police STF along with Greyhounds, an elite commando force of Andhra Pradesh, nabbed the extremists from various parts of the city.
KABUL - A local Taliban leader was captured Saturday during a joint Afghan forces and NATO-led coalition troops operation in northern Afghan province of Kunduz, NATO-led forces said. "An Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban leader during an operation in Chahar Darah district, Kunduz province, today," the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces said in a press release. Without disclosing details, the ISAF release added that "the leader directed the emplacement of roadside bombs and provided weapons and funds to the insurgents in the area,"The joint forces, separately, discovered a drug cache during an operation in Marjah district of southern Helmand province on Thursday. "The cache consisted of approximately 4,732 pounds (2, 151 kg) of opium and some 53 pounds (24 kg) of heroin," according to the release. The joint forces detained several suspects and destroyed a majority of the drugs on site without incident. The remaining drugs were confiscated to be used as evidence, the ISAF release added.
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BEIJING - Just before the upcoming annual session of National People's Congress (NPC) starting on Monday, China's political leadership on Friday rejected the speculations over a power struggle, that was sparked by the unexplained detention of former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun. According to Zhao Qizheng, spoeksman for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Wang is currently under investigation, which has been yielding substantial results. The nation was shocked in February by news that Wang had spent a night inside the nearest US consulate to Chongqing, Chengdu, before reportedly surrendering to State Security officers from Beijing. Mystery still surrounds the motives and whereabouts of the media-acclaimed 'super cop,' who led a ruthless crackdown on organized criminals, as well as police and officials who protected them. Chinese analysts have stated that Wang may hold incriminating information on several influential party officials, whom he reportedly described as a corrupt mafia bosses, referring primarily to Bo Xilai, Chongqing's influential regional Communist Party secretary. Zhao dismissed media reports on the arrest and the ongoing investigation, saying that they lack grounded facts and are thus created largely by imagination. Zhao called the speculations inaccurate and absurd.
SEOUL - North Korea on Friday threatened a 'sacred war' against South Korea after alleged insults against its leader, media reports said.The leadership of Pyongyang's armed forces said North Korea would 'indiscriminately stage its own-style sacred war to wipe out the group of traitors,' according to the Korean Central News Agency.The reclusive state uses 'group of traitors' to refer to South Korea.North Korea's threat was provoked by allegations that pictures of its leader Kim Jong Un and his father Kim Jong Il, who died in December, were displayed on a wall at a barracks in South Korea's city of Inchon with the slogan 'Let's kill Kim Jong Un,' South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported. A Defence Ministry spokesman in Seoul said the threat 'was not worthy of a response. A deal this week between the United States and North Korea, according to which Pyongyang would suspend nuclear activities in return for food aid from Washington, had raised hopes of an easing of tensions.The agreement also increased optimism about the possible restart of six-party talks involving the Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan about ending North Korea's nuclear programme. The talks have been stalled since 2009. The recent moves were raised during talks on Friday between South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung Hwan and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Seoul. The two agreed to cooperate to ensure that North Korea took concrete steps to fulfil its side of the bargain, Yonhap reported, citing a government official. Pyongyang also threatened 'sacred war' at the weekend over the start of annual military manoeuvres by the US and South Korea. A similar threat was made last year after it was made known that South Korean soldiers were used to shooting at photographs of Kim Jong Il during firing practice. That practice has been discontinued.
BANGKOK - Thick smog caused by farmers clearing land with fire was creating serious health problems in northern Thailand, disrupting transportation and threatening to cripple the region's tourism industry, medical officials and news reports said Friday. Dr Chaicharn Photilak of Chiang Mai Hospital said the number of patients suffering from respiratory problems was increasing, particularly among children and the elderly. 'The situation this year is worse than usual,' he said. 'There is more burning (of farmland) in Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). He said most of his patients complained of severe coughing and blocked airways and advised residents of smog-hit areas to remain indoors. According to the Health Ministry, a total of 23,718 patients with respiratory problems was recorded at hospitals in eight northern provinces between February 19-25, a four-fold increase over the same period last year. The thickest smog was reported Thursday in Mae Sai district of the northernmost province of Chiang Rai, with small dust particles rose to 305.6 micrograms per cubic metre. Any more than 120 micrograms of small dust particles is considered a health hazard. Chiang Rai Governor Thanin Supasean handed out face masks to residents on Thursday. Northern residents said high prices offered for crops by Thai companies were encouraging Thai and Myanmar farmers to clear more forest land for the upcoming growing season. In Chiang Mai, where small dust particles were recorded at 200.72 micrograms per cubic metre on Thursday, Tour Guide Association chairman Somrit Haikham said tourism was threatened by the layer of smoke and called for a strict ban on setting fires for land-clearing. A Bangkok Airways flight to Lamphang, 450 kilometres north of Bangkok, had to be diverted to nearby Sukhothai Airport on Sunday due to poor visibility.
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