When Prime Minister Gordon Brown stepped into Tony Blair’s shoes a month ago, his government signaled that the relationship with the Bush administration would be different – notably by appointing an outspoken critic of the Iraq war to his Cabinet. Today, Brown heads to Washington for a first face-to-face test of his relationship with President Bush, keen to smooth tensions over a perceived turn against the White House. He will hold talks with Bush at his Maryland retreat, Camp David, and deliver a speech to the United Nations in New York following talks with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
China: Mine runoff taints river
Mine runoff spilled into a central Chinese river, temporarily cutting off drinking water to more than 200,000 people, a news agency reported. The runoff from a lead-zinc mine polluted the Zijiang River in Hunan province on Thursday, cutting off supplies to the riverside city of Lengshuijiang and residents downstream, Xinhua News Agency said. It reported that more than 39,000 cubic yards of lead-zinc residue were washed into the river after a drain collapsed at the Zhongtai Mining Corp.
Mexico: 18 officers to stand trial
A Mexican judge ordered 18 police officers to stand trial on charges of aiding drug traffickers as the result of an investigation into the kidnapping of four federal agents, prosecutors said Saturday. Several of the officers from Guadalupe are also charged with abducting the agents on behalf of the band of Gulf cartel hit men known as the Zetas, the attorney general’s office said in a statement. Most of the suspects are not accused of involvement in the kidnapping, but allegedly provided protection to a group of “hawks,” or drug gang informants.
From Herald news services
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