Angry crowds protest Bush’s Indonesia stop
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, November 19, 2006
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – Warmly greeted by world leaders at an economic summit in Vietnam, President Bush drew a different reaction Sunday at his upcoming stop in Indonesia, where thousands angrily protested America’s policy in the Middle East and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The White House said it was confident about security precautions for Bush’s visit today despite police warnings of an increased threat of attack by al-Qaida-linked groups.
The president was to spend just six hours in Indonesia, most of it at Bogor Palace, a presidential retreat outside the capital of Jakarta and far from the scene of protests Sunday where Bush was denounced as a “war criminal’ and “terrorist.”
China: Stampede kills six children
A stampede on a stairwell at a school in eastern China killed six children and injured 11, state media said today. The stampede occurred Saturday night when hundreds of students at Tutang Middle School in Jiangxi province’s Duchang County swarmed out of their evening classes, the China Daily newspaper said. Hundreds of students fell over each other in the stairwell. Five girls and one boy died on their way to the hospital, the newspaper said. Teachers climbed drain pipes on the outside of the building to get to the children trapped in the stairwell.
Sudan: Looting by soldiers reported
A large force of Sudanese soldiers backed by allied janjaweed militiamen is sweeping through North Darfur, killing civilians and looting and burning villages in violation of a cease-fire agreement, international observers and rebels said Sunday. At least four civilians were killed near the town of Birmaza on Sunday, said Youssouf Mussabal, a rebel leader in the area.
Nepalese hunters captured a wild elephant that had trampled to death at least 12 people and injured several others in southeast Nepal, officials said Sunday. A team of 15 forestry officials found the elephant Saturday after a two week search and shot it with a tranquilizer in the jungles of Sunsari district, about 310 miles southeast of the capital, Katmandu. Karna said tests were being conducted on the animal and they had cut off its tusks to prevent further attacks.
India successfully test-fired a medium-range nuclear-capable missile on Sunday, days after rival Pakistan launched a similar missile. The Prithvi missile was fired into the Bay of Bengal from the test range in Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa, an official said. The test comes three days after Pakistan carried out a similar test of its nuclear-capable Ghauri missile, also known as the Hatf 5. The competing missile tests came after the countries concluded a crucial round of peace talks in New Delhi aimed at resolving their differences, including the thorny issue of their territorial dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir.
