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The prime minister of Vietnam was met by angry protests and sharp questions about human rights as he kicked off a historic week-long visit to America with a stop in Seattle yesterday. A contingent of about 300 Vietnamese emigres demonstrated outside a downtown hotel as the communist leader, Phan Van Khai, conducted a press conference inside, police said. A police spokeswoman, Christie-Lynne Bonner, described the demonstrators as "pro-democracy." Some critics of Mr. Khai carried banners denouncing the regime in Hanoi. The protesters shouted "Down with Communists" and some carried signs that read, "Khai Is Another Saddam Hussein," the Associated Press...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The European Union was in disarray on Thursday after the Netherlands followed France in resoundingly rejecting the bloc's new constitution, possibly stalling future expansion and disrupting decision making. The rejection of the charter by two of the six countries that founded the bloc in the 1950s could deal a fatal blow to a treaty designed to make the EU run more smoothly following its enlargement from 15 to 25 states last year. The votes also cast doubt on the EU's hopes for a stronger foreign policy and its plans to expand further to the western Balkans, Turkey...

Ibrahim Jaafari is the United Iraqi Alliance' (UIA's) unanimous choice for the premiership of Iraq. He is not a novice, in the sense that he was long in opposition to Saddam Hussein's rule. He served as vice president in the interim Iraqi government. His Da'wa (Islamic Call) Party has long advocated an Islamic government; however, that aspiration is either tempered or even abandoned when faced with the awesome responsibility of governing Iraq. Whatever the reason, Jaafari has an enormous task ahead of him if he emerges as the ultimate candidate. And the chances of that are quite good as he...

PLO meets as Arafat awaits results From Lamia Radi in Ramallah October 31, 2004 FORMER Palestinian premier Mahmud Abbas urged Palestinian forces to unite overnight, pledging loyalty to Yasser Arafat, as he moved to the political centre stage with the strongman sick in hospital. Mr Abbas spoke after chairing the first Palestine Liberation Organisation executive meeting without Mr Arafat, amid speculation that the Palestinian leadership could fall into chaos should the veteran leader never return. "We call on all our people and factions to unite and work together in responsible fashion to protect our destiny and homeland," said Mr Abbas,...

Fighting rages on as Iraqi premier demands retreat By Adrian Blomfield in Baghdad (Filed: 09/08/2004) Brushing aside calls for talks, Iyad Allawi, Iraq's interim prime minister, flew to Najaf yesterday and ordered militants spearheading a fresh Shia uprising in the south to leave the holy city. "There is no negotiation with any militia that bears arms against Iraq and the Iraqi people," said Mr Allawi, flanked by heavy security, during a brief visit to the turbulent city where American troops claim to have killed more than 300 militants since Thursday. A Shia militiaman takes aim at a US helicopter in...

Iraq's premier denies claims that he executed six prisoners BY Damien McElroy in Baghdad (Filed: 18/07/2004) Ayad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister, has dismissed allegations that he killed six prisoners in cold blood just days before assuming power from the American-led coalition last month. An Australian newspaper reported claims that Dr Allawi had pulled a pistol from his belt to shoot a group of blindfolded and shackled insurgents who had been lined up against the wall of a police station in Baghdad. Mr Allawi dismisses the claims The story in the Sydney Morning Herald, based on the unsubstantiated claims of two...

Online Petition To Premier Dalton McGuinty: On the 11th of September 2003 you signed a pledge to uphold the Taxpayers’ Protection and Balanced Budget Act if your party formed the next government of Ontario. You specifically promised to: “Not raise taxes or implement new taxes without the explicit consent of Ontario voters; and Not run deficits.” Since then, you have broken both of these promises. Your budget of May 18, 2004 has increased taxes, imposed new taxes, and will run this province further into the red for years to come. You also plan to gut the Taxpayer Protection and Balanced...

NEW YORK -- China's Premier Wen Jiabao rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange Monday during a visit to the United States against a backdrop of heightened trade tensions. Wen was to meet with business and New York City leaders later Monday and attend a luncheon hosted by the American Bankers Association. The uneasy trade relations between China and the United States were expected to be a main issue in his meetings Tuesday with President George W. Bush and other White House officials in Washington. The U.S. trade deficit with China stood at $103 billion last year...

China's premier to tackle Bush over Taiwan and bra taxes By Richard Spencer in Beijing (Filed: 08/12/2003) The prime minister of China arrived in Washington last night for the new leadership's most important overseas visit yet, and he was preparing to challenge President George W Bush over a list of issues from Taiwan to brassieres. The visit by Wen Jiabao, regarded as the most liberal of China's leaders, was supposed to set the seal on two years of improving relations with the Bush administration. But meetings may be less friendly following a fresh outbreak of tension between China and Taiwan....

Roger Hedgecock opened up talking about the Forest Fires in California. Evidently his radio station is pretty close to it because he said he could smell the smoke. Then he starts talking about the Democratic Presidential Debate last night. He asks whether you would consider having dinner with any of these people? Would you consider letting them work at your Convenience store? He repeats the fact that he wouldn't hire these guys to run a Convenience store. The root of the word progessive is progress, advancing forward, etc. Says these guys aren't progressive. When you have 94% of the people...

This is a short poem to the newly elected premier of the province of Ontario, Canada.

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's first woman Prime Minister Anneli Jaatteenmaki said she would resign on Wednesday evening after she used leaked secret state information on Iraq during March parliamentary elections. "If trust goes, it goes. I do not have that trust," Jaatteenmaki told a packed news conference at the parliament. "I did not ask for secret papers." The resignation caps a tumultuous two days triggered by the admission by a presidential aide that he leaked secret government information on Iraq to Jaatteenmaki during the election campaign. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Antti Kalliomaki will take Jaatteenmaki's place on a...

It was reported on TASS and a couple of other news sources (I am reading them in Japanese), that former Chinese Premier ZHAO ZIYANG has died in Beijing. If true, he would have been 84.If you recall, he was removed from power as he sided with the students during the 1989 Tienanmen Freedom uprising. There is a famous photo of him (above) addressing the young Chinese protestors with a little bullhorn, down in Tienanmen, before Deng Xiaoping ordered the tanks in. From Tass, and others. Breaking. (9:05 am Eastern time Wednesday)

Pakistan in uproar as Musharraf blocks Islamist premier By Phil Reeves in Islamabad 08 November 2002 The President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, faced a chorus of condemnation yesterday after he delayed the opening of the country's long-awaited new parliament. Critics, including political rivals and newspaper pundits, interpreted the delay as an attempt by General Musharraf to manipulate the outcome of last month's elections by giving his allies more time to form a ruling coalition and ensure that an Islamic cleric, Fazl-ur Rahman, does not become Prime Minister. Although Mr Rahman is seen by many in Pakistan as a pragmatist,...

Lebanese premier says U.S. must help in Mideast   WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - Warning Arab sentiment had shifted dramatically in recent weeks, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri said on Tuesday the United States had a big responsibility to work for peace in the Middle East. "I believe strongly that the United States has to work hard to achieve peace in the Middle East and we believe also that peace cannot be achieved unless there is an independent Palestinian state," Hariri said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" show. Hariri, who is set to meet Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington later on Tuesday...