News Briefs (April 2008)

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Bird Flu Kills 3-year-old Boy in Indonesia

A 3-year-old boy has died from bird flu in Indonesia, raising the death toll from the disease there to 108, the country's Health Ministry said Wednesday. Indonesia's human bird flu deaths account for nearly half of the 240 recorded fatalities worldwide. The latest victim first showed flu-like symptoms—high fever and breathing difficulties—on April 17 and died in a hospital five days later, said ministry spokeswoman Lily Sulistyowati. Indonesia has regularly recorded human deaths from bird flu since the virus began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003. So far most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds, but experts worry the virus could mutate into a more dangerous form that passes easily between humans. (AP)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

East Timor Extends State of Emergency in Rebel-plagued District

East Timor's parliament voted Tuesday to extend a state of emergency imposed after coordinated attacks on the country's two top leaders—but only in a district believed to be harboring rebels. Other regions in the troubled nation are to return to normal beginning Wednesday. Twenty-nine legislators voted for a month-long extension of the emergency order, which bans rallies and imposes a nighttime curfew, in Ermera district, 47 kilometers (29 miles) west of the capital Dili. Another 18 voted against the measure and 11 abstained.

President Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, nearly died in a February 11 attack by mutinous soldiers, while Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escaped unharmed from an ambush of his motorcade the same day. East Timor declared independence in 2002 following decades of harsh rule by Indonesia and a period of U.N. administration. Dozens of people have been killed in clashes between government troops and mutinous soldiers, and more than 150,000 others were forced to flee their homes. (AP)

Malaysia Scraps Plans for Bullet Train to Singapore

Malaysia has scrapped plans for a multi-billion-dollar high-speed bullet train connecting Kuala Lumpur and Singapore because of high costs, a government official said Wednesday. An Economic Planning Unit spokeswoman confirmed a report in The Star that the government is no longer considering the project. She declined to be named, citing protocol.

The 8 billion ringgit (US $2.5 billion) bullet train would have been able to travel the 325-kilometer (200-mile) distance between Malaysia's biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, and neighboring Singapore in 90 minutes. Flights between the two cities are 45 minutes; buses take about five hours on the North-South Expressway that runs the length of the country. Singapore is located near the tip of the Malaysian peninsula, separated by a narrow strip of sea. Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corp. had proposed the project as an alternative to the seven-hour train service of state railway company KTM Berhad. (AP)