Month: May 2010

Seoul, May 03: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was believed to be making a rare trip to China on Monday amid tensions over the recent sinking of a South Korean warship and stalled nuclear disarmament negotiations, South Korean news reports said.

Kim’s train arrived early Monday in tight security at the Chinese border town of Dandong, and the delegation later headed to the port city of Dalian, the Yonhap news agency said. A convoy of 15 limousines was seen arriving at the Furama Hotel, the report said.

Beijing, May 03: North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il arrived in China on Monday, an official said, on a trip to his country’s sole major ally which could lead to the revival of stalled nuclear talks.

“Kim arrived at about five this morning,” said an official at the Friendship Bridge tourist site at northeastern China’s Dandong border crossing with North Korea.

“We received a notice from the Public Security Bureau and the army that we should shut down tourist operations in the morning (when Kim’s train came over from North Korea),” the official told AFP by telephone.

Bangkok, MAy 03: Anti-government protesters in the Thai capital showed no sign of leaving the city’s main shopping district on Monday despite new warnings of clashes and losses during a two-month crisis that has already killed 27 people.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva warned thousands of red shirted protesters on Sunday there was a risk of further trouble if the protesters did not leave upscale Bangkok shopping district they have closed and barricaded themselves in for a month.

Washington, May 03: The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Sunday closed commercial and recreational fishing for 10 days in waters affected by the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

‘NOAA is restricting fishing for a minimum of 10 days in federal waters most affected by the BP oil spill, largely between Louisiana state waters at the mouth of the Mississippi river to waters off Florida’s Pensacola Bay,’ reported quoting a NOAA statement.

London, May 03: Pakistan’s former premier Benazir Bhutto was told by the then military ruler Pervez Musharraf when she asked for more security, a close aide of the slain leader has revealed, according to the Sunday Times.

Bhutto was eventually killed in a gun and suicide attack Dec 27, 2007 during an election rally in Rawalpindi.

‘He (Musharraf) told her, ‘I warned you not to come back until after the elections’ and threatened her, ‘I’ll only protect you if you’re nice to me’,’ said Husain Haqqani, a former Bhutto aide, who is Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington.

Washington, May 03: US President Barack Obama Sunday warned of a ‘massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster’, as the widening oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico edged to 14 km off the coast of Louisiana.

But Obama said his administration would continue to mount a ‘relentless response’ to the oil spill, the result of the sinking of an offshore rig April 20.

‘We will spare no resource to clean up whatever damage is caused,’ Obama said in Venice, a staging ground for efforts to fight the oil slick, after meeting state and federal officials in Louisiana.

London, May 03: For the first time, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday hinted that he would not try to cling on to power by doing deals with other parties if Labour suffered a decisive defeat in Thursday’s general elections which are widely predicted to result in a “hung” Parliament.

He also indicated that he would step down as leader of the Labour party.

“Of course, I respect the view of the electorate, I am a democrat,” he told The Observer when asked about his post-election options if Labour ended up in third place after Tories and the Liberal Democrats.