PR-inside.com Press Releases Free Services http://www.pr-inside.com/ Copyright 08 pr-inside.com world-news World News (PR-inside.com) STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Sweden's rescue service says a European Union aid plane carrying 150 tents and four aid workers is heading to Myanmar. Rescue service spokesman Mats Oscarsson says the plane took off Tuesday from Orebro in central Sweden and is flying to Yangon with three stopovers. He says the Antonov 12 transport plane is carrying 130-square-foot (12-square-meter) tents that will be handed over to the Red Cross in Myanmar. The Swedish rescue service says the four aid workers will coordinate EU aid to cyclone victims with other international assistance. It says the aid .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:51:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/sweden-eu-aid-flight-takes-off-r585543.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/sweden-eu-aid-flight-takes-off-r585543.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Former heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko has found politics in Ukraine's capital to be a bruising business. So tough, in fact, that he has hired Rudy Giuliani to advise him in his campaign to be Kiev's mayor. The retired pugilist is one of the frontrunners in May 25 election, a political free-for-all that has drawn 79 candidates. But he lost a similar bid two years ago, after what he recalls as some rough handling by the media and opponents. «Sometimes I wish I could meet people inside the ring, .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:49:08 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/boxing-champ-klitschko-0-1-in-political-r585541.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/boxing-champ-klitschko-0-1-in-political-r585541.htm World News (PR-inside.com) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Ministers from the party of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif submitted their resignations from Pakistan's Cabinet on Tuesday, shaking the fragile coalition government that took power just six weeks ago. Sharif announced Monday that he was pulling his ministers from the government over its failure to meet a promise to reinstate judges ousted by archrival President Pervez Musharraf. Nine Cabinet ministers from Sharif's party tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday, confirmed Zafar Ali Shah, a senior leader in Sharif's party. There was no immediate word .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:44:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/sharif-party-ministers-offer-resignations-from-r585523.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/sharif-party-ministers-offer-resignations-from-r585523.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BERLIN (AP) - The office of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl says he has married 43-year-old economist Maike Richter. Kohl's office says the couple were married Thursday in a small ceremony with friends in Heidelberg. The couple says in a statement released Tuesday that they are «very happy. It is the second marriage for the 78-year-old ex-chancellor. His first wife, Hannelore, committed suicide in 2001 at the age of 68 after years suffering from a rare and incurable allergy to light. During her last 15 months she stayed shuttered in her home and went .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:33:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/former-german-chancellor-helmut-kohl-r585514.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/former-german-chancellor-helmut-kohl-r585514.htm World News (PR-inside.com) GENEVA (AP) - Candidates for the top post at the U.N. patent agency arrived in Geneva on Tuesday to make their case for the job. Diplomats and patent experts from 14 countries are in the race to head the troubled World Intellectual Property Organization after the resignation of its current director-general over questions about his integrity. Kamil Idris agreed to step down a year before the end of his second term after Western governments demanded his resignation and blocked talks on the agency's future funding. An internal audit revealed that Idris joined the body .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:26:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/candidates-vie-for-top-post-r585508.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/candidates-vie-for-top-post-r585508.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - The Sudanese government has doubled its bounty for the country's most wanted Darfur rebel leader whose troops staged a daring raid on the outskirts of Khartoum last week, according to a state Television report Tuesday. The TV said the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's government increased twofold a reward for Khalil Ibrahim, who heads Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement, to 500 million Sudanese pounds, or US$246 million dollars _ almost ten times the amount the United States has offered for its most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. According to .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:24:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/sudan-cabinet-posts-us-246-mn-bounty-r585505.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/sudan-cabinet-posts-us-246-mn-bounty-r585505.htm World News (PR-inside.com) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - An official from the party of ex-Premier Nawaz Sharif says its ministers have submitted their resignations from Pakistan's Cabinet. Sharif said he was pulling his ministers from the government over its failure to meet a promise to reinstate judges ousted by archrival President Pervez Musharraf. Zafar Ali Shah, a senior leader in Sharif's party, confirmed that its nine Cabinet ministers tendered their resignations to the country's prime minister Tuesday in Islamabad. There was no immediate word that the prime minister accepted the offers. The withdrawal raises the prospect of the fledgling .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:23:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/sharif-party-ministers-offer-resignations-from-r585504.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/sharif-party-ministers-offer-resignations-from-r585504.htm World News (PR-inside.com) DUJIANGYAN, China (AP) - Rescuers dug through schools and homes turned into rubble by China's worst earthquake in three decades to reach victims trapped beneath bricks and slabs of concrete. The death toll from the disaster rose Tuesday to nearly 12,000 with thousands more missing. A day after the powerful 7.9 magnitude quake struck Monday afternoon, state media said rescue workers had reached the epicenter in Wenchuan county _ where the number of casualties was still unknown. But rain was impeding efforts and a group of paratroopers called off a mission to the .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:22:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/death-toll-in-china-earthquake-climbs-r585503.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/death-toll-in-china-earthquake-climbs-r585503.htm World News (PR-inside.com) ROME (AP) - Premier Silvio Berlusconi has stressed the need for economic growth and the reform of Italy's aging institutions in an outline of his government's plans. Berlusconi addressed parliament Tuesday before a vote of confidence on his newly formed conservative government. The vote of confidence is scheduled for Wednesday in the lower house and by the end of the week in the Senate. Berlusconi says low economic growth is the main problem the country must tackle. He also singles out the garbage collection crisis in Naples and security in the streets as his priorities. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:15:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/premier-silvio-berlusconi-lays-out-government-r585494.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/premier-silvio-berlusconi-lays-out-government-r585494.htm World News (PR-inside.com) CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton hoped a convincing win in Tuesday's West Virginia primary would raise doubts about Barack Obama's electability, but her rival was already mapping out his strategy for the upcoming presidential campaign against Republican John McCain. Clinton has every reason to expect a big victory over Obama in West Virginia yet scant hope it could turn around her bid to become the first female U.S. president. Polls show her leading by as much as 40 percentage points in a state that has large numbers of .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:09:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/clinton-poised-for-west-virginia-win-r585485.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/clinton-poised-for-west-virginia-win-r585485.htm World News (PR-inside.com) YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The U.N. said Tuesday that only a tiny portion of international aid is reaching Myanmar's cyclone victims, as reports emerged that the country's military regime is hoarding higher-quality foreign aid for itself and doling out rotten food. «There is obviously still a lot of frustration that this aid effort hasn't picked up pace» 10 days after the cyclone hit, said Richard Horsey, the spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian operation in Bangkok, the capital of neighboring Thailand. Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta on May 3, leaving about 62,000 .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:08:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/un-says-most-victims-without-relief-r585482.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/un-says-most-victims-without-relief-r585482.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese disaster relief official says the death toll has risen to nearly 12,000 following a massive earthquake that struck the country. Disaster Response Director Wang Zhengyao said at a news conference Tuesday that 11,921 people had died so far from the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that was centered on Sichuan province. The death toll from Monday's quake is expected to rise further, with state media saying thousands are still trapped in collapsed buildings. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:02:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/china-says-quake-death-toll-from-r585465.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/china-says-quake-death-toll-from-r585465.htm World News (PR-inside.com) JERUSALEM (AP) - Police suspect Prime Minister Ehud Olmert helped to have land rezoned for associates of a key witness in the corruption probe threatening his premiership, and promoted their bids for government projects, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday. The report in the Yediot Ahronot daily _ which gave no further details _ was the first indication of what Olmert might have given in return for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he allegedly received illicitly from Jewish American businessman Morris Talansky. The investigation, the fifth into Olmert's conduct since he became .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:58:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/police-suspect-olmert-helped-people-connected-r585463.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/police-suspect-olmert-helped-people-connected-r585463.htm World News (PR-inside.com) JERUSALEM (AP) - An Israeli newspaper says police suspect Prime Minister Ehud Olmert helped to have land rezoned for associates of a key witness in the corruption probe threatening his premiership. The report Tuesday in the Yediot Ahronot daily gave no further details. But it was the first indication that Olmert might have given something in return for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he allegedly received illicitly from Jewish American businessman Morris Talansky. Olmert and Talansky have denied wrongdoing. The investigation has raised doubts about Olmert's ability to make peace with the Palestinians .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:46:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/report-police-suspect-olmert-helped-fund-raiser-s-r585446.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/report-police-suspect-olmert-helped-fund-raiser-s-r585446.htm World News (PR-inside.com) DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (AP) - Relentless wildfires burned into the early morning Tuesday across Florida's Atlantic coast, taxing firefighters and overwhelming residents, some of whom tried to save their homes with garden hoses. Firefighters in the town of Palm Bay have spent more than 48 hours battling the state's biggest blaze, which has damaged about 50 homes and scorched 3,500 acres (1,400 hectares), or about 5 1/2 square miles (14 square kilometers). «Everytime I turn around another house is on fire. We don't have enough resources on our own to do a job .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:45:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/wind-whipped-wildfires-burn-homes-and-r585444.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/wind-whipped-wildfires-burn-homes-and-r585444.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S.-led coalition forces called in airstrikes against the Taliban, killing a dozen militants during fighting in southern Afghanistan that has displaced many families, officials said Tuesday. Meanwhile, an old mortar round exploded in the north of the country, wounding 17 children. The coalition said in a statement that its troops opened fire and called in airstrikes Monday after observing militants trying to set up an ambush. The coalition had been targeting a Taliban commander transporting weapons. The troops also discovered weapons and ammunition in a search of compounds in the .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:44:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/clashes-airstrikes-kill-12-militants-in-r585443.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/clashes-airstrikes-kill-12-militants-in-r585443.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's government announced fresh measures to stabilize rice prices and supply, promising Tuesday to subsidize some rice imports for the first time and nearly double financial help for farmers. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a statement late Monday the steps were meant to ease pressure on consumers who were struggling with escalating prices of necessities. He said the government will impose price controls on high-quality grades of locally grown rice starting June 1 because retailers were selling those brands at increasingly high prices. Authorities will .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:39:03 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/malaysia-charts-new-steps-to-keep-r585439.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/malaysia-charts-new-steps-to-keep-r585439.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A Malaysian court sentenced two Thai citizens to death by hanging for trafficking marijuana, a lawyer said Tuesday. The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday convicted Masoh Daloh, 35, and Romuelee Yakoh, 46, of trafficking 75 pounds (34.9 kilograms) of the drug, said their lawyer, Naran Singh. The men were arrested in 2002 after they were found in a car with 34 slabs of marijuana, Naran said. Judge Wira Moktarudin Baki ruled that the defense failed to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution's contention that the Thais intended to .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:36:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/malaysian-court-sentences-2-thais-to-r585437.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/malaysian-court-sentences-2-thais-to-r585437.htm World News (PR-inside.com) RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) - The assignment for Virginia Commonwealth University fashion students: design an abaya, an enveloping cloak worn by Muslim women, that is stylish yet acceptable in Arab countries. The results: elaborately beaded designs, a flamenco-influenced abaya, a punk rock abaya _ and perhaps a better understanding of cultural norms in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, where the university has had a campus for 10 years. «We were trying to make a feeling of youth _ but still be true to their culture,» said Kendra Palin, a fashion design major .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:27:05 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/us-fashion-students-design-abayas-with-r585425.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/us-fashion-students-design-abayas-with-r585425.htm World News (PR-inside.com) JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Students and hard-line Muslims angry over impending fuel price increases protested in Indonesia on Tuesday, showing the risks for the government as it tries to cut subsidies amid soaring world oil prices. The protests in at least 10 towns or cities were small and peaceful, but the government was watching them anxiously: earlier price hikes sparked riots and contributed to the downfall of ex-dictator Suharto in 1998. In Jakarta, some 500 followers of Hizbut Tahrir _ a conservative Muslim group that seeks to replace Indonesia's secular government with one .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:26:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/protests-spread-in-indonesia-against-fuel-r585422.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/protests-spread-in-indonesia-against-fuel-r585422.htm World News (PR-inside.com) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Gaza's Hamas rulers say a captured Israeli soldier will not be included in any truce deal with Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told an Egyptian mediator that Cpl. Gilad Schalit must be released as part of any cease-fire. Hamas-affiliated militants captured Schalit in an attack on an army base in 2006. Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Tuesday that the militant group would not «offer Schalit for free» and his release is not related to truce talks. Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman discussed conditions for a truce .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:25:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/hamas-says-captured-israeli-soldier-won-t-r585421.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/hamas-says-captured-israeli-soldier-won-t-r585421.htm World News (PR-inside.com) MADRID, Spain (AP) - A ship loaded with drinking water docked in the northern Spanish port of Barcelona on Tuesday as part of an unprecedented emergency plan to alleviate a drought. The ship, carrying water from nearby Tarragona, arrived Tuesday morning. A second vessel from Marseille, France, is scheduled to arrive Thursday. The regional government of Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital, said 10 shiploads will arrive every two months, half from Marseille, the rest from Tarragona and Almeria, in southern Spain. «The shipments are stopgap measures to avoid restrictions until a .. Tue, 13 May 2008 10:20:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/spain-ships-water-into-barcelona-to-r585414.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/spain-ships-water-into-barcelona-to-r585414.htm World News (PR-inside.com) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - The party of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prepared to withdraw from Pakistan's Cabinet on Tuesday as it accused its coalition partner of secretly aiding arch-foe President Pervez Musharraf. Sharif announced on Monday that he was pulling his ministers from the government over its failure to meet a promise to reinstate judges ousted by Musharraf last year. The withdrawal raised the prospect of the government collapsing after just six weeks, casting Pakistan into political turmoil just as it faces mounting economic woes and tries to maintain a fragile truce with .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:52:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/sharif-s-party-prepares-to-quit-cabinet-r585389.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/sharif-s-party-prepares-to-quit-cabinet-r585389.htm World News (PR-inside.com) The conference, which is being organized by the University of Tirana's Department of History and Bar-Ilan University's Arnold and Leona Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research in Israel, will feature senior dignitaries from both Albania and Israel. Before the Second World War, Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany made their way to and through Albania. Despite Nazi occupation of much of the Balkans during the Second World War, the Holocaust did not succeed in Albania, and indeed several hundreds of Jews found a safe haven there. Although recognized by Holocaust scholars, Albania's historical role in the Holocaust has not received widespread international publicity. The .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:51:46 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/colliers-international-sponsors-special-r585388.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/colliers-international-sponsors-special-r585388.htm World News (PR-inside.com) MADRID, Spain (AP) - A ship loaded with drinking water has docked in the northern Spanish city of Barcelona as part of an unprecedented emergency plan to alleviate a drought. The ship, carrying water from nearby Tarragona, arrived shortly before 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) Tuesday. A second vessel from Marseille, France is scheduled to arrive Thursday. The regional government of Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital, says 10 shiploads will arrive every two months, half from Marseille, the rest from Tarragona and Almeria, in southern Spain. Spain is suffering its driest spring since records .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:48:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/spain-ships-water-into-barcelona-to-r585382.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/spain-ships-water-into-barcelona-to-r585382.htm World News (PR-inside.com) SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A mother taken from a polygamist sect in Texas and being held as a minor in state custody gave birth to a baby boy who was immediately taken into child-protective custody. State officials acknowledged the mother may be an adult and said they were trying to determine her true age. Since state officials raided the sect's West Texas ranch on April 3, child welfare officials have taken custody of all its children on the grounds that they were endangered by the sect's underage and polygamous spiritual marriages. A state .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:46:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/polygamist-sect-mother-gives-birth-to-r585376.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/polygamist-sect-mother-gives-birth-to-r585376.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BAGHDAD (AP) - A fragile cease-fire failed to stop fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City where the latest clashes between Shiite extremists and U.S.-backed Iraqi forces killed 11 men and wounded 19, Iraqi hospital officials said Tuesday. The U.S. military said Tuesday that it responded to several attacks by militants with precision strikes, but only confirmed killing three militants. Two of the militants were killed in a Hellfire missile strike by an attack aircraft, according to the military. The military also said U.S. soldiers suppressed «enemy fire» in four other clashes .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:34:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/despite-cease-fire-clashes-break-out-r585371.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/despite-cease-fire-clashes-break-out-r585371.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BEIJING (AP) - The Chinese government says it welcomes foreign offers of quake aid. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters Tuesday that many countries had offered to help relief efforts from Monday's earthquake. He said disaster authorities in China would make contact with relevant countries and organizations. But the spokesman gave no specifics about what kind of assistance China would accept, such as whether it would include just aid supplies or letting in outside experts. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:33:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/chinese-government-says-it-welcomes-foreign-r585369.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/chinese-government-says-it-welcomes-foreign-r585369.htm World News (PR-inside.com) DUJIANGYAN, China (AP) - China state media says that 10,000 people «remain buried» in rubble in Mianzhu near the epicenter of the massive earthquake that struck the country. The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that local officials in the city said the people «remain buried» after Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake center in Sichuan province. They gave no other details. Mianzhu is 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the quake's epicenter of Wenchuan. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:22:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/remain-buried-in-rubble-near-r585353.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/remain-buried-in-rubble-near-r585353.htm World News (PR-inside.com) TOKYO (AP) - The world's top industrialized countries should develop environmentally friendly workplaces and help workers move to nonpolluting industries, their labor ministers said Tuesday. The ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations set environmental protection as a top priority after meeting with international trade union and business groups in Niigata on Japan's northwestern coast. «Sustainable society is based on the three independent and mutually reinforcing pillars of economic development, social development and environmental protection,» the ministers said in a joint statement. The countries _ the United States, Russia, Canada, France, .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:20:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/g-8-labor-ministers-call-for-environmentally-r585352.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/g-8-labor-ministers-call-for-environmentally-r585352.htm World News (PR-inside.com) DUJIANGYAN, China (AP) - Rescuers dug through schools and homes turned into rubble by China's worst earthquake in three decades to reach victims trapped beneath slabs of concrete, as the death toll from the disaster rose Tuesday to at least 10,000. A day after the powerful 7.9 magnitude quake struck Monday afternoon, state media said rescue workers had reached the epicenter in Wenchuan county _ cut off by the disaster and where the number of casualties was unknown. But rain was impeding efforts and a group of paratroopers called off a .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:14:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/death-toll-in-china-earthquake-climbs-r585343.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/death-toll-in-china-earthquake-climbs-r585343.htm World News (PR-inside.com) Developed world including the United States, the European Union, Russia and Japan pledging China with sympathy and assure of help. The powerful quake struck at 2.28 pm on Monday and rocked skyscrapers up to 1,800 kilometres (1,200 miles) away in cities across China and parts of Southeast Asia, where panicked residents fled into the streets. The quake hit in the middle of the day when schools, factories and offices were full. While many buildings in larger cities withstood the impact, buildings in rural areas would not have been built to withstand such a large quake. The area had been rocked .. Tue, 13 May 2008 09:05:29 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/china-s-sichuan-rocked-1-180-aftershocks-r585328.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/china-s-sichuan-rocked-1-180-aftershocks-r585328.htm World News (PR-inside.com) COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Military forces and Tamil Tiger rebels fought a series of battles across northern Sri Lanka that killed 17 rebels, the military said Tuesday. Meanwhile, a police officer was killed in a rebel attack in the east. The fighting took place Monday, mainly along the front lines surrounding the rebels' de facto state in the north. In the worst battles, five rebels were killed in a morning fight with troops in the Vavuniya district, while five others were killed in a clash hours later, the military said. Seven other rebels .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:59:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/military-sri-lanka-fighting-kills-r585309.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/military-sri-lanka-fighting-kills-r585309.htm World News (PR-inside.com) JERUSALEM (AP) - U.S. President George W. Bush said in interviews published Tuesday ahead of a visit to Israel that the country's peace process with the Palestinians does not depend on embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Police suspect Olmert illictly took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from an American fund-raiser. The Israeli leader has said he would resign if indicted. Politically weakened by the probe, Olmert would be reluctant at this stage to make the sweeping territorial concessions to the Palestinians necessary to clinch any deal with the Palestinians, aides .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:52:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/bush-tells-israeli-media-peace-does-r585303.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/bush-tells-israeli-media-peace-does-r585303.htm World News (PR-inside.com) WASHINGTON (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton hoped an expected lopsided win Tuesday in West Virginia's primary would slow Barack Obama's seemingly inevitable march to clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, but her rival was already mapping out strategy in battleground states for the campaign against Republican John McCain. Obama appeared poised to secure the nomination within a matter of weeks thanks to a wave of superdelegate support. The Illinois senator has picked up 26 superdelegates within the last week, putting him mathematically within reach of the Democratic presidential nomination by the end .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:46:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/obama-appears-within-reach-of-nomination-r585289.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/obama-appears-within-reach-of-nomination-r585289.htm World News (PR-inside.com) MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Two girls crossing a bridge on a central Philippine island were swept to their deaths by flash floods that also displaced thousands of others, an official said Tuesday. The floods brought by Tropical Storm Rammasun prompted the evacuation of 2,655 people from Ilog town in Negros Occidental province, said Social Welfare Department officer Liane Garcia. She said the two girls, both aged 15, died Monday when a sudden rush of floodwater swept them away. In the southern Philippines, weeklong rains caused several rivers and tributaries to overflow, forcing thousands to .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:45:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/flash-floods-in-central-southern-philippines-r585288.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/flash-floods-in-central-southern-philippines-r585288.htm World News (PR-inside.com) SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will travel to China later this month for talks on North Korea's nuclear threat and boosting ties between Seoul and Beijing, his office said Tuesday. Lee will visit Beijing and the eastern Chinese coastal city of Qingdao on May 27-30, the presidential Blue House said in a statement. The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral economic ties and cooperation on a diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear tension, the statement said. It said Lee was scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao on .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:34:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/south-korea-s-president-to-visit-china-r585265.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/south-korea-s-president-to-visit-china-r585265.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BEIJING (AP) - A 40-car freight train derailed and caught fire in northern China during the country's massive earthquake and was still burning Tuesday, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The train, which included 13 tank cars filled with gasoline, derailed and burst into flames Monday when the quake cut a major rail line, Xinhua said. The tank cars were still burning Tuesday morning and officials feared they could explode, it said. More than 900 local residents were evacuated and firefighters moved four miles (six kilometers) from the area, it said. Xinhua said there .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:30:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/china-says-earthquake-derailed-freight-train-r585258.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/china-says-earthquake-derailed-freight-train-r585258.htm World News (PR-inside.com) JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Students angry over impending fuel price increases protested across Indonesia on Tuesday, showing the risks for the government as it tries to cut subsidies amid soaring world oil prices. The protests were small and peaceful, but the government was watching them anxiously: earlier price hikes sparked riots and contributed to the downfall of ex-dictator Suharto in 1998. Students took to the streets in at least 10 cities, witnesses and media reports said. Officials have said gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices will rise by up to 30 percent, likely by the .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:29:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/protests-spread-in-indonesia-against-fuel-r585257.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/protests-spread-in-indonesia-against-fuel-r585257.htm World News (PR-inside.com) CHENGDU, China (AP) - State media has reported that 1,300 rescue and relief troops have arrived at the epicenter of China's massive earthquake that has killed 10,000 people. The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that the rescue workers and troops had arrived in Wenchuan county, the epicenter of Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake. Wenchuan had been cut off for one day since the earthquake struck and the number of casualties there was not immediately known. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:28:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/rescuer-workers-reach-epicenter-of-r585256.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/rescuer-workers-reach-epicenter-of-r585256.htm World News (PR-inside.com) YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar agreed to accept more U.S. help, opening the door for what could be a massive cyclone relief operation, while the U.N. warned Tuesday that less than a quarter of the victims' needs are being met. Logistical bottlenecks, poor infrastructure and restrictions imposed by Myanmar's isolationist junta were delaying the desperately needed aid for some 2 million severely affected survivors, even 10 days after the May 3 cyclone. The government says about 62,000 people are dead or missing but the U.N. has suggested the death toll is likely .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:24:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/myanmar-accepts-more-american-aid-un-r585254.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/myanmar-accepts-more-american-aid-un-r585254.htm World News (PR-inside.com) NAPERVILLE, Illinois (AP) - A suburban Chicago man has reclaimed the Guinness world record for time spent on a stationary bicycle. George Hood's time is not official yet, but organizers say he spent about 177 hours over eight days riding a spinning bike at a suburban YMCA. He rode the equivalent of 2,016 miles (3,244 kilometers), burned more than 46,000 calories and never slept for more than 12 minutes at a time. The retired Drug Enforcement Agency investigator from Aurora began his ride on May 5 and finished early Monday. He was taken to .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:13:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/suburban-chicago-man-spends-8-days-r585247.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/suburban-chicago-man-spends-8-days-r585247.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi hospital officials say clashes have broken out in Sadr City, killing 11 men and wounding 19. The clashes came even though Iraq's main Shiite political bloc and supporters of firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have signed a fragile cease-fire covering the Baghdad slum. There has been sporadic fighting since the four-day cease-fire went into effect Sunday. Hospital officials say clashes erupted late Monday and intensified early Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if the killed and wounded were militants or civilians. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:12:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/iraqi-hospital-officials-say-clashes-break-r585246.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/iraqi-hospital-officials-say-clashes-break-r585246.htm World News (PR-inside.com) UPCOMING COVERAGE FOR TUESDAY, MAY 13 UKRAINE-POLITICS KIEV, Ukraine _ President Viktor Yushchenko addresses parliament with a state of the nation address. Session starts at 0700GMT. RUSSIA-PUTIN ST. PETERSBURG _ Vladimir Putin takes first working trip as prime minister to Russia's second city and his hometown. AP Photos. Through Thursday. SERBIA-ELECTIONS BELGRADE, Serbia _ Following reaction to elections. EU-US-TRADE TROUBLES BRUSSELS, Belgium _ EU and American officials debate how to cut bureaucracy and boost two-way trade. TURKEY-BRITAIN-ROYAL VISIT ANKARA, Turkey _ Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, start a four-day state visit to Turkey. Through Friday. FRANCE-ECUADOR Paris _ French President Nicolas Sarkozy .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:10:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/europe-news-at-0600gmt-r585244.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/europe-news-at-0600gmt-r585244.htm World News (PR-inside.com) WASHINGTON (AP) - Veterans groups say it is time to expand college aid for former service members, and Democrats want to use an election year to do it. Their biggest obstacle? The Pentagon. The Defense Department is lobbying against legislation proposed by Sen. Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, that would guarantee a full scholarship for service members to any in-state public university. According to defense officials, the plan would hurt its ability to retain service members because the new GI education bill would require only three years before the full benefit .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:09:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/pentagon-presents-biggest-obstacle-to-r585243.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/pentagon-presents-biggest-obstacle-to-r585243.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The U.S.-led coalition says clashes and airstrikes in southern Afghanistan have left a dozen militants dead. A coalition statement says the troops were targeting Taliban weapons supply operations in the Garmser district of Helmand province. It says the troops opened fire and called in airstrikes after observing militants trying to set up an ambush. The troops discovered weapons and ammunition while searching the compounds after Monday's operation. U.S. Marines pushed into Garmser late last month, aiming to open a route to move troops to the southern reaches of Helmand. Helmand is the .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:08:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/clashes-airstrikes-kill-12-militants-in-r585242.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/clashes-airstrikes-kill-12-militants-in-r585242.htm World News (PR-inside.com) WASHINGTON (AP) - When President George W. Bush began his first energized pursuit of an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord just over five months ago, confidence was his constant companion. «I'm optimistic,» he said over and over about the prospects for ending one of the world's longest-running disputes within little more than a year. As the president prepares to leave Tuesday for a Mideast trip, his second in four months, he is trading that unfailingly upbeat tone for something a bit more reserved. He was due to arrive in Israel early Wednesday. It is a .. Tue, 13 May 2008 08:01:03 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/bush-returning-to-the-mideast-with-r585238.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/bush-returning-to-the-mideast-with-r585238.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - The Lebanese army has announced that troops will use force if needed to impose law and order in the country. The army says the initiative will go into effect as of 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) Tuesday and calls on all groups in the country to cooperate. The army says troops are going to prevent the illegal use of arms in the country, a daunting task given the militant Hezbollah group's significant arsenal. Lebanon has been experiencing the heaviest internal fighting since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. The Hezbollah-led .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:58:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/lebanese-army-announces-troops-will-use-r585235.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/lebanese-army-announces-troops-will-use-r585235.htm World News (PR-inside.com) UTAPAO AIR BASE, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar has agreed to allow more U.S. military flights carrying humanitarian aid into the cyclone-devastated country, opening the door to what could be a massive relief operation, officials said Tuesday. A second aid flight left Utapao Air Base in Thailand on Tuesday, and another was to leave later in the day, said U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Douglas Powell. Powell said the first flight Tuesday carried 19,900 pounds (9,025 kilograms) of blankets, water and mosquito nets. The second was to take in a 24,750-pound (11,225-kilogram) load. The .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:47:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/us-military-gets-ok-for-more-r585230.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/us-military-gets-ok-for-more-r585230.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A Malaysian man who allegedly lured two Thai women into the country to become sex workers became the first person charged under a tough new law against human trafficking, a lawyer said Tuesday. Ee Chin Kai pleaded innocent in a court in southern Malaysia on Monday to two charges of bringing in the 27-year-old women and exploiting them to work as prostitutes, said Ee's lawyer, Noordin Hussin. If convicted, Ee faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine for each charge under the Anti-Human Trafficking Act that .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:46:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/malaysian-accused-of-luring-thai-women-r585228.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/malaysian-accused-of-luring-thai-women-r585228.htm World News (PR-inside.com) CHENGDU, China (AP) - Sixty pandas at a research center near the heart of a devastating earthquake in central China were safe, a state news agency said, but the fate of the most famous panda preserve _ even closer to the epicenter _ remained unknown Tuesday. The pandas, which are among the world's rarest animals, at a preserve in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu were unharmed in the magnitude 7.9 quake Monday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. But there was no immediate word on the status of another 100 or more .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:45:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/report-rare-giant-pandas-at-chinese-r585226.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/report-rare-giant-pandas-at-chinese-r585226.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KISHOREGANJ, Bangladesh (AP) - A crowded ferry sank during a tropical storm in northern Bangladesh, killing at least 42 people and leaving more than 40 missing, officials said Tuesday. The death toll from the accident late Monday could rise because some of those missing were feared trapped inside the sunken ferry, said local government administrator Sultan Ahmed. At least 150 people were aboard the MV Chanpur when it was caught in the storm and sank in the Ghorautra River, said Mizanur Rahman, a police official in the area about 50 miles (80 .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:40:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/dozens-die-after-a-ferry-sinks-r585223.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/dozens-die-after-a-ferry-sinks-r585223.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BEIJING (AP) - Chinese state media says that the massive earthquake that hit the country also derailed a 40-car freight train that caught fire. The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that the freight train included 13 tankers full of gasoline. The train crash happened Monday in Gansu province. It was the first acknowledgement of the crash, which was still burning Tuesday. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:39:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/china-says-sichuan-earthquake-also-derailed-r585222.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/china-says-sichuan-earthquake-also-derailed-r585222.htm World News (PR-inside.com) DARWIN, Australia (AP) - An Australian driver who secured a carton of beer in his car with a seat belt but left a 5-year-old child unrestrained was fined 750 Australian dollars (US$710; ¤460), police said Tuesday. Constable Wayne Burnett said he was «shocked and appalled» when he pulled over the unregistered car on Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs. The 30-can carton was strapped in between the two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in back, on the vehicle's floor. «The child was sitting in .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:33:06 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/australian-driver-fined-after-buckling-case-r585218.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/australian-driver-fined-after-buckling-case-r585218.htm World News (PR-inside.com) HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Vietnamese authorities have arrested two journalists who reported aggressively on a major gambling and bribery scandal that prompted the resignation of the transportation minister, state media reported Tuesday. The two journalists were taken into police custody Monday and accused of reporting «false information» on the case, in which ministry employees gambled millions of dollars on European soccer matches, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported Tuesday. The case led to the conviction of nine people, including several government officials, and the resignation of Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh. Gambling .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:31:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/vietnam-arrests-two-journalists-for-r585213.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/vietnam-arrests-two-journalists-for-r585213.htm World News (PR-inside.com) CHENGDU, China (AP) - The death toll in China's worst earthquake in three decades hit at least 10,000 people Tuesday, but was expected to soar amid reports of staggering numbers of students trapped in collapsed schools. Rescuers also were scrambling to reach the cut-off epicenter of the Monday's earthquake, which struck central Sichuan province but killed people in at least eight other areas of China. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that nearly 10,000 people died in Sichuan alone and 300 others in other provinces and the mega-city of Chongqing. It said 1,000 .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:30:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/death-toll-in-china-earthquake-climbs-r585212.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/death-toll-in-china-earthquake-climbs-r585212.htm World News (PR-inside.com) JERUSALEM (AP) - U.S. President George W. Bush says the Israeli-Palestinian peace process does not depend on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In interviews with Israeli media, Bush has named Israel's foreign and defense ministers as possible replacements for Olmert. The comments published on Monday came as fears grew that Olmert will have to step down over an ongoing police investigation. According to the allegations, Olmert accepted large sums of cash from an American donor. Olmert has said he will resign if indicted. The investigation could erode public support for any deal he .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:21:03 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/bush-tells-israeli-media-peace-does-r585207.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/bush-tells-israeli-media-peace-does-r585207.htm World News (PR-inside.com) China's eight affected provinces and municipality of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Shanxi, Guizhou, Hubei and Chongqing, the civil ministry said.More than tens of thousand people have died as the areas affected become unaccessible.Chinese officials in the process of probes of casuality and damaged done by sunday hailstorm and Monday quake,the most devastating catastrophy in this decade ,puts the death toll unofficially to tens of thousand as wide ridge area remain blocked with rocks, boulders,big conglomerate, remains unexplored. Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis expressed her condolences to the government and people of China for the victims of the major earthquake that struck .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:20:47 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/millions-of-chinese-affected-in-catastrophe-r585205.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/millions-of-chinese-affected-in-catastrophe-r585205.htm World News (PR-inside.com) TOP STORIES US-ELECTIONS WASHINGTON _ Barack Obama appears poised to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination within a matter of weeks thanks to a wave of superdelegate support, while rival Hillary Rodham Clinton hopes an expected lopsided win in West Virginia's primary Tuesday would help bolster her long-shot bid. AP Photos. GUANTANAMO-SEPT. 11 TRIAL SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico _ The Pentagon is dropping charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was supposed to have been the «20th hijacker» in the Sept. 11 attacks. By Ben Fox. US-BUSH-MIDEAST WASHINGTON _ When President George W. Bush began his first energized pursuit .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:20:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/americas-news-at-0500-gmt-r585204.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/americas-news-at-0500-gmt-r585204.htm World News (PR-inside.com) CHICAGO (AP) - A top political fundraiser parlayed his success at amassing enormous amounts of campaign money for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich into the access and influence to launch a $7 million shakedown scheme in state government, a prosecutor told jurors in his closing argument. The trial of Antoin «Tony» Rezko initially attracted much attention because he raised funds for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, but testimony barely touched on the Democratic presidential contender. And neither Obama nor Blagojevich has been accused of wrongdoing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid J. Schar said in his .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:04:03 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/prosecutor-illinois-political-fundraiser-used-r585197.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/prosecutor-illinois-political-fundraiser-used-r585197.htm World News (PR-inside.com) JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) - The Palestinian prime minister ventured on foot into this famously unruly militant stronghold _ to demonstrate his law-and-order campaign is working and to persuade skeptical residents that better security will bring them jobs and even help end Israeli occupation. However, Salam Fayyad was ringed by a jumpy posse of black-clad commandos during his brief walkabout, suggesting the Jenin camp isn't quite under control yet. And the main source of future employment, a 250-acre industrial zone to be built nearby, is still hung up in .. Tue, 13 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/palestinian-prime-minister-tries-to-r585192.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/palestinian-prime-minister-tries-to-r585192.htm World News (PR-inside.com) LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI should be questioned soon about clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church because he is the most knowledgeable person on the topic and his advanced age makes future testimony unlikely, an attorney said. Many similar lawsuits have named the pope, the Vatican and other high-ranking church officials as defendants but have failed. This request comes as part of a lawsuit by three men claiming top church officials should have warned about sexual abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville. A federal judge last .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:59:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/attorney-in-kentucky-lawsuit-wants-pope-r585191.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/attorney-in-kentucky-lawsuit-wants-pope-r585191.htm World News (PR-inside.com) PITTSBURGH (AP) - Americans facing rising gasoline and diesel prices are cycling about, saddling up, singing out and, sometimes, resorting to violent symbolism. Dozens of Alabama students are bicycling up to 10 miles (16 kilometers) each way to their rural high school. An Indiana man was arrested for belting out a protest song, «Price Gouge'n,» from the roof of a convenience store. A sign-maker in Kentucky is riding his horse on business errands. And a Tennessee sheriff is investigating a more disturbing protest: a slain deer hanging from a gasoline station .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:51:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/high-gas-prices-spawning-songs-signs-r585190.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/high-gas-prices-spawning-songs-signs-r585190.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - «I can't talk now, I think I'm in danger,» a reporter in Myanmar whispered into the phone. Click. Phones are tapped and the few foreign journalists inside Myanmar are operating in secret, making it dangerous and difficult to tell the story of the cyclone that has devastated the Southeast Asian country. Covering catastrophes always carries risk in impoverished countries where disasters can cause shortages of food, clean water, outbreaks of disease and staggering death tolls. But the challenges are multiplied in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, where the .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:47:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/the-dangers-of-reporting-myanmar-s-cyclone-r585189.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/the-dangers-of-reporting-myanmar-s-cyclone-r585189.htm World News (PR-inside.com) NEW YORK (AP) - Exceptional smarts or psychic abilities help set the stage for three of the new dramas CBS plans to air next season. The network is picking up four new dramas and two comedies for next TV season, which will be announced as part of its schedule presentation to advertisers on Wednesday, according to a Hollywood executive who is familiar with CBS' planning and spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the announcement. Half of the series are based on ideas that have been successful overseas. The romantic comedy «The Ex .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:46:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/cbs-picking-up-4-dramas-r585188.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/cbs-picking-up-4-dramas-r585188.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - About 500 people were evacuated after floods struck parts of southern Thailand following three days of heavy rains, officials said Tuesday. The governor of Surat Thani province, Winai Buapradit, said he has declared two badly battered districts to be emergency zones. Major roads in the areas were submerged and boats were being used to evacuate people from their homes, he said. Neighboring Myanmar was still reeling from flooding caused by a cyclone that struck on May 3, killing thousands and putting about 2 million at risk of starvation and disease. Surat Thani, .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:38:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/floods-hit-southern-thailand-500-people-r585186.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/floods-hit-southern-thailand-500-people-r585186.htm World News (PR-inside.com) UTAPAO, Thailand (AP) - A U.S. military official says a second flight has left with relief supplies for Myanmar's cyclone victims, and more flights are expected. Lt. Col. Douglas Powell says the Marine C-130 cargo plane left for Yangon Tuesday carrying 19,900 pounds (43,780 kilograms) of water, blankets and mosquito nets. He said a third flight carrying more supplies will leave later Tuesday. Douglas said he expects flights will continue on Wednesday. He did not give details. The first flight delivered relief material to Myanmar on Monday after prolonged negotiations with the country's ruling junta. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:35:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/us-sends-second-relief-flight-to-r585184.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/us-sends-second-relief-flight-to-r585184.htm World News (PR-inside.com) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has reached at the spot and has ordered to remove barriers, open up roads to epicenter before 12 p.m. Tuesday after a devastating quake needs emergent aids in southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday afternoon. Wen in an emergency meeting at 7: a.m. Tuesday morning, said, 'We must try our best to open up roads to the epicenter and rescue people trapped in the disaster-hit areas.' Wen stressed the military forces should try their best to open up roads to the epicenter and at the same time to air-drop commodities like food, pharmacy to the areas. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:28:34 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/chinese-pemier-wen-jiabao-at-quake-r585183.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/chinese-pemier-wen-jiabao-at-quake-r585183.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KISHOREGANJ, Bangladesh (AP) - A crowded ferry sank during a tropical storm in northern Bangladesh, killing at least 36 people and leaving 50 more missing, officials said Tuesday. The death toll from the accident late Monday could rise because some of those missing were feared trapped inside the sunken ferry, said local government administrator Sultan Ahmed. At least 150 people were aboard the MV Chanpur when it was caught in the storm and sank in the Ghorautra River, said Mizanur Rahman, a police official in the area about 50 miles (80 kilometers) .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:28:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/dozens-die-after-a-ferry-capsizes-r585182.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/dozens-die-after-a-ferry-capsizes-r585182.htm World News (PR-inside.com) A look at some of the deadliest natural disasters around the world in the past 40 years _ May 2008: Earthquake (magnitude 7.9) hits Sichuan province in central China. Thousands are killed. _ May 2008: Cyclone Nargis strikes Myanmar, killing more than 30,000 and leaving an additional 30,000 missing. _ October 2005: Northern Pakistan earthquake (magnitude 7.6) kills about 78,000 people. _ August 2005: U.S. Gulf Coast Hurricane Katrina kills at least 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. _ December 2004: Indian Ocean tsunami (triggered by magnitude 9.0 earthquake) kills 230,000 in a dozen countries. _ December 2003: Southeastern .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:27:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/a-look-at-some-of-the-r585181.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/a-look-at-some-of-the-r585181.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KYI BUI KHAW, Myanmar (AP) - The saffron-robed monks who spearheaded an uprising last fall against Myanmar's military rulers are back on the front lines, this time providing food, shelter and spiritual solace to cyclone victims. The military regime has moved to curb the Buddhist clerics' efforts, even as it fails to deliver adequate aid itself. Authorities have given some monasteries deadlines to clear out refugees, many of whom have no homes to return to, monks and survivors say. «There is no aid. We haven't seen anyone from the government,» said U .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:26:04 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/buddhist-monks-step-in-to-help-r585180.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/buddhist-monks-step-in-to-help-r585180.htm World News (PR-inside.com) ABAETETUBA, Brazil (AP) - Bishop Flavio Giovenale was crushed by the acquittal last week of a rancher accused of ordering the killing of a crusading American nun _ and not just because he admired Dorothy Stang. Giovenale, who spends much of his time battling child prostitution, police corruption and drug abuse, fears the verdict means it's open season again on activists in the Amazon jungle state of Para. The Italian priest has long received death threats for his denouncement of the organized crime he says carries more weight than the law in Abaetetuba, .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:20:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/open-season-on-amazon-activists-may-r585178.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/open-season-on-amazon-activists-may-r585178.htm World News (PR-inside.com) SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's president said Tuesday that Washington has accepted his government's plan to stop imports of U.S. beef if any new case of mad cow disease breaks out in the United States. Lee Myung-bak told a Cabinet meeting that Washington «accepted and acknowledged» his government's latest position on U.S. beef imports, which are set to resume later this month, according to South Korean media pool reports. Under a beef trade deal the two sides struck last month, South Korea had agreed not to immediately stop imports even .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:16:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/skorea-us-accepts-seoul-s-decision-to-r585176.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/skorea-us-accepts-seoul-s-decision-to-r585176.htm World News (PR-inside.com) NEW THIS DIGEST CHINA-BAD YEAR. From freak snowstorms to earthquake, China faces year of disaster. MYANMAR-BUDDHA'S AID WORKERS. Buddhist monks step in to help cyclone victims. UN-MYANMAR-CYCLONE. UN chief criticizes Myanmar junta for slow response' to helping cyclone victims. US-BUSH-MIDEAST. President Bush leaves for Mideast to seek elusive peace agreement. US-MIDEAST WOES. Bush has faulty calendar and misplaced optimism on Mideast peace. US-APARTHEID. Apartheid suit proceeds as US Supreme Court justices blocked from case. US-IRAQ-CORRUPTION. Ex-US employees allege agency kept secret corruption at senior levels in Baghdad. US-DELEGATE MATH. Superdelegates put Obama within mathematical reach of presidential nomination. GUANTANAMO-SEPT. 11 TRIAL. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:13:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/world-at-0400mt-r585175.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/world-at-0400mt-r585175.htm World News (PR-inside.com) MEXICO CITY (AP) - A police officer and four other people with suspected ties to a powerful drug cartel have been arrested in the assassination of Mexico's acting federal police chief, authorities said Monday. The three men and two women belonged to a criminal cell believed to be acting on the orders of the Sinaloa drug cartel, said Gerardo Garay, the anti-drug coordinator for the federal police. The drug trafficking organization had been a key target of operations led by Edgar Millan Gomez, who was gunned down at his Mexico City home .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:12:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/mexico-says-sinaloa-cartel-ordered-killing-r585174.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/mexico-says-sinaloa-cartel-ordered-killing-r585174.htm World News (PR-inside.com) JUYUAN, China (AP) - The bodies of the young teenagers were brought out of the wreckage on doors scavenged from what remained of their school building. Taken to the edge of the schoolyard, which had turned muddy after overnight rains, the earthquake victims were placed under a tarp canopy and wrapped in sheets and blankets. Some of the linens were splattered with blood. A few family members lit incense and candles, while others set off fireworks to ward off evil spirits. Most, though, appeared numb with shock and sat quietly next to the three .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:11:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/families-desperate-for-news-on-hundreds-r585173.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/families-desperate-for-news-on-hundreds-r585173.htm World News (PR-inside.com) MEXICO CITY (AP) - A leftist rebel group linked to a series of oil pipeline blasts said Monday it would accept mediators to negotiate a cease-fire with the government. The People's Revolutionary Army said it is not ready to negotiate with the government directly. «The conditions do not exist for us to sit face to face with the government,» the group said in a message posted on a Web site that has carried past rebel statements. The small rebel group, known as the EPR, suggested a group of intellectuals meet with the government on their behalf. President .. Tue, 13 May 2008 06:10:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/mexican-rebel-group-accepts-mediators-to-r585172.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/mexican-rebel-group-accepts-mediators-to-r585172.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's government has announced fresh measures to stabilize rice prices and supply, including spending at least 725 million ringgit (US$230 million; ¤150 million) on imports of the grain. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a statement late Monday the steps were meant to ease pressure on consumers who were struggling with escalating prices of necessities. He said the government will impose price controls on high-quality grades of locally grown rice starting June 1 because retailers were selling those brands at increasingly high prices. Authorities will encourage Malaysian .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:56:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/malaysia-charts-new-steps-to-keep-r585155.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/malaysia-charts-new-steps-to-keep-r585155.htm World News (PR-inside.com) CHENGDU, China (AP) - China state media says that 1,000 students and teachers are dead or missing after a massive earthquake crushed a high school. The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that the school collapsed in Beichuan county, just east of the epicenter of Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake. The deaths are separate from another collapsed school were 900 students are feared dead. Xinhua said the school, a six- or seven-story building, had been reduced to a pile of rubble about two yards (meters) high. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:52:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/killed-in-high-school-collapse-r585153.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/killed-in-high-school-collapse-r585153.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BEIJING (AP) - The 60 rare giant pandas at a breeding facility near the epicenter of a devastating earthquake are safe, a Chinese government news agency said Tuesday. The pandas live at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, Xinhua News Agency reported. Monday's magnitude 7.9 quake shook buildings in the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and knocked out power and phone service. Pandas are among the world's rarest animals. The breeding center is part of efforts to help ensure the survival of the species by breeding them to be .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:47:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/report-rare-giant-pandas-at-chinese-r585151.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/report-rare-giant-pandas-at-chinese-r585151.htm World News (PR-inside.com) DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Officials say at least 36 people have died after a ferry capsized in a storm in northern Bangladesh. Local government administrator Sultan Ahmed said an additional 50 people were missing after the accident late Monday in Kishoreganj district. The area is 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of capital, Dhaka. Ahmed said the death toll can rise as some of the missing people are feared trapped inside the sunken ferry. Most bodies were recovered from inside the sunken ferry. Local police official Mizanur Rahman said the wooden ferry was packed with .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:46:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/dozens-die-after-a-ferry-capsizes-r585150.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/dozens-die-after-a-ferry-capsizes-r585150.htm World News (PR-inside.com) CHENGDU, China (AP) - The death toll from China's worst earthquake in three decades climbed Tuesday to about 10,000, while rescuers struggled to reach the epicenter of a quake that toppled schools, buildings and factories. A day after the 7.9-magnitude quake devastated a region of small cities and towns set amid steep hills north of Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu, the government poured more than 16,000 troops into the area with tens of thousands more on the way. Compounding the rescue effort was rain, which Premier Wen Jiabao said was forecast for the .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:43:03 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/death-toll-in-china-earthquake-climbs-r585149.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/death-toll-in-china-earthquake-climbs-r585149.htm World News (PR-inside.com) TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan offered to send rescue workers to rival China to help with earthquake relief Tuesday, a day after a magnitude 7.9 quake devastated the mainland's Sichuan province. Taiwan is frequently hit by earthquakes of its own and has highly developed expertise in rescue operations. «We will try our best to provide all the necessary assistance they may need,» Premier Chang Chun-hsiung said. Chang did not give details. He said authorities need to discuss the plan with their counterparts on the Chinese mainland. Lawmaker John Chang of Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party urged .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:38:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/taiwan-offers-to-send-rescue-workers-r585148.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/taiwan-offers-to-send-rescue-workers-r585148.htm World News (PR-inside.com) The Monday quake measuring 7.8-on rechter scale has killed 10000 people in eight affected provinces and municipality of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Shanxi, Guizhou, Hubei and Chongqing, the ministry said.Many araes have become un accessible,the aid is sent by helicopters ,transport planes but the rains and wild weather delays the rescue operations.More than 1600 army personnel have been deputed on the operation quake as per the reports emanting from official Chinese media. The quake jolted Wenchuan County of Sichuan at 2:28 p.m. Monday, which also leveled some 500,000 rooms in the affected areas. Hailstorm too played havoc as the central Hubei,HebelJiangsue .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:36:29 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/china-quake-hailstorm-the-worst-in-r585147.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/china-quake-hailstorm-the-worst-in-r585147.htm World News (PR-inside.com) MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Two Colombians wounded in a cross-border raid on a Colombian rebel camp in Ecuador have gone into exile in Nicaragua. A spokesman for Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega says the women have been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. Marta Perez, 24, and Doris Bohorquez, 21, arrived in Nicaragua from Ecuador on Sunday, said first lady and presidential spokeswoman Rosario Murillo in a statement. Nicaragua already has granted asylum to Mexican Lucia Morett _ the only other survivor in the raid. The three women deny allegations they belong to the Revolutionary Armed .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:28:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/nicaragua-grants-asylum-to-2-survivors-r585146.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/nicaragua-grants-asylum-to-2-survivors-r585146.htm World News (PR-inside.com) CHENGDU, China (AP) - China state media says that 15 British tourists were «out of reach» in the area worst hit by an earthquake that has killed about 10,000. The official Xinhua News Agency said the 15 «were out of reach on Tuesday morning in Wenchuan,» which was the epicenter of the massive earthquake that struck Monday afternoon. It quoted an official from the Sichuan provincial emergency management office as saying the tourists were likely in Wolong, a protection and breeding center for pandas. .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:25:03 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/british-tourist-are-out-of-r585145.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/british-tourist-are-out-of-r585145.htm World News (PR-inside.com) SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called «20th hijacker» in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday. Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men charged by the military in February with murder and war crimes for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks. Authorities say al-Qahtani missed out on taking part in the attacks because he was denied entry to the U.S. by an immigration agent. But in reviewing the case, the convening .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:22:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/us-drops-charges-against-20th-hijacker-r585143.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/us-drops-charges-against-20th-hijacker-r585143.htm World News (PR-inside.com) SENECA, Missouri (AP) - Survivors began cleaning up from a deadly blast of storms and tornadoes that killed 26 people in four U.S. states over the weekend. Officials said this year is the country's deadliest for tornado-related deaths in a decade. All together, at least 26 people died in Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama after the severe storms erupted Saturday over the Southern Plains and swept east. About 100 people have died in U.S. tornadoes so far this year, the worst toll in a decade, according to the National Weather Service, and the .. Tue, 13 May 2008 05:14:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/central-us-begins-cleanup-tests-pollution-r585142.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/central-us-begins-cleanup-tests-pollution-r585142.htm World News (PR-inside.com) SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A mother taken from a polygamist sect and being held as a minor in state custody gave birth Monday to a baby boy who was immediately taken into child-protective custody. State officials acknowledged the mother may be an adult, and said they were trying to determine her true age. Since state officials raided the sect's West Texas ranch on April 3, child welfare officials have taken custody of all its children on the grounds that they were endangered by the sect's underage and polygamous spiritual marriages. The boy is .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:46:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/polygamist-sect-mother-gives-birth-to-r585136.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/polygamist-sect-mother-gives-birth-to-r585136.htm World News (PR-inside.com) NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) - Dwight Yoakam will make his 24th appearance on «The Tonight Show with Jay Leno» this week, breaking the record for most musical performances by any artist. The singer's Los Angeles-based spokeswoman says Yoakam will perform on the NBC late-night program's outdoor concert series Thursday. Yoakam, 51, is currently tied with Lyle Lovett for the show's most musical performances with 23. Besides his appearances with Leno, Yoakam also was on «The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson» six times, beginning in 1986. «Jay and I always joked about it,» Yoakam said Monday .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:41:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/dwight-yoakam-to-make-24th-appearance-r585135.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/dwight-yoakam-to-make-24th-appearance-r585135.htm World News (PR-inside.com) MEXICO CITY (AP) - A police officer and four other suspects with ties to a powerful drug cartel have been arrested in the assassination of Mexico's acting federal police chief, authorities said Monday. The five _ three men and two women _ belonged to a criminal cell acting on the orders of the Sinaloa drug cartel, said Gerardo Garay, the anti-drug coordinator for the federal police. Police captured all five suspects hours after the assassination of Edgar Millan Gomez on Thursday. The alleged leader of the group, Jose Antonio Montes Garfias, had been .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:34:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/mexico-says-sinaloa-cartel-ordered-killing-r585133.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/mexico-says-sinaloa-cartel-ordered-killing-r585133.htm World News (PR-inside.com) YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Officials distributed aid Tuesday from the first international truck convoy to reach cyclone-battered Myanmar, while the U.N. chief criticized the country's military leaders for their «unacceptably slow response» to the crisis. Even as some 2 million people faced disease and starvation, Myanmar's authoritarian regime continued to bar nearly all foreigners experienced in managing such catastrophes from reaching survivors of Cyclone Nargis. With hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed in the disaster zone, refugees packed into Buddhist monasteries or camped in the open, drinking dirty water contaminated by .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:28:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/truck-convoy-arrives-in-myanmar-with-r585132.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/truck-convoy-arrives-in-myanmar-with-r585132.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) - Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Monday accusing a man and woman of training the woman's child to be a dominatrix, selling her sexual services and photographing some of the acts. U.S. Attorney John Wood said the case is unusual in that a parent has been charged with the commercial sex trafficking of his or her own minor child. Todd B. Barkau, 35, of New York state, and the 44-year-old mother were charged in the seven-count indictment. They once lived together in Blue Springs, Missouri, where the sex business .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:17:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/man-woman-accused-of-sexually-abusing-r585130.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/man-woman-accused-of-sexually-abusing-r585130.htm World News (PR-inside.com) LOS ANGELES (AP) - A foreclosure auction scheduled this week for Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch was canceled after an investment company bought the loan. Colony Capital LLC spokeswoman Caroline Luz said the loan purchase was recently made by Colony and the auction slated for Wednesday was off, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. In a statement released Sunday by a Jackson spokesman who identified himself as B. Michael, the singer said he was «pleased with recent developments involving Neverland Ranch ... that would allow me to focus on the future. Jackson had gone into .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:13:11 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/foreclosure-auction-on-michael-jackson-s-neverland-r585128.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/foreclosure-auction-on-michael-jackson-s-neverland-r585128.htm World News (PR-inside.com) LOS ANGELES (AP) - A TV movie about the life of Holocaust hero Irena Sendler, who died Monday at age 98 in Poland, is being readied for production and will air next season on the CBS network. «The Irena Sendler Story» is based on an authorized biography of the woman credited with rescuing some 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazis by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, producer Hallmark Hall of Fame said Monday. The film is in pre-production and will be filmed in Poland. Hallmark said it acquired movie rights to the .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:10:03 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/hallmark-to-produce-tv-movie-on-r585126.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/hallmark-to-produce-tv-movie-on-r585126.htm World News (PR-inside.com) SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The Pentagon is dropping charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was supposed to have been the «20th hijacker» in the Sept. 11 attacks. Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men facing murder charges before a U.S. military tribunal for the attacks. But U.S. military defense lawyers confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that a Pentagon official has finalized the charges only against the other five, including the alleged architect of the attacks. U.S. officials have said al-Qahtani was subjected to harsh treatment authorized by former Defense Secretary .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:05:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/us-drops-charges-against-20th-hijacker-r585125.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/us-drops-charges-against-20th-hijacker-r585125.htm World News (PR-inside.com) TORONTO (AP) - A South African woman whose sudden death sparked a full-scale health scare and caused several hundred train passengers to be placed under quarantine in northern Ontario was killed by a blood clot that traveled to her lungs, Ontario's coroner's office said Monday. Dr. William Lucas said a pulmonary embolism caused the death of Brenda Buckley, 43, a tourist who was on a cross-Canada train trip. The death on Friday provoked a health scare after other passengers reported being ill, including one who was taken by air ambulance to a hospital. Authorities .. Tue, 13 May 2008 04:04:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/coroner-says-blood-clot-killed-woman-r585124.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/coroner-says-blood-clot-killed-woman-r585124.htm World News (PR-inside.com) BEIJING (AP) - China hoped 2008 would be a yearlong celebration, a time to bask in the spotlight of the upcoming Summer Olympics, but the Year of the Rat has brought a wave of disasters, both man-made and otherwise, that are putting a heavy strain on the communist leadership. The magnitude 7.9 earthquake that struck Sichuan province Monday, causing nearly 10,000 deaths, was only the latest in a series of catastrophes that included freak snowstorms and a Tibetan uprising. China has long experience with large-scale disasters wrought both by Mother Nature and .. Tue, 13 May 2008 03:52:00 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/from-freak-snowstorms-to-earthquake-china-r585121.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/from-freak-snowstorms-to-earthquake-china-r585121.htm World News (PR-inside.com) KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Nepal's prime minister has set May 28 as the first day for a special assembly that plans to abolish the centuries-old monarchy in this Himalayan country. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala issued a statement Monday saying the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly elected last month will be held May 28. It was decided before the election by the major political parties that the first meeting of the assembly would remove the king and declare Nepal a republic. The 601-member assembly will also rewrite the constitution and decide the future .. Tue, 13 May 2008 03:45:01 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/nepal-s-newly-elected-assembly-to-meet-r585116.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/nepal-s-newly-elected-assembly-to-meet-r585116.htm World News (PR-inside.com) MEXICO CITY (AP) - A leftist rebel group linked to a series of oil pipeline blasts says it would accept mediators to negotiate a cease-fire with the government. The People's Revolutionary Army says it is not ready to negotiate with the government directly. In a message posted on a Web site Monday, the rebels suggested a group of intellectuals meet with the government on their behalf. In 2007 the group claimed responsibility for blasts along more than a half-dozen oil and natural gas pipelines to demand the release of two rebels allegedly in government .. Tue, 13 May 2008 03:44:02 GMT http://www.pr-inside.com/mexican-rebel-group-accepts-mediators-to-r585115.htm http://www.pr-inside.com/mexican-rebel-group-accepts-mediators-to-r585115.htm