Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East Questions CMEP's Continuing Comments About Israeli / Palestinian Peace Proposals

NEW YORK, April 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East questions a second statement appearing in the Churches for Middle East Peace ("CMEP") bulletin (April 8, 2011):  "[the Israeli] government has not yet responded to the Palestinian proposals on final status issues, presented two years ago to U.S. Middle East Special Envoy George Mitchell."  Again, what exactly were these proposals?

In 2009 George Mitchell held discussions with Palestinian and Israeli negotiators in an unsuccessful attempt at relaunching direct peace talks.  Saeb Erekat reportedly gave Mitchell draft Palestinian Terms of Reference, which are assumptions on which negotiations would be based.  There were also (unsubstantiated) reports that Israeli representatives were presented with current Palestinian positions on core issues.  While both could have been useful if negotiations had begun, they were not peace proposals for Israel to respond to.
As Rev. Thomas A. Prinz, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Leesburg, Virginia and Fair Witness Executive Committee member points out, "One has to understand how the peace process works.  Ideas and positions are routinely exchanged.   But the only actual peace proposal put on the table in recent years came from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in late summer, 2008. Olmert offered a Palestinian state on 97 to 98% of the West Bank with safe passage to Gaza, 5,000 Palestinian refugees absorbed by Israel as a humanitarian gesture, a capital in East Jerusalem, Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian sovereignty and the Holy Basin under international control."
According to PM Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas never responded to his offer. The documents in the Palestine Papers (published last January by Al Jazeera) support Olmert's claim. There have been no peace proposals made by either side since.
Fr. James Loughran, S.A., Director of the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute and Fair Witness Executive Committee member, says, "We should never present inaccurate versions of the peace process.  The role of the churches should be to help build an atmosphere of mutual trust that is the only hope for encouraging productive Israeli/Palestinian final status negotiations."

New Myanmar president hosts top Chinese official

Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Jia Qinglin (C) signs the guest book at the Shwedagon pagoda during his visit to Myanmar, in Yangon on April 4, 2011. Qinglin is on an official visit to Myanmar a few days after Myanmar's military made way for a nominally civilian government after almost half a century in power. -- PHOTO: AFP

YANGON (Myanmar) - A TOP official of China's ruling Communist Party has become the first high-ranking foreign visitor to meet with Myanmar's new president since a civilian government took office.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that Jia Qinglin, the Communist Party's fourth-highest ranking official, met with newly sworn-in President Thein Sein and pledged cooperation for political and economic development. Jia arrived Saturday for a four-day visit.

China has been the main ally of Myanmar, which is shunned by the West for its poor record on human rights and democracy.

Critics claim that last November's general election was unfair and meant to perpetuate military rule behind a democratic facade.

The new, nominally civilian government was sworn in March 30. -- AP

Vietnam dissident's attorneys file complaint

HANOI - THE defence team of a prominent Vietnamese dissident lawyer sentenced this week to prison has filed a complaint alleging the judge in his trial broke the law by obstructing their rights to hear all the evidence.

Cu Huy Ha Vu, 53, the well-known son of a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader, was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years under house arrest at the one-day trial on Monday on charges of conducting propaganda against the state.

One of Vu's four defence attorneys was ejected from the courtroom for repeatedly asking the judge to read in full or provide copies of 10 interviews Vu gave to foreign media, which were used as key evidence against him.

The three other attorneys walked out in protest, leaving Vu to defend himself.

In the complaint, posted at a popular dissident website and verified on Tuesday by lawyer Tran Dinh Trien, the defence team accused the judge of violating their rights as attorneys and the rights of their client by refusing to provide the full evidence.

'There has been a serious violation of laws during the investigation, prosecution and at the court,' said Mr Trien, one of the three lawyers who left the court in protest. 'According to the law, the evidence must be announced at the trial, but they did not. -- AP

Indonesian women repel armed Islamists

MEDAN - FURIOUS Indonesian women fought off a mob of armed Islamists after the religious fanatics tried to evict a mother and her newborn baby from a house, police and reports said on Tuesday.

Dozens of angry housewives forced the Islamists to flee for safety and attacked their leader's vehicle during the incident near Medan, northern Sumatra, reports said.

'What the housewives did here was spontaneous and it was because we care for our neighbours who are in trouble,' a witness identified as Evi was quoted as saying in the Jakarta Globe.

The melee erupted on Saturday when the women rushed to the defence of their neighbour, Nurhayati, and her two-week-old baby.

A group of about 12 stick-wielding men from the Islamic Defenders Front - a notoriously violent vigilante group that is tolerated by the authorities - had attacked her house over a land dispute.

Provincial Front leader Darma Bakti Ginting claims ownership of the land on which his cousin Nurhayati's house was built. -- AFP

Pakistan shrine suicide bombings kill 50

The device went off outside the shrine of Ahmed Sultan popularly known as Sakhi Sarwar in Dera Ghazi Khan district, local administration chief Iftikhar Sahu said. -- PHOTO: AFP

DERA GHAZI KHAN (Pakistan) - THE death toll rose to 50 on Monday after two suicide bombers unleashed carnage at a Sufi shrine in Pakistan where hundreds had gathered for a religious ceremony, officials said.

The bombers on Sunday struck the shrine of 13th century Sufi saint Ahmed Sultan, popularly known as Sakhi Sarwar, in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab province, about 480km south-west of the capital Islamabad.

'We had 44 dead in our hospital. Six people died on the spot and their families took their bodies directly,' said Tariq Mehmood, an emergency ward official at Civil Hospital in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Local police officer Zahid Hussain Shah confirmed a death toll of 49. 'Most of the bodies have been identified and sent to their home towns for burial,' Mr Shah told AFP. It was the deadliest suicide attack in Pakistan since a mosque bombing killed 68 people on November 5 in the north-west area of Darra Adam Khel.

Islamist militants have increasingly targeted Sufi worshippers, who follow a mystical strain of Islam, in Muslim-majority Pakistan. Dera Ghazi Khan is close to the tribal area which is known as a hub of Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants. The rugged tribal region is described by Washington as the most dangerous place on Earth and an Al-Qaeda headquarters.

More than 4,200 people have been killed across Pakistan in attacks blamed on homegrown Taleban and other Islamist extremist networks since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in July 2007. -- AFP

Disasters put stress on children in Japan

Twenty-two-year-old mother Yoko Kamata sits with her baby Yuzuyu (left) and son Seiga (right) at a shelter in Kamaishi city in Iwate prefecture. -- PHOTO: AFP

KARAKUWA (Japan) - ZOOM in for a snapshot of apparent normalcy: children sitting in a circle, clasping playing cards tightly in their hands. They laugh, chat and occasionally hop up to break into a goofy dance.

Zoom out and the picture changes: The children are kneeling on mattresses in a chilly classroom they now call home. An elderly woman cries nearby, wondering whether her mother was killed by Japan's tsunami. Outside the school, a teacher fiddles with a radiation detector, checking to ensure the levels aren't high enough to make them sick - or worse.

Behind the smiling faces of thousands of children in shelters across this wave-battered wasteland, experts say there is often serious anxiety as everything these youngsters once held as normal is suddenly anything but.

'That's what is so wonderfully adaptive about children. They can move very easily into playing or laughing,' says psychologist Susie Burke, a disaster response specialist with the Australian Psychological Society. 'But that's not saying they're not deeply distressed and upset about what's going on.'

Reminders of the tiniest victims are scattered throughout the wreckage: a little girl's white shoe caked in mud, a red rubber ball coated in dust, a sodden comic book whose ink has run.

As many as 25,000 people may have been killed in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's north-east coast and damaged a nuclear plant, sending radiation spewing into the environment. Tens of thousands are still living in shelters. -- AP

Japan may review 2020 emission cut target

Japan's Prime Minister walks past his spokesperson and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. Mr Edano said the Japanese government has yet to decide whether to review its goals for cutting greenhouse gases. -- PHOTO: AP

TOKYO - JAPAN may review its emission reduction pledge for 2020 after a massive quake and tsunami last month set off a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japanese media quoted a senior environment ministry official as saying.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano later said the government has yet to decide whether to review its goals for cutting greenhouse gases, as it still needs to understand the overall impact of the nuclear crisis and the prospects for post-quake reconstruction.

Japan's atomic crisis after the March 11 quake and tsunami has stretched to more than three weeks with engineers struggling to cool down the troubled nuclear plant in Fukushima, in north-east Japan, and to contain radiation leaks.

'It is true that our reduction target will be affected significantly,' Hideki Minamikawa, vice-minister for global environmental affairs, was quoted by the Yomiuri newspaper as telling reporters in Bangkok on Sunday. 'The target year and the size of the reduction will be up for review,' he added.

Speaking at a news conference, Mr Edano, also the top government spokesman, said Tokyo would need to look at the impact of the disaster on a variety of industries and policies, including those on climate change. But he added: 'At the moment, we have not decided whether to review the target and we are not at a stage where we can make a decision.'

Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto last week said Japan had no immediate plan to review its 2020 pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent from 1990 levels, in the first official comment about whether the nuclear crisis had boosted the country's need for power from fossil fuels. -- REUTERS

Hong Kong parents value grades over health: Survey

HONG KONG - MORE than two-thirds of Hong Kong parents value academic results over their child's health, a poll has found.

While 72.2 per cent of parents rated academic performance as 'extremely important", only 10.9 per cent cited 'health condition' as 'extremely important' according to a survey released on Sunday.

The findings follow Chinese-American author Amy Chua's bestseller earlier this year about her no-nonsense child-rearing style, which sparked a flurry of criticism over strict 'Chinese' parenting versus more relaxed Western methods.

In her book, Ms Chua recounts an ultra-strict regime of piano lessons and homework for her daughters, arguing that for Asian immigrant families in the United States, pushing children hard is the key to getting ahead.

Hong Kong is known for its pressure-cooker style examination system, with parents placing high emphasis on academic achievements. Local ten-year-old twins have sailed through British high school exams.

Estephe and his sister Perrine Corlin scored straight 'As' in maths papers that are normally taken by 16-year-olds, with their mother attributing their success to a gruelling schedule. Sunday's survey also found that Hong Kong parents are prone to pampering their children and catering to their every whim.

Eighty-seven per cent of parents said they had hired domestic helpers to take care of their children at home. -- AFP

Police remain silent on Ai Weiwei detention

BEIJING - POLICE in Beijing have refused to explain why they detained outspoken Chinese artist and social critic Ai Weiwei, his wife said on Monday, amid fears that authorities are expanding a crackdown on dissent.

The prominent artist - who helped design Beijing's famed 'Bird's Nest' Olympic stadium - was taken into custody on Sunday at Beijing's international airport as he prepared to board a flight, Lu Qing told AFP.

'As he was being detained, police came to the house with a search warrant and searched everywhere,' Ms Lu said by telephone.

'They took the computer, computer disks and other materials. They refused to say why the search warrant was issued or why Ai Weiwei was taken away.' Several of Ai's assistants were also detained for questioning on Sunday, but later released, said Ms Lu, adding that she was not under house arrest.

Beijing police refused to comment on Ai's detention when contacted by AFP on Monday. The artist's detention comes after scores of dissidents, activists, and right lawyers have been rounded up in recent weeks, with many placed under house arrest or disappearing into police custody.

The clampdown followed anonymous online calls which emerged in February for protests each Sunday around the country to demand political change in China - aimed at emulating those that have rocked the Arab world. -- AFP

Than Shwe retires as head of Myanmar military

YANGON - MYANMAR strongman Than Shwe, who ruled with an iron fist for almost two decades, has retired as head of the military after handing power to a nominally civilian government, officials said on Monday.

Than Shwe, previously known as the 'senior general', last week disbanded the ruling junta following a November election marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation.

'The senior general and vice-senior general (Maung Aye) have retired already,' a Myanmar official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

'They are going to have a rest now.' A second official said: 'Although they are retired, they will give some advice when the government asks for it.'

The army hierarchy retains a firm grip on power in the resource-rich South-east Asian country, and many analysts believe Than Shwe will retain a significant role behind the scenes. -- AFP

At least 250 injured as Yemen police disperse protest

SANAA - YEMEN police fired tear gas and live bullets at protesters holding an anti-regime demonstration in the city of Taez on Sunday, injuring at least 250, witnesses said.

'Between 250 and 300 protesters were injured, some with live bullets, as police opened fire to disperse a protest heading to the governorate headquarters,' in the city that lies 200km south of the capital Sanaa, a witness said.

Police continued to fire as security forces pushed back demonstrators to a square where they have been holding a sit-in as part of nationwide protests demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down, witnesses said.

A member of parliament who did not want to be named charged that police were 'attempting to storm the sit-in square.' -- AFP

Myanmar warns against 'decadent' dress for New Year's

YANGON (Myanmar) - REVELLERS who wear 'decadent' clothing during Myanmar's upcoming New Year's celebrations can face up to a month in prison, a news report said on Sunday.

The four-day festival begins April 13 and marks the traditional New Year on the lunisolar calendar that is also used in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It's one of the few times when Myanmar's citizens can cut loose under the watchful eye of the repressive regime.

Revellers in the impoverished country splash one another with water and dance in the streets, despite annual warnings of proper etiquette from the government. Myanmar was under military rule for 50 years.

Following elections last year, the junta was officially disbanded and handed power to a nominally civilian government, but the rules for partying during the New Year's celebration remain unchanged. The News Watch journal, a weekly magazine, issued the government's warning for merrymakers to 'avoid wearing dress that is contrary to Myanmar culture.' It said that a special committee will supervise what people are wearing and will use CCTV cameras to videotape crowds.

Those caught 'wearing decadent attire' can face a fine and up to one month in prison, the weekly reported. It did not specify what clothing was banned, but government warnings in the past have called on women not to wear skimpy tank tops and short shorts.

Past warnings have also told revelers to avoid making remarks that could hurt national unity, not to honk horns and to avoid horseplay that could injure people, like throwing bags filled with ice. -- AFP

Two tsunami victims found at Japan nuclear plant

Tepco said in a statement: 'We extremely regret losing the two young employees who tried to secure the safety of the plant while it was being hit by the quake and tsunami.' -- PHOTO: AP

TOKYO - THE bodies of two workers killed when a tsunami hit Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant more than three weeks ago have been found and recovered, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said on Sunday.

A Tepco official cited physicians as saying Mr Kazuhiko Kokubo, 24, and Mr Yoshiki Terashima, 21 had died of bleeding from multiple injuries.

The utility said their remains had been found last Wednesday in the reactor four turbine building of the Fukushima plant, where the tsunami knocked out cooling systems and sparked an emergency that has released high radiation.

Their bodies required decontamination from radioactive materials, and they were only formally declared as deceased on Saturday, it said.

Tepco said in a statement: 'We extremely regret losing the two young employees who tried to secure the safety of the plant while it was being hit by the quake and tsunami.'

The crippled plant is continuing to release radiation into the air, ground and sea in Japan's worst ever nuclear crisis. -- AFP

China blocks well-known artist from boarding plane

Artist Ai Weiwei is an outspoken government critic and has been barred from going abroad before. -- PHOTO: AP

BEIJING - CHINA blocked one of its most famous contemporary artists from taking a flight to Hong Kong on Sunday, and police later raided his Beijing studio, the man's assistan said.

Artist Ai Weiwei is an outspoken government critic and has been barred from going abroad before.

China has launched a massive crackdown on lawyers, writers and activists, arresting and detaining dozens since February when online calls for protests similar to those in the Middle East and North Africa began to circulate. Mr Ai has been keeping an informal tally of those detentions on Twitter, where he has more than 70,000 followers.

The studio assistant, who asked not to be named, said Mr Ai was going through customs at the Beijing Capital International Airport early Sunday when two officials escorted him away, leaving a travelling companion to board the flight alone.

It was not clear whether the 53-year-old artist and architectural designer had been detained or why he was barred from taking the flight, the assistant said. Mr Ai's cellphone could not be reached and airport police refused to comment.

Police later arrived at Mr Au's studio with a search warrant and took several staff members to a police station for questioning, said the assistant, who was among the group. A man who answered the phone at the police station said he would check on the case, then hung up the phone. Subsequent calls to the number rang unanswered. -- AP

Post-tsunami, Japan town mulls over whether to rebuild

MINAMISANRIKU (Japan) - THE only thing left of Minamisanriku City Hall are its two front steps.

Nearby, a pink octopus lies dead in a pool of sea water, its tentacles wrapped around a crumpled sheet of corrugated aluminum that may have been a roof, a gate, a wall. Beside it, a broken tarmac road runs as far as the eye can see through fields of demolished houses and debris.

As post-tsunami Japan turns to the enormous task of putting towns like this back together, the sheer extent of the devastation wrought March 11 raises existential questions: Should the dozens of shattered communities along these shores be rebuilt at all?

Can they be, when up to half their inhabitants are gone and survivors know it could happen again? 'The future is not bright,' Jin Sato, the 56-year-old mayor of Minamisanriku, says matter-of-factly.

The statistics for this town alone are grim. Of the 17,666 people who once lived here, at least 322 have been confirmed dead and thousands more have disappeared, still buried in the ruins or sucked out to sea. Another 9,325 lost their homes and live in 45 shelters, mostly schools, spread on hills along the bay.

The tsunami swept away nearly every business, every job. There is no electricity or running water, and very little fuel. Some 70 per cent of Minamisanriku's 5,574 houses were destroyed. Inside a hilltop sports arena that serves as shelter, morgue and makeshift office, Mr Sato sits red-eyed behind a small desk. 'Whatever happens,' he says, 'we're going to need a lot of help.' -- AP

India charges ex-minister in telecom graft scandal

NEW DELHI - INDIAN police on Saturday charged a former telecom minister with abuse of power and conspiracy in an alleged mobile spectrum fraud that cost the country billions of dollars in lost revenue.

The south Indian politician, A. Raja, was also accused of cheating, forgery and criminal misconduct on a charge sheet and annexed documents that ran to 80,000 pages and were carried to court in seven steel trunks.

Raja, a low-caste politician from a regional party in Premier Manmohan Singh's national Congress-led coalition, is suspected of rigging rules for the sale of second generation (2G) mobile licences in 2008 to favour some firms.

Three executives employed by a telecom firm belonging to the conglomerate controlled by prominent billionaire Anil Ambani were also charged.

The charges were the first to be laid in the corruption scandal, said to be potentially the biggest in independent India's history, and capped months of investigation into the issuing of the licences and allocation of 2G spectrum.

The scene is now set for a high-profile trial that could be a Pandora's box for the Congress-led coalition, as many of the players who received spectrum are seen as having links to the government, analysts say. -- AFP

Radiation worries hit Japan's farmers hard

FUKUSHIMA CITY (Japan) - ON HIS farm on the rural outskirts of Fukushima City, 73-year-old Akio Abiko digs up burdock roots and worries about the future.

For now, he is donating the roots to a nearby evacuee centre, to garnish rice and help feed those who have fled from the crippled Daiichi nuclear plant about 70km away.

But Mr Abiko and other local farmers wonder if anyone outside this part of north-east Japan will ever again want to buy produce from Fukushima. Mr Abiko used to sell carrots, potatoes and other vegetables from his 9,900 square metre farm to Tokyo. But the chances of that now look unlikely.

'Grown in Fukushima' has become a warning label for those nervous of radiation which has already been found in some vegetables close to the nuclear plant savaged by last month's earthquake and tsunami.

'There is no way we will be able to sell anything,' he said. 'People in Tokyo are just too sensitive about this kind of thing.' A group of farmers came to Tokyo from Fukushima at the weekend, using Geiger counters to show their produce was safe.

Japan's worst crisis since World War II, with the authorities still trying to bring the damaged reactors under control, has sparked widespread fears about the safety of its food. The radiation worries are likely to put a further squeeze on farmers in north-east Japan, where the economy has been on a steady decline for years, hit by a falling birthrate and a rapidly ageing population. -- REUTERS

Massive fire at Indonesia's largest oil refinery

An Indonesian policeman holds his rifle as smoke rises from a fire raging at a gasoline component storage tank in Pertamina's Cilacap refinery in Central Java province. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

CILACAP (Indonesia) - POLICE say a massive fire has destroyed two storage tanks at Indonesia's largest oil refinery.

Local police chief Lieutenant Colonel Rudy Darmoko says no injuries have been reported in the fire at the Pertamina national oil company refinery.

Several explosions occurred at the storage tanks after the blaze broke out early on Saturday.

Darmoko says the cause of fire is still being investigated but there are no signs of sabotage. Residents were evacuated from around the Cilacap refinery on Java island.

Pertamina spokesman Muhammad Harun says the fire will not disrupt fuel production.

Another fire in 2008 at the Cilacap refinery killed three people. -- AP

Giant pumps rushed from US to Japan

WASHINGTON - TWO of the world's largest cement boom pumps are being rushed to Japan to help cool reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the company that makes the equipment said on Friday.

Two giant trucks equipped with powerful pumps and flexible arms with a 70m reach will be used to shoot water from giant hoses to cool the nuclear reactors, or cement to seal off the site, said Ms Kelly Blickle, a spokesman with the US subsidiary of the German company Putzmeister.

Similar pumps were used in Chernobyl following the April 1986 meltdown, Ms Blickle told AFP. The boom pumps, normally used to pour concrete for bridges and skyscrapers under construction, can feed water over the destroyed buildings and target the reactor hotspots.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the Fukushima plant operator, 'didn't specifically say that they wanted to pump concrete, but it is the option, they don't have to bring in more equipment should that need occur', Ms Blickle said.

The equipment can also be operated via radio remote control - an operator can be some 2km away while maneuvering the boom pump. The company is working on extending that distance to 4km, Ms Blickle said.

Eleven Putzmeister truck-mounted concrete pumps and stationary pumps were used during the Chernobyl accident, the company said. Two US companies had bought the boom pumps, but agreed instead to let Putzmeister re-direct the machines to Japan and delay their orders, Ms Blickle said. -- AFP

Philippine tribal gunmen kidnap 16

BUTUAN (Philippines) - PHILIPPINE tribal gunmen kidnapped 16 teachers and students, demanding the release of an arrested comrade, police and local officials said on Saturday.

Members of the Manobo tribe led by Reyjoy Brital, abducted the group, including several minors, in the southern island of Mindanao on Friday, a police official and the local mayor said.

Speaking to negotiators through a cellphone, Brital threatened to kill the hostages if a rescue attempt was launched.

'They should behave because if they continue to come into our area we will make an example out of the hostages,' Brital said in the local dialect. -- AFP

Japan's tsunami-hit airport 'back in three weeks'

SENDAI - THREE weeks after Japan's massive tsunami swamped this once-bustling airport, US airmen working to restore it say commercial flights could soon resume.

Hundreds of cars, several planes and even houses were washed onto the runway at Sendai International Airport when the huge waves of March 11 engulfed the country's north-east coast.

The terminal building was flooded and fires erupted in the car park and in aircraft hangars.

Passengers were left stranded on the upper floors for two days, and staff were forced to flee to the roof of an administrative building.

CCTV footage posted on video sharing site YouTube, showing the debris-cluttered waters swallowing up the runway, has been watched more than 17 million times and become one of the defining images of the nation's tragedy.

With roads washed away or impassable, the crippling of the airport badly hampered relief efforts. 

Supplies and fuel could not get to the area where 28,000 people are dead or missing, leaving rescue teams unable to work in some of the hardest-hit towns. -- AFP

Hundreds of bodies in Japan nuclear exclusion zone

TOKYO - UP TO 1,000 bodies of victims of Japan's quake and tsunami remain uncollected in the exclusion zone around a stricken nuclear plant because of radiation fears, a report said on Friday.

Citing police sources, Kyodo News said that authorities had intended to transport the bodies outside the 20km evacuation zone imposed around the Fukushima power station, but were reconsidering the plan.

The bodies had been 'exposed to high levels of radiation after death", the report quoted a source as saying, adding elevated levels of radioactivity were found on Sunday on the body of a victim about five kilometres from the plant.

Local police decided not to retrieve that body because of the radiation, the report said. Over 28,000 people have been confirmed dead or listed as missing since the twin natural disasters which hit on March 11, devastating the north-east coast and crippling the atomic plant, which has since been leaking radiation.

Workers have struggled to cool the plant, prevent a large-scale meltdown and dispose of thousands of tonnes of highly contaminated run-off water, while radioactive substances have tainted foodstuffs and groundwater nearby. Japan said on Thursday the plant would be scrapped following the crisis.

Authorities are considering decontaminating the bodies in the nuclear exclusion zone where they are found, but are concerned that the process could damage decomposing bodies further, hampering identification, Kyodo said. If the bodies were handed back to relatives without decontamination, cremating them could spread plumes containing radioactive substances, while burying them might contaminate the soil, the report added. -- AFP

Vietnamese woman jailed for human trafficking

HANOI - A JUDGE says a Vietnamese woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for trafficking women to work as prostitutes in Malaysia and Singapore.

Presiding Judge Nguyen Thi Mai says the woman, Dinh Thi Thu Hong, was convicted in a one-day trial on Wednesday of selling seven Vietnamese women to work in brothels in 2008 and 2009.

Mr Mai says the victims were promised jobs at restaurants but were instead sold to brothels.

Hong told the court in Dong Thap province that she was unaware that the women had been sold into prostitution, maintaining that she was merely the broker who sent them to work abroad.

Two other women of Vietnamese descent who were allegedly part of the ring in Singapore and Malaysia have not been arrested. -- AP

Indonesia detains 43 Afghan migrants

SURABAYA - INDONESIA arrested 43 Afghans who were trying to reach Australia illegally, police said on Thursday, a day after Asian nations pledged to work together to tackle people smuggling.

The migrants, including women and children, were arrested in the waters off Madura island in East Java province on Thursday morning, provincial maritime police chief Anang Hidayat told reporters.

'They were seeking asylum in Australia. They were arrested while they were transferring boats. They had no identification documents,' he said.

The group had flown from Afghanistan to Jakarta, travelled by bus to Madura island to 'take a big boat to Australia", Mr Hidayat said.

'We've handed the case over to the immigration department and International Organisation for Migration to handle,' he said.

Indonesia is a key staging post for people-smugglers bringing Afghans, Sri Lankans and other nationals for the perilous onward sea journey to Australia where many seek asylum. -- AFP

Philippines cracks down on Chinese poachers

MANILA - PHILIPPINE authorities on Thursday vowed to seek long jail terms for six Chinese caught poaching fish and sea turtles, as part of a crackdown against foreigners stealing marine wildlife.

The head of a multi-agency taskforce against illegal entrants, Brigadier General Juancho Sabban, said he planned to take a hardline stance against all foreign poachers, unlike previous officials who allowed them to be released.

'We will be pursuing the harshest penalty as demanded by law. We will be fighting for the conviction of these apprehended poachers,' BG Sabban told AFP.

In previous cases of Chinese fishermen caught illegally in Philippine waters, the Chinese embassy often successfully lobbied for the release of its nationals, much to the anger of local environmental groups.

But BG Sabban, who took over in August last year as head of the taskforce that includes the police and military, said he would push hard for the latest batch of nabbed Chinese to be jailed.

'I don't know what happened in previous cases but I would like to assure everybody that we will take action differently,' he said. -- AFP

Orang Ini Mengarungi Banjir Australia dengan Boneka Seks

Entah apa yang ada di pikiran mereka. Saat Australia sedang siaga penuh akibat terjangan banjir, sepasang remaja Australia mengarungi Sungai Yarra, yang sedang mengamuk di Queensland, dengan boneka seks.

Laki-laki berambut coklat dan perempuan pirang yang tidak disebut namanya itu memegang boneka seorang satu. Terbuat dari karet dan diisi udara, boneka itu mengapung layaknya pelampung betulan.

Saat arus membawa mereka melewati sebuah terowongan di Warrandyte North, kemarin sore, si perempuan kehilangan pelampung alias boneka seksnya yang berjenis kelamin laki-laki.

Dia berpegangan pada batang pohon dan pasangannya menemaninya, masih dengan boneka seks dengan rupa perempuan pirang. Beruntung ada orang yang melihat dan menghubungi polisi.

Meski marah atas tingkah aneh ini, polisi tetap menyelamatkan kedua remaja 19 tahun tersebut. "Kami sedang sibuk menyelamatkan korban, gangguan seperti ini sangat menyebalkan," kata kepala kepolisian setempat, Wayne Wilson seperti dikutip Sidney Morning Herald.

Banjir yang menghantam Australia menelan 31 korban tewas selama dua pekan terakhir. Ribuan rumah terendam di banjir terburuk Australia selama 200 tahun terakhir ini.

Setelah ditarik pakai perahu karet, kedua remaja yang namanya tidak disebutkan itu diangkut ambulans. "Tidak diketahui nasib boneka yang hilang tersebut," ujar Wilson.