April 2, 2009 in Nation/World

North Korea fueling rocket, report says

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North Korea has begun fueling a long-range rocket for an impending launch, a news report said today, as President Barack Obama warned the liftoff would be a “provocative act” that would generate a U.N. Security Council response.

North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit on a multistage rocket sometime from Saturday to Wednesday. The U.S., South Korea and Japan think the reclusive country is using the launch to test long-range missile technology, and they’ve warned the move would violate a Security Council resolution banning it from ballistic activity.

Regional powers have also begun to deploy ships to monitor the launch, and Japan is preparing to intercept any debris that might fall if the launch goes awry.

CNN television reported on its Web site that Pyongyang has begun fueling the rocket. The report, citing an unidentified senior U.S. military official, said the move indicates final preparations for the launch. Experts say the missile can be fired about three to four days after fueling begins.

Beijing

France makes concession on Tibet

China and France announced an agreement Wednesday to restore high-level contacts and promote cooperation following a lengthy spat over Tibet sparked by the French president’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.

France pledged not to support Tibetan independence in “any form” as part of the agreement, according to a news release posted on the Chinese foreign ministry’s Web site and a similar statement from the French government.

China suspended many contacts and called off a major summit with the European Union in rage over a December meeting in Poland between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama.

Trade ties also suffered during the feud, with major Chinese purchasing and investment missions to Europe this year bypassing France entirely.

Sao Paulo

Man recovers from accidental spearing

A Brazilian man who came to a hospital with a spear stuck in his head after a diving accident says he is done with underwater fishing.

Three days after doctors surgically removed a spear from his brain, Emerson de Oliveira Abreu says “never more” will he get back into the water to fish with spears.

Abreu is in stable condition and expected to be released in 10 days.

Abreu told Globo TV on Wednesday that he felt “a sharp pain” after his shot apparently ricocheted off a rock and entered his head just above his left eye.

He said the pain was unbearable every time he touched the spear or when the ambulance hit bumps in the road on the way to the hospital.

From wire reports

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