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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Women: Make peace, not love

Thousands of Kenyan women vowed Wednesday to begin a weeklong sex strike to try to protest their country’s bickering leadership, which they say threatens to revive the bloody chaos that convulsed the African country last year.

Leaders from Kenya’s largest and oldest group dedicated to women’s rights, the Women’s Development Organization, said they hope the boycott will persuade men to pressure the government to make peace.

Eleven women’s groups are participating in the strike. The groups have also called on the wives of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to abstain. It was not clear how either wife responded to the request.

“We have looked at all issues which can bring people to talk and we have seen that sex is the answer,” said Rukia Subow, chairman of the Women’s Development Organization.

The disputed election between Kibaki and then-challenger Odinga led to violence that killed more than 1,000 people and left more than 600,000 homeless. The two were installed after a month of mediation, but infighting has threatened to break apart the fragile coalition.

Seoul, South Korea

N. Korea threatens to launch missile

North Korea warned Wednesday it will fire an intercontinental ballistic missile – or even carry out another nuclear test – unless the U.N. apologizes for condemning the regime’s April 5 rocket launch.

By flaunting its rogue nuclear and missile programs, Pyongyang has raised the stakes in the escalating diplomatic tit for tat with the outside world. North Korea also said it would start generating nuclear fuel – an indication the regime will begin enriching uranium, another material used to make an atomic bomb.

Istanbul, Turkey

Bomb blast kills Turkish soldiers

In what could herald the start of a fierce new season of fighting between Turkish troops and Kurdish insurgents, a roadside bombing in the country’s southeast killed nine Turkish soldiers on Wednesday.

The attack, aimed at a convoy traveling a mountainous road, represented the largest single-incident death toll this year for the Turkish military, which has waged a decades-long struggle with fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

The rebels claimed responsibility for the blast, which took place near the town of Lice in Diyarbakir province. Officials described the device as crude but powerful, strong enough to penetrate a tank and an armored vehicle traveling in the convoy.

The army chief of staff, Gen. Ilker Basbug, told a news conference that Turkish security forces would continue to pursue the insurgents, many of whom are thought to operate from bases across the border in northern Iraq. He urged the Kurdish rebels to lay down their arms and rejoin society.

From wire reports