Kyrgyzstan protesters storm headquarters
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Several hundred unarmed supporters of a presidential candidate who was denied registration in next month’s election stormed the Kyrgyz government headquarters today in the largest protest to grip the Central Asian country since the March 24 uprising that ousted its former leader.
A crowd of about 2,000 had gathered outside the building, shouting slogans in support of the candidate, Urmat Baryaktadasov. His registration was denied because Kyrgyz officials said they had proof he was a citizen of neighboring Kazakhstan.
The unrest underscored the high tensions reigning in Kyrgyzstan less than a month before the July 10 vote. The election was called after a March uprising ousted longtime Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev.
Kim Jong Il meets South Korean minister
Pyongyang, North Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met today with a top South Korean official for the first time in more than three years, raising hopes of a possible breakthrough in the 2 1/2 -year-old crisis over the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and Kim spoke and had lunch at a previously unscheduled meeting in the North’s capital, according to pool reports.
Kim rarely meets visiting officials, and the meeting raised hopes in the South of possible movement in the latest nuclear crisis.
“It shows North Korea is making their best efforts,” South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan told reporters in Seoul.
Sadat’s nephew plans to run for president
Cairo Standing a few yards away from the tomb of his assassinated uncle, the nephew of former President Anwar Sadat announced Thursday he will run in Egypt’s first multicandidate election for president.
Talaat Sadat’s announcement came as Egypt’s parliament gave final approval to a law governing the elections, due to take place in September.
Sadat, an opposition member of parliament for the al-Ahrar or Liberal party, said he stands for the release of all political detainees and higher standards of living.
New search fails to find missing teen
Oranjestad, Aruba
A helicopter searched for the body of an Alabama teenager as investigators sifted through items seized from the island home of a justice official whose son was with the young woman the same night she disappeared, officials said Thursday.
A judge considered a petition from the justice official, Paul van der Sloot, to see his jailed 17-year-old son, Joran. The judge was also expected to rule on a request from lawyers defending the youth and his two Surinamese friends to see any evidence authorities have gathered. Van der Sloot, from Holland, is training to be a judge in Aruba, which is a Dutch protectorate in the Caribbean.
More than two weeks after 18-year-old Natalee Holloway went missing, searches by authorities, volunteer islanders and tourists have led nowhere, and no one has been charged in the case. Authorities were refusing to say if they thought Holloway was dead.
On Thursday, however, Police Superintendent Jan van der Straaten told the Associated Press that a helicopter was used “to search for possible remains – but found nothing.” He declined to say where the helicopter searched.
Following the approximately four-hour search, Attorney General Caren Janssen clarified that Paul van der Sloot was not under investigation.