Annan urges U.N. to act on Sudan

United Nations U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday urged the Security Council to move faster to confront the crisis in Sudan as the world body’s humanitarian chief said women and girls in the conflict-plagued Darfur region are suffering from a rise in rapes.

Annan hoped council ambassadors would break a deadlock over his proposal to send 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers to monitor a peace accord ending years of civil war between the government and southern rebels.

In early February, a U.N. panel found evidence of crimes against humanity there, but council members still have not been able to agree on action.

Lawmakers in Britain amend anti-terror law

London Prime Minister Tony Blair’s plans for a new anti-terrorism law suffered a major setback Monday as Parliament’s upper chamber insisted only judges should have power to impose sweeping controls on terror suspects.

In a crucial House of Lords vote, peers voted 249-119 to amend the Prevention of Terrorism Bill so only courts can restrict a suspect’s movements and impose other controls.

The vote was a blow to the government’s plans to give a government minister the power to act swiftly against suspects without the need for a trial.

Law discusses action against rival Taiwan

Beijing A proposed Chinese anti-secession law would authorize Beijing to take military action to stop rival Taiwan from pursuing formal independence if other efforts fail, a leader of China’s parliament said today.

Wang Zhaoguo, reading the proposed law before the National People’s Congress, didn’t give details of what specifically might trigger a Chinese attack.

The new law wouldn’t impose new conditions. But it lays out for the first time the legal requirements for taking military action, saying the Chinese Cabinet and government’s Central Military Commission “are authorized to decide on and execute nonpeaceful means and nonpeaceful measures.”

Pakistanis hold rally to back rape victim

Multan, Pakistan Thousands of women rallied in eastern Pakistan on Monday to demand protection for a woman who said she was gang-raped at the direction of a village council after a court ordered the release of her alleged attackers.

The victim, Mukhtar Mai, a 33-year-old schoolteacher, attended the rally in Multan, a city in the eastern province of Punjab.

Mai’s brother was accused of having sex with a woman from a more prominent family. Mai’s family says the allegations were made up to cover up a sex assault against the boy by several men.

A court sentenced six men to death for Mai’s rape. An appeals court overturned the convictions of five of the men last week, citing lack of evidence, and reduced the other man’s sentence to life.

Workers in Honduras sue U.S.-based firm

Tegucigalpa, Honduras More than 700 former banana plantation workers have sued Standard Fruit Co. seeking $137 million in damages for the company’s use of a banned pesticide, a lawyer said Sunday.

Attorney Jose Amado Mancia said he filed a compliant in the capital of Tegucigalpa on behalf of 707 workers who “suffered permanent physical and moral damage” because of Nemagon, which he called a “poison.”

Among the most egregious cases is a former plantation employee whose three children were born mentally retarded and with birth defects, Mancia said. Others suffer from skin cancer and kidney ailments, he said.

Spokesmen for the Honduran arm of Standard Fruit could not be reached for comment.