[00:00.00]News No. 8
[00:05.80]At 15 hours universal time. Here is the news on the Voice of America.
[00:19.96]I'm Frank Whitis in Washington.
[00:22.18]
[00:27.85]The Bishop had investigated human rights abuses by the military.
[00:31.29]VOA central American correspondent Michael Dratz reports.
[00:34.98]Guatemalan church authorities say Bishop Juan Gerardi was killed late Sunday by a blow to the head from stone-throwing assailants.
[00:43.47]The 75-year-old church leader was apparently ambushed as he was returning to his home from a visit with relatives.
[00:50.42]Police have offered no motive for the attack and the assailants remain unidentified.
[00:56.24]Bishop Gerardi was the second ranking member of Guatemala City archdiocese.
[01:01.20]He had served as general coordinator of a Truth Commission that had documented military involvement in human rights
[01:07.92]abuses during a 3-decade civil war that killed about 150,000 people.
[01:13.64]Church officials say Bishop Gerardi had survived two previous assassination attempts during military rule in the 1980s.
[01:21.71]Michael Dratz,VOA news,Central America Bureau.
[01:25.32]8.2 Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cartienne is expected to press Cuban President Fidel Castro to release four jailed dissidents during talks today in Havana.
[01:33.91]Canadian officials say Mr.Cartienne will also make a general appeal on behalf of more than 300 other political prisoners.
[01:40.57]Mr.Cartienne is the first Canadian leader to visit Cuba in more than two decades. Upon his arrival in Havana Sunday,
[01:47.28]he told the Cuban President that all nfitions in the Western Hemisphere must adapt to changes.
[01:52.01]Mr.Castro in return used harsh language to denounce the US economic embargo against Cuba as unjust and unacceptable.
[02:00.06]8.3 The Yugoslav army says its troops have clashed with gunmen trying to smuggle weapons into the troubled Kosovo Province from Albania.
[02:08.03]The army says three ethnic Albanian separatists Were killed and four wounded.
[02:12.23]It says large quantities of weapons,ammunition and equipment were found at the site of the clash in Kosovo near the Albanian border.
[02:19.34]There was no independent confirmation of the Yugoslav army's account.
[02:23.96]8.4 Afghanistan's warring factions have agreed to a 5-point agenda during a second day of peace talks today in Pakistan.
[02:33.42]The cochairman of the talks says the agenda agreed to by the Taliban
[02:37.65]and Northern Opposition Alliance includes negotiations on the formation of a council of religious scholars.
[02:44.83]The council would be responsible for negotiating a peace plan that would end two decades of war in Afghanistan.
[02:52.77]8.5 At least 21 people are dead and three wounded after an attack by unidentified gunmen in a remote village in Pakistan.
[03:02.02]As VOA Islamabad correspondent Meredith Buel reports local officials are blaming the killings on neighboring India.
[03:08.66]Police told VOA more than ten unidentified gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on members of two large families in Pakistani controlled Kashmir.
[03:16.73]The attack occurred in Bindala village in Dinbenber District about 200 kilometers southeast of the state capital of Muzaffarahad.
[03:23.39]The village is near the line of control that separates Indian and Pakistani Kashmir.
[03:27.41]Police say women and small children were killed in the attack.
[03:30.44]Local officials say evidence found at the scene of the killing indicates that the gunmen were from neighboring India.
[03:35.33]Earlier this month 26 Hindus were killed in Indian Kashmir.
[03:38.91]Officials blamed Moslem militants for the killings.
[03:41.39]Both Islamabad and New Delhi accuse each other of instigating violence in Kashmir and both countries denied the charge.
[03:46.90]India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir.
[03:49.38]New Delhi controls 2/3 of Harmali Region and Islamabad controls the rest.
[03:53.74]Meredith Buel,VOA news,Islamabad.
[03:56.54]
[04:04.69]The accountability bench of the Lahore High Court says all her domestic and foreign assets have been frozen.
[04:10.36]The assets include bank accounts of Ms.Bhutto,
[04:13.26]her husband Asif Ali Zardari and mother Nusrat Bhutto.
[04:17.02]The court has set May 22 as the next date for a hearing of the case filed by the government based on her tax declarations.
[04:50.27]
[04:56.99]Iran's foreign minister says the man was detained while filming in the Kurdistan Region.
[05:01.82]He says the incident is in the past and the man is no longer in Iran.
[05:06.29]The arrest was first reported Sunday by a conservative Iranian newspaper.
[05:10.70]Britain says it could not confirm the arrest or the release of the man.
[05:15.95]8.8 Turkish Prime Minister Mishu Yema is backing away from a deal to dissolve the government in October and hold early elections next March.
[05:24.36]Mr.Yema says neither his party nor his coalition partners want early polls.
[05:29.06]East week,Mr.Yema reached a deal for early elections with the leftist party leader Dennis Bicar,
[05:34.63]whose support in parliament is crucial for Turkey's minority coalition.
[05:38.63]This is VOA news.
[05:41.05]8.9India has denied a US newspaper report that Russia is helping India build a sea-launched ballistic missile that could carry a nuclear warhead.
[05:51.97]VOA New Delhi correspondent Douglas Faction has the story.
[05:55.40]The New York Times reports that Russia has been helping India for three years with the project despite US opposition
[06:00.67]and the assurance from Russia that it is not assisting New Delhi.
[06:04.15]The newspaper says the missile is believed to have a range of more than 300 kilometers and is meant to be launched from submarines.
[06:10.36]An Indian defense ministry spokesman flatly denies the report.
[06:13.60]We believe this. Recently India does not have any project like this.
[06:18.72]Defense analysts have expressed fears of a missile racing in South Asia.
[06:22.22]Pakistan recently announced that it has test-launched a new land-based missile with a range of 1,500 kilometers.
[06:27.76]Pakistan and India fought three wars.
[06:29.72]Both have nuclear capability.
[06:31.50]Douglas Faction, VOA news, New Delhi.
[06:34.14]
[06:42.55]It is the first time a Japanese court has ruled in favor of the former sex slaves.
[06:47.22]8.11 Results from Nigeria's widely boycotted parliamentary poll indicate the pro-government United Nigeria Congress Party has taken a strong lead over four other pro-government United Nigeria Congress Parry
[06:54.17]has taken a strong lead over four otehr pro-government parties.
[06:58.04]The Saturday vote was boycotted by the opposition.
[07:01.38]8.12 The UN Security Council meets today to review the trade embargo imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990.
[07:08.12]The council is expected to continue the sanctions following the latest report by Chief UN Arms Inspector Richard Butler.
[07:13.97]Mr.Butler says his teams made virtually no progress in the last six months to verify Iraq has destroyed its banned weapons.
[07:21.08]And US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson also says Iraq must do more.
[07:25.62]The issue is Iraq has to provide long-term access, long-term information.
[07:30.87]They have to stop concealing data.
[07:32.86]They have to provide documents.
[07:34.56]Iraq says it has met all conditions for ending the sanctions.
[07:38.32]8.13 US Mideast envoy Dennis Ross is to hold separate talks again today with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to set the stage for next week's round of meeting in London.
[07:47.07]The latest mediation attempt by Mr.Ross comes amid sharp criticism of the stalled peace process from US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
[07:54.57]Ms Albright says the Mideast peace process is in grave danger and must stop going around in circles.
[08:00.81]In an American television interview today,
[08:02.98]Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he is deeply concerned.
[08:06.50]"Concerning the Middle East problem, I think now it's nearly li freezed,
[08:13.43]no activity,no progress for the last two years.
[08:18.10]So,I think I am going to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday.
[08:22.49]I hope that we would find something to push the peace process a little bit forward that is."
[08:30.54]During a speech New York Sunday night, Secretary Albright said it is no longer enough just to talk about having more talks.
[08:37.51]Ms Albright will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Ararat May
[08:45.37]She says it will then become clear whether Mr.Ararat and Mr.Netanyahu are prepared to make the tough choices required to advance the peace process.
[08:53.89]8.14 These are the hour's news headlines.
[08:56.89]A Roman Catholic Bishop is murdered in Guatemala.
[09:00.26]Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cartienne is said to ask Cuban President Fidel Castro to release four jailed political dissidents.
[09:08.15]And unidentified gunmen in Pakistani controlled Kashmir killed at least 21 people during a raid on a remote village.
[09:16.70]That's the news on the Voice of America.