UPI International Intelligence articles from December 2005

UPI International Intelligence archives from December 2005

Analysis: Merkel's tough first week.
December 1, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A trip to Washington clouded by secret CIA flights, a German national kidnapped in Iraq and fierce domestic attacks of her reform plans: The first week in office has been a...

Politics & Policies: Iran in the spotlight.
December 1, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The United States and the international community remain highly concerned by Iran's intentions to attain nuclear capability, come what may. As Tehran pursues its aim to join the nuclear...

Analysis: Syrians show street solidarity.
December 1, 2005... Byline: ZIAD GHISN DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Unusual scenes have been taking place in Syria recently, notably public gatherings held without previous official approval or arrangement by the official political parties. Every...

Review of the Arab press.
December 1, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Dec. 1: Jordanian newspapers reported Thursday the country's intelligence services aborted the 13th "terror" attempt this year in the kingdom. The independent al-Ghad daily said the...

Walker's World: Blair's bad trip.
December 1, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- It is not easy to persuade poor people to give up ten percent of their income in order to cut taxes on the rich, but that is the thankless task on which British Prime Minister Tony Blair is...

Police chiefs pan U.K. terror plans.
December 1, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The British government's plans to ban extremist organizations and close down mosques suspected of inciting extremism have been condemned by the Association of Chief Police Officers. ...

French troops probed in Ivorian death.
December 1, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH BRYANT PARIS, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- There are speculations that Paris is expected to formally unveil plans to redeploy its troops in Africa. This moves comes amid allegations that French soldiers suffocated to death an Ivorian...

Experts: Bangladesh blasts hit judiciary.
December 1, 2005... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The Islamic militants who carried out suicide bomb attacks on courts in Bangladesh did so to terrorize the judiciary, which they considered a stumbling block in their goal of turning the...

Australia: Timor agrees on boundary deal.
December 1, 2005... Byline: KRISHNADEV CALAMUR Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his country and Timor Leste had agreed Thursday on how to share billions in revenue from disputed undersea oil and gas reserves, potentially giving billions to...

UPI Energy Watch.
December 1, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU EU, Kuwait to cooperate on oil technology The Gulf Cooperation Council plans to work with the European Union to continue progressing in developing advanced technology to boost fossil fuel production to meet...

Analysis: U.N. aid appeal faces obstacles.
December 1, 2005... Byline: TANVEER ALI UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The United Nations has launched its largest-ever initial humanitarian appeal, seeking $4.7 billion for anticipated aid programs in 2006. The "Humanitarian Appeal 2006" was launched...

Sharon: Military option against Iran.
December 1, 2005... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday Israel and other countries couldn't accept an Iran with a nuclear bomb, adding Tehran's program could be stopped by military means. ...

Trade ministers seek to save Doha.
December 1, 2005... Byline: DONNA BORAK WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Trade negotiators Thursday offered their most realistic assessment to date on the status of on-going talks to liberalize trade and eliminate barriers, calling for urgency to salvage a key...

Preventive detention at issue in Germany.
December 1, 2005... Byline: STEFAN BURGDOERFER WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The new German government, in office for one week, faces an inside discussion about preventive detention of terrorist suspects. Senior Christian Democrats demand the implementation of...

Analysis: U.N. enlargement bid revived.
December 2, 2005... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- On his visit to the United Nations on Monday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier caused a surprise by saying the new right-left coalition was not abandoning the campaign for a...

Blair accused of 'surrender' on EU budget.
December 2, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair was accused of "surrender" by the Conservative Party Friday, after he signaled he would agree to a 12 to 15 percent cut in the British rebate in order to...

U.N. catalogs Chinese torture methods.
December 2, 2005... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Manfred Nowak, special rapporteur on torture at the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement Friday after two weeks in China. One section of Nowak's...

UPI Energy Watch.
December 2, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU U.S. senator worried about military conflict over oil The United States could possibly find itself in a military conflict with China, if the two countries do not work together to reduce oil consumption and...

Analysis: Kazakhstan as an exception.
December 2, 2005... Byline: PETER LAVELLE MOSCOW, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- On the campaign trial, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said the population of the former Soviet republic was too wealthy to act out a revolution like those that swept Georgia, Ukraine and...

French-African tensions shadow summit.
December 2, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH BRYANT PARIS, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Leaders from France and Africa gather Saturday in Bamako for a two-day summit intended to enforce ties between the two sides, and talk about problems facing African youths in the 21st...

Outside View: Women vital to better ties.
December 2, 2005... Byline: JASON ERB AND NOHA BAKR AMMAN, Jordan, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Samuel Huntington's 1993 "Clash of Civilizations" depicts a world in which fundamental cultural differences form the basis of conflict between Muslims and the West. Current...

Analysis: Pakistan loans may harm.
December 2, 2005... Byline: AYESHA AKRAM UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- The word "loan" has become part of the everyday vocabulary in Pakistan. Janitors and mine-workers take loans to supplement salaries. Fathers take loans to purchase worthwhile dowries...

Regarding new dangers in Africa.
December 3, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The Polisario Front, the last remaining liberation movement fighting for independence in Africa, contested an earlier UPI report that it could be turning to Islamist organizations and...

Analysis: Tortured China.
December 3, 2005... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- After a decade of negotiations the Chinese government this week permitted a visit by the U.N.'s fact finder on torture. But Manfred Nowak, who is officially described as "Special Rapporteur...

Outside View: Ways of dialogue.
December 3, 2005... Byline: KHALED BATARFI JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Once I asked Abdullah, my young conservative friend, to join me in a "diwania" (weekly gathering). He was surprised to find people with diverse views among my friends. There were...

Analysis: Lawrence rides again.
December 4, 2005... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Lawrence of Arabia died 70 years ago in a freak motorcycle accident on an almost deserted road. A commemorative exhibition currently at the Imperial War Museum in London offers a melange...

Outside View: Tolerance in Islam.
December 4, 2005... Byline: LILY ZAKIYAH MUNIR JOMBANG, Indonesia, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- In the last few years we have witnessed a series of terrorist acts perpetrated in the name of Islam. It is hard to believe that Indonesian Islam, which was traditionally...

Policy Watch: Withdrawal needn't be defeat.
December 4, 2005... Byline: MARK N. KATZ WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- In his recent speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, President George W. Bush reiterated his objections to withdrawing American forces from Iraq any time soon due to his belief this would lead to...

Outside View: The way for Arab media.
December 4, 2005... Byline: MOHAMMAD GOHAR CAIRO, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Arab-American relations have reached a critical stage. Misconceptions, on both sides of the divide, threaten to undermine the desires of mainstream citizens for peace, stability and democratic...

Politics & Policies: Bush on Iraq strategy.
December 5, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Are we seeing a changing trend in the war in Iraq? Since the start of hostilities President Bush and his administration have referred to the insurgency as though it was a...

UK Iraq pullout 'likely' to begin 2006.
December 5, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- British troops are likely to start leaving Iraq in 2006, Defense Secretary John Reid said Monday. Pledging that Britain's forces would not withdraw from the country until Iraqi forces...

Review of the Arab press.
December 5, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Jordan's al-Rai daily said in its editorial Monday that it's time Iraqis realized they have no other homeland except Iraq, and that all will lose if they put political, sectarian or ethnic priorities ahead of...

UPI Energy Watch.
December 5, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Possible U.N. resolution may affect Syrian oil revenues The United States and France continue to push for a U.N. Security Council resolution that demands Syria comply with the ongoing investigation into...

Analysis: Kazakhstan making progress.
December 5, 2005... Byline: MARTIN SIEFF WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- There were no surprises in Kazakhstan's presidential election Sunday -- and that was good news. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, as expected, was reelected by an overwhelming landslide...

Rice confronts CIA transfers case.
December 5, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Even as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was visiting Europe to deal with the furor over secret detention camps in and CIA stopovers at Europe's airports, Khaled Masri has...

Hong Kong demands roadmap to democracy.
December 5, 2005... Byline: KATHLEEN HWANG HONG KONG, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The people of Hong Kong sent a strong message to the Chinese government when tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out Sunday to march for democracy. To avoid sending mixed signals or...

Outside View: Abbas's fateful hour.
December 5, 2005... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- I have just returned from a week-long trip to Israel and Palestine where I met with many Israeli and Palestinian officials, intellectuals, and ordinary people. This article is the first in a...

Analysis: UNRWA under attack.
December 5, 2005... Byline: AYESHA AKRAM UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- For the last couple of years, UNRWA -- U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees -- has been repeatedly called upon to defend its mission. Established in 1948 and serving the...

Outside View: The Pope and China.
December 5, 2005... Byline: HUBERTUS HOFFMANN MUNICH, Germany, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- There are two cities on the globe in which L'Osservatore Romano -- the official newspaper of the Vatican -- is carefully studied word-for-word and whose reports and commentaries...

Suicide bombing likely to affect elections.
December 5, 2005... NETANYA, Israel, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A 21-year-old Islamic Jihad bomber Monday blew himself up outside an Israeli shopping mall killing five civilians, the repercussions of which might undermine next month's Palestinian elections and Israeli vote...

Analysis: Flow of oil assured?
December 5, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Although technology cannot create more oil, some industry experts argue new technologies can maximize oil usage with the discovery of more oil fields and extract more oil from current...

Politics & Policies: Change in Arab world.
December 5, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Arab movers and shakers -- along with quite a few Westerners too -- gathered in Dubai for a two-day conference focusing on the "Arab world and the Media, with emphasis on...

Commentary: Victory in Iraq?
December 6, 2005... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- President's Bush's newly minted "Strategy for Victory" in Iraq lists the criteria for snatching success from the jaws of failure. It could work provided Congress and the American...

Analysis: Who really won in Moscow?
December 6, 2005... Byline: PETER LAVELLE MOSCOW, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- As expected, the Kremlin's "party of power," United Russia, garnered a lion's share of the seats in Moscow's all-important local election Sunday. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, heading United...

Walker's World: Britain's next leader?
December 6, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- David Cameron, 39, becomes the heir of Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill and Benjamin Disraeli when the result of his almost inevitable victory in Britain's Conservative Party leadership...

Commentary: Pakistan's Jekyll and Hyde.
December 6, 2005... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency thought it might have better than luck than the United States in its quest to interview Dr. A.Q. Khan, the revered father of Pakistan's nuclear...

Saad Hariri fears for his life.
December 6, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Fearing that he too could be killed, Saad Hariri, the son of slain Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, has been living in self-imposed exile, moving around a...

Review of the Arab press.
December 6, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Dec. 6: Palestinian al-Hayat al-Jadeeda newspaper Tuesday commented on a suicide attack outside a shopping center in the Israeli town of Netanya that killed 5 people on Monday. The...

China responds to U.N. torture report.
December 6, 2005... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- China Tuesday denied allegations made by the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on Torture last week, who said the illegal practice remains ubiquitous in the country. At the end of his tour on...

Brussels slams British budget plans.
December 6, 2005... BRUSSELS, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Britain's slim-line budget proposal for the European Union was Tuesday met by a chorus of criticism in the European Parliament. Leaders of major parties from both sides of the assembly lashed out at the blueprint...

Rice admits to 'mistakes' in war on terror.
December 6, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Berlin that Washington has admitted making a mistake in the case of a...

Doubts raised over French CNN.
December 6, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH BRYANT PARIS, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Who needs a French CNN? That's the 65 million euro question -- reflecting its 2006 budget -- swirling around the French government's long-delayed plans to launch a global information...

U.K.: Cameron crowned as new Tory leader.
December 6, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The youthful modernizer David Cameron was Tuesday crowned leader of the British Conservative Party, immediately pledging to bring a "modern, compassionate Conservatism" to the country. ...

Analysis: N. Korea nuke talks uncertain.
December 6, 2005... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Crisis talks on ending North Korea's nuclear arms programs have come under a cloud of uncertainty with deepening disputes between Pyongyang and Washington over financial sanctions and human...

UPI Energy Watch.
December 6, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Nations on U.S. naughty list attract investment China National Petroleum Corp. and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. plan to place a joint bid for upstream assets in Petro-Canada's 17 percent stake in...

Minister's exit to end embarrasment.
December 6, 2005... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The announcement that controversial Indian minister Natwar Singh will resign from the Cabinet after he was described in the Volcker report as non-contractual beneficiary in Iraq's...

New Israeli leader shakes political system.
December 6, 2005... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT SDEROT, Israel, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- In a windowless soup kitchen in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, proprietor Shimon Sinai recalled how he and his childhood friend Amir Peretz used to play. They liked soccer...

Walker's World: Iraq, Dec. 7 and WWII.
December 7, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- On this anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is worth noting that in the 30 months between Dec. 7, 1941, and D-Day, the United States raised an army of 10 million men that was fit...

Analysis: U.N. calls for Uzbek openness.
December 7, 2005... Byline: WILLIAM LAUNDER UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A U.N. report warns Uzbekistan that political instability and withdrawal from cooperative efforts with other Central Asian republics could limit the nation's capacity to improve...

Analysis: Putin's plebiscite democracy.
December 7, 2005... Byline: PETER LAVELLE MOSCOW, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin is a believer in democracy; it is clearly interested in public opinion. However, this belief is not invested in the State Duma or other elected...

Politics & Policies: War on words.
December 7, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI DDUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- One of the side effects of America's war on terror has been a spun-off war of words. This war of words is being fought via opposing mediums with pro- and anti-war...

UPI Energy Watch.
December 7, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Proponents push for Alaska pipeline -- again Advocates of the Alaska natural gas pipeline are once again pushing Congress to give a green light to the project, according to industry experts. During the...

Review of the Arab press.
December 7, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Dec. 7: Jordan's independent al-Ghad daily said Wednesday ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possesses "instinctive skills" to use the media, saying those who are putting him on trial...

U.S. criticism of N. Korea sparks unease.
December 7, 2005... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The United States has toughened its stand against North Korea's alleged counterfeiting, money laundering and weapons exports, causing uncertainty in South Korea, which is hoping for an early...

Analysis: CIA affair hits U.S.-German ties.
December 7, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- It was a bid to repair the U.S.-German friendship, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Berlin left a bad aftertaste as the scandal over a German citizen allegedly...

Cameron's bid to transform the Tories.
December 7, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Newly-elected Conservative Party Leader David Cameron began his first day on the job Wednesday by announcing the creation of the Social Justice Policy Group, designed to address issues such...

Analysis: U.N. to Central Asia cooperate.
December 7, 2005... Byline: United Press International UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The U.N. Development Program says Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan could double their incomes over the next 10 years. That is a pretty...

Corridors of Power: Rice's damage control.
December 7, 2005... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's damage control trip to Europe has done little to calm the storm about the CIA's role in transporting and interrogating Islamist terrorist suspects,...

House passes Bahrain free trade deal.
December 8, 2005... Byline: DONNA BORAK WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The Bush administration gained a sweeping victory Wednesday after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a free trade deal with Bahrain. The trade legislation passed the House 327 to 95...

Analysis: Saudi king seeks leading role.
December 8, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia's new king, Abdullah, is vying for a leading role in the Arab world, hoping to steer Arabs and Muslims out of troubled waters, away from terrorism and to eradicate...

Analysis: N. Korea abuses highlighted.
December 8, 2005... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Some 1,000 human rights experts, activists and North Korean defectors gathered in Seoul Thursday for a high-profile conference to highlight humanitarian conditions in the communist country. ...

Review of the Arab press.
December 8, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Dec. 8: Egypt's semi-official al-Ahram daily said in its editorial it hoped the conclusion of the parliamentary elections will lead to prosperity and development for the country. ...

Analysis: Sri Lanka's bid to woo rebels.
December 8, 2005... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Sri Lanka's invitation to Norway to continue mediating in its conflict with Tamil rebels is aimed at persuading the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam against returning to conflict, analysts...

Commentary: Egypt's choices.
December 8, 2005... Byline: SHARON OTTERMAN CAIRO, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The stark choices in Egyptian politics were captured this month in the dramatic standoffs in front of dozens of polling places during Egypt's parliamentary vote. Rows of riot police blocked...

Britain isolated over EU budget.
December 8, 2005... BRUSSELS, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- European deputies from the European Union's new member states Thursday rallied against the British budget proposal, calling it a "disgrace" and "absurd." The law makers said the seven-year financial plan would hit...

Analysis: Sweden, paradise lost?
December 8, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Sweden, once the role model for a modern Europe, seems to be at a crossroads. Experts say reforms are needed to reduce unemployment and get the country's economy fit for the 21st...

UPI Energy Watch.
December 8, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Merkel to hold 2006 German Energy Summit Angela Merkel, Germany's new chancellor, plans to convene a national energy summit in 2006 to examine the country's energy sector. Merkel will likely...

Analysis: Saudi king offers solutions.
December 8, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- At 85 years, Saudi King Abdullah remains a man full of political ambitions. Having only recently succeeded his long-ailing brother, Fahd, as king, Abdullah now is running for the...

Departing minister rattles Likud.
December 8, 2005... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this week shook his former Likud Party by luring away minister Zahi Hanegbi who for years embodied the Likud's nationalist spirit. Hanegbi's...

Petitioners in Beijing face arrest, abuse.
December 8, 2005... Byline: KATHLEEN HWANG HONG KONG, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Chinese citizens are being attacked, beaten, intimidated and imprisoned for attempting to petition Beijing authorities over grievances for which they can find no other redress, an...

Walker's World: Asia's new map lacks U.S.
December 8, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The United States will not take part in next week's East Asia summit, but, to paraphrase a former secretary of state's phrase about the Balkan wars, the Americans most certainly have a dog...

French law on colonialism stirs uproar.
December 8, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH BRYANT PARIS, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The French government appears to be backtracking on a controversial law on colonialism that generated uproar both at home and abroad. The legislation argues for teaching the positive...

Analysis: U.N. says Kyrgyz needs openness.
December 8, 2005... Byline: TANVEER ALI UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A U.N. report on the economic status of the five Central Asian nations says with greater intraregional cooperation and a commitment to trade liberalization, Kyrgyzstan -- along with the...

EU will not make new offer to push talks.
December 8, 2005... Byline: DONNA BORAK WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Despite an offer by Brazil and India to break an impasse in global trade talks, the European top trade envoy said Thursday that offers by developing countries were "more virtual than real"...