Daily Excelsior... World

US to adopt tough posture on CIA detention centre scandal

WASHINGTON, Dec 3: The US is expected to adopt an offensive posture on CIA's clandestine detention centres for terror suspects when Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice holds parleys with its European allies next week.

Rice is expected to tell Europe that America does not want to be pushed around on the subject, diplomats said here.

Rice will deliver her message in private meetings with officials in Germany and at the EU headquarters in Brussels during a trip that includes a stop in Romania which has been accused of holding a secret prison facility, something that it vehemently denies.

"They were stuck on the defensive for weeks, but suddenly the line has toughened up incredibly," a European diplomat has been quoted in a media report.

Ireland's Foreign Minister has said that Rice told him that Washington expected allies to "trust" that America does not allow abuses of rights.

The scandal has deeply disturbed America's European allies.

Ever since the story surfaced on the CIA's secret prison facilities in parts of Europe, the Bush administration has been on the defensive not wanting to confirm or deny the existence of such facilities.

The allies have also been upset over reports that CIA used allies' airspace to routinely transport prisoners violating international aviation agreements and common diplomatic courtesies. (PTI)

US isolated on linking UN budget with reforms

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 3: The US stood isolated at the world body here with the European Union and developing nations virtually rejecting its demand that passage of the biennium budget of the United Nations be linked to implementation of reforms and that the members adopt an interim budget for three or four month to force their pace.

Openly opposing Washington's position, Secretary General Kofi Annan called on member States to "divorce" the "urgent" consideration of reform of the organization from the "equally critical" need to pass the budget by the end of the year, without which, he said, ongoing operations would be straight-jacketed.

"The business of the UN is not reform," he said, but rather it is about carrying out the mandates it has been given. "That business must continue," he asserted at an assembly that was part of Friday's Staff Day celebration.

Talking to reporters, British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, whose country holds the EU presidency, said EU is opposed to any "formal linkage" between passage of the budget and reforms and asserted that short term solution would make it difficult for the world body to work.

US Ambassador John Bolton asserted that reforms should drive the budget and not the other way round but left the possibility of compromise open by saying that he is prepared to consider other reasonable proposals.

Unless the General Assembly adopts the budget by December 31, the authorization to spend money would run out and it would find it difficult to pay even the salaries. (PTI)

AIDS blood donor infects 21 people in northeast China

BEIJING, Dec 3: Six senior health officials have been suspended and 11 blood bank workers detained in northeast China's Jilin Province where one HIV positive man infected 21 others after donating blood, the state media reported today.

The six officials, who were held accountable for the incident, were either stripped of their leading posts or placed on probation within the ruling Communist Party of China.

According to a report given by the Health Bureau of Changchun City, the provincial capital, a resident of Dehui City and with a surname of Song, who unknowingly became a person living with HIV virus, made 15 blood donations with the Central Blood Bank of Dehui City between January 2003 and June 2004.

But strangely enough, no HIV virus had been tested in Song's donated blood.

One investigation with Dehui City Hospital suggests that 25 patients have had received blood donated by Song. Further investigations prove that Song has altogether infected 21 others via blood transmission or sexually.

Eighteen of Song's blood recipients have been clinically diagnosed to have infected with HIV virus, of whom, three have developed into AIDS and died. Song's two sex partners, as well as one of the two sex partners' spouses have also been diagnosed to have had infected with HIV virus, Xinhua news agency reported.

After the incident was reported, health departments of Jilin Province have organised strict investigations and taken measures to prevent the disease from spreading. (PTI)

Myanmar is no security threat: Cabinet Minister

YANGON, Dec 3: Myanmar rejected today U S accusations that the military-ruled country is a security threat to the region.

Prompted by Washington, the U N Security Council agreed for the first time on Friday to discuss human rights in the Southeast Asian country.

The decision came after Myanmar's rulers ordered opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to remain under house arrest for another year.

''These accusations are utterly wrong,'' Information Minister Kyaw Hsan told reporters in Yangon. ''For example, the accusation that we are developing nuclear power, we will refute this false accusation.''

The Security Council action fell short of adding the situation in Myanmar to the 15-member council's formal agenda.

U S Ambassador John Bolton said he hoped U N Secretary-General Kofi Annan would agree to brief the council personally on Myanmar behind closed doors in the next few weeks.

No date was set for the briefing, which the council agreed to unanimously, and it was unclear if Annan would accept.

''I think it is quite important that the situation in Burma will now be before the council,'' Bolton told reporters.

U S officials routinely refer to Myanmar as Burma, the country's name before the ruling junta changed it in 1990.

Putting the matter on the council's formal agenda would have opened the way to further discussions as well as to official council statements and resolutions. But it also would have required the support of nine members if a vote was demanded.

The United States has unilaterally imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Myanmar, including a ban on most imports, and has criticised Asia-Pacific nations for failing to speak out against the country's human rights record.

Suu Kyi, now 60, has been under house arrest since May 2003. Officials informed her last weekend of the decision to extend her detention by 12 months.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory in 1990 only to be denied power by the army.

She has spent around 10 of the last 15 years either in prison or under house arrest as the military -- which has run Myanmar under various guises since 1962 -- has refused to loosen its grip on power.

(AGENCIES)

Playboy exploring men's magazine for India

NEW YORK, Dec 3: Playboy is in talks to launch a men's magazine in India, but one that does not include its trademark nudes or even its name, Chief Executive Christie Hefner said.

The top-selling men's magazine in the world, which is rolling out an edition in Argentina soon, also wants to return to Italy and Australia, and is discussing joint ventures with local publishers in those countries.

Playboy also has ambitions for a British edition, where it now sells its US version, to complement its other media ventures there.

But she considers that among the company's boldest ventures would be the possible launch of a magazine in India -- its first without the Playboy name on its cover.

''This is quite a departure for us,'' Hefner told the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit. ''We are interested in the possibility of going to India, but it wouldn't be what we call classic Playboy.

''It would be an extension of Playboy that would be focused around the lifestyle, pop culture, celebrity, fashion, sports and interview elements of Playboy,'' added Hefner, daughter of Playboy founder and publishing icon Hugh Hefner.

''But it would not have nudity and I don't think it would be called Playboy,'' she said.

India, the world's most populous democracy, is attracting investment by foreign media companies trying to catch the wave of young urban migrants seeking jobs in the thriving customer service industry.

Founded in 1953, Playboy has about 20 local editions around the world that cater to local taste rather than simply export and translate its U.S. Content. It would do the same in India, Hefner said, tailoring a magazine there to the standards of the marketplace.

Meanwhile, Playboy is also talking to publishers in other countries from which it has withdrawn, and others where it has never had a local edition.

''There are a couple of markets that we've been in and are not in right now because I learned long ago that it was better not to publish if we weren't going to publish a first-class magazine,'' Hefner said.

''I would like to go back into Italy and back into Australia with the right partners,'' she added. ''We haven't been there for a little bit.''

Playboy also would like to have a UK edition tailored to local readers. The British men's magazine market is among the most cutthroat with monthly titles cramming newsstands, and two weekly titles geared toward younger males.

''While it's a competitive market, it's also an important market,'' Hefner said.

''Our merchandise is doing great there, our TV is doing great there and we just launched a local Web site,'' she added.

''For all those reasons, I would like to have a local magazine. We have to attract interest from someone we think could do it well, and who knows how to do it in that market,'' she said. (AGENCIES)

China appoints spokespersons for quick release of news

BEIJING, Dec 3: China, which has a strict government-controlled news media, is attempting an image make-over by launching a crash course for 150 Government spokespersons to ensure quick responses to emergency situations.

The Information Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, started a five-day training course yesterday for 150 spokespersons from 70 Central Government departments and 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

The move is aimed at enhancing the ability of spokespersons to quickly respond and release news related to accidents, Minister of the Information Office of the State Council Cai Wu said.

Cai noted the establishment of a quick response system for the news reporting of major accidents is an important task and transparent news release is a prerequisite for building up "socialist democracy".

A quick and effective news releasing mechanism will help prevent rumours and wrong information from spreading, Cai said, stressing that Governmental spokespersons should try their best to provide accurate and timely information to media, so as to safeguard Government's right to say and people's right to know.

In the past, negative news such as major accidents or disease outbreaks were either suppressed or reported days after the incident as the Government feared that such events, if made public, may hurt the image of the ruling Communist Party of China.

The spokesman training course held on yesterday was the fourth of its kind. The previous three training courses were held in September 2003, October 2003 and May 2004. (PTI)