It is 15:30 Universal Time. I'm Bob Doughty in Washington.
[1] A United Nations human rights investigator says torture remains widespread in China. The UN special representative on torture Manfred Nowak spoke in Beijing Friday. Mr. Nowak said Chinese officials interfered with his 12-day investigation. He said he was permitted to speak with prisoners who claimed bad treatment. But he said he was not permitted to take a camera or electronic equipment into prisons to document his findings. Mr. Nowak also said he recognized that prisoners were afraid to talk with him. The UN official said the use of torture has decreased some in China. He also said the Chinese legal system needs major reform for the situation to improve.
[2] The head of the Environmental Protection Agency in China has resigned. The Xinhua news agency reported the resignation but did not provide details. The resignation comes after a chemical leak that poisoned a major river and forced the closing-off of water supplies in parts of Northeast China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry says it is sending Russia 150 tons of a substance to help remove poisons from the Amur River. The chemical spill is moving toward the Russian city of Khabarovsk. Earlier this week, Russia reported higher levels of the chemical benzene in the river. But environmental officials said it is not clear if the benzene resulted from the leak in China.
[3] An Indian diplomat says former Foreign Minister Natwar Singh made a profit from the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq. The Indian ambassador to Croatia Anil Mathrani formerly worked closely with Mr. Singh. Mr. Mathrani said Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein let Mr. Singh buy oil from Iraq at a very low price. In 2001, Mr. Singh led a 4-member team to Iraq that included Mr. Mathrani. Ambassador said Mr. Singh received 2 documents guaranteeing the low price during that visit. Mr. Mathrani said one of the documents was for Mr. Singh, and the other for the Congress Party. A UN report says Iraq's former government gave Mr. Singh and the Congress Party permission to buy 4 million barrels of oil at reduced prices. The former foreign minister denies the accusation.
[4] A 57-year old man has become the 1,000th person to be executed in the United States since death sentences were restored 29 years ago. Kenneth Boyd received a poisonous injection and was declared dead early Friday in a prison in the state of North Carolina. Boyd had been found guilty of the murder of his wife and her father. He carried out the killings 17 years ago.
[5] Australian Prime Minister John Howard has criticized Singapore for executing an Australian man Nguyen Tuong Van. Nguyen was condemned to die for bringing illegal drugs to Singapore. He was hanged Friday after the failure of high level appeals to save his life. Mr. Howard says the execution will damage relations between the two countries. But he also said the case should send a strong warning to young Australians to stay away from drugs. Nguyen was arrested at Changi airport in Singapore 3 years ago. At the time he was carrying almost 400 grams of the drug heroin.
You are listening to the news in VOA Special English.
[6] Hundreds of Shiite and Sunni Muslims gathered in the Iraqi capital Friday to show unity against religious violence. The demonstration began after Friday prayers. The protestors called for an end to killings by private armies. They also denounced the reported bad treatment of Sunni Arabs in a government jail operated by Shiites. Some of the protestors carried Iraqi flags and pictures of missing or dead family members. In the western city of Ramadi, 500 American and Iraqi troops started a new offensive against resistance fighters. This is the 5th in a series of joint operations against the group al-Qaida in Iraq. The group is operating in the Euphrates Valley area.
[7] The Japanese defense minister left Tokyo Friday for a visit to Iraq. Reports from Tokyo say Fukushiro Nukaga is to visit the 600 Japanese soldiers working on rebuilding projects in the southern town of Samawah. The troops do not take part in military operations in Iraq. Their current duty is to end December 14th, the day before Iraqi parliamentary elections. Japanese media say a decision on a proposal to extend the troop deployment could be announced as soon as December 8th.
[8] Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in Nepal to demand a return to democratic government. A group called the Communist Party of Nepal Marxist Leninist organized the demonstration. The French news agency says some people were injured when the pro-democracy protestors clashed with supporters of Nepal's ruler King Gyanendra. The king dismissed the government and seized total power last February. He said the government had failed to deal with almost 10 years of unrest by Maoist rebels. Since the dismissal, Nepal's main political parties have formed an alliance with the rebels. The goal of the alliance is to return democratic rule to the nation.
[9] United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has cancelled a trip to Asia because of debate about the UN budget and other political issues. A UN spokeswoman said Mr. Annan has told the governments of 4 nations that he will delay his visit. She said the UN chief would probably travel to China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam sometime next year.
Briefly here again is the major news of the hour.
A United Nations human rights investigator says torture remains widespread in China. An Indian diplomat says former Foreign Minister Natwar Singh made a profit from the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq. And a murderer has become the 1,000th person executed in the United States since Supreme Court permitted the use of death sentences in 1976.
That's the news in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty in Washington.
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