BEIRUT
More time requested in assassination probe
The head of the U.N. probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri requested Saturday that his mandate be extended a year.
The report from Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s investigators also notes that Syria – which had been accused of obstructing the probe – has cooperated in some respects.
Brammertz was expected to brief the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday – a day before his mandate expires.
The council will consider extending his mandate by six months, as it has done previously, or accede to the longer, one-year request.
Hariri and 22 other people were killed Feb. 14, 2005, in a massive explosion in Beirut. Four top Lebanese generals – key figures in Syria’s long domination of Lebanon – have been arrested and charged with playing a role in the killing.
WASHINGTON
Diabetes cases soar around the world
The number of people around the world suffering from diabetes has skyrocketed in the past two decades, from 30 million to 230 million, claiming millions of lives and severely taxing the ability of health care systems to deal with the epidemic, according to data released Saturday by the International Diabetes Federation.
China has the largest number of diabetics older than 20, about 39 million people, or 2.7 percent of the adult population, according to the federation.
The group says India has the second-largest number of cases, with an estimated 30 million people, or about 6 percent of the adult population.
TEHRAN
Counteroffer planned on enriching uranium
Tehran will make a counter offer in response to a Western incentive package aimed at persuading Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, the foreign minister said Saturday.
The counteroffer may be a variation of the proposal made by Europe, the United States, China and Russia or could be an entirely new package, Manouchehr Mottaki said, according to the state-run news agency IRNA.
“We hope that Iran’s real proposal, which might come within a modified or new package, will be examined carefully by Europe,” he said.
He did not elaborate on how the Iranian proposal might differ from the Western package.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia
Economic growth rated strong globally
The Group of Eight finance ministers said Saturday that global economic growth remains strong but high energy prices and global imbalances pose continuing dangers.
The finance ministers from the world’s most industrialized nations, meeting ahead of next month’s summit of G-8 leaders, said global growth “is gradually becoming more broadly based,” but risks from “high and volatile energy prices and widening global imbalances” remain. Treasury Secretary John Snow said the United States was upbeat on the state of the world economy.
“We see no major crises, no major economies in recession, we see strong growth and inflation well-contained,” he said at a news conference. “That’s a commendable set of results.”
YANGON, Myanmar
Detained dissident ill, nation’s police report
The detained head of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, was stricken with a stomach illness, but police said Saturday it was not serious enough to require hospitalization.
Police chief Maj. Gen. Khin Yi confirmed accounts from opposition groups that Suu Kyi had suffered from stomach problems in the past few days.
Earlier Saturday, a spokesman for Suu Kyi’s party said she had returned home after receiving treatment at a hospital. Suu Kyi, 60, is one of the world’s most prominent political prisoners.
