YANGON, MYANMAR – A Myanmar opposition party member died during interrogation and two activists were arrested as the ruling junta pressed its crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, an exile group said Wednesday.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners also said security officers had been threatening dissidents’ relatives and neighbors in an attempt to get information.
The alleged death of Win Shwe, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, drew a harsh reaction from the U.S., which called for an investigation.
Additional world news briefs:
Mutating vaccine causes unusual polio outbreak
LAGOS, NIGERIA – Nigeria is fighting an unusual outbreak of polio caused by mutating polio vaccine, world health authorities say, but the only remedy is to keep vaccinating children there. Officials of the World Health Organization fear the outbreak will be a new setback for efforts in northern Nigeria, where vaccinations were halted in 2003 because of rumors the vaccine sterilized Muslim girls or contained the AIDS virus.
Typhoon deaths at 86; thousands stranded
HANOI, VIETNAM – The death toll from Vietnam’s Typhoon Lekima rose to 86 as rescue workers rushed to get aid to thousands still stuck in flooded areas, officials said Wednesday. The typhoon washed away 6,000 houses, a Red Cross official said.
Pakistan elections set
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Pakistan’s government said Wednesday that parliamentary elections will be in early January. They will be a test of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s campaign to rally moderates against Islamic militancy. Musharraf, meanwhile, urged former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to put off her return from self-exile while the Supreme Court examines challenges to his presidential candidacy.
