FEER(4/12): Supreme Court Backs Arroyo's Leadership
Updated: Wednesday, April 4, 2001 06:15 PM ET
Court Backs Arroyo, Estrada Faces Trial
The Supreme Court rejected Joseph Estrada's appeal to be recognized as president of the Philippines more than two months after he was forced to step down by massive public protests. The 13-judge court unanimously recognized the legitimacy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government and their ruling clears the way for criminal charges to be laid against the former movie star, who faces indictment for corruption, bribery and economic plunder. The latter is punishable by death. Estrada, who has been campaigning for candidates of his party in May legislative and local elections, denies enriching himself while in office and taking bribes from gambling groups.
TAIWAN
The Dalai Lama had a warm welcome on arriving in Taipei on March 31 for a 10-day visit. The exiled Tibetan spiritual ruler insisted he was visiting Taiwan only for religious and spiritual reasons, but he met political leaders, spoke to legislators inside the parliament building and criticized the communist authorities in Beijing in the first days of his second trip to the island. China, which controls Tibet and claims Taiwan as a province, has rapped his visit. The official Xinhua news agency said his trip "will certainly be a political visit for collaborating with Taiwan independence forces to separate the motherland." Taiwan Vice-President Annette Lu, particularly disliked by Beijing, shared a stage with the Dalai Lama at one sermon attended by 30,000 people, when he appealed for peace and understanding from Beijing. The Dalai Lama is due to meet President Chen Shui-bian and former President Li Teng-hui, who met him on his last visit.
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BURMA
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, flew into Rangoon and met top officials of the military government, including intelligence chief Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt. The Brazilian academic is the first UN human-rights official allowed to visit in five years. A meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was not on the agenda. In another sign of easing political tensions, the military junta released 16 more members of the opposition National League for Democracy.
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CHINA
The National Bureau of Statistics announced that China's first census in a decade put the population in the mainland and Taiwan at 1.26 billion people. The population grew by 132.2 million since 1990, giving an annual growth rate of 1.07%, down 0.4% from the rate in the 1980s. Zhu Zhixin, director of the bureau, said this showed China's compulsory birth-control policies were effective in holding down population growth. Zhu also said a 1999 survey showed there were 117 males for every 100 girls in the country.
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EAST TIMOR
Xanana Gusmao resigned as head of the territory's transitional parliament saying internal squabbling was hampering East Timor's progress towards independence. He wrote to the United Nations saying that the National Council -- whose 36 members were appointed by the UN -- no longer reflected the views of the East Timorese people. Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta was appointed by the UN interim government to replace Gusmao.
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PHILIPPINES
The main Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines began a unilateral ceasefire on April 3. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said the truce would likely last until a peace agreement had been reached with the government, which ordered a halt in military operations against the rebels last month in a bid to kick-start negotiations.
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JAPAN
Business sentiment among big manufacturers deteriorated sharply between December and March, according to a closely watched Bank of Japan survey. It was the first decline since 1998, stepping up pressure on the government to stimulate the economy. The Tankan survey showed manufacturers of all sizes expect business conditions to worsen in the current quarter.
The Hiroshima High Court struck down a 1998 ruling by a district court that ordered the government to pay 300,000 ($2,425) to each of three South Korean women forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese armed forces in World War II. The plaintiffs had appealed the ruling, saying the compensation was not enough.
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PAKISTAN
A stampede at a Muslim shrine in the central province of Punjab left at least 36 pilgrims dead and more than 120 injured. The tragedy took place when thousands of pilgrims surged forward after a sacred gate was opened to inaugurate an annual feast at the shrine of a 13th century priest in the town of Pak Pattan. The Punjab government appointed a judicial tribunal to investigate the incident.
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VIETNAM
Trinh Cong Son, the singer-songwriter described as Vietnam's Bob Dylan, died in Ho Chi Minh City from chronic diabetes at the age of 62. Loved by the public, Trinh was hated by both the former U.S.-backed Saigon regime and the communist government in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. He was sent to a re-education camp for four years after the war ended in 1975.
Vietnam said it would give legal status to a group representing Protestant churches in the centre and south of the country. The move will give legal status to about 250 congregations belonging to the Evangelical Church of Vietnam.
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SINGAPORE
A Singapore judge sentenced seven followers of the Falun Going sect, including six Chinese citizens, to four weeks in jail for obstructing police during a vigil in a local park. Subordinate Court Judge Carol Ling fined a further eight Falun Gong members for taking part in the unauthorized vigil on December 31 for sect followers who reportedly died in police custody on the mainland.
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HONG KONG
Pacific Century CyberWorks reported a $886 consolidated annual loss, adding to the woes of its young boss, Richard Li. The worse-than-expected combined results were the first since PCCW bought Cable & Wireless HKT last year in a $28.5 billion deal that was Asia's largest-ever corporate takeover.
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NEPAL
Suspected Maoist rebels killed 37 police officers in three attacks around the country on April 2-3. They were the deadliest attacks since the rebels took up arms in 1996 to set up a one-party communist republic. The Maoists have called a general strike for April 6 to demand the resignation of Premier Girija Prasad Koirala.
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OOPS: The official China Daily on April 3 carried a cartoon comparing the U.S. spy-plane incident to Nato's May 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, which Washington blamed on old maps.
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