theSun | WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7 2009  11

news without borders

Democrats jubilant as
new Congress meets
WASHINGTON: The new US
Congress was convening yesterday
at the dawn of an era of dominance
for Barack Obama’s Democrats with
lawmakers consumed by the worst
economic crisis in generations.
Democrats are celebrating ex-
panded majorities in both chambers
as Obama gets ready to move into the
White House in two weeks and are
promising to get to work immediately
to implement the president-elect’s
ambitious agenda.
Obama is already pressing for
urgent action on a US$775 billion
(RM2.8 trillion) economic stimulus
package, and has big first-term plans
for global warming legislation and to
ignite healthcare reform.
For the first time since Republicans
snatched the House of Representa-
tives in 1994, Democrats control both
chambers of Congress and the White
House, prompting high hopes for
huge political change among grass
roots supporters.
But even before the first day of
the two year congressional session,
Obama’s hopes of changing the tone
in Washington were already called
into question by two ugly spats left
over from November’s election.
Democrat Al Franken is the ap-
parent winner of a Minnesota Senate
seat but Republican incumbent Norm
Coleman is mounting a legal chal-
lenge and his party bosses deny the
race is over.
Democrats meanwhile are refus- Safe-
ing to seat Roland Burris of Illinois guarding
who was chosen by scandal-tainted
Governor Rod Blagojevich who is a price
accused of trying to sell off Obama’s bulwark
former Senate berth. pg14
Demoralised Republicans, seek-
ing to frame an opposition strategy,
are fanning the flames of the Illinois
drama, hoping to taint Democrats
with the aura of corruption which
has hampered their own brand.
Democrats start the new Congress
with a majority in the 435-seat House
after gaining more than 20 seats in
November’s election. – AFP

on Dec 24, the Beijing Health Bureau said.

Huang contracted the disease after she

briefs
cleaned the internal organs of some ducks she
had bought in Hebei province, China’s official
Xinhua news agency reported. – AFP

Hasina sworn in as Thieves raid Danish

Bangladesh PM
DHAKA: Sheikh Hasina Wajed was sworn in
for her second spell as Bangladesh’s prime
minister yesterday, restoring democracy to the
impoverished country after almost two years of
rule by an army-backed regime.
President Iajuddin Ahmed gave the oath
at the presidential palace here in a ceremony
broadcast live on television, as thousands of
supporters gathered outside and around giant
screens set up around the capital.
“I solemnly swear as the prime minister of
Bangladesh, I will legally perform my job and
act loyally to Bangladesh,” said Sheikh Hasina,
61, who was greeted with rapturous applause
as she entered the palace. – AFP
Five killed in southern
Thailand violence
NARATHIWAT (Thailand): Separatist mili-
tants shot dead five people in Thailand’s
Muslim-majority south, where a bloody
insurgency marked its fifth anniversary at
the weekend, police said yesterday.
An unknown number of militants at-
tacked a military base in troubled Pattani
province early yesterday, sparking a 10-
minute gun battle that left a 47-year-old
ranger dead, said police.
A man was killed in a drive-by shooting
in the same province late Sunday, they said.
In nearby Yala province, militants shot dead
a defence volunteer and wounded two oth-
ers on Monday. Separately in Narathiwat
province a police sergeant was fatally shot
and another critically injured in a clash with
militants early Monday. Another man was
killed in a drive-by shooting later the same
day in Narathiwat. – AFP
Bird flu re-emerges in China
and Vietnam, one dead
BEIJING: Bird flu re-emerged as a threat in Asia
on yesterday after China reported the disease
killed a woman in Beijing and neighbouring
Vietnam said a girl had contracted the virus.
The cases are the first involving humans in
the two countries in nearly a year, and mark
a reappearance of the H5N1 virus as Asia
moves into the cold winter months that typi-
cally favour the spread of the virus. The case in
the Chinese capital saw a 19-year-old woman,
Huang Yanqing, die on Monday after she fell ill
army depot
COPENHAGEN: At least 200 rifles and
handguns were stolen over the weekend
in a raid at a Danish army base, police and
the army said on Monday.
Guards posted at the arms depot were
threatened and also tied up by three
thieves, who appeared to have been well-
informed about the layout of the base near
Slagelse, eastern Denmark.
The weapons were due to have been
sent with Danish forces due to serve in
Afghanistan in the coming weeks. The
thieves also got hold of some 60 rounds of
ammunition but did not obtain any explo-
sives, according to police.
“It was an exceptionally brutal theft. The
defence has never experienced anything
like it,” Bjorn Bisserup, head of the Danish
defence command, said. – dpa
Thailand blocks websites
for insulting monarchy
BANGKOK: Thai officials said yesterday that
the government has recently blocked 2,300
websites for allegedly insulting the monarchy
and is seeking court approval to shut down
another 400.
“We are preparing to ask for court approval
to shut down an additional 400 sites,” said Thai-
land’s Information, Communication and Tech-
nology Minister Ranongruk Suwanchawee.
In a press release on the ministry’s website,
Ranongruk said the ministry will seek amend-
ments to the current lese majeste law to
increase the ICT’s powers to crack down on
websites deemed insulting to the monarchy.
– dpa
Armed gang attacks
Sri Lanka TV station
COLOMBO: A private radio and television
station on the outskirts of Sri Lanka’s capital
has been attacked by an armed gang that
inflicted extensive damage to the studio
complex and interrupted its broadcasts, a
spokesman for the station said yesterday.
A gang of 15 to 20 men stormed the
Maharaja TV and Maharaja Broadcasting Cor-
poration at Pannipitiya, Colombo, holding
the staff at gunpoint and assaulting some
of them before causing the damage early
yesterday, the spokesman said. – Agencies