UNITED NATIONS
Annan to seek 2nd term as world's top diplomat
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced Thursday that he will seek a second five-year term, saying his top priorities will be to fight poverty and promote peace and human rights worldwide. After months of speculation and leaks in recent days, Annan officially let the world in on the worst-kept secret at the United Nations.
"There is a great deal still to be done to make the United Nations this indispensable organization into an effective instrument humanity needs in this new century to fulfill the hopes for peace, development and human rights," Annan told a news conference. "If asked, I am ready to serve."
Immediately after Thursday's announcement, he also received warm praise from the United States, which lobbied successfully five years ago to deny his predecessor, Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, a second term.
Egypt
Family of mummies discovered in tombs
Archaeologists have found 11 mummies in Egypt's Western Desert, including one of a child entombed with his parents and wearing a mask that shows him in tears. The mummies are about 1,800 years old, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement. They belong to one family, are in good condition and were found near Bahariya Oasis, 215 miles southwest of Cairo. Some of the mummies have plaster casts bearing paintings of the gods of the afterlife.
Gabballah said archaeologists also found the tombs of the parents of the mayor of Bahariya during the period of Pharaoh Ahmose II, who ruled from 570 to 526 BC. The tombs contain sarcophagi, more than 240 small sculptures and an amulet of pure gold representing a son of the Pharaonic god Horus.
Taiwan
Women urged to care for parents, planner says
Taiwan's top economic planner said Thursday that women with low-paying jobs should stay home to care for their husbands' elderly parents.
The government toughened regulations last year to allow only families with severely disabled relatives to hire foreign maids or caretakers. Foreign maids typically cost far less than a Taiwanese caregiver.
Chen Po-chih, chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, told lawmakers that women with low-paying jobs should stay home to care for their in-laws. The regulations should not be relaxed to spare them that duty, he said.
Although women's social status has increased significantly in Taiwan, men are still heads of the family. Their wives help care for their parents.
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