Colombia

Rebels to release kidnapped journalists

Colombian rebels said Wednesday they were prepared to hand over two kidnapped foreign journalists to a humanitarian commission but warned the army not to mount a rescue attempt.

Photographer Scott Dalton, 34, of Conroe, Texas, and reporter Ruth Morris, a Briton, were seized by the National Liberation Army, known as the ELN, on Jan. 21. The two were on assignment for the Los Angeles Times.

The rebels said Tuesday they would not free the pair until the Colombian military halted its attacks in Arauca state in eastern Colombia where the two were abducted.

On Wednesday, the rebels did not mention that demand, saying only that they would turn the two over to a humanitarian commission.

Cambodia

Thai Embassy burned in protest of soap star

Protesters looted and set fire to the Thai Embassy on Wednesday in the Phnom Penh after security forces allowed a nationalistic demonstration to get out of hand.

The demonstration was to protest against a Thai TV star who was quoted in the media as saying Cambodia had stolen the famous Angkor Wat temple from Thailand.

After a daylong protest by hundreds of people, some in the mob breached the embassy’s gate and forced their way into its main building. Reporters outside could see them hurling curtains, chairs and documents out from its windows.

After some time, flames were seen coming from the building. It appeared from outside that an automobile on the embassy grounds was set alight as well.

Angkor Wat is a sprawling temple in northern Cambodia. It was the capital of the Khmer empire, which ruled parts of Southeast Asia for about 600 years from the ninth century.

Argentina

World Bank disburses funds for poor families

World Bank Vice President David de Ferranti on Wednesday authorized some $600 million in loans for poor families in economically downtrodden Argentina.

While once considered a middle-class country, half of Argentina’s 36 million citizens now live in poverty. The country has been in recession for five years.

The low-interest loan comes due in 2018 and will help support government work-for-progress programs destined for struggling Argentine families. The Labor Ministry estimates more than 2 million needy Argentines will benefit.

Participating families receive monthly payments of $45 by enrolling in professional training programs or working in community projects such as neighborhood soup kitchens.

South Africa

Food aid averts humanitarian crisis

A serious humanitarian crisis in southern Africa appears to have been averted with the delivery of hundreds of thousands of tons of food aid to hungry people, a top U.N. relief official said Wednesday in Johannesburg.

The World Food Program had estimated that more than 15 million people in six southern African countries were in danger of starvation because of poor harvests last year.

Fast reaction by humanitarian workers and aid agencies and generous aid from donor countries has averted a serious famine in the region, said James Morris, head of the WFP and the U.N. special envoy to the hunger crisis.

The WFP estimated it would have delivered more than 1.4 million tons of food aid by March to needy people in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Swaziland and Mozambique.

The agency will do a new study in February to see what aid is required in the next year, but Morris predicted that a comparable amount of food would be needed in the next 12 months.