Russia

Dalai Lama allowed to visit Buddhist region

The Dalai Lama arrived Monday on his first visit to Russia after Moscow abruptly reversed its refusal to grant the Tibetan spiritual leader entry.

Russia has rejected visa requests for the Dalai Lama at least three times in the past because it was wary of upsetting China. The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, also leads Tibetans resisting Chinese rule.

The Foreign Ministry said the Dalai Lama was given a visa in the expectation he would limit his activities in Russia solely to pastoral purposes, visiting largely Buddhist communities in Kalmykia, about 1,000 miles southeast of Moscow.

Half of the region’s 300,000 residents are Buddhists. Russia is home to a total of about 1 million Buddhists.

“Considering the numerous requests by the leaders of the Buddhist community and rank-and-file citizens of Russia, the Dalai Lama has been given a visa,” ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.

Havana

Cuban dissidents released from jail

The Cuban government freed three ailing dissidents from prison on Monday in an apparent attempt to repair frayed relations with the European Union and renew diplomatic dialogue.

At least 15 others were transferred from their cells to a Havana prison hospital for medical checkups, a move that opposition activists predicted could lead to additional releases in the coming days. The dissidents were part of the group of 75 members of the opposition sentenced to long prison terms during an unprecedented, island-wide crackdown.

“I am very happy to breathe the air, to be free,” said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, an economist who had been serving a 20-year sentence, hours after arriving at his tiny Havana apartment on Monday, his 64th birthday. “To be imprisoned is a terrible sensation. You feel asphyxiated. I am not an assassin or a delinquent.”

Colombia

Officials deny rumors on plot against Bush

Colombia’s government on Monday backpedalled on a sensational claim made by the defense minister that Marxist rebels wanted to assassinate President Bush during a recent state visit.

Defense Minister Jorge Uribe told reporters Friday that informants said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, instructed followers to “assassinate President Bush” during his visit in the seaside city of Cartagena Nov. 22, where he met with President Alvaro Uribe.

The defense minister, who is no relation to the president, did not say where the information came from, and there was no indication Bush’s life was ever in any danger: He was protected by 15,000 Colombian troops and police, U.S. troops and Secret Service agents during his 3 1/2-hour visit to Colombia.

Interior and Justice Minister Sabas Pretelt played down the comments Monday, saying he had no information about any assassination plot against Bush.

What these terrorists organizations normally try to do is disturb the visits of any head of state … like President Bush,” he said. “But we took all (security) measures, and there was no disturbance.”

Jerusalem

Hamas leader indicates moratorium on attacks

A local Hamas leader indicated Monday the militant group would not attack Israelis during the Palestinian presidential campaign and would consider a formal truce with Israel in the latest signs of hope for renewed peace efforts in the region.

However, just hours after Sheik Hassan Yousef spoke, two Hamas militants were killed while trying to attack an Israeli military outpost in Gaza, and another Hamas official said there was no such truce.

There has been a sharp drop in violence since Yasser Arafat’s death Nov. 11, with Palestinian militants cutting down on attacks and the Israeli army scaling back raids before the Jan. 9 election for Arafat’s replacement.

China

More bodies recovered following mine blast

About 50 mine workers were confirmed dead and more than 100 still missing, the government said today, as toxic fumes unleashed from an explosion at a coal mine in central China slowed rescuers from entering the pit.

The recovery of “more than 20” additional bodies brought the number of confirmed dead in Sunday’s blast in the Chenjiashan Coal Mine in the central province of Shaanxi to about 50, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Hopes were fading for some 116 miners still missing. If none of the missing survives, it would be one of the deadliest disasters in a decade to hit China’s accident-prone mining industry.